We are looking for young talented people for many parts, so we would like to offer the opportunity for up and coming actors, singers and dancers to apply.

You might be the someone, somewhere, who we have not found yet for one of the leading roles, or you could be right for one of our other parts – all you have to do is apply.

So, you might tape yourself for ‘James’ at this point, but actually be great for another part, and we’ll be able to tell that from your tape. It’s important to let you know that for lead roles, we’ll be able to travel actors to Glasgow for filming, but for other roles we’ll have a particular bias to Glasgow, or at least UK, based talent.

So, next, all you need to do is tape yourself!

We’re inviting you to read a scene written for ‘Eve’, ‘James’ or ‘Cass’, according to which role you suit best, so please see the character descriptions on the links below to find out what they are each about. Don’t worry if you don’t 100% fit the character description, choose whoever seems to fit the best for you, and this will give us a sense of what you can do. Guys, you’ll probably want to choose ‘James’! We’re asking you to record a song too if you would like to, but there are plenty of non-singing parts so if you can’t sing a note, don’t worry, just read the scene.

Professional Actors

If you are an actor with an agent and have been asked to tape you will have all of the information already, so you can ignore this page!

If you are an actor who has already submitted your info to us via the Spotlight breakdown, there is no need to re-send it as we are still going through all the submissions and will be in touch if we would like you to tape.

Spread the word!

If none of this is for you, but you know somebody; a friend, an up and coming actor, a singer, who you think is perfect for the role, then please pass this information on to them so they can submit a tape. If you don’t have a direct contact, but think we should check someone out, please draw our attention to them by emailing us with ‘GHTG Open Casting’ in the message subject.

You can start submitting your tapes NOW and we will accept tapes up until 15^th March 2300 GMT.

Everything you need is on the links below:

‘Eve’, ‘James’, ‘Cass’ character descriptions

Self taping instructions

Scenes to read – Eve, James / Cass

Listen to God Help The Girl

We are hugely grateful to everyone who has pledged throughout the campaign. We are now way past the target at over $102k. This is no small feat. The generosity of our backers has allowed us to join the exclusive ranks of only 5 other narrative feature film projects who have raised over $100k – see the links below to view those precious few. We’re the first EVER UK narrative feature to raise this amount.

We really have achieved something here and a successful Kickstarter campaign has always felt like it would be pivotal in making this movie – so off we go! It’s so encouraging to have over 1000 of you backing us.

It’s not over yet though, we still have 8 days to go on the campaign so there is plenty opportunity for others to get involved. The more we raise on kickstarter the quicker we can get the film into production so we are more than happy to push on past our target.

This is also the last window of opportunity to become part of making the film happen – there’s still the chance to shout action on the first take of the film, get your name in the credits, sign up for an exclusive kickstarter only dvd, receive a god help the crew badge and lots more. These rewards will only be available for the duration of the campaign so get in now if you want to join us.

Thank you all again, we are delighted.

Pledge before the end of Sunday and you’ll get this ‘Still’s demo in your inbox on Monday.

Kickstarter top funded narrative feature films:

Save Blue Like Jazz , $346k , U.S.

Man-Child , $125k , U.S.

Thankskilling , $112k , U.S.

I Am I , $111k , U.S.

Lust For Love , 101k , U.S.

AND God Help The Girl !!!!

Just before the end of last year we launched our kickstarter campaign to part fund ‘God Help the Girl’ the movie. We know some of you have been following the campaign closely but for others we thought we’d share some of the highs and lows!

It really feels like a year has passed between now and then and we are now over 90% of the way to our goal of raising $100k. But that is just part of the story – here is the tale of our kickstarter campaign so far:

We launched on 14^th December and it didn’t take long for the buzz to get out, both “Aint it cool” and “Pitchfork” instantly wrote about us in their blogs and the pledges flew in; we raised a staggering $27k in just three days! At that point we thought we had it made, this streak would continue and we would reach our goal way ahead of time – it wasn’t that easy. It was only the beginning of the story, and we discovered all great things are a struggle – but a worthwhile one.

