If you ever wanted to help fund a Croatian Spring Breakers vs. Zombies horror/comedy, now is your chance. Croatian filmmakers Dario Lonjak and Velimir Grgic have kicked off their crowdfunding campaign for the independent, zombedy HoliDead. Lonjak and Grgic have co-written the script, with Lonjak slated to direct and Grgic acting as producer. The “elevator pitch” is that it essentially is a teen Spring Break comedy crossed with a zombie outbreak film. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Croatian, as they will be shooting the film in English.
The filmmakers are looking to raise $100,000 in seed money. They estimate that they need $500,000 for the film, but the seed funds will help them attract investors. They plan on shooting in Croatia in September 2017, with the goal of releasing around Spring Break 2018.
Dario Lonjak, an award-winning film director and famous writer (co-author of awarded zombie comedy book Crisis), producer and TV personality Velimir Grgic, both from Zagreb, have just launched a FundThis crowdfunding campaign to complete his upcoming feature film HoliDead. Velimir claims that this zombie comedy will be unique in its style, with sun, beach, alcohol, drugs and half naked girls meeting flesh eating zombies. Though it will contain all the common attributes of the zombie genre, HoliDead will primarily be a comedy with strong emphasis on mixing violence with laughter.
The story of HoliDead revolves around five young boys and girls from England and USA visiting Croatia for their summer vacation. However, their dream vacation soon experiences a wild turn when they end up in the middle of a zombie invasion. The theme is based on the concept of a cultural clash between the exotic local tradition and the modern foreign lifestyle. The film will feature the Mediterranean architecture and nature, sun scorched rocks, small town squares, and picturesque beaches that make Croatia a preferred holiday destination. Croatian culture and customs will also have an important role in the film.
A graduate in Film and TV Direction, Dario Lonjak is the recipient of numerous awards on genre film festivals. His documentary Srecko was acclaimed around the world as an international hit on the Internet. Dario has also worked as an Assistant Director on several feature films and big national movies. Leading Croatian actress and huge start of arthouse festival hits (Cannes Un Certain Regard recipient The High Noon) Tihana Lazović will play a major role in HoliDead.
The initial funding goal for this project is $100,000, and it will cover the initial investment needed to start the project, complete the pre-production tasks, attract other investors to close the full budget, and start shooting. However, Dario’s complete budget for HoliDead is $500,000. By stretching the budget to $1,000,000, the team will be able to afford better special effects, make up and SFX; better actors with some known names, more days of shooting, and more expensive post production.
Inviting all zombie comedy enthusiasts to support his funding initiative, Dario states, “Our goal is not to make a trash exploitation film but a commercial, fun, youth comedy with zombies. $500,000 will enable us to make a good and fun film, but with an investment of $1,000,000, HoliDead will be even better in every aspect and even more successful.”
To find out more about this campaign on FundThis, please visit http://bit.ly/2nnnMJD
