An Indiegogo campaign is currently running to help fund a short film, made by a Hayes Valley filmmaker. Boy In The Dark will only be seven minutes long—but will include professional monster makeup, VFX effects and a local cast of both children and adults.
Jason Ragosta and his girlfriend moved into a small studio in Hayes Valley in 2001. Rising rents have kept them there, but a small square footage means that Jason often has to leave the apartment in order to work on his film. Most days he can be found bent over a sketchbook at Momi Toby's Revolution Cafe & Art Bar on Laguna Street. It was here that he began work on his film Boy In The Dark.
The premise of the film is not unfamiliar: a young boy named Jake, tormented by bullies, retreats into an imaginary world of his own creation. But this imaginary world isn't necessarily better than its real counterpart— it's filled with monsters, one of which terrifyingly resembles Jake's recently-deceased mother.
Photo: The Boy In The Dark
Not only did Ragosta himself suffer from bullying as a kid, but an overactive imagination and insomnia meant that nighttime monsters were a big part of his childhood. In a recent TEDx talk Ragosta explained that as a child, nighttime was terrifying to him.
But both Jake and Ragosta find happy endings to their stories. Jake learns to stand up for himself—to both monsters and bullies. And Ragosta found his community among artists, filmmakers and makeup artists—the team that is assisting his work in creating Boy In The Dark.
Makeup artist Margaret Caragan and producer Rebecca Ahn talk shop. (Photo: Boy In The Dark)
Makeup is being handled by the talented Pandora FX, an Oakland-based special effects company that can handle everything from casualty makeup to monsters. For Boy In the Dark, founder Margaret Caragan is in charge of turning the adult actors on the cast into terrifying creatures, dreamt up through Ragosta's imagination.
Rebecca Ahn, who specializes in horror, action and sci-fi films, is producing the piece, and Rachel Dagdagan of The Gnome Studio in Oakland will be handling wardrobe.
The Indiegogo goal has been set at $11,000, and a full breakdown of those costs can be found on the campaign page. The fundraising ends this Friday Sept. 11th, and is currently 86% funded.
Once the Indiegogo ends, production will begin almost immediately, and the whole project should be wrapped up well before the end of the year.
If you'd like to meet Ragosta and his team in person, a fundraising event will be taking place on Tuesday Sept. 8th from 5pm-8pm at Momi Toby's Cafe (528 Laguna St.). Ragosta writes that it promises to be a "creepy-classy evening of wine, beer and ghoulish good times."
