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Shadow Boy film. Everyone deserves a future.

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A short film to raise international awareness and change the future of child victims of trafficking. We invite you to support us producing this film, a co-production between NL and the UK. 

⬇︎ 'Read More' to see what perks you can purchase and how to donate without a credit card!


 “If you have a document proving your immigration status it means you have the opportunity to do lots of things. You start living like normal people. Without a document you’re not like normal people. The Home Office tells you what you can and can't do. When you have the right to remain in the UK you’re not scared anymore. You can decide what you want to do and pursue your future.” https://www.ecpat.org.uk/stable-futures


Find the right answer here 


We believe every child has a right to chase their dreams, no matter where they come from or what they have been through. Now, more than ever, we have learned what it means to have freedom of movement and what it means when that is taken away. Join us in taking a stand against modern slavery and fighting for their right to have a future that is stable and free. Currently, child victims of trafficking are denied that right, including in the UK.

There are great organisations on the frontline campaigning to ensure stable futures for trafficked children, for example this international campaign by Traffickinghub, this Dutch campaign by Defence For Children, and this campaign by ECPAT UK (Every Child Protected Against Trafficking). Like them, we want positive futures for these children. They have the right to be able to achieve their potential and we insist that parliament makes changes to eliminate the systemic injustice that thwarts their basic human rights. That is why we are producing a hard-hitting short film to highlight the issues a 17-year old child victim of trafficking is facing when fighting to secure his future, set in the UK. Will you support us making this film?
 

OUR FILM: SHADOW BOY
At the age of 10, Jacob was trafficked into the UK and forced to work on a cannabis farm in Norfolk. Five years later, when the police shut it down they found Jacob and he was taken into care.

Now a 17-year-old student living in foster care, Jacob not only has the pressure of exams and adolescence, but also the presence of the traffickers looming in the background of his life. Despite fighting for his future both Jacob and Finn, his exasperated social worker, have to deal with the continuous rejection of his applications to secure immigrations status in the UK. As he edges towards becoming a legal adult, he faces the additional burden of dealing with the system as an adult on his own. Will this pressure prove too much?

Shadow Boy highlights the long processes - which are often longer than necessary - that hang over the lives of child victims of trafficking causing stress, anxiety, mental illness and even suicide. Often, this distress makes child victims of trafficking run away or go missing from care. This is counter-productive, often resulting in further exploitation or re-trafficking.
 

This story must be told, because:

-   We need to inform the public: most people are not aware of the large number of child victims of trafficking in our home countries. This film will be shown at local theatres and international film festivals, bringing these facts about modern slavery out into the open. Our most important event will be Anti-Slavery Day, 18 October 2020, where we will premiere our film in London and invite MPs and major influencers. We might have to change this moment to an online event due to COVID-19.

-   Policy needs to be improved, for example: the current policies of the UK government are complicated, and it can take up to 10 years before a trafficking victim receives a final decision on their immigration status. This process is very stressful, especially for teenagers, whose lives are left in limbo with no guarantee they will secure their immigration status. The awareness this film raises, leads to policy changes to make this process less stressful for young people and secure long term outcomes in their best interests.

- We create momentum: Producing a strong, professionally executed story will enable us to get widespread international media coverage and draw attention to the issue. We want to create such an outcry towards the government that they simply can no longer look away.


Where are we now?
Together with ECPAT UK and young people who have been through the traumas of child trafficking, we have developed a solid script of 10 pages (i.e., about ten minutes of film). Working together with actual trafficked children enabled us to create a story that is truthful, believable and close to the reality of these young people. 

Some reactions: 
“The young people fed back that immigration status is the most important thing and that this needs to come across more clearly in the script.” 

“They fed back that they feel it needs to express from Finn's point (the social worker), very strongly: the feeling of having absolutely no hope.” 

“This is very believable. The young people said that if they overheard a conversation like this [the dialogue in the script] they would have run away immediately.”

 
The mood board below shows the visual direction we would like to develop for this short film: 

View the full mood board here 


What do we need to make this film?
Straight and simple: we want to do this together with you. We can’t make this film without you joining us in getting our message out to the wider world. 
You can support us through a financial contribution and by sharing our campaign with your family and friends.

Here’s our plan: we have already started our pre-production process (i.e. writing, casting, location scouting, etc). We hope to film in September to be able to premiere our film on Anti-Slavery Day 18 October 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 crisis this is a little up in the air. However, we will try to do everything within our power and according to the government’s guidelines to premiere in October.

