SHOT AT THE BIG TIME (in Development)
SHOT AT THE BIG TIME
9 years in the making, that’s how long it took Janet van
Eeden to write a story that is quite extraordinary, and yet it is so personal
at the same time.
Janet van Eeden Harrison, is a writer, producer and
director. She has written eleven screenplays and six stage plays, which she has
produced and directed two. She co-wrote the award-winning screenplay for, White
Lion, which premiered around the world in 2010, and now she is planning to
write, produce and direct her next project, A Shot at the Big Time.
A Shot at the Big Time is a remarkable story, which was
greatly inspired by Janet Van Eeden’s brother, Jimmy. It deals with a side to
Apartheid that we often tend to over look or have failed to discuss. However,
this film will bring a realization to other side of that struggle that has
plagued our Nation in the past.
Plot
Jimmy’s family has personal crises instead of family
holidays but he finds his soul in his music. Until the army sends him his
call-up papers. He has to choose between following the rules or following his
heart. He decides to sing his own tune. He steals a rifle and goes AWOL. Back
home he gives the performance of his life, alternating guitar riffs with rapid
rifle fire. Until he hears the sound no musician wants to hear: the cries of a
dying woman. It seems the army will take its pound of flesh. Even if it costs
him his life.
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| Janet Co-wrote the screenplay |
The Story Behind The Movie
As told by Janet Van Eeden (Writer, Director)
"A Shot at the Big Time is a film inspired by the true
story of my brother, Jimmy, who took his own life rather than fight in the
Apartheid Border War, a war he didn't believe in.
I've launched a crowd-sourcing campaign on Indiegogo.com to
raise production funds for this film after the conventional fund raising
platforms didn't work. This film is timeless; about the young men who gave up
their lives to fight in a war many of them had no desire to fight. Every white
boy in South Africa in the seventies, eighties and early nineties, was
conscripted into military service. After three months of brutal basics they
were spat out onto the border to kill their so-called enemy.
A Shot at the Big Time traces the life of my brother and one
of his friends who just happened to black in Apartheid South Africa. They had
no interest in waging war against each other - they just wanted to be rock
stars. Then Jimmy received his call up papers. Forced into the brutal regime of
the military, with a sergeant who had it in for him, he went AWOL.
A fatal accident sealed his fate and blew up any chances
Jimmy might have had to have a normal life. He had a mental breakdown after
this and was removed from service and placed in a mental home to recover. Just
as he was finding his feet again, the army declared him "fit for
service", and drafted him straight into armed combat on the Angolan border
with the instruction to seek and destroy "the enemy".
His broken heart couldn't do this. So instead of fighting,
he released the bullets from his rifle, walked straight into the line of enemy
fire, strumming his gun as if it was his beloved guitar."
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| Janet Van Eeden |
Mayan Films' Magda M. Olchawska will be producing this film,
alongside Janet Van Eeden.
They need production funding!! After trying to go about the
conventional channels for funding and not being able to get the support that
she would of hoped for, Janet van Eeden decided to use an unconventional method
of funding.
Janet van Eeden will be using Crowd-Sourcing to get the
funds she needs to make this film. That means you can become a co-producer on
her film. $10 will get you co-producer's credit and $100 gets you a copy of the
novel, Width of a Thread, which is based on the screenplay, as well as a Radio
Rats CD.
$1000 gets you all of the above, plus a chance to appear in
the film in a crowd scene as well as a chance to send in your auditions for the
roles. The main roles will be auditioned online.
Production funding is still ongoing so, you can still become
a co-producer on this film or you can audition online to be part of the film as
well. However final decisions on casting will be taken within this week or the
next week, so if you want to have your chance to be a star send in your
audition tapes now!!
Filming will begin in July, mostly in the Free State. They
will first shoot a Short Film, which will then be taken to all the Major film
festivals, worldwide, in order to get financed for a Motion Picture.
This film could most likely be one of the best South African
Films ever made, so we urge you to get involved in any capacity that you can…
Check out this Links
The IndieGoGo Campaign
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