TimeStop: Restaurant Scene Campaign
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TimeSTOP: A Suspense Thriller
Logline: A small desert town radio newscaster, obsessed by building lights at an abandoned military airfield, pursues the story that will launch her career or end her life.
Synopsis: Abby is an ambitious newscaster, stuck in a small desert town radio station. She’s looking for that big story to propel her career when a strange call to the station provides the opportunity. Driven to uncover the mysterious events going on at a nearby abandoned military airfield, her reporter curiosity gets the best of her. It becomes a downward spiral taking her on a deadly rollercoaster ride into a strange world without time.
Three phases to a finished film!
Making a feature film is an expensive endeavor. This 90-minute film will require 14 days to shoot! We’ll be renting high-end equipment, camera, lenses, lighting, dollies, etc. We have multiple sets to design, multiple locations and, of course, we need to feed the talented cast and crew. Here's how we do it...
Phase 1: Shoot a pilot scene to interest major film investors
Phase 2: Develop business documents and pitch the film to secure film investor financial commitments/investments
Phase 3: Make the movie
Phase 1: The Pilot Scene
(Restaurant Scene Campaign) I’ve decided to shoot a powerful scene early in the story that provides insight to what the story is about as well as show the feel, mood, intensity and quality of the production and actors. The restaurant provides the first critical confrontation between the 2 main characters. Keeping it to 1 day will minimize costs. The location is the Halfway House Cafe. It’s located 35 miles north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, CA. Abby discovers that Dr. Ryan Wilkes, responsible for experiments being conducted on the towns’ people, always has morning coffee at the cafe. She waits for him, confronts him and presses about his work. It finally spills out into the parking lot where a mysterious individual is photographing the entire encounter from a distance.
Filmmakers
John Dowalo, Producer/Director. Throughout his distinguished engineering career, John never lost his fascination with film and the entertainment industry. His first “gig” was working for JC Backings performing color correction, photo retouch and compositing on feature film backdrops. John’s major film credits in this role included Warner Bros. “The Perfect Storm”, DreamWorks SKG “What Lies Beneath”, New Line Cinema “15 Minutes” and an Independent film titled “Under Suspicion”. Finally, after 45 years as an aerospace engineer, he retired to pursue his passion to be a filmmaker. In the last 6 years he has written, produced and directed 4 short films, including “The Prototype,” which was selected and shown at 4 festivals including Ojai, Sutter Creek International, Backyard Shorts and Copa Shorts Film Festivals. John’s mission is to create high quality films for all ages, telling stories that move, entertain and inspire.
Mayon Denton, Producer. Mayon started his own company producing music videos, commercials, documentaries, TV pilots and feature films. His first feature “Against the Grain,” was sold and distributed thru Filmworks Entertainment and is available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and iTunes. He went on to produce several other feature films. In 2017 he executive produced the TV pilot “How to Succeed at Birth” and a short film “Lil Tokyo Reporter.” He is currently scheduled to produce three feature films, “Wedding Dreams,” “Wait a Minute Mr. Postman” and “The Freaks” with executive producer John Singleton. Mayon is also helming the production of a TV show “Abaddon,” with the writer of Barbershop. Mayon has also produced commercials and projects for Sony, Fox, FS1, Beach Body, Motown, and Vibe.
David Tayar, Director of Photography. David Tayar is a Los Angeles based cinematographer and producer. He's work as a cinematographer on a wide variety of projects including feature films, web series, music videos, commercials, documentaries and short films. He recently completed work on the Hulu Plus original series, “East Lost High The Movie” (2017) and was nominated for the Gotham Award as a producer/cinematographer for the original show “Surviving”. David has worked for Disney, ABC, Warner Bros., FX1, NFL Network and Showtime along with original series for Hulu Plus and Youtube Red. David is originally from Korazim, Israel. He moved to the United States where he studied at the Los Angeles Film School and graduated with honors.
We Need Your Help!
This pilot scene is currently in preproduction. To produce, edit and score will require $19,500 to cover equipment rental, location costs, set design, cast/crew expenses and postproduction. This is the important first step to gaining the interest of major film investors. Without it we can go no further. We intend to actually use this footage in the feature and, for your contribution, you’ll be the first to view this pilot scene online later this year. Your name will also appear in the actual feature when completed.
Other Ways To Help
We appreciate that not everyone can support financially, but there are other ways you can help! Your support can be invaluable by using social media and word of mouth to direct family and friends to this site. The entire cast, crew and I appreciate your support and thank you for helping to make this film a reality!
