Shades of Vengeance has been Kickstarting Era projects for years, including the tabletop RPG Era: The Empowered.
There have been comics before, and now the designer and creator, Ed Jowett is back on the crowdfunding platform to raise only £3,500 for a movie. There’s already something to watch, and you see that below or find out more from the funding page.
The short movie will be around 19 minutes long and about two heroes disagreeing on how to defend a city from the return of an Old God.
It’s a dark alternative timeline in which ancient powers have returned to take over the world. There are superheroes, but these gods thoroughly outmatch them.
There are four actors, two of which have lead roles and a greenscreen approach with the Kickstarter to pay for extra CGI on the otherwise privately funded project.
Drift (Daisy Boyden) and Snake (Mark Hunter) are two of the less powerful heroes in the world, and they find their city taken over by an Old God with so much more power than them, they have no chance.
The two are long-time allies, but they choose a different approach to this.
While Snake chooses to go underground and fight back using his power to change into other people, Drift chooses to placate Herne. Hoping that she can delay the people’s suffering until more powerful people on her side can arrive, she ends up at odds with Snake’s combative plans.
It takes just £5 to get your name in the credits.
Backers who pledge £10 or more will also get a digital copy of Occupied and any stretch goals that might manifest later.
Collectors get a DVD, with postage to work out later, and global shipping is supported for £20. The DVD is also an add-on, so you can skip the digital delivery if your internet is poor.
There are higher tiers; £25 gives backers access to an early cut or a t-shirt. £35 gets the hardback of the Occupied book with character design, sketches and world details.
At £60, you can come to the premiere if you can get yourself to London and £80 for the script and hardback.
The last tier, that’s not sold out, is £100, which gets the DVD, hardback, early cut and t-shirt.
The release date varies, with the book out in February 2024 with the premiere, except the digital download should be available before both in December 2023.
What do you think? Measured observations are welcome and you can leave them in the comment section below.