Filmmaker Tyler Moore vying for $1 M deal
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With a $1 million film deal up for grabs, former Grande Prairie resident Tyler Moore is working hard to stay in the running as part of the CineCoup Film Accelerator.
Originally from DeBolt, Moore is currently living and working in Victoria and has been producing and directing his own short films for the last three years.
Moore met his co-creator Clay Walker last summer when both were working together for a painting company. They collaborated on a short film together and then moved on to developing their current project, Transmission.
“We were going kind of slowly, developing the project and not thinking about moving too quickly with it and then I found this CineCoup Film Accelerator online,” said Moore.
After doing a little research, Moore was hooked.
“This is something that is unique, it’s new and what a way to get us to move forward with our project,” he said. “Once I convinced Clay, we’ve been full-tilt ever since.”
In addition to Moore and Walker, the team also includes Panta Mosleh who was recruited as an actress but has become the film’s marketing and social media strategist.
The CineCoup Film Accelerator is a disruptive model for indie filmmakers to develop, market and finance their feature films Teams apply to CineCoup with a two-minute trailer and then advance through a gamified selection funnel that is designed to package their projects and build fan support on the CineCoup social web platform.
“It’s really interesting that way, it’s like they’ve gamified the process for not just the filmmakers but the fans as well. It’s like an interactive, online game really and the audience gets to have a big part in choosing who gets the million dollars,” said Moore.
Transmission is set in two timelines – a 2184 post-apocalyptic world ruled by womankind under the tyrannical rule of Queen Aurora, and in the male-dominated time of 1954. The film is a neo-noire thriller that centres around detective Jack Valiant as he struggles to right a wrong he hasn’t yet committed.
Futuristic twist
“It’s a graphic novellesque kind of world, that has elements of science fiction and film noire,” he explained. “It’s a classic 1950s private eye story, but we have also twisted that with this future dream that he is having. He is being haunted by these visions or dreams.
“The whole upshot of the film has to do with the whole ideology behind transmitting dreams through time, but alot of our themes revolve around gender equality.”
Moore and Walker wrote and shot the teaser trailer that is currently online at the CineCoup website. The rest of the rounds or missions involved in the contest as films are culled have a lot to do with social media and marketing.
While currently sitting at 40 films, the next round of voting will cut the numbers down to 15. The top 10 projects will be optioned for development and a jury of industry professionals and a CineCoup Superfan will select one project for up to $1 million in production financing and guaranteed release in Cineplex theatres in January 2014.
Voting for the next round opened Thursday and runs until Sunday. To vote fans must create an account in the site and can take part in various missions to earn votes. The more active the fan, the more votes they have to cast.
“We are hopeful, honestly, if we get in the top 15 I will be really happy,” he said. “Of course, I want a shot at the million.”
Moore has put two short films he was working on to the side to focus on Transmission.
“This one has taken over my whole life,” he laughed.
As a filmmaker, Moore said the experience he has gained through the CineCoup Film Accelerator has been invaluable.
“I was thinking of it as you know we paid $150 entrance and are basicially in this game that is teaching a bunch of stuff about filmmaking. You know all the business side, and making it fun. I could go to a film school and pay through the nose to learn all this stuff, or I could pay $150 and have a fun time and learn all this stuff,” he laughed.
“As an independent filmmaker at the level I’m at...It’s a good way to develop myself as an artist and grow and develop on the producing business side of things. With the advent of social media, the Internet and all the platforms you can make it fun and engaging and not so cerebral if you choose to.”
For more info on the CineCoup Accelerator or Transmission go to http://cinecoup.com/transmission.
diana.rinne@sunmedia.ca