Students at BYU-Hawaii are attempting to pull together funds to create a feature-length film. They created a page on Kickstarter, and have been seen fundraising outside the BYU-Hawaii Counseling Center with their “(almost) free ice cream,” camera equipment, and laptops for willing passers-by to pledge at least $1 to their cause. “We are currently in the fundraising process,” said Jacob Moss, a junior from Oregon majoring in music composition. “We are on Kickstarter with 81 followers. We hope to meet $35,000 which will be enough to pull it off to be professional looking and sounding film.” “If we don’t get the $35,000 we don’t get anything,” added Jacob’s older brother, Preston Moss, a junior majoring in fine arts and anthropology. Christopher Wiley, a sophomore music major from Oregon, clarified that “the credit cards aren’t charged until the goal is reached.” According to Preston, they are not just looking for money backers. He explained, “we also need help with the cast and crew. If you are interested or feel like helping, please back us on Kickstarter. Share it with your rich parents and bishops!” Jacob jokingly added, “Take out a loan for us! We will be extremely grateful!” “We need a lot of help from other students. It will be a significant step for us in our film careers,” said Wiley.Their film will be called “The Sandman,” Preston shared. The movie is “based on a short story written in the 19th century by E.T.A. Hoffman.” When asked a brief synopsis of their film, they directed to their Kickstarter page, which reads: “Nathaniel is happy. He’s successful in school, engaged, with a grand future ahead of him. Things turn however, as he suspects one of his professors of being a deranged serial killer, who harvests the eyes of his victims. Split between planning for his wedding and bringing this criminal to justice, Nathaniel embarks on an adventure that reveals the world to be a far more wild, and frightening place than he wished to imagine it.”“All of the cast and crew are students,” said Preston. Participating in such a project would provide students “experience and creativity in a team.” “We are dreamers. We are believers. I mean that we want to go out and work and do something with our lives. We want to move people, create meaning, beauty within people’s lives. This is an idea that captivates us as a group. We want to make (something) entertaining for the film. Something beautiful. We want to make something beautiful,” Jacob elaborated.“If we reach the quality of audience we are hoping to reach,” said Jacob, “it will be nice publicity for us and the school. If you are involved, it could be a catapult to a career. Of course, in order to reach that level is going to take a lot of effort by our cast and crew, and sheer good luck.”Jacob said in closing, “I think everyone should do things like this. We are super grateful for all of the help and support we receive. We are making a movie.” Uploaded Feb. 25, 2015.
Writer: Madison Betts