During the Christmas and New Year period we nearly flat lined, and we were left wondering if this would work. It is worth pointing out that our project, in kickstarter terms, is a difficult one; the top four funded narrative feature films on kickstarter all aimed for the same amount we are, it was a struggle for them and kickstarter is filled with great projects that asked for the same amount and failed to reach it. $100k is a lot of money to raise from crowdfunding.

The only way to raise anything like that sort of money is through the generosity – in spirit and wallet – of you, fans, backers, pledgers, tweeters, bloggers, whatever you call it, YOU! We have always known the value of our supporters, but the new understanding of how amazing you are came as a divine revelation. Our plateau ended when the supporters came, they spread the word on twitter, face book, blogs; and they were generous with their money. We were humbled; to know how much you really want to see this film has made us ever more passionate to get it made – for you. With the people came the press, see the links below to some of the articles written, we even went on BBC radio Scotland and on BBC radio 4′s You and Yours - a dream come true for Stuart!

On our twitter Zooey Deschanel tweeted about our campaign to her 2m followers! We also got mentions from Elijah Wood, The Vaselines, Bright Eyes, The Trashcan Sinatras, Tatum O’Neal and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau among many others.

There was a rush on Stuart’s Glasgow bus tour and 15 people will be travelling around the locations with him and stopping for a spot of lunch, 6 of you will be trying to beat him at scrabble, Sarah from B&S got involved hand making a purse for ‘Eve’ and some lovely Gocco prints, Matt Lucas even bought Eve’s dress! And one very generous supporter will be the proud owner of the rarest of the rare “white label” pressing of Tigermilk.

Most importantly our kick-starters are getting involved in the film – we have 2 walk on roles, someone shouting ‘that’s a wrap’ and people coming to attend the rough cut screening and final audio mix and give us their feedback. Every single person who has donated even $1 to the campaign is responsible for propelling us ever closer to that first take and we are very glad to have you along for the ride!

So that brings us to where we are now, so close to our goal; only around $6k short of our target and making this all a reality. There’s still time to get involved if you’d like to. Someone needs to shout action on the first take, Stuart might be terrified like Barry was! And today we’ve dropped that reward down to $400 which will include your name in the end credits. You can pledge just $1 today and on Monday everyone who has pledged to the campaign so far will receive a free download of the ‘Stills’ demo. Pledge for a DVD copy of the film, an exclusive poster, a signed postcard or a cast/crew badge. We’d be delighted to have you on board with us!

Here are what some lovely people had to say about the project:

http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/the-week/film/hollywood_deal_for_belle_and_sebastian_frontman_stuart_murdoch_1_2084707

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/film/want_to_help_belle_and_sebastian_s_stuart_murdoch_make_a_movie_1_2075836

http://thepeoplesmovies.com/2012/01/god-girl-barry-mendelbelle-sebastian-film/

http://blogs.dailyprincetonian.com/intersections/2012/01/23/music-film-god-help-the-girl/

http://www.indiewire.com/article/will-you-see-this-movie-belle-and-sebastians-stuart-murdoch-writes-and-directs-god-help-the-girl

So a big thank you to all, here’s hoping we make it.

GHTG HQ

View a short teaser here.

Our producer Barry has written a diary entry as well to let you know what we are up to as Stuart is busy doing some refining on the script.

Check out the page to see what we have to offer from the chance to yell action on the shoot to the rarest B&S record of all!

We’re currently sitting just below $40k on our Kickstarter campaign which is great but we have a long way to go and remember that we (and you) receive nothing if we don’t hit our target of $100k by February 12th.

With this in mind we’ve added some more rewards today. We’ve got drumsticks from the shoot, Stuarts baton that he uses to conduct the orchestra on the soundtrack, backstage passes to GHTG or B&S shows, even your very own Duke’s cafe uniform that Eve and Cassie wear in the film and a bunch more rewards besides. Check out the page to see what else is up for grabs.

Please help us spread the word by sharing on facebook, twitter or with friends and family. Every $1 really does help.

Thanks

GHTG HQ

One reward we are really excited about is our preview screenings to be held in London, L.A, New York, and most recent Glasgow. These will be our celebratory parties for the people who were there at the beginning (the people of Kickstarter). These previews will be the first public screenings of the finished movie in your City.  The whole team will be there, and we want you to be involved because you were a part of bringing this film to life.  If you’re able to help get the film going now, we want you to come celebrate with us later, and see what we did, plus it’s just an excuse for a good party – bring your dancing shoes.

