Its Doug. He’s right in the middle of the dance floor. He’s
dressed like someone trying way too hard to get noticed. And
the fact that he’s dancing alone shows that its not working.
In one hand is a Mai Tai.

...

Finally, they are facing each other. Doug shouts over the
loud music.

DOUG
Who are you?

Cherry smiles.

Cherry reaches into his drink and pulls out his maraschino
cherry. She places it onto her tongue.

Then she bites down.

Doug still doesn’t recognize her.

Then Cherry takes off her sunglasses. Doug’s joy turns to
horror.

CHERRY
Just a cherry you popped.

Doug is working as hard as he can to get past his awkward nature to get girls to notice him.  He goes to the dance clubs and studies only the best pick up lines.  When that fails to quench his thirst for females, he patronizes Cherry’s strip club.  Being a regular, Doug was in the VIP room on that fateful night when Cherry was assaulted, and after some goading, joined in.  We needed someone with a great look and a lot of energy to play this high volume geek and one man stood out.

In hoping he doesn’t take too much offense in the above paragraph, let’s welcome Conor Nobles to the team!

Hey everyone, Cherry Bomb is almost completely funded and we’re aiming for March to begin shooting- we just need $6500 more!  We’re so close and we’re asking for your help- we set up an acct on Kickstarter.com and our entire production team would sincerely appreciate it if you could contribute anything to help us get to our goal.  It’s really easy to do through Kickstarter and the details are as follows:

1. To raise the final portion of our budget, people will pledge $10 or more toward our goal of $6,500 (not our budget, just the last little bit of it).

2. If the goal is reached, those who pledged money will get some cool prize packages related to the movie, including autographed posters and DVDs, screen credit, and appearances in the movie.

3. If our goal is not reached IN FULL, nobody is charged anything. This way, you know your money is going toward a project that is definitely getting made.

To celebrate the launch of our fundraiser, we have posted our very first production meeting, so that you can see how this whole thing got started!

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Marketing is crucial for an independent film. We don’t have the benefit of a multi million dollar ad campaign to get people interested in our movie- we have to rely on grassroots methods to build a fan base and generate interest.  Our plan is to develop a cult following for Cherry Bomb because that is how the small guys like us can compete with what Hollywood cranks out every year.  Basically, if an indie film has a loyal following, then that makes it easier to get it in theatres, on DVD, etc. Most indie films begin their marketing approach once the film is complete but we tried a different approach. Last February, about a month after the first version of the script was written, we created a website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account so that people could follow the ups and downs in our production on a daily basis. Our rationale was that making a feature film is incredibly hard work and we wanted our fans to be there right beside us from the very beginning as we achieved certain milestones, etc. We wanted to start building a foundation immediately so that by the time the movie is complete and ready to hit the market, people know all about it and are excited to see the finished product.

From a strategic perspective, all of our marketing is based upon two primary criteria:

• Cost- All of our marketing needs to be free or pretty damn close to it.  This is why we have focused on an online strategy- it costs next to nothing to advertise through various channels online and the content can be updated fairly easily.  This is crucial for an indie film because things are changing for us on a weekly basis and we need a marketing outlet that is able to keep up.  Facebook and Twitter are ideal for this.  To a lesser extent, we have also utilized message boards and banner ads to build a general awareness.
• Demographics- All of our marketing needs to resonate with our two core demographics: males age 16-35 and any female who likes to see a bad-ass woman hell-bent on revenge.  Our goal from the very beginning was to create the kind of movie that we would want to watch when we were teenagers and now as adults.  Thus, all of our marketing focuses on the elements that get us excited.  A man and woman embracing in the rain and kissing?  No.  We like seeing sexy women, guns, blood, and cars… so that’s the stuff we’re going to use in our marketing.

