FEELS LIKE A SHORT FILM: E.C. Native Campaigns for Film Project
Feels Like 95, a Minnesota-based production company, is fundraising for its first narrative film and some Valley natives are part of the team
Closing in on its one-year anniversary, Feels Like 95 is a Minneapolis-based creative production company looking to fund its first narrative film project, and its roots can be found back in the Chippewa Valley.
Feels Like 95 co-founder Mack Hastings grew up in Eau Claire, his childhood and teen years filled with local theater involvement, film club, and arts programs, carving the path toward his entering film school in Minnesota.
Enter Shane Sleger, fellow film school student – also with familial roots in the Valley, over in Chippewa Falls – the duo first met during university. After graduating in the Spring 2020 during the initial wave of COVID-19, Mack recalled his reconnecting with Shane, the duo creating The Getaway together.
“We just had a very similar vision and worked well, creatively, together,” Hastings explained. The rest, as they say, is history.
Feels Like 95 was founded in February 2022 and has worked with an array of clients, their work spanning from music videos – like the Gash music video shot in the old Antique Emporium in downtown Eau Claire this past summer – to short films and documentaries, as well as the feature film Undergrads.
That initial collaborative work on The Getaway earned the duo and crew multiple sold-out screenings and distribution via Four by Three Productions.
The production company’s latest venture, FIVE TWENTY EIGHT, aims to explore the emotional complexity of family through a sci-fi lens. Set in the 1990s, the short film follows 12-year-old Vinny Sharpe who discovers a vision-inducing frequency while working on a synthesizer, the strange discovery ultimately helping his family search for a way to heal following a traumatic event.
At its heart, this is a very "Eau Claire" project, even though it's being shot in Minneapolis.
MACK HASTINGS
CO-FOUNDER OF FEELS LIKE 95 PRODUCTION COMPANY
“At its heart, this is a very ‘Eau Claire’ project, even though it’s being shot in Minneapolis,” Hastings said. “This story has a very special place in (Shane and I’s) hearts, and the cast and crew are just as passionate about it.”
Some of the project’s collaborators are Chippewa Valley creatives too, including Eau Claire-based electronic musician Sloslylove (Feng Meng Vue) and filmmaker Tim Schwagel alongside one of his New Neighbor Productions co-founders, Zach Staads.
FIVE TWENTY EIGHT – as any film production would find – is not a cost-free endeavor, though. That’s why Feels Like 95 launched its Indiegogo fundraising campaign the weekend after Thanksgiving. By the end of that weekend, the project had fundraised 35% of its total budget goal of $6,000. As of Dec. 5, the project is still 51% away from its goal.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we’d already have this part of the funding in the first three or four days of the campaign,” Hastings said. “So, now we kind of do look around like, ‘This is really happening.’”
Similar to other fundraising platforms like GoFundMe, the Indiegogo campaign also allows for donation incentives; the FIVE TWENTY EIGHT campaign offers eight levels of incentives, starting from just $1-10 donations up to $5,000. Incentives include gaining an IMDB producer credit for the finished short film, a signed production still photo, tickets to a private screening, and more.
The campaign’s webpage details the budget breakdown (20% for talent, 20% for gear rentals, 12% for the crew, etc.), what fundraising totals could help the company pay for, and more, while also recognizing not everyone is in a place to support the project financially and thanking folks for sharing the campaign online or shouting them out.
“Growing up in Eau Claire, there was always an appreciation for the arts, and not every place is like that,” Mack said. “So I feel lucky to have had that. The support has been incredible from Eau Claire too, with old friends and teachers even supporting the campaign. I can’t thank everyone enough and I look forward to the continued support throughout the project.”
The fundraiser campaign ends on Saturday, Dec. 24.
Watch FIVE TWENTY EIGHT’s campaign trailer online and consider sharing or donating to the campaign. Visit Feels Like 95’s website today to learn more about the production company and contact them.
