Matthew Konkel, Wisconsin native and filmmaker, plans to embark on a new feature length production and is using crowd-funding platform IndieGoGo to raise funds for it.
Konkel, a 1992 University of Wisconsin Parkside graduate is the co-owner of Last House Productions, a production company based in Maine.
BizTimes wrote about IndieGoGo.com in 2010.
According to IndieGoGo co-founder Slava Rubin, the website was launched in 2008 as a place for people to share projects, ideas and mobilize fans to support projects and ideas.
“There are just some incredible trends that are happening in our world right now,” Rubin said. “Social networks are making people more and more connected, and people are getting more comfortable with making transactions on the Internet.”
According to Rubin, hundreds of people have experienced success on IndieGoGo. The projects include books, video games, conferences and events, movie projects and causes, he said.
Konkel previously produced award-winning short films, The Bully and I Want You to Know. Neptune will be his third collaborative effort with director Derek Kimball.
Neptune is the story of an orphan’s journey to self-discovery while faced with tragedy, death and a life of solitude on a small island in Maine, Konkel said.
“Identity search is a rich and wide subject matter both Derek and I are fascinated with," Konkel said. "With Neptune we hope to expand on the themes established in our short films I Want You To Know and The Bully, and create a piece that further explores the elements of identity search while pushing the boundaries of cinema story.”
Last House Productions will have producing teams in both Maine and Wisconsin.
Photography for the film will begin in summer 2012 on location in Maine, and has a projected completion date of 2013.
Konkel’s film, The Bully, was shot entirely in Wisconsin using all local actors and crew. It screened in multiple states and won numerous awards, including the 2011 Golden Badger Award from Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison, the 2011 Best of Show from Indie Fest in La Jolla Calif., and the 2011 Best Film Award from SENE Film, Music and Art Festival in Providence, R.I. In 2008, Last House Productions’ first short film, I Want You To Know, was a Jury Winner at the Milwaukee Show Film Festival and took home Best Drama in the Portland Phoenix Film Festival.
Neptune’s fundraising period on IndieGoGo will go through April 13. To help Konkel raise funds visit www.indiegogo.com/Neptune.
