Divine Repercussions started out as three cosplayers with characters and a dream. We wanted to create something awe-inspiring that was not only a visual adventure and an emotional rollercoaster, but something everyone could enjoy. Through this ambitious production, we hope to bring new talent to light and give so many incredible people the chance to work on a project of this magnitude.
THE STORY
Divine Repercussions is a historical fantasy webseries that follows the trials the three main characters face in Kismet, the abandoned land ruled by the arrogant god who put them there. Each episode brings a new encounter with Kismet’s astonishing array of inhabitants, who our trio both learns from and teaches life lessons to.
The first of these three is Allegro, a charismatic Italian who also happens to be the proverbial king of thieves. He is portrayed by Adrian Belmes.
The second is Veronique, a wealthy gold-digger gal with 14 last names (and just as many husbands to go with them). She is portrayed by Angela Zhou.
And the third is Maya, a bible-thumping cult priestess with one hell of a track record for human sacrifice. She is portrayed by Sofya Derkach.
To see more photos of the main characters, visit our official website’s shoot page.
The episodes themselves are structured like “monster of the week” shows, but character of the week. Each episode, the trio meets another trapped in Kismet, and through interacting with them and making mends, they make mends with themselves. Not all episodes will feature new characters, as some will focus only on the trio and their personal development.
You can find the final draft of the pilot episode script here.
THE CAST AND CREW
The full list of cast and crew, as well as where to find them online, can be found on our official website.
Divine Repercussions was created by three people, who coincidentally also star in it.
Adrian Belmes is the director and professional pie-fingerer, as her fingers are in all the pies. A costumer, actor, independent filmmaker, and author, she created the concept behind the webseries (and goaded her two friends into doing it with her). She also portrays Allegro.
Angela Zhou, fashion wizard, portrays Veronique. She’s a fantastic artist, helps out with production, is the master of finding anybody to do any job, and eats our food.
Sofya Derkach willingly committed to the insanity of this project. Some people would say “goaded”, but that’s not what it really is. Sofya is a writer who ships a lot of things in Star Trek. She portrays Maya and tries to help without getting in the way too much.
VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE:Eugene Belmes is Adrian’s father. He is acting only as our financial face. To avoid problems with Kickstarter’s policy, his name appears on the project as the 18+ account holder. However, he is NOT the creator of the project itself, only the supervisor.
Our crew list can be found here.
Our cast list can be found here.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
Divine Repercussions (or DivRep for short) will run for two seasons, each consisting of 10 episodes. There will be a brief break between the seasons so we can run some pre-production necessities before we officially kick off the next season. Each episode will have an approximate running time of 30 minutes for easy consumption and will be posted on our official Youtube.
Alongside each episode will be a Behind the Scenes (Behind the Repercussions) look at life on set, featuring not only the actors, but the much appreciated and very talented crew.
But wait, there’s more! Additional special videos such as CMVs, Q&As, and other goodies will also be created and posted as special thank you’s just for you guys.
WHERE IS YOUR FUNDING GOING?
We need funding to pay for a whole lot of filming permits. We’ll be filming the series almost entirely on location in the variety of parks, reserves, and beaches available to us in Orange County. Regrettably, this costs a lot of money, and that’s why we’re turning to good ol’ crowdfunding.
Aside from permits, we need to purchase additional filming equipment, costumes, makeup, props, and pay for the incredible amount of gas required to move everything around.
Every penny you give goes towards this project. We’re not making any profit on this, and we don’t ever plan to, not even in the long run. The more you give, the more we can spend, and the better this project becomes.
CAN I GET INVOLVED?
Actually, yes! We’re currently looking for actors and extras for all the characters not yet cast. We will be holding auditions soon. We’re also looking for editors, camera operators, and all the other parts of a successful production and post-production crew. We have a small body assembled already, but the more, the merrier.
The catch of this is that you must be a Southern California resident, as your presence on-set and person-to-person communication would otherwise be quite difficult to facilitate, considering where our production is centered.
Contact us at divinerepercussionsfilmproject@gmail.com if you are interested.
So… THANK YOU
From everyone involved, thank you for taking the time to look into what we do and thank you for anything you give us! Keep track of us on our official website as we give you updates on here as well. See you on the other side of the pledge bar!
Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Ah, the risks, and we know there are many.
Such is the nature of this sort of project. However, the people involved in this are incredibly dedicated to what they do.The planning for this has been going on for nearly two years and, no matter the difficulties, this is happening and it is happening now. Though the majority of us are minors and this is our first film project of this magnitude, we hope that you can see past the limitations of age and see us for the passionate filmmakers that we really are and support us in our endeavor.
We have an experienced and very talented group of people working on this webseries.
Adrian Belmes, our director, has been part of an acting troupe for nearly 8 years and has extensive experience as both a stage manager and a director, having worked on many theatrical productions. She has film and cinematography extensively, so her bank of knowledge is a vast. Adrian is without a doubt the most qualified person to pull together a project like this.
Our lead writer, Hallie, has been writing for 4 years. She has written a number of screenplays and is a fledgling comedic essayist. Our film and editing crew, the lot of them, are all especially qualified for their jobs, each with an extensive production history behind them. Our actors are an incredibly talented group of people to work with, many of them hailing from the Orange County High School of the Arts.
We feel we’re aptly prepared for the variety of disaster scenarios that could occur. But, to quell your worries, here we have provided a list of “what if”s and how we would go about handling them.
What if an actor/crew member must leave/abandons the project?
With heavy heart, we will replace them with somebody equally capable of filling their position. If they were a cast member who had already been filmed, the footage we be re-shot with their replacement.
What if someone is injured on set and sues?
We are currently speaking with our legal consultants about drafting a contract of liabilities to prevent this issue, as it would grievously affect the success of this project.
What if we are forced to halt filming?
If for one reason for another we are forced by circumstance to stop filming for any period of time, we will keep you updated on the situation as it develops, resolve the problem(s), and return to filming immediately. We have no desire to leave our dear viewers and backers hanging.
What if we are unable to access a desired filming location?
Though that’s unfortunate, finding a new film location would not be difficult. Our location scouts are very knowledgeable and good at what they do, so it would not even be a challenge for them.
What if we are forced to pull an episode due to a copyright violation?
We’ve done our research and we have taken the precautions that this situation should not arise, but in the case that it does, we will take down the offending episode, edit it, sort out the legal issues swiftly, and post the episode up again, now clean of any infringing material. This should not be a problem because as we are not only non-profit, but non-commercial as well, we are protected by Fair Use copyright laws.
We hope that, knowing the risks we face, your confidence in us has not waned and you will continue to support us.
Please donate all you can to our Kickstarter HERE.
