Artemis Eternal

Artemis Eternal
Teaser Poster for Artemis Eternal
Directed by	Jessica Mae Stover
Written by	Screenplay: Jessica Mae Stover

Artemis Eternal is the name of an upcoming short film being produced independently by Jessica Mae Stover. The cross-platform web experience and other design elements for the film are created by artist Greg Martin, who frequently collaborates on Stover's projects. Filming for the movie starts in 2009.

Artemis Eternal is being funded differently than most movies and many short films. Artemis Eternal is not sponsored or backed by any Hollywood studio. Instead, the film is being supported by a method called "Crowd-Funding". As of April 28, 2008, $40,000 out of the necessary $150,000 for Artemis Eternal has been raised. Both Jessica Mae Stover and actor Todd Soley appeared in person at Comic-Con International, San Diego in 2008 and 2009 to promote the project.

Filmmaking Principles

The project stands for making independent, artistic yet commercially viable movies independent of toys, TV shows and other products studios base films on and collect their profits from. Stover reports that movies have exclusively become commercials and licensing platforms and that, in response, the way Artemis Eternal is produced challenges issues of media control, media consolidation and monopolies of knowledge that have created poor cinema product and experience. The project, therefore, is meant to open and inspire new possibilities and thinking in the film business model via leading by example.

The Wingmen

Filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover pictured with one of The Wingmen

Individuals who contribute to the film are inducted into The Artemis Eternal Wingmen. Names and websites of Wingmen can be found on the official site map experience and in the credits for the film. While The Wingmen span the globe and members hail from all walks of life and professions - from students to homemakers to NASA employees - there are publicly notable individuals also holding the title of Wingmen, many of whom are professionals in film and media.

Stover has described The Wingmen as, "visionaries and revolutionaries, open-minded, savvy and graced with a high spirit of adventure. Their digital tracks can be seen across the Internets, they come from all backgrounds and countries, and via ARTEMIS have signed on to what is a declaration of film independence."

A portion of "The Wingmen: Symphony" outlines the community's ideals:

"And while we may have a leader, we follow an ideal: that films should be a covenant between filmmaker and audience in which the message is pure, direct, and unfiltered. The specter of commercialism has long hung over the film industry, but of late it has evolved into a fog of bureaucracy and materialism, of plastic cups and bad advertisements. The artist is obscured, and the audience is force-fed cheap ideas devoid of any purpose. There is no truth, no depth, in something so manufactured, and it must end.

We want to see film taken to the streets and engendered by the passion of a community, not puppeted by the strings of a select few studios wealthy enough to pull them. Our ideas, our time, our talents—we’re prepared to give all to support the creation of art on our own terms. We don’t expect this battle to be quick or easy, and we demand the best from the artists we’ve chosen to lead the charge."

Wingmen work with Stover and the project team on ancillary projects and are responsible for much of the press and attention Artemis Eternal has received in the online world and at conventions.

In 2009 over 50 Wingmen from the District of Colombia and Los Angeles appeared onscreen with Stover in a video called "The Wingmen: Distortion" that uses movie lines re-imagined and new content to illuminate issues with media consolidation and criticize the lack of ethic and quality in studio films. The video highlights the disconnect between what studios (Warner Brothers is used as an example) sell audiences via story ideals vs. their actual business practices undermining those ideals. The short also takes clever shots at George Lucas' Star Wars Prequels. The video has been featured in a variety of places off and online, including YouTube Film. Notably and rare to the filmmaking world, the video was produced 100% volunteer, including the professional editor, DP, composer et al., with support from Film Independent and other venders as well as the entire Artemis Eternal Wingman community.

Awards and nominations

2008 WebVisionary Award Winner

More stuff

Spring 2010 it was announced that renowned film and graphic novel artist Christopher Shy has come on board to create the concept art for the film, which is currently in pre-production.

List of Notable Wingmen

• Sean Bonner (co-founder of Bode Media, Inc)
• Brady Brim-DeForest (co-founder of Tubefilter)
• Paul Davidson (popular comedy author, screenwriter)
• Jason DeFillippo (co-founder of Bode Media, Inc)
• Zadi Diaz (producer, host of Epic-Fu)
• Bruce A. Fuchs, Ph.D. (director at NIH Office of Science Education)
• Marc Hustvedt (co-founder of Tubefilter)
• Rudy Jahchan (web video producer)
• Greg Martin (digital artist, illustrator)
• Taryn O'Neill (producer, Streamy-nominated actor)
• Peter Streckfus (poet)

Additional News Coverage

• TechCrunch http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/28/artemis-eternal-brings-crowd-funding-to-movie-making/
• The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080229.WBmingram20080229121641/WBStory/WBmingram/
• The Escapist http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/the-needles/6082-Artemis-Eternal-A-New-Way-to-Make-Movies

See also

• Crowdfunding
• Crowdsourcing

External links

• Artemis Eternal Official Site - Maps out the movie's process and allows movie fans to evolve into WINGMEN
• The WINGMEN: Distortion - HD Video about project (YouTube Link)
• Mahalo Daily Episode - A 5-minute HD video overview of Artemis Eternal
• Artemis Eternal Press Notes - PDF document with background on the project
• 'The World As Film' - Essay published by filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover concerning the academic ethos of the project
• JSDC Projects Listing - Filmmaker's listing of projects including description of Artemis Eternal
• Artemis Eternal YouTube Channel - Lo-fi updates about the progress of project Artemis Eternal
• Artemis Eternal Vimeo Channel - Hi-fi updates about the progress of project Artemis Eternal

See also

• Crowdsourcing