UPDATE! WE REACHED OUR GOAL! Now on to the ...

UPDATE! NEW REWARD ITEM! $40 backers can now get this awesome screen-printed canvas tote bag! 

UPDATE! POSTER DESIGN! $25 and above get a download and $100 and above get a print of this sweet poster!

So, Re-Election is the story of an Election Day stuck in a time loop? 

Yep!

Why? What's that about?

Re-Election is a story about a group of campaign officers who've lost their drive. Most of them are phoning in their jobs. The Press Secretary is an alcoholic, the Field Director is having an affair with the intern, and the protagonist, Jamie, is literally reliving the same day over and over with nothing to show for it. But everyone has potential—and our story is about unlocking it. What can these people accomplish if they started caring about the direction of the campaign—and their lives? We want to show you!

Also: sci-fi is awesome, and time loops are really fun! Our first episode introduces you to the characters and the election day, and establishes the ground rules of the loop. In subsequent episodes, we will play with the timeline and introduce some cool surprises about how the loop mechanic works. By the end of the series, you'll find out what the loop is, and why it came to exist in the first place. (And this isn’t going to be like LOST—we totally have answers for you!)

Ultimately, though, the loop is just a device. At its core, Re-Election is about learning. Is it possible for Jaime to alter her path? What will it take to convince the others to help her? How can she learn to use the time loop for her own purposes, instead of just being stuck inside of it forever? These are the concepts we’re interested in exploring throughout the show.

Interesting! Okay, so who's making this thing?  

Paul Karpenko (me!) - Director/Producer. I've made a variety of films over the last 10 years. My last film—a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action short called White Elephant—was accepted to and screened at the LA International Underground Film Festival. I was excited to dive into something new after completing it so I came up with the idea for Re-Election (which is about as far from post-apocalyptic action as you can get) and went full steam ahead. 

After developing the concept, I teamed up with a co-writer and a producer, went through a ton of revisions of the script, and in the following months completed the scripts for all 8 episodes of our series. We then decided to film the pilot episode with funding out of our own pockets before launching the Kickstarter because we thought it was really important to have something to show you when reaching out for your help backing this project. I connected with an amazing film crew and shot the episode last spring. After finding an editor to help me cut it, and a musician to give the series a polished score, the episode was done!

Here are just some of the amazing people who've come on board to help me along the way ...

Evan McNamara - Co-Writer. He's a bit of a workaholic with a gift for snappy dialogue and tight storytelling, and he's completed scripts for all eight episodes of our series!

Angela Guyadeen - Political Consultant. She's worked on campaigns in DC as well as smaller local races. She gave us invaluable input that helped us make our characters and dialogue as realistic as possible.

Paris Tanaka - Producer. Paris is a godsend. She's worked on a wide range of projects and specializes in budgeting and the legal side of production. She's the one making sure every penny of our Kickstarter funds will be put to good use.  

Justin Aguirre - Cinematographer. Justin and his incredible crew are the reason our pilot episode looks so good. (Check out Justin's reel!)  

Rachel Maloney - Composer. Rachel's terrific music is inseparable from every other aspect Re-election. The score is a huge part of why we're so proud of the final product and why we're excited to film more of the story!

Our amazing cast, who love the story, the characters, and can't wait to do more. (Check out our IMDB page)

Here's a wacky group shot to convince you to support us.

Left to right: James McCoy as Richard, Lisa Roumain as Sheryl, Amber Rivera as Jamie, John Dana Kenning as Nick, David Currier as Doug, Justin Alastair as Benjamin

How can you say no to those faces!

In addition to HD Downloads of the episodes—including the first episode with director's commentary—and Rachel Maloney's awesome original score, we're offering some other really unique stuff!

$50 and above - Brad Jeansonne—an absolutely amazing artist with 13 years of experience working in video games and illustration on titles such as Halo 4, Call of Duty: World at War, and others—will create a custom Re-Election poster and you'll get a digital copy! The first 250 backers to pledge the $100 level and everyone who pledges above that will also get a gorgeous 11" x 17" print!

$75 and above - Get the new episodes before anyone else! Pledging this level and above entitles you to get an HD download of every new episode before it's posted publicly! 

And as cool as that stuff is, here comes the really amazing stuff.

$300 - You get everything mentioned above, plus our producer, Paris Tanaka, will organize for you to attend a screenwriting structure class with Peter Gamble who teaches screenwriting at USC where he won the Melon Prize for Mentoring Students.

$500 - Professional headshots from J Wiley Photography (who did our set & cast photography). Support our project and get beautiful, professional head shots as a freebie!

$750 - Our producer, Paris Tanaka, will give you the unbelievable opportunity to pitch your project or idea to Robert Lundberg, formerly the Head of Development at Dune Entertainment (Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Tree of Life). If you're a filmmaker looking to take your work to the next level, this is the way to do it.

And this is just a taste of our full list! Take a look on the right to find dinner with the crew, Paul and Paris personally advising your project, and of course a set visit to watch the magic, just to name a few. Peruse the full list and pick your favorite!

Plain and simple, this $25,000 is going to make Re-Election a reality because without this money, we will not be able to make the show. With these funds at the core, we will be able to acquire some additional financing to help this amount go further. Location and crew rates are hard to nail down without a firm schedule, so it's impossible to say exactly how much we'll need, but if we don't get at least $25,000, further episodes of Re-Electionsimply can't happen. That's is why we're counting on your involvement and your support. Please help us and join the Re-Election family; thank you so much!

Risks and challengesLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

The filmmaking process is wrought with uncertainty, but there are always steps a production team can take to maximize the chances of success. Being PREPARED is by far the biggest of these. This is why we shot our pilot: to show you that we're organized, capable, and can be trusted to tackle this project.

Paris Tanaka is a budgeting wizard who will make sure every penny of our raised funds goes the distance in making Re-Election a success. She will secure craft services (or make sandwiches herself like she did last time, right Paris?), lock in crew and vendors that we don't yet have, and generally grease the wheels of production. Seriously, she's awesome.

Paul will anxiously obsess over his giant continuity spreadsheet to make sure everything makes sense, he'll spearhead rehearsals with the actors to make sure they're prepared when the cameras roll, and he'll meticulously plan out each shooting day with Justin (camera setups, lighting considerations, etc.) so that everyone knows exactly what they're doing BEFORE they set foot on set.

Trust us, we will get this done and it will be a great show that you're going to love.