FiPS Cares: Let's Help These BK Filmmakers Raise Money For Slamdance!

The people of Park Slope love nothing more than to get all caught up in pet drama. Remember back in November when a man tied his dog up outside of a Radio Shack for a few minutes, and then some woman stole it because she thought it needed rescuing?’

Imagine a run-in like that sparking an unlikely friendship, which ultimately leads to a movie!

This is exactly what happened to filmmaker Keith Miller, who once found a lost dog in South Park Slope. After a few months of caring for it, he ran into a man on the street named Shannon Harper, who turned out to be the dog's owner. After the two men argued over the pup in question, Keith offered to buy the dog, then asked Harper if he wanted to be in a movie.

"Over the course of our long conversation, I began to realize that we were both consciously and unconsciously working through issues of race, class and above all, our love of this puppy," Miller explains on the film's Kickstarter page.

The two men made a short film about their run-in, and after it played at the 2010 Rooftop Film Festival, decided to collaborate on a longer film. This is how Welcome to Pine Hill was born. The film, which will premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival next month is described as such: 

A recently reformed drug dealer working as a claims adjuster by day and bouncer by night, Shannon Harper receives earth-shattering news that compels him to make peace with his past and search for freedom beyond the concrete jungle of New York. With a cinema verite style rooted in very real life,WELCOME TO PINE HILL features an extraordinarily intimate performance by Harper playing himself, supported by an eclectic mix of real people and improvised performers. Traveling from the backyards of Brooklyn crack houses to the lush Catskill Mountains, the film is a meditative journey about how we choose to live our lives.

One of the show's producers reached out to us about a Kickstarter fund to cover costs of making it to The Slamdance Festival. They need to pay for color correction, outputting masters and travel costs to get to the festival.

Guys, they are OHSOCLOSE to reaching their goal, so please -- watch the video, and if you can toss a few shekels, shillings or gold krugerrands their way, please do! 

They'll also be screening the trailer and presenting the project tonight at the Kings County Cinema event at Freddy's.