We are making this film as professional filmmaking friends and with continuous collaboration with and input from the young people who have been or are going through this very process of applying for immigration status. 

However, there are a couple of roles we will need to advertise for. For a film on anti-slavery, it is really important to us to pay our hired cast and crew the UK National Living Wage, unfortunately this doesn’t always happen in the world of short filmmaking. We are honest and transparent towards our hired crew – which means paying everyone at least the minimum they deserve for their time.

We expect to film 3 days in September. Our target of £10,000 will cover equipment hire, certain crew and cast roles, locations, catering, festival submissions, etc. 

If we raise an extra £5,000 we can even pay all our friends working on this film.

If we raise even more money, we can hire better lenses or a fancier camera, extra hands on set or live players for the score; all enhancing the quality of the film and taking it to an even more professional level.



How can you support us?

You are free to give what you can to support us, but we would like to offer you something in return for specific amounts:

-   £10: a ‘shout out’ on social media to thank you.
-   £25: a ‘thank you’ credit in the film.
-   £50: a still from the film, signed by the director and cast + a ‘thank you’ credit in the film.
-   £100: a signed script by the director, writer and cast + a ‘special thank you’ credit in the film.
-   £150: a downloadable copy of the film before it is released + ‘special thank you’ credit in the film.
-   £250: day on set (excl. travel and hotel) + a ‘special thank you’ credit in the film.
-   £500: an ‘associate producer’ credit in the film.
-   £1500: a ‘sponsored by’ credit in the film for businesses: featuring your logo in the ‘special thank you’ section of the credits.
-   £2500: an ‘executive producer’ credit in the film.

We are also looking for additional team members who would like to contribute their time and talents towards this project. If you are interested in participating in this project, please send us a direct message.

For Dutch people: het is alleen mogelijk om met een debit/credit card bij te dragen. Daarom kunnen jullie ons ook via deze Tikkie link steunen. Wij zorgen dat jullie bijdrage alsnog op gofundme terecht komt!


Who are we?
(our team is a lot bigger, but we don't want you to keep scrolling ;) so here some key team members)



Nelleke Noort – van Dijk, Director:
Having become a mum only recently, Nelleke is now even more determined to tell impactful stories that need to be heard - especially when they are about children and futures that are at stake. Over the last 10 years, Nelleke directed and produced nonfiction and fictional film productions and various promotional campaigns tailored to various audiences.
She was born and raised in the Netherlands and studied film directing at Open Studio Amsterdam, UCLA Extension and the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Acting Studio, Los Angeles.
In 2018, Nelleke founded Noort Filmworks, a film production company which specialises in ethical stories that talk about humanitarian, environmental and social justice issues and works also as a director for the Dutch film produciton company Living Image.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5040869
https://vimeo.com/nellekenoort



Feia van Dusseldorp, Social Media Manager:
Feia is a 26 year old Kiwi who grew up in the Netherlands, where she studied Social Work. During an internship in the Red Light District of Amsterdam, she came in contact with a lot of human trafficking victims. This experience and their stories stirred up a passion within her for justice, which lead her to specialize in battling human trafficking. After her degree she moved to London, where she lived and worked as content producer and photographer. She now works as a freelance photographer and communication strategist for social enterprises. In her work she creates media content which inspires and encourages people to look out for the disenfranchised and to care for them. She believes that beauty with a cause is our strongest asset against injustice.



David Baboulene, Writer:
David is a published author, filmmaker, story consultant, public speaker and Ph.D. academic of story theory. His research has shifted the cutting edge of narrative theory from a focus on structuralism to an approach based on evolutionary psychology – factors such as knowledge gaps and subtext – that cause stories to exist and to have such power to grip and engage an audience.

http://www.baboulene.com/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5545871



Luke Walton, Executive Producer:
Luke Walton is founder and director of The Pitch Film fund, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2019. The Pitch has focused on nurturing and developing emerging talent, adding additional benefits for participants including master classes and residential film study courses. The film fund launched a new hub in South Africa in 2017.

Luke is also director of RIF (Reel Issues Films) who support the winner and produce the winning concepts as completed films. He has exec produced 2 short films (‘The Walk’ & ‘One’), produced 12 others (‘Unscripted’, 'Derelict', 'Rahab', 'The Black Scholes Conspiracy', 'The Light', 'Pulsar', 'Only Child' (nominated for a BAFTA Cymru), 'The Widow's Last', ‘Promise’, ‘Leash’, and, in South Africa ‘Ramsay’(animation) and ‘The Second’). Currently in production are “White Gold” and “Phiwo’s Duty”.

