Amy Frear discusses her attention-grabbing Kickstarter film project
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Ben Franklin, time travel and 20-something angst.
Amy Frear as Harriet in the trailer for "Another Time," via Kickstarter.
Since we first clicked on Amy Frear's Kickstarter for her short film, Another Time, on Tuesday, it's doubled in monetary contributions. It helps that the project has gotten a fair bit of press this week. No surprise, really, given some of the elements that both Philly locals (espcially history buffs) and sci-fi fans alike would love: the crew will film around the city and feature historic hot spots; the script involves time travel, and Ben Franklin impersonator Rob Carroll plans to make a cameo.
More than that, though, perhaps people are responding to the relatability of what Frear said are some of the underlying themes of the film.
"I wanted to make a story for others dealing with indecisiveness," she said over the phone Thursday. "The story came out of a time in my life when lots of people were making really big and brave decisions despite crappy jobs and unemployment."
The film — which had raised $2,810 of its $5,000 goal by 2:30 Friday; it has until Feb. 25 to hit the mark — will feature Frear as Harriet, a 20-something dealing with "typical problems," according to the Kickstarter, but who also "honestly believes she is a victim of botched time travel and belongs in 1783."
Harriet's got "strong connections to various historic parts of the city." So does Frear — she's a tour guide in historic Old City, and the cast will shoot the film around the neighborhood and also in Fishtown, where Frear lives.
"I knew I wanted to make a story with a little bit of magic in it," Frear said. "But [this is] something we can all relate to. I think we all feel sometimes like we're out of place."
As for the historic element, Frear said there will be a lot of Philly facts thrown into the film in a comedic way, not to mention an educational one.
"A lot of the stuff this character knows, she wouldn't possibly know unless she was very well-educated in history," she said, adding that she started her historic tour guide gig back in college.
This is Frear's filmmaking debut, and will be about half an hour long when completed. If the project is funded, she said the crew will start shooting at the end of March, and hopes to wrap up around in April. Any donations over the goal, she said, will go toward making the film just that much more elaborate.
"Now that I see all this support, people are coming to me with, 'I know a great George Washington re-enactor you can use,' or 'I know this great costume designer,'" she said. "Anything we raise above the 5K, we'll put it toward that."
For now, Frear said she's thrilled by the support for the project, and also at the prospect of working with her friends on the film — she's reuniting with the team from the Philly-made film Maya, as well as her fellow historic tour guide pals.
"There's nothing better than making stuff with your friends," she said. Check out the Kickstarter here.
