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WEDNESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2016
Being boldly countercultural in Hollywood
Paul Bois is taking on the big guys. He is trying to break into Hollywood with an original script and deeply controversial ideas about contemporary sexuality. MercatorNet interviewed him about his project.
MercatorNet: You’re 27 years old; you’ve got no money; and you want to change Hollywood. Tell us how that works.
Paul Bois: You are correct that I have no money and that I want to change Hollywood. I have no delusions that Hollywood, will ever be perfect. That being said, when Mark Ruffalo can openly applaud abortion and shows like Scandal can feature Kerry Washington aborting her unborn child to the song “Silent Night” without significant pushback, while actors like Matthew Marsden are blacklisted from working simply for being Catholic, then we have a serious problem.
It’s a culture-making industry where the top dogs make huge financial gains off the support of middle-America while simultaneously supporting politicians that seek to curtail their religious freedoms and flood their neighborhoods with Planned Parenthood clinics.
This is usually the moment that people say “Can’t we separate the artist from the art?”. To that I say: “I got news for you, Mark Ruffalo is a hero to your son as “The Incredible Hulk” and Kerry Washington gets a comfortable spot on your living room couch every week.”
Quite frankly, the pushback from us has been almost non-existent. If we used our pocket-books against them with half the fervor and intensity they show for their positions, they’d be changing their step faster than a Fred Astaire tap dance.
Sorry to sound brash, but you can’t trash my values and then expect me to give you my hard-earned $15 bucks without blowback.
It’s the equivalent of giving a bully your lunch money after he punched you in the face and expecting he’ll buy you a grilled-cheese afterwards. You wouldn’t do that on the school yard, and you shouldn’t have to do it in your day-to-day life. Obviously, what we pay for will never be pure so long as sin exists, but we can take some control, and that’s really what I’m trying to accomplish with this campaign.
I’m sending a message to Christians and conservatives that they can create the culture they want if they put the effort forward, and it only takes the click of a few buttons on Indiegogo. I just need 300 to 500 backers giving whatever they can to make this possible, and I sincerely ask whomever is reading this to take that initiative, even for as little as $5.
If this campaign is successful and I make the quality short film I know “The Bound” can be, who’s to say we can’t crowd-fund our way to a feature film without going to a single Hollywood executive.
Someone is going to do it one day, especially as technology makes quality looking films cheaper to make and the internet becomes a viable form of distribution. Incredible culture-making power stands within our grasp and we need to reach for it while we still can, because the window for our freedom of speech is closing very fast, and we have only a small amount of time to shift it backwards.
The goal of the campaign is simple: create a powerful short film, excite audiences, and then immediately use that momentum to push the feature film.
You describe your concept as a medieval horror film. Do you think that producers will resonate with that?
They already have. I have already shared the full concept of “The Bound” with highly-qualified and experienced producers, all of whom have made full-length feature films. They love the concept and have attached themselves to this project, including actor/producer Matthew Marsden, who is best known for his role as School Boy in Sylvester Stallone's Rambo.
Once I raise the funds, we’re a green-light. The feature film will come as a result of audience's positive response to it, which I will show to investors and producers as proof this film has the legs to run.
What’s the sequence of events which leads from a story-board to a short to a feature-length film? It must be an agonizing process.
This has been a very bumpy, arduous road from the outset. I wrote the script back in August, then garnered the funds to make a solid Indiegogo promo, which took two months gather the artwork, shoot the promo video, and edit the finished product.
Once the funds are raised, my producers and I will immediately launch into pre-production phase and work begins to gather the team, whom my producers will mostly be providing, from make-up artists to sound designers. Locations to shoot the film will also be decided throughout this phase.
Our goal is to start principal photography at the tail-end of spring into the beginning of summer, clocking in at about five to six full shooting days. Post-production will unfold throughout the summer and we should have a finished product by fall of this year.
After all perks have been dispersed, we will release the film online, using the same media outlets to build buzz, and then use the positive feedback we get from audiences to push investors into funding the feature film, which will be making the short film on a much grander scale.
