I Love You, Elliot
by Kill My Dog Productions

Kill My Dog Productions
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I Love You, Elliot
by Kill My Dog Productions
Kill My Dog Productions
Follow
"I Love You, Elliot" is our team's first feature film and a major artistic endeavor, mixing live-action with animation. Our goal is to tell an empathetic and unique coming-of-age story that'll make you laugh as you wipe away the tears.
"I Love You, Elliot" is our team's first feature film and a major artistic endeavor, mixing live-action with animation. Our goal is to tell an empathetic and unique coming-of-age story that'll make you laugh as you wipe away the tears.
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Story
Mission Statement
"I Love You, Elliot" is written by two black, queer filmmakers; both of which act as the director and the director of photography. Our story deals with a character of mixed descent and his relationship with his blended family. It should, hopefully, go without saying inclusion is our top priority.About The Project
Elliot, returning from a mission trip to Vietnam, lands back in America after a long and sleepless flight. He reunites with his parents and tensions quickly rise amidst an atmosphere of secrecy and resentment. Clifford and Peggy Gibson have been living with the truth of Elliot’s birth for too long and Elliot decides the best course of action, in order to preserve their marriage, is to move out. He begins the next chapter of his life with an old friend from his time abroad and searches for things to make him happy and give him purpose. The film is visual in nature, mixing together live-action and 2-D animation to craft the story of Elliot’s search for self-acceptance. We chose to set the film in early 2000s America, the era of America’s identity crisis. The world around the characters is as confused as what it should be and where it’s going as they are.
I Love You, Elliot was immaculately concepted admist a 3 hour listening session to the legendary project "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis. To say that music is important to the film would be an understatment. The free flowing and experimental nature of Jazz inspired much of the tone and structure of the film. We felt that the decision to include a Jazz score was not only obvious but that the film, as a whole, would be worse without it.
In all seriousness, though, we love Jazz and its influence in our creative process shouldn't be played down. When we approached our composer, Ryan Lokugamage, he was ecstatic about the story and the opportunity to give it the eletric score we were hoping for.
The animation of I Love You, Elliot weaves together the maddness of our story while providing a window into the mind of our exhausted insomniac, Elliot. When we thought of how best to show the hallucinations of our main character and what form his internal dialogue takes throughout the film we were very compelled to use animation. We started with an animation test that took us weeks to create and we quickly realized we were in for years of work if we left it in only our hands. So the search began! We found a fantastic animator while attending a festival with a short we previously made; she was interested in the idea and excited by the experimental nature of the story. With her help we began assembling a small team of passionate people ready to help bring the off-the-wall elements of our story to life.
The team behind I Love You, Elliot began as just two of us writing the script but as things progressed and we continued working together and collaberating with our friends on other projects we formed into what is now KMD (Kill My Dog Productions) a production company born out of the media lab of our film department during college. Our team is unified by a set of ideals, the desire to make things we believe in pushes us forward but more than that its putting out stories that don't normally get seen.
We all grew up on the blockbusters of the 80's, 90's, and 2000s but we also were inspired by the independent filmmakers who planted their flags atop a mountain of movies made for them and their communities. We believe in not asking permission to tell our stories. We believe in only making films we want to see. We believe in the power of storytelling and that the work we do contributes to the community we love while only bringing us closer to the valleys and peaks of the cinematic landscape we all fell in love with at a young age.
HOW YOU CAN HELPContribute to the campaign
We've created incentives at every price point. Your donations go straight to supporting us and this film, helping us make it as good as possible. Every contributor will receive updates about the film -- you're a part of this jazz-infused, colorful, sleep deprived story now!
Follow our campaign on Seed&Spark
This way you can stay updated with I Love You, Elliot and where we're at. We'll do our very best to keep you along for this crazy ride.
Follow us on social media
Stay updated with our current projects and become apart of our growing community!@KillMyDogProd (Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram)
Spread the word about our film!
Word of mouth will always be our most powerful tool.
Share the crowdfunding link on social media.(Remember to tag us!)
Incentives
$10
You're Alright I Guess, Elliot
At this level you'll get an I LOVE YOU, ELLIOT thank you e-mail from the the team as well as a social media shout out!
$25
We're Just Friends, Elliot
At this level you'll get a digital booklet full of concept art from the film, a digital version of an exclusive alternate poster, as well as a video thanking you for your contibutions from the ILYE cast and crew!
$50
I Like You, Elliot
At this level you get all the incentives from the previous levels as well as a private link to a spotify mix of the soundtrack and a personalized digital drawing of yourself from our concept artist.
$100
I Love You, Elliot
(Woah! Love is a strong word, you're sure?)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as an ILYE T-Shirt, behind the scenes photos and videos from the production, and a physical version of the offical poster for the film.
$250
Let's Move In Together, Elliot
(Things are moving pretty fast huh?)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a casette tape with the soundtrack on it, a special thanks in the ending credits, and a digital copy of the finished film.$500
Marry Me, Elliot
(I can't get you out of my head! I think this is...love.)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a signed physical copy of the alternate poster for the film, director commentary for the film, and ILYE dog tags.
$1,000
I'm Pregnant, Elliot
(I'M NOT READY TO BE A FATHER!)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a Producer credit for the film, and a vinyl pressing of the soundtrack for the film.
