Randall Miller has directed twelve films. The most famous of these is probably ‘Bottle Shock’, the 2008 indie starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine that achieved cult popularity in the wine world for its dramatization of the ‘Judgment of Paris’ – the famous 1976 occasion in which Californian wines defeated their competitors. defeated. French counterparts in a blind taste test.
The most infamous is certainly ‘Midnight Rider’, an unfinished biopic that Miller directed about the singer Gregg Allman. In 2014, on the first day of filming, Miller and his crew were filming without a permit on an active railroad bridge in southern Georgia when a freight train passed by at full speed.
The train injured several crew and cast members and killed Sarah Jones, a 27-year-old camera assistant. Miller later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass; He spent a year in prison for these charges, making him the first filmmaker to ever serve a prison sentence for a film-related death.
Rachael Taylor, Alan Rickman and Chris Pine in ‘Bottle Shock’. Courtesy: Unclaimed Freight Productions
Miller is currently completing his 10-year probation, which includes his release from probation direct any film– although that directive was put to the test in 2019, when Miller directed a film about the World Barista Championship in Serbia and was subsequently reprimanded by a judge in Georgia. (Miller stated that he misunderstood the terms of his probation and was not sent back to prison.)
However, the director is not prohibited from pursuing creative projects where he is not responsible for the safety of others. That may be part of the answer to why he’s now trying to make a crypto-funded reboot of “Bottle Shock,” with the film’s original audio track being an (almost) shot-for-shot animated recreation of the cast of the becomes a movie. sets, with sing-alongs of ‘famous songs from the 70s and 80s’ that are now peppered throughout.
A poster for ‘Bottle Shock: The Animated Film’. Courtesy: Unclaimed Freight Productions
To be clear, Miller is not directing “Bottle Shock: The Animated Film.” Michael Davis, the filmmaker and animator, is; Miller is producing the project and leading efforts to get the film financed through decentralized methods.
“As an independent filmmaker, every time you make a movie it’s a startup,” Miller shared Decode SCENE. “There are all kinds of obstacles, and if an artist can make a movie that they want to make, and finance it with an audience of people who are excited about it, that’s really exciting. That could be revolutionary… if this can work.”
A side-by-side comparison of a recording of the original “Bottle Shock” with a recording of the animated reboot. Courtesy: Unclaimed Freight Productions
Miller and his production company Unclaimed Freight – which he runs with his wife and creative partner Jody Savin – have joined forces with Financed, a crypto fundraising platform that allows people to buy equity stakes in projects through NFTs. Miller plans to let holders of “Bottle Shock” NFTs share in the animated film’s profits in proportion to the size of their investments.
While other film and television projects have attempted to boost production budgets with NFTs, these efforts are starting to receive negative attention from regulators.
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Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an enforcement action against “Stoner Cats,” an NFT-powered web series co-created by actress Mila Kunis. Key to that action was the SEC’s view that the project’s creators were suggesting that “Stoner Cats” NFTs could be considered investments that would increase in value if the show were successful — making those NFTs illegal in the eyes of the SEC would become unregistered securities.
Miller said he found last week’s news concerning, but largely irrelevant to him. At the same time, however, the filmmaker was fairly unequivocal when describing how his project understands the relationship with ‘Bottle Shock’ NFT holders.
“We treat them as if they are investors, whether we can technically call them investors or not,” Miller said. “But they are investors.”
“Bottle Shock: The Animated Film” is currently seeking to raise $1.5 million in Ethereum for a production budget that will pay the film’s creators, including Miller and his wife, as well as the film’s original actors, for the reuse of their voices . although musical numbers will be recorded by a new cast.
Not all of these actors will be able to see their performances in a new context. Rickman, who starred in “Bottle Shock” and is perhaps best known for his role as Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, died in 2016. Rickman appeared in three films made by Miller and his wife; the filmmakers see “Bottle Shock: The Animated Film” as an opportunity to reconnect with the actor’s unique talents.
“We miss Alan so much,” Miller said. “And now we’re getting Alan again, in a sense. Although if his character sings, which we plan to do, it will be another person singing.
A side-by-side comparison of a shot of Alan Rickman and Dennis Farina in the original “Bottle Shock” with a shot from the animated reboot. Courtesy: Unclaimed Freight Productions
Miller is confident the film will recoup its proposed $1.5 million budget and then some by selling to a streamer like Amazon or Hulu. If the streamers don’t bite, he’ll take the film to the festival circuit, as he and his wife did in 2008 with the original ‘Bottle Shock’ – and Than try to sell the movie to a streamer with positive press and momentum.
“I think it will be a much easier sell [this time around]”, said Molenaar. “Because people will be curious. They’ll say, ‘What, what is that? What is that version of the movie ‘Bottle Shock’? I’m curious!'”
Funded operates on an ‘all or nothing’ crowdfunding model, meaning all projects on the platform must reach their fundraising goals within 30 days. If they don’t, all funds raised will be automatically refunded to donors in an effort to protect them.
“Bottle Shock: The Animated Musical” opened its fundraising window on Tuesday; when writing, the project raised 0.036 ETH, or about $57.