Summary
Scratcher is a feature film written and will be directed by Spencer Slishman and produced by Own the Negative, LLC. This document outlines the opportunities for organizations and individuals who are considering investing in the film.
Project Summary
An original screenplay by writer/director Spencer Slishman, Scratcher is about a young jailbird who murders a man for his multi-million dollar scratch ticket and with his innocent new girlfriend and her grandmother, sets out to cash it while evading the man's vengeful family and protecting his secret so he can start a new life.
Given current economic conditions and the state of independent film, the optimal budget for a movie of this nature is $2,400,000, with a bare-bones minimum of $1,600,000. To that end, Stalker is being produced by a single-project California limited liability company called “Own the Negative, LLC” (OTN). OTN is offering Individual “units” (or “shares”) in the LLC for $25,000 each and is also looking to supplement the budget with tax-deductible donations and corporate product integration.
No independent film project is guaranteed to be successful commercially or critically. But we like our chances with Scratcher. Spencer attended NYU film school in 2015/2016 and while he learned about all aspects of the filmmaking process, found his strongest mentor was his writing teacher and spent most of his time writing draft after draft of the same screenplay under the guidance of his professor. Their efforts paid off when Spencer was recognized in the top five percent of writers in the 2017 Nicholls fellowship competition (held by the Academy of Motion Pictures (the guys that do the oscars)) with his screenplay Sharing Needles.
Though Spencer writes his screenplays himself, he still works closely with his mentor whose still an active writer in Hollywood. With the insight of his mentor, former classmates, industry reviews from the blacklist, and finance friends who barley read, Spencer takes any and all helpful notes and criticisms and puts them to use. For this reason, Spencer’s screenplays are usually noted for freshness of their characters, dialogue, and tone. Usually ending with a comment like, “While too small to attract studios, this is prime indie material, aided by its low budget, which will help with financing. This could get festival play, followed by a long life on streaming.”
In other words, for a young writer, Spencer’s voice is well developed. As far as filmmaking goes, Spencer has logged thousands of hours in each department, however in the past few years he has been focusing on directing, editing, and shooting his own work, feeling just as comfortable using a camera as a pen to tell his stories. All being said, Spencer is not yet an established name in Hollywood but he certainly has the tools, resources, and people around him to help him embark on a successful first feature.
To keep costs low and production value high, we will be using a small crew of young, hungry filmmakers who have the necessary skills and drive to help captivate audience members with the simple, intriguing story of Scratcher.
The following pages should give you a general idea of what investors and contributors should expect from getting involved with Scratcher. Ultimately, if you are interested in investing in the film, you’ll need to take a look at our LLC membership paperwork which covers many of these same topics, but is the actual legal document that governs Own the Negative, LLC, and describes in greater specificity the risks and rewards of investing in Scratcher.
Synopsis
Scratcher is a modern day American fairytale.
In the dry suburbs north of Los Angeles, life is slow, especially for young jailbird, TAD, whose just been released from the pen and has nowhere to go and noone to be.
Job opportunity scarce in the desert, he picks up some night shifts at a local gas station and finds cheap shelter in a sweet older woman's garage. He is immediately struck by her granddaughter, MARIE. He invites her out for a burger and like love does in the young people, it struck fast and hard.
As their romance develops, Tad learns that Marie. is a waitress at a nicer resturant in town and has expressed some interest in the art of fine dining. in the only way he knows how: with money. Wanting to spoil her, he takes Marie being a waitress has an interest in fine dining