As everyone knows, unicorns are unique mythical beings. It seems appropriate a local fifteen minute film Uni (currently in production) uses the myth of the unicorn to subtly satirize religious groups who promise through Jesus that you can become a heterosexual ex-gay. Appropriate, because ex-gays, like unicorns, are fictional animals.
The film stars gay slacker and comedian Darcy Michael. He plays the role of a man who dresses as a unicorn and plays alongside his friends in epic Live Action Role Playing (LARP) games. Unfortunately, his family disprove of his "alternative lifestyle", and pressure him into attending a bizarre treatment camp that promises to give Darcy everything he needs to finally become normal.
Besides the premise, what’s different about Uni is how director Luke Black is amassing capital for its production. Instead of applying for grants or getting financial backing from one or two people, he’s crowd fundraising. This collaborative form of fundraising has been around for a while; applying it to films is relatively new, Luke told me. Yet, "...it is kind of like a larger film in that you go for financial backers".
When you think of funding for small filmmakers, you think of them making a film on a tiny budget or applying for grants through governments/corporations/foundations. The time it takes to secure a grant was a big showstopper for Luke – he wrote Uni with Darcy and his comedic talents in mind. Therefore, Luke wanted to make the film as soon as possible so Darcy would be available for it. If you’ve ever seen Darcy Michael perform, the idea of him as a LARP unicorn undergoing conversion...is...well, bizarrely appealing. He brings a strong potential for offbeat humour to the project.
Because of this and the subject matter, Luke also wanted to have more freedom with the project than he might have using grants. Furthermore, raising funds from grants tend to be hit and miss. "There’s a lot of competition...even if you put it together really well you’re still up against hundreds of people." Luke has had grant proposals come back where he was told the idea was well received, but sadly, they gave the money to another project.
Crowd fundraising gives Luke a lot more freedom, and it also has another benefit – it allows you to build interest in ahead of the film. "It doesn’t hurt to build a fan-base around people being interested in the movie in advance," Luke said.
By making Uni a study of a man’s struggle between being a unicorn LARPer or a regular person, this gives it an element of the absurd. Yet how much more absurd is it than conversion camps who promise to "pray away the gay?"
Luke told me because of the length of the film, they won’t have too much time to fully illustrate how strange some of the conversion therapies are, yet "...we’re trying to find those moments where we can parallel how odd these camps are." He certainly wishes there was time enough to fully explore show a parallel anti-unicorn therapy program just to illustrate some of the exercises that conversion camps do in the real world. "The more we got into it, the more insane it was...actually getting into the nuts and bolts of these places, it’s just a trip to the Twilight Zone."
Regardless of the results from fundraising, Luke tells me Uni will get done one way or the other. With more funds it will have better production values. While contributing directly to a work of art should be its own selling point, depending on the level of donations you will get some "swag" - ranging from an official "Uni" button ($10) to a digital copy of the finished film ($25) and a digital copy of Darcy Michael’s comedy album You’re Gay Now ($50) and more (you can donate as much as $1000).
If you’re interested, go to the website for more details, to donate, to read up on any updates, and ultimately to save the unicorn.