A Little Help from Our Friends...

SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL is getting ready to be shot very shortly. Right now we’ve raised about 7K of the 10K we need. That means we still need help to get to our final goal on IndieGoGo. If you haven’t made a donation, viewed the updated trailer, or passed on the link to fellow indie film lovers, we need your help.

How can I help exactly?

Take a look at our trailer, order an advanced DVD or tee shirt, or share the following trailer link (here or directly below) on your Facebook page, Tumblr, etc. Any type of word of mouth from you will make a huge difference in bringing the film it into being.

Trailer Link: http://www.indiegogo.com/Shoplifting-from-American-Apparel-Movie

Someone said you might need actors in Hollywood? When will that be?

We might need extras and some speaking roles for a shoot on May 16th. We’re still working out details, but audition notices will be posted on the Sangha Films website and on the AMDA bulletin board.

What is the latest with THE HUMAN WAR?

We placed third in the Appalachia Film Festival. Right now Mark Parsia is currently putting the film through a second edit, and we will hit the film festival circuit in full force once we have a polished film.

Here is the trailer for THE HUMAN WAR.

You’ve gotten a lot of press for SHOPLIFTING?

That’s right. If you’d like to read the press the film has already generated, I’ve listed a bunch of interviews with various magazines that have already gone to print.

• Nth Word Interview by Ryan O’Conner


• Buzzlegoose Interview by Alexa Santoro
  


• Indiewire Feature
  


• Impose Magazine Interview by Josh Spilker


• Bark Mentions SFAA by Amaris Ketcham
  

Thank you to everyone for your help in spreading the word these last couple months. This film wouldn’t be possible without all of you who have helped thus far.

Best,

Pirooz

SFAA Movie Fundraiser Surpasses $6K in Donations!

The SHOPLIFTING (movie) fundraiser has now raised $6K in a week. That's incredible! We still have a ways to go though. We want to raise at least 20K to make the film in Los Angeles in June. If you want to get a tee shirt, the DVD, or other great merchandise, please visit and share the link below to make a donation and pass the word.

LINK: http://www.indiegogo.com/Shoplifting-from-American-Apparel-Movie

SFAA Now on IndieGoGo!

We have switched our fundraiser from Kickstarter to IndieGoGo. We have a new featurette up, and have included a tee shirt with any $20 donation and above. For those of you that need to re-donate, please be aware that any who donate again will receive a free additional tee shirt for donations over $20.

SFAA Trailer Shoot

(All photos by Geoffrey Hauschild)

We first shot in Akron for the Brad Warner documentary. Noah Cicero and Jordan Castro met up for the Zero Defex show. I showed them a rough trailer for THE HUMAN WAR.

Randy Blythe from LAMB OF GOD came out to support ZERO DEFEX during the show. He even got up to sing a few songs.

After shooting in Akron, we went to Solon, Ohio to begin filming a trailer for SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL (SFAA). Here is a shot of Andrew Crighton and TJ Hellmuth inspecting a camera before shooting one of the opening scenes for the trailer.

James Roehl and Brad Warner contemplate the screen as we shoot one of the first scenes in SFAA.

Noah Cicero lays out his lines on the table in front of him to help him get through the scene.

After several days of shooting, we began to watch dailies at night. As you can see, we were all pretty exhausted. I don't even think Jordan is awake in these pictures.

Andrew Crighton (Director of Photography) adjusts lighting for a scene in SFAA.

James Roehl and Andrew Crighton during an opening scene in SFAA. James found a ukulele lying around.

(More pics in the coming days. We'll have the trailer up on Kickstarter for donations by March 1, 2011.)

SHOPLIFTING TRAILER in February!

Dear Friends, Crew Members, Investors, and Actors,

We are making progress towards filming SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL.

Brian Lee (animator) is working on the powerpoint and making all our skins to avoid copyright issues for anything shot in-screen for SFAA. Drew will be shooting a test to make sure we get no flash lines for the opening scene on camera.

Jeffrey Brown (cartoonist) has sent the uncolored poster for SFAA. It's pretty fabulous. He has also volunteered to send original drawings of the trees and porno images to auction and help us raise funds, etc.

Steven Andrew has gotten up the new refurbished Sangha Films website (see below).

LINK: http://www.sanghafilms.com

Things are going really well.

If we all keep plowing forward, and make a solid push at this virtual fundraising campaign, we will have a full-fledged movie on our hands come June.