Here’s the $64,000 question: what is the philosophy behind the film? What message are you sending?
“The Bound” addresses modern feminism as an ideology and its cataclysmic effect on masculinity and natural law. Whatever it began as, feminism has now morphed into one of the most mean-spirited ideologies being pressed upon the masses today. It is an ideology that has resulted in the deaths of nearly 60 million unborn babies, the dissolution of monogamy, complete rejection of sexual modesty, and a near-complete rejection of the sexual act as primary for procreation.
What place is there for men in this culture?
My complaint is not that they become punching bags, but that they lose their hunger and fight for the Truth. They’re all liberals, obsessed with material goods, obsessed with social justice and the wealth of other people, completely detached from fighting against real social evils like abortion and euthanasia.
Much of “The Bound” explores the horrific consequences of this feminization and what men must do to fight their way out of it. Essentially, men need to be reminded they were created to sacrifice and die for the sake of truth, beauty, and order. They need to believe in their own heroism for the sake of defending good, dying for it if necessary. If men don’t order their lives towards that, then evil will continue to flourish.
To see this mentality in action, read Hanna Rosin’s article in Time magazine where she celebrates “the end of men” by proudly citing statistics where boys are underperforming in schools, less men are graduating from college, and men are failing in the work force. She celebrates pain, sorrow, chaos, and destruction while calling it creation.
This is a mean-spirited, destructive ideology and it needs to be characterized for what it actually is: an evil freak of nature that devolves everything it touches into an ugly mutation of itself. The Bound does that.
A film about the emasculation of the American male by feminism might be a hard sell in Tinsel Town… How will you overcome the prejudice there?
By the grace of God and the support of other fellow Catholics and conservatives. There are a few of them in this town, I’ve gotten to know them, and they’re hungering for that chance to make a cultural change. It really all comes down to giving them a good product they can have confidence in. They just need to know that Catholics can make great movies that sell, and we can.
Remember, Catholics made A Man For All Seasons, Becket, Ben-Hur, The Exorcist, and most recently Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. We have centuries of art, music, and books to be proud of. There’s no reason film can’t be on our list of cultural accomplishments.
It’s also a film about the virtue of chastity, isn’t it? That’s a big sell in today’s world. Why is this so important to you?
Yes, because much of the film’s visuals and emotional themes are about the chaos that ensues when sexual relations between the masculine and feminine are thrown out of synch.
I care so much about this topic because it’s deeply personal. I went through the university system, I experienced the hook-up culture, and I know how truly devastating to the soul it can be.
Sam Goldwyn said, “If you have a message, call Western Union.” What comes first, the message, or the story?
The Story. The Story. The Story.
Let me say it three times to get across that I am a storyteller first and an activist second. You could have the finest message or great moral argument, but if you have no story and no emotionally true characters or genuine conflict, you’re better off writing an essay about it.
I want to take people on an emotional ride through my world with my characters as guides first. By the way, people are welcome to take whatever they want from the film. By having an emotionally rich story with rich characters, I leave room for people to make those interpretations for themselves.
Tell us how people can support your project.
Donate. Donate. Donate, and then Share on the Indiegogo site (plenty of information there, too.)
I really do need the backings of conservatives and Catholics to get this off the ground. The film industry is a very tough place for someone of my world view to find their way, and crowd-funding may be our saving grace. Any donation, however small, helps a big way. Thank you and God bless!
- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/popcorn/view/being-boldly-countercultural-in-hollywood/17631#sthash.Zo3WrlNZ.dpuf ********
MercatorNet: You’re 27 years old; you’ve got no money; and you want to change Hollywood. Tell us how that works.Paul Bois: You are correct that I have no money and that I want to change Hollywood. I have no delusions that Hollywood, will ever be perfect. That being said, when Mark Ruffalo can openly applaud abortion and shows like Scandal can feature Kerry Washington aborting her unborn child to the song “Silent Night” without significant pushback, while actors like Matthew Marsden are blacklisted from working simply for being Catholic, then we have a serious problem.
