7 Good Reasons to Support Fireworks

With only 6 days to go until our campaign ends, we really need your support. Lots of you have already contributed, tweeted and shared about our film. Some of you, though, may still be dithering, and others may have no intention of supporting us. Yet! We want you with us on this. Here are seven reasons why you should get on board.

1. All The Best People Say So

Yes, we hang with some of the coolest people on Twitter. The brilliant Stephen Fry has put out a tweet telling people to support our film, and we’ve been retweeted by lovely people like Rebecca Front, Rory Bremner, Billie Myers and Gail Porter.

2. We Have Ewen Bremner

Ewen is a brilliant actor and we are thrilled to be able to create a role for him in his home town. Poor Ewen has been stuck out in Hollywood too long – give the poor chap a trip home.

3. You Might be in it Too!

Looking for our new teen star

We’re running an open online casting call for the role of Kat, a headstrong, sparky teenage girl. Tons of young women have already submitted their auditions. Will you be the chosen Kat to play the lead role?

4. It’s Made By Women

Not many films are made by women. Most don’t even have a lot of women in them! And when they do, these women don’t have much to say. With Fireworks the Exec Producer, Producer, Co-writer, Director and even the web guy are all women! Let’s show what they can do.

5. It Sorts Out Your Christmas Shopping

Don’t just do it for us – do it for that tricky international auntie who loves knitting, or that guy in the office who’s a bit of a smunt. Our campaign is one big Christmas shopping market. Check it out.

6. We Want to Destigmatise Mental Disorder

Fireworks is inspired by Director and Co-writer Hannah’s experience of growing up with a father who suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression. Hannah wants the film to help get people talking openly about mental illness, to help reduce the stigma that sufferers already face.

7. It’s Going to be Good

This is (arguably) the most important point on the list. Fireworks is going to be a cracking good film. It’s funny, it’s got a great actor confirmed and others potentially in the wings. The script has won a ton of awards, and the team behind it are celebrated film-makers and writers. You do not want to miss out on this film!

It’s not easy to get a film off the ground that bucks the box office trends and tries to do something a bit different, but with a bit of help we think we can create something really special. Please support our film, and help spread the word on twitter and Facebook. Thank you!

Knit Your Own Carlo Volpi Scarf

We are very excited to announce a special new perk – a designer knitting pattern and illustration for Kat’s scarf.  Brilliant knitwear designer Carlo Volpi has created a unique design for the scarf, using wool from Todds Hand Knits. Carlo is still knitting the scarf – we’ll be posting updates on his progress! Meanwhile, you can now make your own iconic Kat scarf by downloading the knitting pattern and illustration of the scarf via our IndieGoGo page.

A very special scarf…

Carlo with his work-in-progress

Kat’s scarf is an important object in the film, and we wanted it to be special. When runaway Kat flees London to go find her biological father Gillies, she is wearing the bright, stripy scarf that Ian, who she had always knows as her dad until he died, wears in an old family photo. The scarf is a constant throughout the film, and becomes synonymous with the lead character, Kat.

A very special designer…

scarf illustration by Carlo Volpi

So we contacted Carlo Volpi, a fantastic knitwear designer. Carlo studied at Goldsmiths before completing his masters at the Royal College of Art. He uses an eclectic choice of stitch structures, gauges and textures, merging traditional knitting techniques, urban landscapes and pop imagery. Take a look at the work on his website – we particularly love the ‘Lipstick Stab Wounds Collection‘.

He has already won several awards for his creative, eccentric designs, including the first prize of The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’ award and The Worshipful Company of Framework knitters’ award. He was also one of the winners of a design competition for Waddesdon Manor and his work was selected by Rowan and included in an exhibition at Liberty’s as part of The Campaign for Wool. Since graduating, he has been selected as one of the 24 Texprint finalists and was awarded the Body Prize for best fashion fabric. He was also the silver winner of the 2012 edition of the Knitted Textiles Awards sponsored by the UK Hand Knitting association, Knitting Magazine and Creative Exhibition.

Carlo was instantly enthusiastic about making a scarf for our Kat. He writes in his blog on www.knittingindustry.com.

‘Designing a scarf for the film was incredibly fun: when I met Hannah Robinson she explained how fireworks could metaphorically represent a bipolar personality, on one hand colourful, bright and buzzing but on the other explosive and dangerous as well. In my design I wanted to incorporate these opposing elements, the controlling and manic nature of bipolar versus its creative expressive potential.

