Paint it Black

Logline:

After an actress's career is ruined for rejecting another actor's sexual advances, her family devises an elaborate plot to enact revenge by dismantling his reputation.

Synopsis:

"This is a real story. To protect those involved, all character names have been changed. Everything is true, implausible as it may seem."

These are the opening titles to the drama short film Paint it Black. It follows Hollywood actor Roman Bloom and amateur actress Hannah Garvey after they meet, and Bloom invites her to lunch. Early in the lunch, it becomes evident that Roman intended to sleep with Hannah, to which she pointed out. In humiliation, Roman Bloom fabricated a story to have Hannah removed from the film they were working on. What became known as the 'Garvey Incident' circulated throughout the industry, leaving Hannah Garvey fundamentally blacklisted and ruining her career.

In retaliation, the Garvey family devised a plot of revenge. Hannah’s father, a lawyer, fooled Roman into believing an acclaimed director wanted him to screen test for a leading role. The screen test was pitched as extremely confidential, meaning he could not know anyone involved. Once at the screen test, all the crew (actually just the Garvey family) wore masks and gloves to conceal their identities. Roman was given a script that he then performed in front of two cameras. The script Roman read was extremely sexist. The camera footage was then intentionally leaked to the public, ruining his career.

Who are we?

Dead Slate Studios is a production company made up of film school graduates. Our members specialize in Producing, Directing, Acting, Camera, Lighting, Audio, Post Production, and Art Design.

We are a group of collaborators who thrive off each other's creativity. Paint it Black was originally a film school final project, but now that we have graduated, we are embarking on reshooting the film to elevate its overall quality for submission to Film Festivals.

Creative Team:

David Harrison: Writer and Director

Aimee De Saint Laurent: Producer

Krishna Mistry: Director of Photography

Why We Need Your Help

For the approximate four-day shoot, your donations will contribute to the following:

• Ensuring all food and travel costs are covered for the cast & crew
• Props
• Costumes
• Renting Locations
• Renting Gear
• Makeup
• Set Design
• Casting Campaign

Theme:

The film's core theme is misinformation, as both Hannah Garvey and Roman Bloom ruin each other's careers by weaponizing misinformation. However, we have also lied to you. The statement previously made that this film was a true story was false. It is completely fictitious. It is a film about misinformation, and the film itself is misinformation itself. The film's goal is to prove its thesis about how easily we believe what we are told.

We are extremely grateful for whatever donation you can provide to help us make Paint It Black come alive!