New York based filmmaker Nick Santana’s “Elvis” depicts immigration from the perspective of a teenage boy whose citizenship status takes him by surprise. This short film is currently seeking support in $1, $5 or $10 donations toward its Kickstarter project. Here is the second part of my interview with Santana, where you can learn more about his plans for “Elvis” and his fundraising platform of choice.

Madlab Post: Why did you choose Kickstarter over other crowdsourcing services that are available to filmmakers?

Nick Santana: I chose Kickstarter; which I’m sorta now trying to figure out if it was a good choice or not; because of its brand equity – More people know about Kickstarter than they do IndieGoGo or some of the other crowd funding platforms and for me, that was important. I was trying to lower the barrier of entry, so if someone says “Oh, I know Kickstarter” or “I’ve heard of Kickstarter,” they’re more willing to donate and give their credit card information (rather than) to a service that they really don’t know anything about.

What is the production status of "Elvis"?

I secured one location – It’s a deli, a bodega that is Dominican owned. I walked in there and told them what the story was about and they said “Hey, whatever you need,” and I said “Well, I need a scene – I have a scene in a bodega” and they were like “Done! You can shoot here” (laughs) and I said “I’m going to need to shoot here for like six to eight hours” and they said “No problem, whatever you need.” So, I have one location so far. I haven’t done casting yet because I haven’t raised 100% of the budget.

I do have a producer on board and a music supervisor on board who’ve been great and they came on board from the very beginning. That’s where it stands right now -- I’m so far 50% (update: at the time of this posting, “Elvis” is 76% funded) funded and I need to make 100%. Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing approach to crowd funding is great because it gives you an incentive to go out and really make it happen – to campaign, and that’s how I’ve been able to raise (76%) so far.

I literally feel like I’m campaigning every day – reaching out to people on Facebook, on Twitter; I’m the “Elvis” ambassador. I did a guest blog post for an immigration law themed blog two weeks ago, so I’ve been kinda doing the circuit of trying to get the word out.

What are the plans for "Elvis" once the film is finished?

I want to do the festival circuit. I think that the subject matter – it’s not a comedy – but you can consider it a docudrama, it’s something that no one really speaks about. I’m not telling the point of view from parents that are being deported, but from a child being left behind. So, the plan is the festival circuit and if there are any children advocacy groups for immigration organizations that want to use it for their website, I’d be more than happy to just say “Yeah, here, please – screen it, use it!”

I thought about going with the big festivals like Sundance, Cannes but I actually would almost prefer to go with the smaller, maybe second tier festivals -- just because there would probably be more of an audience. It would reach more people. When you think about the Cannes or the Sundances, those are like the elite of the entertainment industry. They’re not accessible to the everyday person, to the majority of people who are voting on immigration issues.

So, I’ve been kind of rethinking my strategy for film festivals and definitely considering only sending it to the second tier and the third tier festivals that are probably based in smaller cities – because I feel like “Elvis” would get more exposure to the people who really need to see it -- maybe South by Southwest (SXSW), or the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico, which shows films that are very serious in tone, also the L.A. Film Festival – I mean, that’s my hometown. I would like to look at the Brooklyn Film Festival, you know – kind of more of the local stuff that I can go to, pop in and do a Q&A, if of course, the film festival programmers would take me. (laughs) I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

Stay tuned for more on film director Nick Santana, this weekend.

I donated some money toward the production of the short film ‘Elvis.’ Can you do the same?

It only takes $5. You can also help by posting a link on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or your blog, website or other online places that you frequent to help support the Kickstarter campaign for ‘Elvis.’

Do Not Wait. Do it Today! No, do it Right Now!

I did yesterday, right before blogging about this movie, so if I can take a few minutes to help promote this project by posting online, I know you all have it in you to do the same. Join me in the fun of supporting independent film!

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