New Canaan’s fledgling filmmakers attract funds, star power
Tyler Woods
Two young New Canaanites picked up $70,000 in funding and the surprise aid of a best-selling novelist in their pursuit of filming a feature-length movie in town.
The pair, writer Abigail Schwarz and producer Nico Scandiffio, both 20, have been working on the film for more than a year. “Those Who Wander” is a coming-of-age story about a group of friends’ spring break road trip to rural Georgia. Schwarz and Scadiffio have made the project a community-based one by choosing to shoot in New Canaan and by getting friends and peers from New Canaan High School involved in acting and musical roles. All they needed was money to finance the project.
On June 20, they started a page on Kickstarter.com, which allows people to request a specified amount of money to fund a project over a certain number of days. If the goal is not met, donors get their money back and the project doesn’t get made. Schwarz and Scandiffio, who have already raised funds through their friends and family, asked for $70,000. They had 30 days to meet that amount.
In support of their Kickstarter, the pair interviewed with local media, printed 1,500 cards advertising their project which were placed near the cash registers of 20 to 30 stores in town, put up 70 posters around town, and relentlessly made phone calls to potential donors, they said.
One person who heard about the project is bestselling author and New Canaan resident James Frey. Frey said he learned of the film when a friend sent him a link to a news story profiling the duo, and it struck a chord with him. He contacted the pair and said he’d come on board to help however he could.
“I was in their position once, young and ambitious and trying to raise money to shoot film. I think it’s good to pass the type of support I received on to the next generation of storytellers,” he wrote in an email. “New Canaan is a beautiful place and will look great on film. And it will be fun to see a crew out shooting.”