Here is a rough schedule of what will be happening in February:

2/9 - Shoot Brad talking about his life in Akron and film the rock show at THE MATINEE with Zero Defex for BRAD WARNER: THE ENLIGHTENIZER.

2/10 - Shoot opening scene (YouTubeClip) and LOTR debate scene at Jordon's house in Solon. Afterwards in the late evening, we can film some improvs dealing with the "fundraising" portion of our extended trailer.

2/11 - Shoot gmail chat sequences with Brad at Jordan's house or a house in Youngstown that could pass as a NYC apartment.

2/12 - Shoot James in gmail chat sequence at Noah's house, and then shoot Noah doing a Q&A outside; possibly shoot at abandoned factory.

Chat with more details soon,

Pirooz

Our First Festival!

Dear Friends,

I hope things are going well for you in the New Year. We've had our first good news of the year. We got into Appalachian Film Festival today. Since many of you have helped this result come into being, we wanted you to be the first to know, and join us in following the progress of THW as the festival season continues. As it stands now, we've entered about 18 festivals, with plans to enter ten or so more. We find out about most other festivals in mid-March and April. Hopefully, Appalachian is a sign of more good tidings in the weeks to come. We have our fingers crossed that we will also be making Tribeca and others in March. : )

LINK: http://www.appyfilmfest.com/pages/media-center.htm

These last three weeks have been extremely busy. We are hustling to get websites updated and a trailer out for THE HUMAN WAR. It's just Tom and I at this point, so we're slow moving, but working hard. With a little luck, we will have a trailer link and refurbished website in the next couple weeks. I will try and keep updating our website with new festival info, so you can come to the one that are closest to you.

Thank you for your support and help to make the first leg of our festival journey start out well. We look forward to celebrating more good news in the coming months. Who knows? We might win one of these. ; )

Chat Soon,

Pirooz Kalayeh
Director/Producer, Sangha Films
http://www.sanghafilms.com

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MAKING DONATIONS, INVESTING, OR OFFERING A HELPING HAND

As it stands, we'll be finishing the final shots of our documentary on Zen master, Brad Warner in February. Our hope is to release the documentary next year. If you'd like to make an investment or donation to Brad Warner: The Enlightenizer, SFAA, THE HUMAN WAR, or any other Sangha Films project, I've put a link below. Any little bit helps. That means that even a dollar would be appreciated. We're not a big company, but we've got a lot of heart and some extraordinary film and television professionals who have donated their expertise, time, and energy to helping this little company come into being. We'd like to keep making film projects for many years to come. If you've enjoyed the journey, and would like to see us make more films, please donate, invest, or pass on this link through your e-mail and social media outlets.

For those of you want to help with any of the shoots, please respond to this e-mail and let me know what film you'd like to help with and how. At this point, we will be shooting in Akron and Solon, Ohio from 2/9 -2/13. Our next shoot will potentially by in Los Angeles from 6/6-6/20.

A Paypal Donation button is below. To make a donation just click the button and follow the directions on the screen. Any sized donation is welcome.

NOTE: If you do not have a Paypal account, you can make donations by clicking "Continue" in the middle of the page under the title heading "Don't Have a Paypal Account."
NOTE: If you do not have a Paypal account, you can make donations by clicking "Continue" in the middle of the page under the title heading "Don't Have a Paypal Account."

Thank you for helping our film come into being.

PK

Help Bring Shoplifting to Life!

Dear Friends,

We will be shooting the opening to our feature film, SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL from 2/9-2/13 in Akron and Solon, Ohio.

SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL is a feature film that explores Internet culture, consumerism, reality, fame, relationships, and cinema. The film is based on the novella by Tao Lin.

The idea is that creating a trailer will help us generate further donations through friends, family, and investors. (We will premiere the trailer on Kickstarter and other sites on March 1, 2011.)

At present, we need to raise $2,000 to make our trailer.

A Paypal Donation button is below. To make a donation just click the button and follow the directions on the screen. Any sized donation is welcome.

NOTE: If you do not have a Paypal account, you can make donations by clicking "Continue" in the middle of the page under the title heading "Don't Have a Paypal Account."

Please help our film come into being.

To see clips of our previous work please go here or here.

Best,

Pirooz Kalayeh
Director/Producer
http://www.sanghafilms.com
http://www.piroozkalayeh.com