LA FOCUS - Takers
Logline: Young magicians decide to become con artists who only target Wall Street.
Length: 46:17
Director: Rachel Carey
Producer: Rachel Carey
Writer: Rachel Carey
About the writer, director and producer:
Rachel Carey is a writer and filmmaker based in the New York City area. Recent projects include the short film The Unbelievers and the music video Stiff Arm for Lily Finnessy.
Key cast: Ian Bell, Nate Dobson, Kelley Gates, Morgan McGuire, Alexandra Renzo, Adam Santos-Coy
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): producers/buyers/sales agents/distributors
Funders: Kickstarter
Made in association with: N/A
Release date: Festival premiere June 2016.
Where can I watch it at the film festival or in the next month?
Dances With Films (Los Angeles), June 10th
Seriesfest (Denver), June 23rd and 25th
Congratulations! Why did you make your TV Series?
We wanted to tell a fun, fast-moving story that had an interesting core dramatic question. A lot of great television hinges on questions with no right answer, and the idea of con artists who target Wall Street embodies that.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this TV Series?
On a superficial level, there’s the thrill of rooting for the underdog. It’s a “Robin Hood” story about broke young people in Brooklyn who run cons on arrogant Wall Street finance guys. But on a deeper level, there’s also a moral dynamic: what happens to our con artists as they start to become as unethical as their targets? What happens when an Occupy Wall Street guy suddenly has five thousand dollars in his pocket?
How do personal and universal themes work in your TV Series?
A lot of America is frustrated with our financial sector. But our show is not about how people who work on Wall Street are bad people. We’re looking at how money can, in some cases, be corrupting – and that starts to happen to our underdogs, who consider themselves the enemies of Wall Street, too.
How have the script and TV Series evolved over the course of their development and production?
There was a lot of development with the actors through a workshop process. The script became a lot stronger and sharper through the input of the cast.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The most common response, and our favorite one, is “I want to see more episodes!” Hopefully, we did a nice job of reeling people in. The story itself is fun, but so are the relationships between the characters. There’s a lot of history between them.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not really. We were hoping to hook people into the world and the story, and so far that seems to be working.
What are you looking to achieve by having your TV Series more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want to get more people to come check out the pilot. Our long-term goal is, of course, to make this into a series. The more people see our work, the more likely we will find someone who wants to help us do that.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this TV Series’s message?
Our goal is to find a producer who believes in the project and can help us sell it and/or make more episodes.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this TV Series to have?
Our main goal is to tell a great story with engaging characters. We want our audience to be hooked and to have a great time staying with us for the journey. On a secondary level, we’d love to inspire people to think about money and how it corrupts. It’s easy to say everyone on Wall Street is “greedy,” but what would happen to any of us if we were making that much money that fast?
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this TV Series?
Wall Street has been conning America for decades. Isn’t it time for America to con Wall Street?
Would you like to add anything else?
People can check us out at our website www.conwallstreet.com if they want to know more.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Rachel Carey is working on a couple of feature scripts including a neo-noir set on the Jersey Shore. She’s also writing more episodes of Takers.