Luke acted with Riding Lights Theatre company and has extensive experience on local radio both with independent and BBC stations. His latest screen credit is for the voice of Hugglegrabber in Early Man, the latest feature from Aardman directed by Nick Park. He has degrees in both law and in theology.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4183556



Paul Akinrinlola, Director of Photography:
Paul Akinrinlola is a director specializing in commercials, film and music videos. The British-Nigerian raised in East London has carved a lane of his own creating visuals with a sincere appreciation for detail. On any typical day, he spends ample time inspired and surrounded by the height of innovation in contemporary music, fashion and art, which have all played a critical role in shaping his creative mind. With a uniquely honed filmmaking talent, Paul constantly strives to captivate audiences with beautifully composed storytelling.

https://www.jm-films.tv/paul-akinrilola



Jenny Strange, Producer:
Over the last 10 years, Jenny has produced and directed predominantly in the area of branded and corporate content for some of the world's biggest brands and charities. But with a deep desire to make films that showcase real stories of real people, she now devotes her spare time to making films to help evoke change. 



Dan Baboulene, Composer:
Dan has assisted high-end composers on several films and 2019 has seen him score in his own right. Passionate about film music, he scored his first film at 16. His second film Going Under (Toby Paton) was nominated in the ‘Up and Coming’ category of London Film Festival. Since then he has obtained a music degree from Oxford University as a Leask Scholar, and interned at Hans Zimmer’s Studio in Los Angeles with Henry Jackman’s company Sacred Tiger. Earlier this year, Dan wrote the music for Toby Paton’s VICE documentary, The Brexit Storm, which was broadcast on BBC2, and the feature film Eaten By Lions (Jason Wingard, 2019), released in cinemas nationwide at the end of March 2019.  

Dan’s music was featured at the London Film Festival in Harry Lighton’s short, Leash, which was nominated in the Best Short category and Jason Wingard’s feature, In Another Life, won Best UK Feature at Raindance. Another short, Andrew Toovey’s Only Child was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Award, as well as winning the Top Shorts Best Score Award. He worked for Ivor Novello winner, Joris de Man (Horizon Zero Dawn, Killzone 2) on the Horizon Zero Dawn Frozen Wilds Playstation soundtrack and he was on Joris’ team for the feature Chuck Steel. 

His music has been used in commercials including Sainsbury’s, HSBC, Worldpay, 7IM, Anglo American and Edwardian Hotels. He’s an affiliated composer of The West Pier Music Team, along with Peter Michael Davison, Joris de Man, Rob Lane and Lee Pepper. He assisted Peter on the 2019 animated feature, Strike.  

https://www.smatalent.com/dan-baboulene/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4646041

 
Risks & Challenges
The great thing about our project and team is that we have all the expertise we need to create a stunning short film. There are a couple of challenges we might face if we don’t raise the target. 

We might have to make a different great film using a stripped-back version of the script, with fewer characters, a skeleton crew and without the preferred equipment.
We might have to do another crowdfunding campaign later down the line to ensure submissions to film festivals, organise our premiere event, etc; delaying these events, which we’d like to avoid as this is a pressing topic!
We may have to postpone our shoot, making it harder to support ECPAT UK during their current live campaign ‘Stable Futures’ and delaying the delivery of the purchased perks.

COVID-19 might throw another spanner in the works, but this is very hard to predict. If it is up to us, the current crisis might delay our shoot but it won’t cancel it.


We can’t wait to tell this story to the world, make the needed impact through raising awareness and gathering thousands of signatures on ECPAT UK’s petition, inspiring people to reach out to their MPs and call for change. We are very excited to do this journey together with you and are committed to you as our backer, ensuring you get what you paid for.

Follow us on our social platforms so you won’t miss out on important updates and let us know how you feel about what we are doing or if you have any questions!
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Donations 

  • Redwoods People Services
    • £90
    • 4 yrs
  • J. Kamminga
    • £7 (Offline)
    • 5 yrs
  • ME van der Duin
    • £13 (Offline)
    • 5 yrs
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Fundraising team: Noort Filmworks (5)

Nelleke Noort
Organizer
Feia Van Dusseldorp
Team member
Jenny Strange
Team member
David Baboulene
Team member
Kate Bromley
Team member

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