There was a big wave of fans waiting to get autographs from the 
self-made celebrity filmmakers of Machiavelli Hangman, the first 
ever community-financed motion picture to hit the Hollywood 
market. 

The idea was ingenious. How did a few filmmakers raise enough 
money to produce a mainstream Hollywood film? The answer is 
simpler than it really is, just like every magic trick that is 
revealed. The filmmakers reached out to the Glendale, California 
community of 200,000 to contribute a single dollar in order to 
complete the project.

The motto is “One dollar, one cause!” “Shervin Youssefian, 
the writer-director on the film originally came up with this 
crazy notion that if we could fund a big hit feature film with 
one-dollar contributions. The craziest part of this though was 
that he really thought that people would contribute!” says an 
amazed Artin Nazarian, the producer of Machiavelli Hangman.

To date, the website has been up and running since May and it has 
received up to 85,000 dollars in contributions. Machiavelli 
Hangman is said to be the film of 2006 that will revolutionize 
the way the industry is run. It will open the doors to other 
filmmakers who cannot afford to shoot on 16mm or standard 35. It 
will mark the birth of digital filmmaking and expand the range of 
creativity that will flood the market.

“These days, we all see the same thing come out into the 
theatres. All they change is the title. If you think about it 
Batman Begins wasn’t so much more different than Spiderman. War 
of the Worlds was just like Armageddon, Deep Impact or even Men 
in Black. Harry Potter films are often confused with the Lord of 
the Ring series and the new Peter Jackson King Kong will be 
compared to Mighty Joe Young. This independent film wave will 
either completely throw studios out of the loop or it will give 
them such a forceful jolt, that they will go back to the Golden 
Age of Hollywood when filmmakers took time and care in their craft 
and stories.

On Saturday July 16th, the filmmakers received journalists to 
answer questions about the production of the film and when they 
expected to raise enough the intended budget to begin production. 
“It’s not about the money anymore, we can get the money. We just 
have to make sure that we get all the right people on the team 
and deliver the goods. After so much support and encouragement, 
our goal is to show everyone that a little unity can go a long 
way,” said Julia Strumfeld, one of the producers on the project. 

Frank Zeytouni is a movie reviewer. 
His current review is of the upcoming
movie, "Machiavelli Hangman".
http://www.hangmanmovie.com