Bill Murray Day Creators Launch Kickstarter For USC Film about a Punk, Derby Girl, Goth, and Hipster

Director of viral video “The Hipster Games,” and the creators of “Bill Murray Appreciation Day” have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $18,000 by May 25th for the short film comedy “Mike Garcia and the Cruz,” about a Santa Cruz punk, gothic gamer, hipster and derby girl retrieving a laptop stolen by bureaucratic anarchists. Directed by Christopher Guerrero, produced by Will Goldstein and Colin Reeves-Fortney. Filming in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles will begin in June 2013.
 
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Logo for "Mike Garcia and The Cruz"
Logo for "Mike Garcia and The Cruz"
LOS ANGELES - May 8, 2013 - PRLog -- USC School of Cinematic Arts graduate students Christopher Guerrero (Director of “The Hipster Games” and co-creator of “Bill Murray Appreciation Day”) and William Goldstein (co-creator of “Bill Murray Appreciation Day”), along with San Francisco Bay Area Producer Colin Reeves-Fortney, put out a ‘call to action to everyone around the world’ to raise $18,000 on Kickstarter by May 25th for the USC Short Thesis “Mike Garcia and The Cruz”.

“Mike Garcia and the Cruz” is about Mike Garcia, a Santa Cruz punk rocker and student computer technician.  Bureaucratic anarchists steal the Chancellor's laptop, forcing Mike down an increasingly bizarre path to retrieve it. With the help of his gothic-gamer roommate, a Roller Derby girl, and an ecstasy dealing hipster, Mike's quest to recover the Chancellor's stolen laptop with the help of this misfit crew. Guerrero describes the film as “The Big Lebowski meets SLC Punk meets The Hangover, in college.” Whether you're a punk, hipster, derby girl, goth, or just someone who likes a good comedy, these grad students need your help and support!

A few short months ago, the inaugural “Bill Murray Appreciation Day” was held on February 2nd, 2013. It was originally created by Guerrero and Goldstein to attract the attention of super-elusive actor Bill Murray. Guerrero, “I hope Bill Murray will agree to play this part. We created a bar hop holiday to pay homage and to get his attention, but now that we have launched the Kickstarter project, we can show him just how many of us love and support his work." Something Guerrero said won’t happen if the Kickstarter fails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHG-jt7OEM



“We are telling a story that is as old as time... it’s just that the ‘wrapper’ is different.” Guerrero continues, “The types of characters that the audience will experience differ. Instead of some generic hero, you have ‘Mike Garcia’, a complicated punk rocker that gets the crap beat out of him at every turn. How can you not sympathize with a character like that?” But Guerrero needs your help to get this film made and it’s not just about your money, “Kickstarter is an amazing tool, one that brings me closer to my audience. USC isn’t paying for this film, I have to pay for this on top of my $300,000 worth of student loans.  It makes me put a lot on the line, but I think it helps me grow as a filmmaker.”

When asked about why he wanted to make this movie, Guerrero talked about it’s punk rock and college film roots. “This film is a passion project, which evolved from a story I wrote over 7 years ago while attending the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is heavily influenced by Punk music, film noir, 80's punk movies like Repo Man, Coen Brothers’ comedies like The Big Lebowski and the 1999 indie classic SLC Punk. It is a re-imagining of the typical college film, looking at subcultures not well examined in popular culture: punks, goths, anarchists, and the LGBTQ community. So with this film I want to capture the entire Santa Cruz experience. Plenty of movies try to cover alternative culture from one point of view, punks or goths or hipsters... but this movie is about the similarities between people, what connects us all together. A love letter to all things Santa Cruz.” “It’s a story of misfit solidarity,” Goldstein adds. “This is an ode to the losers, the underdogs, the rebels.”

“Punk Rock” was how he survived high school, and he wanted to bring that youthful passion to this project. “I grew up in Selma, ‘Raisin Capital of the World’, a town of only 20,000 people in California’s San Joaquin Valley . Growing up in a small rural community was difficult for someone who didn’t fit into the normal mold, let alone a punk kid who wanted to buck the system. When you finally get to a place you fit in, and you can let your true self out in a safe environment, you want to capture that energy in a bottle.”

"Mike Garcia and The Cruz" Team:

Christopher Guerrero - Director


Born Fresno, CA and raised in Selma, CA 'Raisin Capital of the World'. Mr. Guerrero received his bachelor degree in Film at UC Santa Cruz, and is currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Mr. Guerrero founded Wyoma Films in 2007 to create feature films. Some of his work can be found here.



Will Goldstein - Producer

Born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Will grew up listening to The Beatles and watching Indiana Jones. He earned his BFA in Film Production from the University of Arizona, and is currently completing an MFA in the same area of focus at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.

Colin Reeves-Fortney - Producer

Graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2008 with a degree in Film and Digital Media, Colin spent several years after graduating advising the campus television station. He left for a brief stint in visual effects, and in the past year edited his first feature, was production manager and field producer for a web-series pilot, and a line producer on a low budget feature filmed around San Francisco.

Photos:
https://www.prlog.org/12133164/1
https://www.prlog.org/12133164/2
https://www.prlog.org/12133164/3
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