CULTURE WATCH : Concert, Bake Sale Put Film on Track
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Could this be the next big trend in film financing?
Steve Hanft is an independent filmmaker trying to raise around $3,000 to finish his first feature film about a loser stock-car racer who is trying to raise around $3,000 to repair his race car.
This being recession-era Hollywood and Hanft being an untested commodity with a quirky film starring all non-actors with a downbeat ending, as you might imagine Hanft was pretty much left to go it alone.
Luckily some friends in the rock ‘n’ roll world believed in the project and, taking a tip from Live Aid, Farm Aid and the rest, they put on a benefit.
“I thought it was kind of weird to have people play for me,” Hanft concedes. “But my friends forced me into it. They said I had to do it.”
The show, which took place at Raji’s last Thursday, featured gender-bent rockers Cholita, hemp revolutionary Rev. Bud Green and Southern California hillbilly folk-rocker Beck.
The show (which also included a cake sale) raised around $700 and, Hanft says, there’s been renewed interest in distributing his film.
Sting, are you listening?
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