 I used a very precise, geometric pattern knitted with some brightly coloured merino wool kindly sponsored by Todd’s Hand Knits.

…and some very special yarns too!

We’re delighted that the brilliant Todds Hand Knits are also supporting the film by supplying the wool for Kat’s scarf. Todds Hand Knits work with some of the world’s top fashion houses, and create high quality yarns in Italy, using precise techniques to get the colours that Carlo needed.  They said:

‘We’re all really excited about the film here at Todds Hand Knits! We’re all lovers of small, independent films especially British indies and to contribute to the project and be a part of it in any way is just fantastic. The message of the film is also an important one, it will get people talking about mental illness and encourage a destigmatization that is very, very necessary.’

Take a look at the Todds Hand Knits website to find the wool that Carlo selected for the scarf. Maybe you could shake things up a little by choosing different colours?

Want to knit Kat’s scarf for yourself? Looking for a gift for a very stylish knitter? Or just love the gorgeous illustration? The pattern and illustration are available as PDF downloads to anyone who contributes at least £15 to our IndieGoGo campaign.

That’s Christmas, and this winter’s threatened mini ice age, sorted.

Online Audition Dos and Don’ts From our Casting Director

Are you planning to audition for the role of Kat through our online open audition process? We really want to discover a bright new star, and so our fab Casting Director Simone Pereira-Hind has put together some top tips for you.

Some Do Dos and Some Don’ts from Simone

Check out the video below to find out how to make the best of your audition. As Simone says, we’re willing you to do well. We want you to be great!

Get full details, download the audition script, and enter online here.

Good luck!

Ultimate Champion IndieGoGo Competition

Only two weeks into our digital campaign and we’re already blown away by your support. Over 200 followers on Twitter so far, over 500 likes on Facebook, and well over £900 contributed to our IndieGoGo campaign, not to mention all your comments, likes, blogposts, paper.lis and general digital thumbs up. You people are awesome. In recognition of your support, we would like to give a special prize to the person who campaigns the hardest for our film. Start sharing now and you could end up being thanked in person by the cast and crew on set, and credited in the film.

How to Take Part

1: Grab Your Link

Find your unique URL for our IndieGoGo campaign. You must be registered with IndieGoGo and signed in to view your unique link to our campaign page. You’ll see your link right underneath the pitch video. We’ve pointed it out for you in the pic below.

2: Share it Like Crazy

Get your link out there! Tweet it, post it on facebook, blog it, Tumble it – share it as widely, broadly and frequently as you possibly can. The more your link gets seen, the better your chance of winning.

3: Get Cheered On

We can track how many people you are referring to our IndieGoGo page. Once we see that you are sending lots of visitors our way, we’ll start cheering you on. We want you to win!

4: Claim Your Prize

The person who refers the most people to our IndieGoGo page will be announced as our ULTIMATE CHAMPION. You and a friend will be invited to join us on set for a day (travel expenses not covered, sorry), where the cast and crew will thank you in person. You will get to see the fruits of your campaign, including the wooden hut and trebuchet. If you like, we can engrave your name or a message on the hut. You will also get your name in the credits and on IMDB as a special thank you.

And that’s it! Don’t worry, the Fireworks team and Stephen Fry aren’t eligible, so this is all up for grabs. Get started now to get ahead of the race!

IndieGoGo Campaign – Your Christmas Shopping Sorted!

We’re announcing lots of ways to get involved in the making of Fireworks, including, today, a new IndieGoGo campaign. We’re looking to raise £15,000 to help make Fireworks sparkle, and we need your help. Please check out our campaign page. We have some really cool perks, including everything you need to tick off those tricky customers on your Christmas list.

Visit our IndieGoGo page and start following our crowdfunding story.

Perks include mugs featuring some of the cool catchphases and words from the film, hand-fired by the Director’s mum in Scotland, to film credits, sweetie bags, and even the (soon to be famous) hut from the film.

We would love to hear your thoughts about the perks on offer. There’s still room to add a few more if you want something special from the film.

Please help spread the word by sharing the campaign on Facebook, Twitter and in any blogs that you manage. We really do appreciate your help.

44 days to go – wish us luck!