Cambodian Indie Vietnam War-era Feature Film 'FREEDOM DEAL', Set During Nixon's 1970 'Cambodian Incursion', Counters Lack of Local Production Financing With International Crowd Funding Campaign

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, May 14, 2012 (Press-News.org) A group of Khmer and Foreign filmmakers and artists, including a Cambodian Princess, US alt-rock legend Bob Lewis of the band DEVO, an award-winning US writer-director, and Golden Age 1960's Cambodian filmmaker Yvon Hem all have one thing in common.

They're working to get Cambodia's first homegrown crowd funded indie feature, FREEDOM DEAL off the ground, in a developing nation where film funding is virtually non-existent and crowd funding - common in the West and other developed filmmaking environments - is virtually unknown.

Undaunted, a new crowd funding site for the film, FREEDOM DEAL has just been launched at the popular international crowd funding portal, IndieGogo: http://igg.me/p/101764?a=207478

Their goal is to raise enough money ($4700) to produce a short film adapted from the feature length screenplay of FREEDOM DEAL, in order to gain festival circuit exposure and to attract additional co-production interest to produce the full-length feature.

Contributors receive a variety of perks, including a video 'postcard' from Cambodia on Youtube (as seen here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LvtygtvFo) thanking them for their contribution, copies of the completed DVD, associate and co-producer credits, and more.

FREEDOM DEAL tells the story of a Cambodian youth and his fellow refugees, who flee the growing conflict on their border as the Vietnam war expands into Cambodia during Nixon's 1970 'Cambodian incursion'. On their way they evade horrific Cambodian ghosts, while rescuing a downed US aircrew and evading brutal Khmer Rouge guerillas.

A short scene demo, shot in Cambodia, can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpIxo8wWTFQ, suggesting the 'look and feel' of the story, as the hero, SAMNANG ('Lucky'), journeys to the safety of the provincial capital to find his uncle, his only remaining relative.
The project's producer and writer-director, US filmmaker Jason Rosette, who has been living in Cambodia since 2005 while researching the project, is convinced a wartime period movie like 'FREEDOM DEAL' can be made, despite the challenges of a limited budget.

"Numerous other compelling and commercially successful wartime features have been produced relatively inexpensively, thanks to great local talent and a creative use of effects and locations." states Rosette. 'Come and See', by Elem Klimov, is one incredible example, set in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Belarus - as I've heard, it's one of Sean Penn's favorite all time films."

"Using creative sound effects, a limited numbers of vehicles, and superbly cast local talent, the perception of all-out war is convincingly created on a very modest budget."

For the production of FREEDOM DEAL, taking place during the 1970 US-ARVN incursion into Cambodia, (Cambodian) Princess Norodom has been conducting local and regional outreach referring potential contributors to the effort at http://igg.me/p/101764?a=207478 in order to share this important, but relatively unknown part of US-Cambodian history.

Many US citizens remember the 1970 shootings of unarmed protesting students at Kent State as a turning point in the US involvement in the Vietnam war, leading to the eventual downfall of President Nixon himself. But relatively few people in the US, and fewer still in Cambodia, realize that the Kent State protesters were expressing outrage at the Cambodian incursion depicted in 'FREEDOM DEAL', an event which had widely been seen as an expansion of the Vietnam War into the rest of Southeast Asia.

Writer-director Jason Rosette is quick to point out that FREEDOM DEAL is not an 'Anti-American' movie, of the likes of some kind of 'Mai Lai' massacre.

"To the contrary, states Rosette, 'FREEDOM DEAL' is an 'Anti-War' movie. It expresses, as a dramatization (with supernatural & horror elements) the well-researched and well-founded points of view of many diplomatic, civilian, and military personnel - US, Vietnamese, and Cambodian - that the war in Indochina had been ill-conceived and was needlessly costing hundreds of thousands of lives by 1970, the date that 'FREEDOM DEAL' takes place.

"'FREEDOM DEAL will demonstrate, from civilian refugee, as well as military perspectives, that armed conflict is a solution of last resort that can devastate all participants for years to come."

The production has recently concluded a local casting session in Phnom Penh (http://cameradomoviesandmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/first-local-casting-for-vietnam-war-era.html) to secure the local talent needed to produce several key scenes from the feature screenplay.

The producers are also currently in discussions with several LA-based casting directors to attach name Western talent to play the principal roles of two featured US Army characters (aged 19-26).

"International co-producers are excited by the totally unique FREEDOM DEAL story and the obvious US tie-in, which will help the movie's performance in North America especially", states Rosette. "But, since we're planning to shoot in Cambodia and Thailand, folks abroad seem to be risk averse until they can actually see something on screen."

The group is now proceeding to produce their short adaptation of the feature length screenplay, which, lacking the complexity of vehicles and pyrotechnics, can be achieved on a low budget. They are currently well on their way to raising those funds thanks to their IndieGogo crowd funding portal at http://igg.me/p/101764?a=207478, and through the contribution of individual contributors around the world.

The short film adaptation of FREEDOM DEAL (approximately 10 minutes) will gain exposure on the international festival circuit and elsewhere, in order to elicit further interest and funding for the full-length production.

"This 'staged approach' - making a short based on an intended feature - is something that was used successfully for many other movies, such as 'Slingblade', 'Bottle Rockets', 'Stranger than Paradise', and numerous other unique films which carried perceived production risks." says Rosette. "We're confident that, when we can show some relevant story sections of FREEDOM DEAL on screen, credible international coproduction partners will demonstrate enhanced interest and willingness to participate.

The Cambodian film production environment is still lacking in several key areas, and film production incentives (let alone rebates or grants), typical in Western and other developed nations, are not currently available here - so funding must come from the private sector or international sources.

On the other hand, local labor is inexpensive, Cambodian talent is capable, the locations in Cambodia are fresh and authentic, and the cinema industry is developing rapidly as international productions begin to shoot here more and more frequently. Advanced gear, if needed, can be brought from neighboring Bangkok, a 45 minute flight from Phnom Penh.

"Needless to say, a story about the US military involvement in Cambodia would most appropriately be shot in Cambodia", notes Rosette, though he adds that complex scenes, requiring heavy grip and lighting, pyrotechnics, and major mechanical FX may be more conveniently shot in neighboring Thailand.

Interested fans and supporters can contribute to FREEDOM DEAL on IndieGogo, http://igg.me/p/101764?a=207478, and help bring to fruition an untold story about a little known secret part of the 1970 US-Vietnam war...in Cambodia.

Camerado produces innovative and compelling movies and media in Asia and the USA; visit our website at http://www.camerado.com for more information, or http://www.freedomdealmovie.com about this effort in particular.