If you can’t come along, we have a lot of other rewards; take a look at our Kickstarter page if you haven’t already. Here are but a few in the amazing line up; we have the talented Graham Samuels offering hand drawn portraits (check out his amazing work here) and we have Barry offering up time from his busy schedule to chat to you about your own projects – and if you consider how much amazing advice can save projects it really is a fantastic offer.

Finally I will leave you with a fittingly inspirational quote from Annie Dillard: ‘How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives’.

Thank you,

GHTG HQ

regardless, we’re feeling very grateful this holiday season — thanks to you, our first week was a fantastic success, we are almost a third of the way to our target. we’ve heard from so many of you offering donations and encouragement and it’s put a great wind at our back.

stuart and i went to london this week for over a dozen business and creative meetings, and the momentum of the kickstarter launch was felt by all, your enthusiasm and belief added excitement at every turn.  thank you!

the trip was a great success.  we’re very pleased to announce that we’ve struck up a partnership with the incredible hanway films to sell the film for us internationally.

as background, hanway are currently the company working on steve mcqueen’s shame and david cronenberg’s a dangerous method.  they were founded by oscar-winning producer jeremy thomas, and his team there, matt, thorsten and richard, are going to take our film once we finish it and sell it to distributors in each territory around the world.

we’re very honoured they want to take on the film. it’s another big step toward our film becoming a reality, and they will do a great job on behalf of our kickstarters in spain and germany and brazil and everywhere, finding distributors in your part of the world who can make the film available.

we videotaped our recap meeting of the london trip and will post that sometime soon. we’re also hoping to be able to announce who will distribute the movie in the UK in the new year.

however, in order for there to be a film, we need to keep it going with the campaign.  we have two-thirds of the way to go, and that feels like a lot!  so please keep doing exactly what you’re doing, telling your friends about us and staying tuned.

in the meantime, if you can support us, thank you, and thank you if can tell a friend.  we are amazed and inspired by your support.  it feels like we’re doing this all together.

a safe and happy holiday,

barry and the gang

New Rewards:

We called the hire company and they’ve agreed Stuart can drive a bigger minibus! So we’ve upped the bus tour places from 10-15. It will still be a fun and intimate affair and these will be the last places added so grab ‘em now.

We’ve also added a Glasgow preview screening date due to popular request.

Graham Samuels will be drawing GTHG artwork sketches of 10 of you with a signed postcard from Stuart as well.

We’ve had demand for the walk-on roles as well and we think we can manage 3 without driving Stuart crazy writing in new lines! So there are two more chances for a speaking part in the film.

Finally – we’re offering up the clapper board that we are going to use in the film, signed by Stuart and DoP, including a photo and a DVD with the very 1st and very last ‘boards’ of the film. A collector’s item of the future!

Check all the new rewards here.

If you don’t know it already, Kickstarter is a website where creative people – artists, filmmakers, dancers, designers etc – pitch their projects to the public and ask for money to realise them in exchange for rewards (not financial). It’s crowd funding, where fans and consumers decide which projects they believe in, back them and choose from a list of rewards which they will receive along with the knowledge that they have been part of making that project happen.

Please check out our Kickstarter page and support the project if you can (and want to!) There are some big hitting prizes like Stuart’s director’s chair from the film or even a walk on part for those of you with money to burn! But you can donate as little as $5 and still receive our eternal gratitude, a lovely personalised digital thank you postcard by Graham Samuels and, more importantly, you’ll have been a part of finally getting this film made. We’re still hitting up private investors, public funding and distributors to reach our funding goal but the Kickstarter campaign is really important to us, it will fill a funding gap for the project but also prove to financiers that we have a growing audience waiting to see the film when it’s released.

Read what Stuart has to say about it in the diary or watch him and Barry having a transatlantic power meeting about film finance!

The campaign runs for 60 days and we’re going to add more prizes as we go, so if there is anything you’d like to win then get in touch here and we’ll see what we can do!

To succeed with Kickstarter really takes word of mouth so please share with friends and family so they can get involved.