Authors, Clothing Designers: Get Your Wares in an Upcoming Movie

Want to know how?

Help fund writer, director J.D. Walker's KICKSTARTER campaign for her movie, THE POSTWOMAN!

There are NINE days left until the campaign in, and funds are still needed for this worthwhile movie, which has been featured in The Huffington Post and Indiewire's Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora. You can head to J.D.'s KS page to watch a video and learn more about the movie and campaign, but here's how you can get your wares into the production.

BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT

With a $75 pledge, you can enjoy your book being featured in the Bookstore scene and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Clean "TITLES" only: Non-offensive. Children, Romance, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Erotica, Poetry, Spiritual, Motivational, LGBT, and other titles, okay. Just look for Pledge $50 or more [BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: ALTERNATE $75 PLEDGE] in the list of pledges you can make!

BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: THE SUPREME EDITION

With a pledge of $100 or more, you can enjoy your book being featured in the Bookstore scene, your name in the closing credits, two tickets to an advanced screening, and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Package also includes a PDF of the shooting script, a Postwoman Movie luggage tag, and a grocery tote. Clean "TITLES" only: Non-offensive. Children, Romance, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Erotica, Poetry, Spiritual, Motivational, LGBT, and other titles, okay. Just look for Pledge $100 or more [BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: THE SUPREME EDITION] in the list of pledges you can make!

CLOTHING LOVERS DELIGHT

With a pledge of $100 or more, you can enjoy having your clothing line featured in THE POSTWOMAN, your name in the closing credits of the feature film, two tickets to an advanced screening, and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Just look for Pledge $100 or more [CLOTHING LOVERS DELIGHT: ALTERNATE $100 PLEDGE] in the list of pledges you can make!

GET TO PLEDGING!

Funding a Dream: Author Tananarive Due

One of my favorite authors is Tananarive Due. Her biggest fan is my sister. I'd put a bet on that. My sister has read and reread Due's books as if she's writing a dissertation on Due. Whenever a new one drops, she's big-eyed, excited, and on her way to a bookstore or online to buy.

The minute I learned that Tananarive, along with her husband Steven Barnes, had started a fundraising campaign for their short horror film Danger Word, I knew I wanted to put a shout out to the blogosphere in the hopes that people would hear this news and jump on board to support the project.

If you don't know Tananarive Due (and I'll try not to hold that against you), let me give you the skinny. She's an American Book Award winner and the author of the bestseller My Soul to Keep (my fave book of hers!). Her husband, Steven Barnes, has his truckload of talent as well, having written for several major TV science fiction series in the past 20 years to include The Outer Limits, The New Twilight Zone, and Andromeda.

Their short film Danger Word tells the powerful story of a 13-year-old girl and her grandfather who have survived the zombie plague in his wooded cabin—and how her birthday outing goes badly awry. It's a story about love and survival that empowers young girls.

A cool thing about this project? There are already 200 backers, including Hollywood insiders.

The Indiegogo fundraising campaign, which ends on July 29, 2013, would assist Due and Barnes on finishing post-production.

I asked Tananarive what it would mean to her to have this campaign fully funded, and her final response echoed that of author Liz DeJesus, who talked about dream fulfillment when asked about her fundraising campaign. Tananarive said

Aside from a few short scenes Steve and I wrote for a book trailer for FROM CAPE TOWN WITH LOVE with Blair Underwood, I have never seen my work translated to screen. I love movies, and I took up screenwriting in Los Angeles with the hope of seeing one of my book adaptations produced, but it hasn't happened so far. The idea to write our own movie came like a lightning bolt, and it has been one of the most liberating experiences of my life. The trailer is the only footage I've seen so far, and even that short snippet is so thrilling! I know there are other fans out there who would like to see the movies I want to see, and it's a dream come true to make those stories come to life on the screen.

You know, being a bestseller, being an award winner, being a successful writer does not mean you will always get a YES to projects you want to develop, projects you feel need to be developed. Sometimes, you can't wait for the YES of others; you have to make your own YES and work to build your dreams into realities. That's what this fundraising campaign does, just as it is doing for both writer, director J.D. Walker and author Liz DeJesus.