For now we have focused on the internet and social media as our primary form of marketing, but as we get closer to production, we will rely on more strategic forms of PR.  These include building strategic relationship with local businesses in Austin, creating press releases for local newspapers, and leveraging the resources that some of our cast/crew have at their disposal.  Bear in mind, this is all meant as preproduction marketing, the stuff that we will do before we have even shot a single scene!  Once the movie is actually finished, things we’ll take on a much more traditional structure- we’ll cut trailers and spread them throughout the internet, we’ll submit to film festivals, etc.

Stylistically speaking, the website and other miscellaneous materials tend to skew darker and grittier in tone because they are meant to emulate the advertising that accompanied the movies in the late 70s and early 80s that Cherry Bomb pays homage to. That being said, I don’t know if our most popular image (the cherry with the hole in it) is consistent with the 70s/80s vibe, but oh well, we think it looks cool.

Our online domains:

• http://www.cherrybombfilm.com/home.php
• http://www.facebook.com/cherrybombfilm?ref=ts
• http://twitter.com/CherryBombFilm

A new running feature on the Cherry Bomb blog, we are gong to start running interviews with key personnel on the Cherry Bomb team.  We figured a good place to start… was at the top.  With Executive Producer and Director Kyle Day.

1. How’d you get into film?
When I was 6 or 7 my dad got a Sony Handicam for Christmas and from that point forward, the love affair with film making began. We shot a ton of stuff as kids but things didn’t really get serious until high school when I saved up for my first digital camera and bought some editing software. That’s when it started to develop as more then just a hobby and things have been expanding for the past 10 years.

2. What are the major films inspiring your direction of Cherry Bomb?
The Terminator, Escape from New York, Alien, and Air Bud to name a few. Since we’re shooting a film set in the 80s and we want to artificially create that element of nostalgia, I’m inspired by films from that time period that are dark in tone and feature strong leads who are basically forced into situations where they must either step up to the task or run for the hills. Terminator and Alien are actually perfect examples because the strong lead is female and there are many similarities with Cherry Bomb.

3. What sequence are you most excited to direct?
Definitely the car chase sequence. In fact, this entire film is simply a ruse for me to buy cars and legally smash them up. I’m really looking forward to the baseball field scene as well. I’ve had it shot and edited in my head for about 6 months now so I’ll be happy to finally get it out of there.

4. When Cherry Bomb strikes gold and you get your choice of projects, what would you like to do next?
A romantic comedy staring Sandra Bullock ha ha….
I know that our writer has already come up with some fantastic ideas for a CB sequel but I’ll probably need a break from the CB world for a while, so the next project will just be whatever feels right at that time. There’s a few ideas that I’m mulling over, nothing too tangible just yet.

5. Why was Julin the right person to be the face of this franchise?
Well we stumbled upon her because she looks exactly like how we had envisioned Cherry, so from looks alone, she’s the ideal pick for the face of the franchise. However, its her personality and acting ability that sold it. Julin really portrays the confidence and intensity that I require from the character, so its an excellent match.

6. Have you found it hard to balance your directorial tasks with your producer tasks?
Yes, it has been incredibly difficult. Both positions require a different skillset (creative vs logical) so it has been tough to switch interchangeably between the two. I’ll be happy when production starts and I can focus predominantly on directing, which is what I am most passionate about.

7. What in your mind, separates this film from your average revenge flick?
The average revenge flick is mindless… and ironically, that’s part of their charm- they exist solely as a vehicle for action and destruction. On a personal level, I can respect a film that doesn’t try and change the world, its just meant to be a fun 90 minute outlet. However, what makes Cherry Bomb different is that although we have created a script that is definitely a fun and wild ride, we’re also taking great effort to really bring the characters to life and give Cherry Bomb the depth that other entries in the genre have often lacked.

8. Biggest heartache so far during pre-production?
Rather than being specific, I’ll simply say that the most heartache on my end is associated with anytime I must make a choice between what is best [commercially] for the film and what is best for it creatively. In a perfect world, both of those would be one in the same, but unfortunately things aren’t perfect and difficult decisions have to be made everyday.