Logline: A small desert town radio newscaster, obsessed by building lights at an abandoned military airfield, pursues the story that will launch her career or end her life.
Synopsis: Abby is an ambitious newscaster, stuck in a small desert town radio station. She’s looking for that big story to propel her career when a strange call to the station provides the opportunity. Driven to uncover the mysterious events going on at a nearby abandoned military airfield, her reporter curiosity gets the best of her. It becomes a downward spiral taking her on a deadly rollercoaster ride into a strange world without time.
Three phases to a finished film!
Making a feature film is an expensive endeavor. This 90-minute film will require 14 days to shoot! We’ll be renting high-end equipment, camera, lenses, lighting, dollies, etc. We have multiple sets to design, multiple locations and, of course, we need to feed the talented cast and crew. Here's how we do it...
Phase 1: Shoot a pilot scene to interest major film investors
Phase 2: Develop business documents and pitch the film to secure film investor financial commitments/investments
Phase 3: Make the movie
Phase 1: The Pilot Scene
(Restaurant Scene Campaign) I’ve decided to shoot a powerful scene early in the story that provides insight to what the story is about as well as show the feel, mood, intensity and quality of the production and actors. The restaurant provides the first critical confrontation between the 2 main characters. Keeping it to 1 day will minimize costs. The location is the Halfway House Cafe. It’s located 35 miles north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, CA. Abby discovers that Dr. Ryan Wilkes, responsible for experiments being conducted on the towns’ people, always has morning coffee at the cafe. She waits for him, confronts him and presses about his work. It finally spills out into the parking lot where a mysterious individual is photographing the entire encounter from a distance.
Filmmakers
John Dowalo, Producer/Director. Throughout his distinguished engineering career, John never lost his fascination with film and the entertainment industry. His first “gig” was working for JC Backings performing color correction, photo retouch and compositing on feature film backdrops. John’s major film credits in this role included Warner Bros. “The Perfect Storm”, DreamWorks SKG “What Lies Beneath”, New Line Cinema “15 Minutes” and an Independent film titled “Under Suspicion”. Finally, after 45 years as an aerospace engineer, he retired to pursue his passion to be a filmmaker. In the last 6 years he has written, produced and directed 4 short films, including “The Prototype,” which was selected and shown at 4 festivals including Ojai, Sutter Creek International, Backyard Shorts and Copa Shorts Film Festivals. John’s mission is to create high quality films for all ages, telling stories that move, entertain and inspire.
Mayon Denton, Producer. Mayon started his own company producing music videos, commercials, documentaries, TV pilots and feature films. His first feature “Against the Grain,” was sold and distributed thru Filmworks Entertainment and is available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and iTunes. He went on to produce several other feature films. In 2017 he executive produced the TV pilot “How to Succeed at Birth” and a short film “Lil Tokyo Reporter.” He is currently scheduled to produce three feature films, “Wedding Dreams,” “Wait a Minute Mr. Postman” and “The Freaks” with executive producer John Singleton. Mayon is also helming the production of a TV show “Abaddon,” with the writer of Barbershop. Mayon has also produced commercials and projects for Sony, Fox, FS1, Beach Body, Motown, and Vibe.
David Tayar, Director of Photography. David Tayar is a Los Angeles based cinematographer and producer. He's work as a cinematographer on a wide variety of projects including feature films, web series, music videos, commercials, documentaries and short films. He recently completed work on the Hulu Plus original series, “East Lost High The Movie” (2017) and was nominated for the Gotham Award as a producer/cinematographer for the original show “Surviving”. David has worked for Disney, ABC, Warner Bros., FX1, NFL Network and Showtime along with original series for Hulu Plus and Youtube Red. David is originally from Korazim, Israel. He moved to the United States where he studied at the Los Angeles Film School and graduated with honors.
We Need Your Help!
This pilot scene is currently in preproduction. To produce, edit and score will require $19,500 to cover equipment rental, location costs, set design, cast/crew expenses and postproduction. This is the important first step to gaining the interest of major film investors. Without it we can go no further. We intend to actually use this footage in the feature and, for your contribution, you’ll be the first to view this pilot scene online later this year. Your name will also appear in the actual feature when completed.
Other Ways To Help
We appreciate that not everyone can support financially, but there are other ways you can help! Your support can be invaluable by using social media and word of mouth to direct family and friends to this site. The entire cast, crew and I appreciate your support and thank you for helping to make this film a reality!
Organizer
John Dowalo
Organizer
Thousand Oaks, CA