Simon Cox’s Kaleidoscope Man Looking for Investors

Debi Moore |

Mar 2, 2010

As we keep hearing over and over from filmmakers struggling to get financing for their projects, the industry has changed beyond recognition, and the old rule book has literally been torn up. As a result, they now need to find new and creative ways to get their films made. Case in point? Simon Cox’s decision to offer the opportunity for people to get involved in the making of his new film Kaleidoscope Man by way of a donation.

But before we get into the dollars and cents (or rather, pounds and shillings) of the matter, let’s look at Kaleidoscope Man‘s plot crunch to see if it’s something you might be interested in investing in:

Kaleidoscope Man is a moving story about Jack, a doctor at a care centre for people with mental health problems, who wakes to find himself imprisoned in a pod on board an alien spaceship. The last thing he remembers is rescuing a group of patients from a fire. So how did he go from that to … an alien spaceship? To complicate matters further, three of his patients are in pods with him.

Jack rescues his patients and manages to escape from the ship. They crash land on an alien planet where they are hunted by some deadly alien craft. As they battle their way out, they discover that they must face their inner demons and somehow find a way back to Earth. But there are some very dark secrets waiting for them, and Jack discovers that the future of the Earth now rests on his shoulders.

Realizing his vision for Kaleidoscope Man has been Cox’s dream for ten years, the last five of which have seen him searching for serious investors to back the project. This has led him down some dark paths with many false promises, misleading advice, and even deception. In the current climate, obtaining the £2.2M required to make the film is proving almost impossible because of the high risks involved in film investment and the possibility that the film will not make its investors money back. So recently Simon has decided to try a different approach and re-invent the film, reducing the budget to an affordable amount, and tailor it for a new audience.

The budget is now £350K. Screen West Midlands, who have already invested heavily into the film’s spectacular opening sequence, should provide 25% of this. There is also the Government Tax credit, which will pay back 20% of the budget. Therefore, Simon needs to raise approximately £200K to make the film.

For more info visit the official Kaleidoscope Man website and watch the below video in which Cox explains his new approach.

K-Man Pitch Video (WEBSITE VERSION) from Simon Cox on Vimeo.

Still have your attention? In that case check out some concept artwork and a couple of videos below, and drop by Simon Cox’s Blog for even more!