Project of the Day: ‘The Lot’
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Tweetable Logline: Inspired by real events, “The Lot” depicts a lonely cafe owner’s struggle to befriend an outcast boy by building a fort on an abandoned lot.
Elevator Pitch: Our friend, Andrew Mer at SnagFilms, encouraged us to take a shot at Indiewire’s Project of the Week for “The Lot.” It’s a heartfelt short set in New Orleans about a lonely cafe owner’s struggle to help an outcast boy by building a fort on an abandoned lot. Inspired by real events, our story explores risk, friendship, and sacrifice and tries to probe the question of why it’s oftentimes so hard to foster community. When the film’s finished, we plan to incorporate it into a larger campaign to purchase the actual abandoned lot and build a playground for local kids.
Production Team:
Russell Blanchard – Director / Writer / Executive Producer
Megan Grogan – Producer
Ben Gouldthorpe – Writer
DJ McConduit – DP
KD Amond and David LeBlanc – Editors
Daniel Wood – Executive Producer
About the film: It started last year a block away from my house. I was having lunch at a neighborhood cafe when the owner, Baakir Tyehimba, told me about an overgrown lot across the street. He’d tried to turn it into a playground with neighborhood kids. They’d cleaned it and built a bunch of playhouses. Everyone got involved–children, adults, artists. Then the city stopped construction because the playhouses violated historical zoning codes. I had to write about this. A year later, we’ve got a full cast and crew filming “The Lot” for free or next-to-nothing because it’s a story that needs told.
Current Status: In production and still fundraising!
For more information and to support this project: Kickstarter Page
If you have an in-the-works project and you’d like to be profiled in an upcoming iW Project of the Day column, submit yourself by filling out this form!
