http://www.elderthemovie.com/
You gotta admire this Seb Hunter's balls of brass. He hasn't ever written a screenplay or directed a film. Yet he wants to make a film inspired by the 1981 failed Kiss rock opera The Elder. The album so spectacularly failed that six months after releasing it, the band disowned it, saying that when they recorded their answer to Pink Floyd's The Wall, they were "delusional". I fear that Mr. Hunter suffers from the same affliction, for the following pair of reasons:
1) He is attempting to raise funds through the above website. Does he not realize that anyone who contributes financial aid, equipment, or acting talent is going to feel as though they have a stake in the film and "own" it? Will he take the time to make everyone sign thick legal agreements to cover himself?
2) Most importantly, no project even remotely involving Kiss gets done without the express permission of Kiss (or more specifically Kiss's business head and cofounder Gene Simmons). When Seb's lawyers are done with the cast-and-crew agreements, they will likely face the Grishamesque task of drafting one between Simmons and the production. And you can bet your ass that it will involve some kind of creative input, not to mention financial renumeration, final cut, and inclusion in a future season of Family Jewels.
I don't hold any of this against Gene Simmons, just to be clear. With the deaths of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Simmons is now the last celebrity standing of whom it can be said, "It's Gene's world, and we just live in it". For all his well-earned public bravado, he appears, by a glance at the fan mail section of his website, to enjoy interaction with non-pushy fans not blatantly out to get something.
To get back on track, do I think that Seb Hunter's Elder movie is doomed from the start? No, because Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, another back-door project, has been wildly successful. Mind you, that project was concieved and helmed by Joss Whedon, a creative genius who understands the industry better than it understands itself. So if Seb can overcome the odds, I'll be interested in watching what he comes up with.
MTMG
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