9. Most rewarding part of pre-production so far for you?
Pre-production has been a massive pain in the ass but it hasn’t been without its rewards. It’s extremely exciting and fulfilling to see a project of this scale take shape and grow on a weekly basis. I remember when it was simply a concept and now its this living and breathing movie that has a life of its own. It’s rewarding for me to know that I helped it get there. They grow up so quick….

10. Which character do you most identify with? If not Cherry, how do you connect with her character? Does her sex change anything for you? (From the Awesomely Talented Skipper Chong Warson.  Click here to hire him for your graphic design needs.)
That’s a good question.  The character that I identify with the most is in fact Cherry- the gender is insignificant since it’s her perseverence and frame of mind that I relate to.  I see the Cherry character as being extremely driven- she’s willing to put it all on the line to achieve her goal(s) and she will not let anything stand in her way.  Likewise, I have made a lot of personal sacrifices to get this film made and at this point I’ll stop at nothing to see it completed and distributed.  We both get stuck on something and have tunnel vision until that something is finished.  We’re pretty much two peas in a pod… except for the whole “killing men” thing.

Its no big secret that the major driving influence on Cherry Bomb has been those guns-a-blazin’, one-vs.-an-army films of the 1980’s.  It wasn’t a complicated formula:

Hero X seeks revenge/justice/the rescue/the protection of Y from the evil Z and in the meantime take down their evil operation that does Z2.  (Sorry, ran out of letters)

Think about it:

Beverly Hills Cop: Hero Eddie Murphy seeks justice of the killing of his friend from the evil Maitland and in the meantime take down their evil operation that sells drugs.

Cobra: Hero Rocky Rambo Stallone seeks the protection of Brigitte Nielson from the evil Night Slasher and in the meantime take down the evil operation that is called The New Order seeking to rule the world.

Commando: Hero Arnold Schwarzelonglastname seeks the rescue of Alyssa Milano before she got hot from the evil Bennett and in the meantime take down the evil operation that is trying to start a revolution down in Val Verde.

Die Hard: Hero Bruce Willis seeks the rescue of the hostages from the evil Professor Snape and in the meantime take down the evil operation that is trying to steal the bonds from the Nakatomi vault.

Robocop: Hero Robocop seeks revenge of his murder from the evil Red from That 70’s Show and in the meantime take down the evil operation that is selling drugs.

So, what separated the wheat from the chaff in this glorious genre?

The kills.

No one went into these films seeking the meaning of life.  The dialog was mainly throw away lines designed to get the characters from one scene to another.  But the over the top action kept people coming back for recycled plots.  Then when a film had a dynamic, interesting plot, it was just gravy.  So, what are some of our favorite kills from those 1980’s action films?

Commando

The Punisher

What are yours? (This is the part where you put in your comments below with you favorite movies/kills of the 1980’s and earlier.  Or later.  We’re not picky.  Just want to see what kills and movies stick with you kids.)

Do you have an 80’s car that you’d like to see in a movie? Do you have a car sitting in the front yard that you’d like to destroy but just don’t have the energy to push it over a cliff? If so, then we can help! Drop us a line, we need vehicles for simple driving scenes (no damaged induced) as well as our chase sequence (damage definitly induced.)

Our stunt driver, Nate Legacy, already picked up our two primary picture cars:
1984 Monte Carlo SS and a 1984 Camaro

These two badass cars will be getting new engines, tires, and a sweet ass paint job. It’ll be a shame when we smash them into each other… thats bound to chip the paint. Oh well, shit happens when you have a pissed off stripper.

This past weekend we held auditions for all of the wonderful people that make up the world of Cherry Bomb.  It was like American Idol except instead of singers we had hitmen, drug dealers, and strippers.  All in all, it was a very successful audition process and we saw some of Texas’ best actors give some great performances.

One of the roles we auditioned was the role of ‘Bull’, the hitman. Bull’s audition scene calls for him to be beating the crap out of a cop. Our screen writer and producer, Garrett Hargrove, was nice enough to participate in some of the more physical auditions as ‘the cop’. Director Kyle Day doesn’t believe in stage acting…

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