Help make a movie... from the producer of Cool Runnings, Snow Dogs & Little Giants

personal notes & a chance for me namedrop a little bit: My friend Tommy is a Hollywood mad genius. His quirky sense of humor was the inspiration for the Shrek movies, as well as several fun children's hits. He takes a turn towards adult matters in his latest project, but with the same quirky sense of humor and brilliance. If you loved any of those movies and are ready to see his work grow up, help contribute a few bucks. I want to see this movie and we can make it happen! There's even a way to buy yourself into the credits of a REAL LIFE HOLLYWOOD movie. 

Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Tommy Swerdlow. 

In the fall of 2011 we made a short movie called The High Road. It was a simple idea about three very different fellows bonded by the same very urgent need. Well lo and behold, people really dug it - REALLY DUG IT, and the oft-heard comment was “I wish it were longer"... Well, we know enough to give the people what they want. Tommy and TJ Bowen (the guy in the backseat whose “arm hairs are full of electricity”) have written a great script (Tommy thinks it’s the best thing he’s ever written, and he’s written a lot) and the key players from the team that made the short are all on board, including our actors and both our young logistics wizard of a producer (Lee Buckley) and our boy genius cameraman (Jon De Menil, who is genetically incapable of taking a bad photograph). We start shooting August 12 and are ready to do OUR part if YOU are ready to do yours.

The House Itself

A DRUG MOVIE WITH NO DRUGS... The House Itself is a very original take on an unoriginal subject. We have no desire to glorify or romanticize the “cool factor” or danger of drug use in any way. A “dope” movie like no other, the film’s intent is to use drug addiction as a metaphor for misplaced desire, for looking for love in the all the wrong places. Now who can’t relate to that?

Who Are We?

Tommy Swerdlow, our writer and director, came to Los Angeles as an actor in 1983 and had a brief but successful acting career co-starring in movies such as Real Genius, Howard The Duck and Child’s Play. He had a starring role in the Vietnam war film Hamburger Hill. He started writing movies in 1989 and is best known for Cool Runnings and Little Giants among others. He was the first writer on Shrek and was responsible for taking a six page book about an ogre and making a movie about a donkey and an ogre. He has written extensively in television as well and had an original series on the WB in 2000 called Brutally Normal.

Executive Producer Daren Hicks has supervised the production of some of the biggest movies ever, from Transformers to portions of Ironman 3. 

Producers Lee Buckley and Clay Reed know what it takes to stretch our every dollar to its limit. We couldn't ask for a more experienced or dedicated team.

Where Your Money Goes

We're all invested in this project, and all of our above-the-line (fancy term for expensive people) folks are dedicating their time. Our equipment is donated, our future is bright, but there are still areas of unavoidable hard costs.

First, the money goes to food. You'd be surprised at what it takes to feed 20-30 people a meal and a half every day for 3 weeks. It also goes to permits. Unfortunately, the fine people of the Los Angeles permitting offices don't distinguish between sizes of production. We pay as much as the big guys. With more donations, we get better locations. With better locations, we can provide a better movie. We are anything but frivolous, and know what it takes to stretch our dollars to their absolute limit. We're excited, focused, and determined to bring this story to life, and with your help, we can make it better and better.