It’s a culture-making industry where the top dogs make huge financial gains off the support of middle-America while simultaneously supporting politicians that seek to curtail their religious freedoms and flood their neighborhoods with Planned Parenthood clinics.
This is usually the moment that people say “Can’t we separate the artist from the art?”. To that I say: “I got news for you, Mark Ruffalo is a hero to your son as “The Incredible Hulk” and Kerry Washington gets a comfortable spot on your living room couch every week.”
Quite frankly, the pushback from us has been almost non-existent. If we used our pocket-books against them with half the fervor and intensity they show for their positions, they’d be changing their step faster than a Fred Astaire tap dance.
Sorry to sound brash, but you can’t trash my values and then expect me to give you my hard-earned $15 bucks without blowback.
It’s the equivalent of giving a bully your lunch money after he punched you in the face and expecting he’ll buy you a grilled-cheese afterwards. You wouldn’t do that on the school yard, and you shouldn’t have to do it in your day-to-day life. Obviously, what we pay for will never be pure so long as sin exists, but we can take some control, and that’s really what I’m trying to accomplish with this campaign.
I’m sending a message to Christians and conservatives that they can create the culture they want if they put the effort forward, and it only takes the click of a few buttons on Indiegogo. I just need 300 to 500 backers giving whatever they can to make this possible, and I sincerely ask whomever is reading this to take that initiative, even for as little as $5.
If this campaign is successful and I make the quality short film I know “The Bound” can be, who’s to say we can’t crowd-fund our way to a feature film without going to a single Hollywood executive.
Someone is going to do it one day, especially as technology makes quality looking films cheaper to make and the internet becomes a viable form of distribution. Incredible culture-making power stands within our grasp and we need to reach for it while we still can, because the window for our freedom of speech is closing very fast, and we have only a small amount of time to shift it backwards.
The goal of the campaign is simple: create a powerful short film, excite audiences, and then immediately use that momentum to push the feature film.
You describe your concept as a medieval horror film. Do you think that producers will resonate with that?
They already have. I have already shared the full concept of “The Bound” with highly-qualified and experienced producers, all of whom have made full-length feature films. They love the concept and have attached themselves to this project, including actor/producer Matthew Marsden, who is best known for his role as School Boy in Sylvester Stallone's Rambo.
Once I raise the funds, we’re a green-light. The feature film will come as a result of audience's positive response to it, which I will show to investors and producers as proof this film has the legs to run.
What’s the sequence of events which leads from a story-board to a short to a feature-length film? It must be an agonizing process.
This has been a very bumpy, arduous road from the outset. I wrote the script back in August, then garnered the funds to make a solid Indiegogo promo, which took two months gather the artwork, shoot the promo video, and edit the finished product.
Once the funds are raised, my producers and I will immediately launch into pre-production phase and work begins to gather the team, whom my producers will mostly be providing, from make-up artists to sound designers. Locations to shoot the film will also be decided throughout this phase.
Our goal is to start principal photography at the tail-end of spring into the beginning of summer, clocking in at about five to six full shooting days. Post-production will unfold throughout the summer and we should have a finished product by fall of this year.
After all perks have been dispersed, we will release the film online, using the same media outlets to build buzz, and then use the positive feedback we get from audiences to push investors into funding the feature film, which will be making the short film on a much grander scale.
Here’s the $64,000 question: what is the philosophy behind the film? What message are you sending?
“The Bound” addresses modern feminism as an ideology and its cataclysmic effect on masculinity and natural law. Whatever it began as, feminism has now morphed into one of the most mean-spirited ideologies being pressed upon the masses today. It is an ideology that has resulted in the deaths of nearly 60 million unborn babies, the dissolution of monogamy, complete rejection of sexual modesty, and a near-complete rejection of the sexual act as primary for procreation.
What place is there for men in this culture?
My complaint is not that they become punching bags, but that they lose their hunger and fight for the Truth. They’re all liberals, obsessed with material goods, obsessed with social justice and the wealth of other people, completely detached from fighting against real social evils like abortion and euthanasia.