But even as you make your own YES, community love and involvement are important. It takes a community to raise an indie talent. Support this Indiegogo project from Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes today! While there, DEFINITELY take in the fantastic video that features Due and Barnes, the director Luchina Fisher, and the fantastic trailer to Danger Word.

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Funding a Dream: Writer, Director J.D. Walker

Lately, a lot of talented writers I know have created fundraising campaigns to assist in their creative pursuits. One such talent is writer, director J.D. Walker. J.D. is a Sundance Film Festival Pitching Contest winner and also an Honorable Mention winner for The Postwoman in the Sundance Table Read My Screenplay Contest. I met J.D. on Facebook and am a definite fan of her constant push to develop her craft, to place herself in places and spaces and before people that can help propel her to new levels in her endeavors.

Using Kickstarter, J.D. is seeking funds for her movie, The Postwoman. The dramatic feature film is about a single mom who develops the courage to confront her ex-husband, dysfunctional family, and teenage daughter about her secret life with another woman. Funds received from the Kickstarter campaign would be used to assist with production expenses.

When I asked J.D. what it would mean to her to have this campaign funded, she said, "It means that we can proceed with filming, get the film distributed in theaters, film some of the first early scenes of the film, market what we film to private donors and investors, and it also means a step toward the second feature film on Oscar Micheaux, which won the pitching contest at Sundance."

Please take time to visit J.D.'s Kickstarter campaign for The Postwoman and consider backing this project. Even a dollar can help, but the more you pledge, the closer J.D. will get to securing production-expense funds. It doesn't hurt that there are cool Thank You "gifts" for backers, too.

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter. Let other people know about this great project and equally great talent.

Part 5 (of 5) of Book to Screen @ APOOO Bookclub

In the last part of the five-part series, Book to Screen, I offer information on where to find agents, contests, production companies, and more for your screenplay.

Big thank you to those who have e-mailed about the series, have learned from it, and are actually interested in now turning their books into possible screenplays!

To read my latest The Write Life for You commentary in the Book to Screen series, head to APOOO Bookclub via this [link].

Part 4 of 5-Part Book to Screen Series LIVE @ APOOO Bookclub

In the first three parts of the five-part series, Book to Screen, I offered advice on books and software to help you on the scriptwriting journey, seeing your book as a visual story, and seeing your book within a movie structure frame.

In this next part, I talk about the actual writing of the script, with short discussion on major story components, such as action, character, and dialogue.

Big thank you to those who have e-mailed about the series, have learned from it thus far, and are actually interested in now turning their books into possible screenplays!

Now, let's move forward in this journey! To read my latest The Write Life for You article in the Book to Screen series, head to APOOO Bookclub via this [link].


Leave comments!

"Thinking Structurally" ~ Part 3 of 5-Part Book to Screen Series

In the first two parts of the five-part series, Book to Screen, I offered advice on books and software to help you on the scriptwriting journey, and then I talked about seeing your book as a visual story.

In this next part, I talk about "Thinking Structurally"--and by this I mean looking at your book, once you have parsed out what could be redeveloped for the script, and thinking about it in terms of movie structure. In this part, I talk about the three-act structure (not as a hard rule but to give guidance in structuring your "movie" story), components that are vital to any good story, and a mention on non-linear and linear storytelling.

Big thank you to those who have e-mailed about the series, have learned from it thus far, and are actually interested in now turning their books into possible screenplays!

Now, let's move forward in this journey! To read my latest The Write Life for You article in the Book to Screen series, head to APOOO Bookclub via this [link].


Leave comments!

Book to Screen 1: Some Basic To-Haves & To-Dos

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shonell Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™



The Write Life for You is a series of articles on the writing craft. Past articles have focused on building character, developing a solid plot, and editing a screenplay.

In the last article of 2010, I kickstart a new series on turning your book into a screenplay. I know there are many of you out there who have written books that you see across your mind's screen and you know, just know that it would make for a great movie. Well, this 5-part series will offer information and advice for you to roll up your sleeves and transform that book into a screenplay.


Head to APOOO Bookclub to read my latest article in The Write Life for You series, "Book to Screen 1: Some Basic To-Haves & To-Dos"!