Bali Short Film Project: 'Meeting Made in Bali'

Exciting news has come to me from one my friends here in Bali, Richard Halstead, about his latest writing project.  The script is nearing completion and Bali Film Studios, in association with Hollywood veteran Michael Pohorly, plan to shoot the short film in August.

They are using the kickstarter website to allow their potential audience an opportunity to be involved with the movie-making process from the ground up. “Crowdsourcing is a great way for people to get involved with the kinds of stories they want to enjoy” Richard explained. “They pay a few dollars and in return we make something unique.  In the end,  everybody’s happy.” You can contribute to this exciting project on their kickstarter page and, in return, you will receive anything from a DVD/digital download of the finished film to executive producer credits, with many other extras available according to the amount of your pledge.

Meeting Made in Bali is a short film about a young Balinese taxi driver who becomes estranged from his family when he chooses to leave his village to go and work in Bali’s bustling tourist district.  The intrigue begins when the kid meets an evasive American tourist with a sealed letter who offers him a dream fare.  What’s the catch?  The letter has to be delivered to the kid’s home village.  Not wanting to return home, but needing the money, the kid hatches a cunning plan.  

The Fundraising Trailer for Meeting Made in Bali

The movie’s director, Mike Pohorly creates back and forth between Bali, where he is a writer, and on Hollywood films, where he works as a 2nd Assistant Director on main-stream big-budget films. Mike has worked on films such as The Grey, The A-Team, and This Means War, and with actors such as Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson (picture below), Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Aniston, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper, John Cusack and Will Smith.

Meeting Made in Bali’s director, Mike Pohorly with Liam Neeson on the set at The A-Team

The movie will be shot on location around the paradise island of Bali, and the production team has gone to great lengths to portray the unique island and its ancient culture as accurately as possible while also representing the pressures that today’s Balinese face in the shape of globalization. “Bali is probably one of the few places on the planet where a modern western culture, based on capitalism and technology, exists in parallel with an ancient eastern one, with its strong foundations of family and community, ” said Pohorly who is also one of the writers on the project. “It is deeply important to us to record Bali during this state of extreme social upheaval to leave a document for future generations.”

To support or find out more about this exciting film project, please visit the Meeting Made in Bali  Kickstarter page before 30th June! Remember, it's all-or-nothing funding so you will only be debited if the target is met.