Much of “The Bound” explores the horrific consequences of this feminization and what men must do to fight their way out of it. Essentially, men need to be reminded they were created to sacrifice and die for the sake of truth, beauty, and order. They need to believe in their own heroism for the sake of defending good, dying for it if necessary. If men don’t order their lives towards that, then evil will continue to flourish.
To see this mentality in action, read Hanna Rosin’s article in Time magazine where she celebrates “the end of men” by proudly citing statistics where boys are underperforming in schools, less men are graduating from college, and men are failing in the work force. She celebrates pain, sorrow, chaos, and destruction while calling it creation.
This is a mean-spirited, destructive ideology and it needs to be characterized for what it actually is: an evil freak of nature that devolves everything it touches into an ugly mutation of itself. The Bound does that.
A film about the emasculation of the American male by feminism might be a hard sell in Tinsel Town… How will you overcome the prejudice there?
By the grace of God and the support of other fellow Catholics and conservatives. There are a few of them in this town, I’ve gotten to know them, and they’re hungering for that chance to make a cultural change. It really all comes down to giving them a good product they can have confidence in. They just need to know that Catholics can make great movies that sell, and we can.
Remember, Catholics made A Man For All Seasons, Becket, Ben-Hur, The Exorcist, and most recently Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. We have centuries of art, music, and books to be proud of. There’s no reason film can’t be on our list of cultural accomplishments.
It’s also a film about the virtue of chastity, isn’t it? That’s a big sell in today’s world. Why is this so important to you?
Yes, because much of the film’s visuals and emotional themes are about the chaos that ensues when sexual relations between the masculine and feminine are thrown out of synch.
I care so much about this topic because it’s deeply personal. I went through the university system, I experienced the hook-up culture, and I know how truly devastating to the soul it can be.
Sam Goldwyn said, “If you have a message, call Western Union.” What comes first, the message, or the story?
The Story. The Story. The Story.
Let me say it three times to get across that I am a storyteller first and an activist second. You could have the finest message or great moral argument, but if you have no story and no emotionally true characters or genuine conflict, you’re better off writing an essay about it.
I want to take people on an emotional ride through my world with my characters as guides first. By the way, people are welcome to take whatever they want from the film. By having an emotionally rich story with rich characters, I leave room for people to make those interpretations for themselves.
Tell us how people can support your project.
Donate. Donate. Donate, and then Share on the Indiegogo site (plenty of information there, too.)
I really do need the backings of conservatives and Catholics to get this off the ground. The film industry is a very tough place for someone of my world view to find their way, and crowd-funding may be our saving grace. Any donation, however small, helps a big way. Thank you and God bless!
I recently stumbled across a book about Ireland's referendum on same-sex marriage last year. Its message was that the supporters of Yes vote were the underdogs in a tough campaign. But because they were champions of love, their cause was irresistible. Their margin of victory was certainly impressive -- 62% to 38%.
However, David Quinn, an Irish journalist and the director of the Iona Institute, who helped to run the No campaign, tells a very different story in his article below.
During the four-week referendum campaign, tens of thousands of Yes voters up and down the country were to be seen sporting “Yes Equality” badges. Almost none of the almost three quarters of a million people who voted No did so. Why not? They were scared. They were scared of being called “homophobic bigots”. They were scared of being attacked by their friends, by their family, by passers-by on the street …
Australia will probably have a plebiscite on same-sex marriage, too. As it is only hold-out in the "Anglosphere", the result will resonate far and wide. I hope that readers there will are preparing for the campaign with Quinn's advice in mind.
Michael Cook
Editor
MERCATORNET
 | Don’t demonise David Quinn | CONJUGALITY | 17 February 2016 |
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 | Being boldly countercultural in Hollywood Paul Bois | POPCORN | 17 February 2016 |
 | Should we fix mental health issues or prevent them? Nicole M. King | FAMILY EDGE | 17 February 2016 |
 | Are blogs really out of date? Denyse O'Leary | CONNECTING | 17 February 2016 Competition from anybody with an internet connection makes new media different from old media. Read more... |
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