A middling rock band that is nearing the end of its brief prime refuses to play a show because no one appreciates their new music. Their band manager Justin must convince them to play for the awaiting crowd. A world of huge but fragile egos, manipulation, and greed slowly reveals itself as fights break out between all parties close to the band.
"Rotten" is a chaotic drama that takes a brief look at a band's dynamics as well as some of the people around them. It is meant to evoke themes of aging, time passing you by, and choosing between your art and success in the entertainment industry.
"When Aliki (my sister and writing partner) showed me this script, I started to connect with it when I realized that the story isn't just about a band, but about the push and pull every creative person, especially young creative people, experiences between being true to yourself and what you love to do, and finding success in your field. It is very hard to follow your dreams and do what you love, and sometimes it seems that the whole world is conspiring against you; pulling you in every direction, telling you to stop and do something more realistic. That's the situation the band in the film is facing. And that "rotten" feeling you get inside when you don't follow your dreams is something we all wrestle with and sometimes have to accept. This can be seen as a cynical film, but what I hope the audience takes away is that it's better to find the strength to break free from the influence of others, rather than let your life get to a point as bad as the film shows."
- Telly Bitsakakis, Director
Since the start of the pandemic, we have been working together to make films. We started Persephone Media to make music videos, and have added corporate videos, dance videos and photoshoots to our arsenal. While the world was slowing down, we were speeding up, starting our journey of pursuing our dreams of having full-time creative careers. Three years and dozens of projects later, we kicked our creative passions into full gear once again in 2023 by producing two short narrative films as Persephone Media. Now, we need your help to push ourselves to the next level.
Making any sort of film takes a lot of time and resources, and we are looking for just enough to push us to where we want to be. In order to fund this production, we are looking for $7,500. Whereas the cast and crew will be donating their time, there are many other expenses that go into filmmaking.
Our budget will be allocated to food, transportation, lighting rental, sound rental, costumes, make-up, and distribution. We are a small crew of independent filmmakers who thrive under creative limitation, so every bit helps.
Shooting will take place over one day. We plan to shoot this project in one long continuous shot, like Birdman or Gaspar Noe's films. We believe we have the ability to achieve a very high level of quality with this film, and we hope you can believe in us too!