'Above the Clouds' US Premiere

Aim

We want to get our two lead actors to the Austin Film Festival for the US Premiere, while also raising funds for The Big Cat Sanctuary

We're looking for your help to get our two lead actors out to the Austin Film Festival for the US Premiere of our film Above the Clouds. We have partnered up with The Big Cat Sanctuary in order to help also raise money for them while at the same time it has enabled us to offer some amazing rewards. So like Naomi and Andy you could be feeding a Lion!

But more about that later...

Above the Clouds is an offbeat coming-of-age comedy of one girl’s marathon quest to find her real father. Produced and directed by Leon Chambers with screenplay by Simon Lord and starring Naomi Morris, Andrew Murton and Philip Jackson (Poirot, My Week with Marilyn and Peterloo.)

abovethecloudsfilm.co.uk

Making an independent feature film is one long journey. It starts as an idea and from there the hard work really begins. Even once it has had its festival premiere there is still much left to be done and money to be spent. And having put everything I have into this project, I am now asking for your help to get the film out into the world.

Above the Clouds has already been a ten year journey from initial idea to the world premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London on 1st October 2018. It played to a sold out audience, and has received a number of outstanding reviews that captured the audience’s love for the film.

“Above the Clouds is the film that will define the 2018 Raindance Film Festival in the minds of millions of cinema lovers.”— Bennett McClellan (Raindance Review)

“Above the Clouds already feels like the gem of this year’s festival, and there’s always one, full of heart and soul and characters you can truly care about.”— Caroline Preece (Cultbox)

With Charlie and Oz at the heart of the story the audience really enjoyed meeting the actors who played the characters they had fallen in love with. And aware that the US premiere is coming up in a matter of weeks, I decided that we had to go all out and get Naomi and Andy on the red carpet at the Austin Film Festival!

To get them to Austin we need to raise funds for flights, hotels and expenses, so that we can keep riding this wave. The Austin Film Festival is very much an industry facing festival, so there are real possibilities to get the film in front of people that can help distribute it.

So back to the whole lion thing...

Well, one of the characters Charlie and Oz meet on their journey is Leo, who lives above a charity shop. The name of that shop is The Big Cat Sanctuary. The shop is fictional, but the charity is very real.

The Big Cat Sanctuary was founded in 2000 and is a UK registered conservation charity, which is home to over 50 wild cats. Hidden in the peaceful Kent countryside it began as a refuge for rescued cats. Now recognised as centre of excellence and one of Europe's biggest wild cat centres making global partnerships and supporting conservation initiatives.

thebigcatsanctuary.org

The sanctuary is not open to the general public and as a charity relies on private appointment experiences, donations and fundraising to carry out its work, which was recently highlighted on the BBC programme Big Cats About the House, starring Maya the black Jaguar, Willow the Cheetah and following Giles Clark, their Director of Cats and Conservation.

The sanctuary has four pillars of ethos: 

Welfare - Providing our cats with the best possible environments, enrichments & care to allow them to live long, happy & healthy lives.

Education - Ensuring a future for cats big & small by educating generations to come about our interdependence with animals and the ecosystem of planet earth.

Breeding - Actively involved in the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme, adding more cubs & kittens to the planet.

Conservation - Making substantial contributions to global cat conservation projects at home and through trusted, regional based in-situ & ex-situ partners.

Having visited the Big Cat Sanctuary and had the amazing experience of hand feeding some of the big cats, I decided this would be a good opportunity to help the charity by sharing 25% of the funds raised with them.

So not only will you be supporting the onward journey of the film you will also be helping this fantastic organisation.

As you will see one of the rewards is to visit the Big Cat Sanctuary for an exclusive screening of the film. They have also offered some wonderful rewards including the opportunity to hand feed a lion yourself!

Thank you for your support! Leon

This project successfully funded on 4th November 2018