What We Need and What You Get

We’ll be assembling an all-volunteer cast and crew, but even volunteers need gas to travel and food to eat while they’re working.  Our funding goal of $7,500 will be used to reimburse the travel expenses of the cast and crew, feeding them while they’re here, hiring a composer and getting music rights, plus a buffer to cover the fees of IndieGogo and Paypal.

What you donate goes to the production whether we meet our goal or not.  So there’s no worry of falling a couple dollars short of our goal and losing everything.  We’re also partnering with the non-profit organization Family Gravity Media, so all donations to In His Steps are tax deductible.

And if that’s not incentive enough, we’ve also got several additional perks for anyone who donates certain amounts.

Other Ways You Can Help

Tell everyone you know about the project, and ask them to donate!  Share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email… everywhere you can!  Help us finally make this project a reality!

A homeless man, Jack Manning (Cesar Marquez), looks back on the downward spiral that brought his life to where it is today, and wonders why Christians never seem willing to help.

Ragged Edge, the short film prequel to In His Steps: The Series is now available for viewing online!  Watch it here.

To learn more about the production of Ragged Edge, visit www.standingsun.com/raggededge.  DVDs with the movie and bonus features are also available for sale on the movie website.

“Ragged Edge” cast to reprise their roles for “In His Steps: The Series”

COLORADO — February 1, 2012 — Actors Ken Lawrence and Cesar Marquez have been signed on to reprise their roles from “Ragged Edge” in Standing Sun Productions’ upcoming web series “In His Steps: The Series”.  Cesar Marquez will play Jack Manning, the homeless man who shakes the people of the First Church of Raymond out of their comfortable church routines.  Ken Lawrence will play Henry Maxwell, pastor of the First Church and leader of the group making a pledge to follow the motto “What would Jesus do.”

“To say I’m excited would be an understatement,” writer/producer/director Zack Lawrence said.  “It was such a blast to work with two such talented actors, and I’m looking forward to the privilege again.  It just wouldn’t feel right to continue the story we started in ‘Ragged Edge’ without them!”

“Ragged Edge” (www.standingsun.com/raggededge) is the short film prequel to “In His Steps,” and tells the story of how Jack Manning lost everything leading up to his arrival in the city of Raymond.  It has screened at four film festivals across the country and has been very well received by audiences.

“It’s a tough story to watch,” Lawrence said.  “Usually if people like a movie, they applaud at the end.  But there’s almost never any applause once the credits start rolling!  But when people talk to me afterward, they have nothing but good things to say.”

To help promote the new series, “Ragged Edge” will be released for online viewing on February 21, 2012, the one year anniversary of its initial release.

“Come this fall, people will finally be able to see what happens to Jack!  I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.  Of course, it’s no secret if you’ve read the book!”

Principal photography on the first season of “In His Steps: The Series” is set to begin in May of 2012.  The show will premiere online in September of 2012.  For more information, visit www.InHisStepsTheSeries.com.

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Standing Sun Productions has announced that its dramatic web series “In His Steps: The Series” will be distributed under the banner of the Ichthus Network.

The Ichthus Network, founded in August of 2011, serves as a hub for people to find Christian web series.  There are currently four shows that are a part of the Network, covering a broad spectrum of genres: music, comedy, theology and movie reviews.  “In His Steps: The Series” will add drama to that list.

“We started the Ichthus Network to be a place to help Christian filmmakers take advantage of the massive potential in web series,” said Zack Lawrence, director and founder of the Ichthus Network.  “Our goal is that, rather than be in competition with one another, members of the Network will work together to promote one another’s shows and, more importantly, the Kingdom of God.”

“In His Steps: The Series” is slated to begin airing in September of 2012. For more information, visit www.InHisStepsTheSeries.com

I’ve heard that if you can’t direct a pencil, then you can’t direct a camera.  I found that phrase a little daunting at first, since my drawing skills haven’t really improved much since I was in my early teens.   But I realized that a storyboard doesn’t have to look like it was drawn by a professional comic book artist (even though it makes the behind-the-scenes footage look nice!), it just has to convey the look and feel that I want for the shot.  And I think I’ve accomplished that.  And besides, I can still talk with my D.P. to explain the shot around any… artistic shortcomings in the storyboard.

6 weeks left before the official start of preproduction!  Here’s a glimpse at what I have left to do before we start signing people on:

• Make videos for the fundraising campaign
• Make promotional materials
• Prep sides to use in auditions
• Make a to-do list for preproduction!

There’s actually not much left to do at this point, which is really exciting!

–Zack Lawrence
Writer/Producer

Looking at the story structure, and taking some cues from successful web drama series, we’ve decided to break up In His Steps into 2-3 seasons of 12 episodes each.  The main reason is the logistics of producing 25 – 30 episodes, even 7-9 minute long ones.  By breaking things up into season-sized chunks, it will allow for breaks in the production time, and only having to acquire resources as they’re needed.  Plus, it’s easier to fund 12 episodes at a time than 30!

As of now, the plan is to write at least the first two seasons (24 episodes) by the February 21 deadline, but focus on actually producing only the first season.  Once pre-production officially starts, we’ll be using that time to assemble the cast and crew, acquire funding (that’ll be the big one!), location scout and get the shooting schedule together.

That’s all for now.  Now you know all that I do!  Well, except for the story, of course!

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