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Monday, July 8, 2013
The University Daily Kansan
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The film "God, Grant Me" will begin filming this summer and is set to release in the spring, with premieres in Lawrence and Kansas City. It will also be sent to various film festivals. Local Filmmakers Jesse McGinness and Will Friederich will produce the movie.
"God, Grant Me" follows the story of a cancer survivor and his friendship with a drug addict. The film also focuses on the importance of human interaction.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
COMMUNITY
Crowdfunding supports Lawrence filmmakers
CODY KUIPER ckiper@kansan.com
Two Lawrence filmmakers are embracing the idea of community in their debut feature-length film, "God, Grant Me."
The film focuses on a pill addict named Lea and her friendship with Silus, a cancer survivor she meets after confusing a narcotics anonymous meeting with a cancer survivor's support group.
Jesse McGinness, a Lawrence resident, and Will Frierederich, a business student at the University, began writing the film in March and said it centers on the idea that it takes human interaction to experience personal growth, which is why they chose to fund their project with Kickstarter, a website that allows people from around the world to donate money to fund projects, rather than going through traditional investment routes.
"Ultimately we decided on a crowdfunding way, specifically Kickstarter, because it embodies the message of the film," McGinness said. "The theme of our production has been that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and really Kickstarter is just a way to further that."
McGinness and Freiderich decided to collaborate on the film after meeting each other in Henry's Coffee House, where they discovered each other's passion for cinema.
McGinness focuses on the narrative of the film, while Freiderich's job lies in the aesthetics, which will be influenced by a combination of old and modern techniques.
"We want it to be pretty and do some good framing, so we're going to try to incorporate some Kubrick style shots," Freiderich said. "But we're also going to try to incorporate some of this new, Lena Dunham modern movement in it, where you use a handheld camera kind of closer to the person so that way the viewer kind of feels more connected to it."
"God, Grant Me" will be shot primarily in Lawrence and will feature two Lawrence residents in the leading roles.
Nick Johnson will play the lead role of Silus in the film, who is a survivor of colon cancer.
Johnson said the use of cancer in the film has brought more emotion to their film-making process.
"There have been a lot of random people coming up to us, talking to us about how they've survived cancer and how they've been through it and that's been a really humbling experience in that regard," he said.
Filming for "God, Grant Me" is set to begin at the end of the month. McGinness and Frierderich are planning to premier the movie in the spring in Lawrence and Kansas City after sending it to various film festivals throughout the country.
Edited by Megan Hinman
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