HELP US TO POWER UP POSITIVE STORIES!
At the moment there are a lot of negative stories told online and in the media. Stories of hate, division and discrimination. It’s easy for the most aggressive commentators to overwhelm the narrative but that leads to a very dark place indeed!
At Open Sky we work with artists from different backgrounds to tell positive stories that reinforce the idea that our similarities are far greater than our differences. In the current economic climate that’s a challenging mission and we need your help!
Our latest project MicroPlays: Identity tells 5 such stories. They’re powerful, moving, funny and authentic. We’ve filmed them over the last 3 months and now we need to raise £2,500 to complete post-production.
We know times are tough for everyone at the moment so any donation of any size would be deeply appreciated. We have a range of rewards to say ‘thank you’ for donating, plus you’ll become part of the Open Sky family of rebellious truth tellers!
WHAT YOU’LL BE FUNDING…
We’re creating a series of five brand new digital shorts, MicroPlays: Identity. Five writers were asked the question, “What makes us who we are?”
Blind Faith by Sam Obigbesan tells of a young man’s religious parents’ refusal to accept his failing sight.
Outside the Box by Claire Coaché is a comic book take on one peri-menopausal woman’s refusal to be pigeon-holed in the workplace.
Shoobs by Janet Etuk is a raucous coming of age story set at a banging South London house party in the early noughties.
Shrimp by Yasser Zadeh is a story about a troubling homecoming, heavy drinking and an unexpected disco romance.
The Art of Dying by Lisle Turner sees a dying samurai fight his inner demons as he tries to say his final goodbyes to his daughter.
We’ve already shot the five films with an incredibly diverse and talented cast and crew but now we need to finish them to a standard that will make them stand out. That means composing the music, editing, sound designing, colouring and designing motion graphics; all done by working with a whole new set of talented artists
We’ve included a little reel above, with a shot from each film. We hope you can see why we’re so excited about them!
REWARDS
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Any amount | Thank you on our website |
£10 | Thank you on our website and regular email updates.
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£20 | Thank you on our website, regular updates via email, 5 limited edition postcards with film images.
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£50 | Thank you on our website, regular updates via email, 5 limited edition postcards with film images, thank you credit on films.
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£100+ | Thank you on our website, regular updates via email, 5 limited edition postcards with film images, thank you credit on films, invitation to a preview screening.
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BACKGROUND
Open Sky is a multi-award winning production company making theatre, digital theatre and film from our base in rural Herefordshire.
We are a National Portfolio Organisation which means we receive regular funding from Arts Council England via the UK Government. Part of our responsibility as an NPO is to raise additional funds ourselves.
MicroPlays: Identity is our second anthology. The first, MicroPlays: Polarity was made in 2020. Five digital short plays, written by writers from diverse backgrounds were designed to appeal to audiences traditionally excluded from the cultural discourse. The shorts were mobile phone friendly and released via social media.
The series was a huge success reaching new audiences of 650,000+ people. MicroPlays: Polarity won the Digital Inclusion category at the national Digital Culture Awards in 2022 and went on to be declared the overall winner. One of the shorts, The Ceremony, premiered internationally at the prestigious Vancouver International Film Festival before winning Best LGBTQIA+ short and best screenplay at The Artists Forum in New York.
“As thought provoking as they are concise” – Best Drama of the Week, METRO
“Ingenuity Twinkles throughout a bite-sized box set” – THE STAGE
**** “Slick, well performed and articulate” – Theatre Weekly