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
You're Alright I Guess, Elliot
At this level you'll get an I LOVE YOU, ELLIOT thank you e-mail from the the team as well as a social media shout out!
$25
We're Just Friends, Elliot
At this level you'll get a digital booklet full of concept art from the film, a digital version of an exclusive alternate poster, as well as a video thanking you for your contibutions from the ILYE cast and crew!
$50
I Like You, Elliot
At this level you get all the incentives from the previous levels as well as a private link to a spotify mix of the soundtrack and a personalized digital drawing of yourself from our concept artist.
$100
I Love You, Elliot
(Woah! Love is a strong word, you're sure?)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as an ILYE T-Shirt, behind the scenes photos and videos from the production, and a physical version of the offical poster for the film.
$250
Let's Move In Together, Elliot
(Things are moving pretty fast huh?)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a casette tape with the soundtrack on it, a special thanks in the ending credits, and a digital copy of the finished film.$500
Marry Me, Elliot
(I can't get you out of my head! I think this is...love.)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a signed physical copy of the alternate poster for the film, director commentary for the film, and ILYE dog tags.
$1,000
I'm Pregnant, Elliot
(I'M NOT READY TO BE A FATHER!)
At this level you'll get everything from the previous levels as well as a Producer credit for the film, and a vinyl pressing of the soundtrack for the film.
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
CAST
Marcelese Cooper as Elliot Gibson
Marcelese Cooper is a visual artist and storyteller from Santa Clarita, CA. A recent graduate with BFAs in Film Studies and Digital Storytelling at The University of Missouri - Columbia. He is a photographer and filmmaker foremost but works with many mediums. He wants to be a part of the world that has inspired him to create; Marcelese wants to do this while trying to be true to the art of telling stories. His current goal is to work alongside a creative team with whom he is able to explore different ideas and creative avenues. Marcelese sees the work he does as a way to involve himself with the world while nurturing his creativity and maintaining is voice as an activist. He’s always wondered why he doesn’t often see himself in the medium(s) he loves when he believes his story is worth telling. Marcelese realized at some point that its because he has to be the one to tell it
Cassie Ferrick as Danielle Bubbler
Cassie Ferrick is from Lee's Summit, MO and is a recent graduate from the University of Missouri - Columbia, and acting is her shit! (her words not ours.) She is passionate about many intellectual things such as coffee and overpriced clothing. Over the past few years she's primarily been active in her college's theatre program and has recently branched out into the world of film. Depsite her midwestern being an essential part of her heart, she plans on moving to New York next year to pursue more acting opportunities in the film world and beyond.
Michael Coleman as T.J. Carmichael
Michael Coleman is a filmmaker and commedian based in Columbia, MO. He runs the production company, No Parking Pictures and usually doesn't act much in front of the camera. He's directed a number of music videos, short films, and documentaries over the years. Currently, Michael is developing his first feature length film Brackish, set in SW Florida.
CREW
Kendrick Smith - Director
Kendrick Smith is a comedian and storyteller from St. Louis, Missouri. He's the CEO of Kill My Dog Productions and one of the founding member's of the University of Missouri's, Shot Reverse Shot and continues to be an active executive officer. His previous work includes writing and directing the CMF jury award winning short In This Car, and producing and assistant directing the CMF jury award winning short Shadowboxing. He hopes to continue to make films and perform comedy in the midwest for sometime before finally making the move to greener pastures.
Alex Hausman - Assistant Director
Alex Hausman is a filmmaker from Jefferson City, Missouri. He is is a founding member of Shot Reverse Shot Productions at the University of Missouri, which has been dedicated to teaching students the aspects production when it comes to serialized work. His previous work includes positions as a series writer, producer and director of SRS's Grand Theft Autumn and Down The Rabbit Hole, the short film Joe Cool which he wrote and directed, and his acting debut in the CMF Jury Award winning short film In This Car. Hausman has LA dreams and hopes to one day write and direct for film and television.
Zhongyang Lyu - Producer
Zhongyang Lyu is a visual storyteller born in Changsha, China, the hometown of Chairman Mao and General Tso. In Chinese, the word “creativity” is made up of two characters: 创 meaning “innovation,” and 造 meaning “manufacture.” Without both, artistic progress would stagnate. In his four years of studying advertising and film production at the University of Missouri, he was given the opportunity to put his thoughts into action. As a video producer, the marketing campaign he crafted “Beyond the Bog: A Cranspriracy” for client Ocean Spray not only placed 3rd over 200 other universities in the National Student Advertising Competition, but also inspired the launch of Ocean Spray’s most recent product: pink cranberry juice. His previous work includes positions as a videographer and an editor for 2018 SEC Gymnastics Championship promotion video, short film Bedroom, Exam and 1008 East Nifong Blvd which he wrote and directed, and mini-documentary International Students Face Unique Mental Health Stresses published on China Global Television Network.
Zoe Shedd - Assistant Producer
Zoe Shedd is from Arlington Heights, Illinois and currently an executive producer, series writer, and director for Down the Rabbit Hole. She is a sophomore at the University of Missouri where she is majoring in Journalism and is acting President for Shot Reverse Shot productions. She has been involved in the production of several short films, including Good Things and Criminal. Zoe enjoys working in every aspect of film production and aspires to expand her knowledge and love of film production.
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