We Are Bleach

The Back Story 

AKA The Director’s Statement

Back when I was living in Japan and trying to become a professional manga artist, my greatest ambition was to be published in one of the artsy BL (boys love) magazines which specialized in high-flown love stories about gay men. In fact, in 2017, I wrote what I still believe to be a very entertaining 32-page BL manga about two designers in Yokohama and a llama prince from the moon. I took it to Opera magazine, where I had the quintessential young manga artist experience of being torn a new one by a petty and embittered editor and spent the afternoon crying at mid-day karaoke. In the circles I ran in as a student at Kyoto Seika University, Japan’s Valhalla for studying manga, being a woman who wanted to read and write about gay men falling in love was so par for the course, it was practically a cliché. Now, living in London, it’s totally novel information to most people I meet.

 

Comedy comes naturally to me. My BFA from Japan is in what is called gag manga, what we would probably call comedy comics. And I’ve been writing comedy in many forms for years. But this is the first time in my adult life that I’ve actually written a drama. I didn’t mean to, I wanted to write a comedy, but when it was done, I found that I had a drama with jokes.

 

Technically, the characters in We Are Bleach are pansexual, which is never discussed in the film. As a writer, I’m not satisfied to write heterosexual female protagonist after heterosexual female protagonist. I find myself writing about characters who are pansexual because I need to write from diverse perspectives. I remember having a conversation earlier in the year with a young, British filmmaker who asked me what I identified as, not relating specifically to sexual orientation, but on every level, and I was stumped. After a minute I replied, “…I don’t know, a dancer?” He was shocked, because as he put it, “identity is everything.” The more I think about it, though, identity might actually be nothing. I think that’s essential to We Are Bleach and to my storytelling in general. The labels one might apply to any of my characters will fail to describe them. These are characters you have to meet to understand.

 

The biggest inspirations for Sky, the lead singer in the fictitious band, Bleach, are the legendary lead guitarist of X Japan, Hide, and the lead singer of L’Arc~en~Ciel, Hyde. To me, Hide, with his shocking pink hair, safety-yellow wardrobe, and playfully vulgar lyrics and persona, was like a human incubus, a demon on earth. Hide’s on-stage persona inspired the vaguely demonic person Sky starts out as in the film: narcissistic, sex-obsessed, fabulous. As he grows and changes throughout the story, he becomes more like Hyde, a spritely purveyor of sincere hard rock.

 

Tom, the drummer of Bleach and Sky’s put-upon boyfriend, lives in an apartment that’s part Vivenne Westwood opium den à la Mick Jagger’s residence in Performance, part fading photograph from the 1970s. April, the mysterious girl who Sky becomes infatuated with, is an acolyte of the Lolita fashion movement, a movement which has largely died down outside of this world. The characters are whimsical and non-conformist, and the look of their world matches who they are.

 

We Are Bleach is an interior story where truths aren’t spoken and where life-changing moments happen obliquely. Because of that that it doesn’t feel like a short film. It’s is like a feature that happens fast because of the emotional weight of what’s withheld, what the viewer doesn’t see. The world of Bleach is aesthetically saturated, everything is calculated, so that it doesn’t take place in London but in “London,” an anachronistic and timeless universe where the borders between eras cultures melt together. And it is my greatest pleasure to invite you to join us there.

 

ABOUT THE FILM

We Are Bleach is a 20 minute rock romance:  the toxic relationship between the lead singer and drummer of a London indie band.

 

Bleach has an extraordinary team of creatives.  The wonderful Zachary Goldman who played Billy Idol in Danny Boyle’s mini-series, Pistols, stars in We are Bleach as Sky, the band’s arrogant yet fabulous lead singer.  Sonnei Garces returns for his second film with Zoë as Tom, drummer, novelist and Sky’s boyfriend.  And the beautiful, young Shifa Ligero makes her debut in the role of lolita-fashion obsessed manga fan, April, the mysterious girl with whom Sky becomes obsessed.

 

Behind the scenes are the amazing costume designers Tsai-Feng Chou in Taiwan and native New Yorker, Anabel Simotas, soon to be working with us from Berlin.   Italian rock star, Oliviero Forni of Wake Up Call, is working as the composer with Zoë as lyricist to compose the original songs for Bleach.  More to come!  Stay tuned!

Risks and challenges As in all films, particularly early films in a writer/director’s career, the unexpected looms on the horizon. In Inevitability we began by casting the perfect female lead in December of 2019 and she ended up breaking up with her boyfriend and moving back to her family out West. Our first location fell through, but – whew! – friends lent their amazing home and roof garden to the production. And then to top everything off, on the day we were supposed to start shooting in NYC – March 15, 2020 – everything shut down for COVID. We had to wait until the last week of July 2020 to finally shoot, and then until Zoe’s first term at LFS was done to edit and we didn’t finish until mid-February 2021. Are we prepared for similar chaos in We Are Bleach? Of course we are! This is the movies! There is a fantastic Soviet animation called Film, Film Film from 1968 by Fyodor Khitruk all about the unexpected joys and terrors of filmmaking. COVID is still a factor and we have no idea what the state of the virus and the world will be at the end of December when we are planning to shoot. There are infinite variables: we are bringing Sonnei Garces from New York to shoot in London. Costumes are coming from Taiwan and Berlin. The list of potential problems when you’re doing an Indie are endless and they crop up every two minutes. But the fact is: we already made one good film at the craziest time in history and now we’re going to make an even greater one. So we’re not really talking risks, we’re talking challenges. And that’s what independent filmmaking with small budgets is all about. We’re fortunate to have Inevitability’s producer working on Bleach. Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène’s energy knows few bounds. A former fashion stylist and major photographer’s agent in the heady 80’s, Cyndie brings tremendous organizational experience to the table and takes challenges – and disasters – in stride. Of course there will be the challenges of post-production. Having the the funds in place for quality editing. But look, even with next to nothing Inevitability won the award for outstanding editing at the Art of Brooklyn, an international festival! We were hugely fortunate to have the amazing Warren Brown do the sound mixing for Inevitability, and we hope that we’ll have the funds in place to work with Warren again. He was fantastic. But post runs in the many thousands of dollars — as Zoe explained in her opening video – what you shoot is not what you see — or hear. The next challenge will be getting the film into the right festivals. But this time around we’ll have a track record. There have been lots of wins this year on the festival circuit and Bleach – with it’s rock themes and edgy, colorful aesthetic, – will do even better. The script has only been in three festivals so far and it’s been highly placed in two out of the three. Zoë’s extensive knowledge of film – she’s seen over 2000 films to date – her serious artistic background and training and her passion for filmmaking make a vibrant statement on new directions in film. Our biggest challenge will be raising these initial dollars. We’ve crafted many rewards of value, notably, extraordinary works of art that we hope will someday far exceed the value of your contribution to this project. Most importantly, we believe that together with support from our friends and those who love film backing us, WE ARE BLEACH will not only be an extraordinary event, but will be the stepping stone for Zoë’s projected 2023 feature, Hanging Gardens of the Sea and Sky.

What is your return policy?
While all of our products are guaranteed for 12 months, we do not offer refunds, returns, or exchanges on items received as Kickstarter rewards. We appreciate your understanding of our policy. If you regret it after placing an order or think it’s of no value to you, you can give it to your family or friends. Maybe it doesn’t work for you right now, but perhaps you’ll find the right time and place in the future. Thank you again for your support and understanding, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

How can I add quantity to my order?
Each backer can only place one order (According to Kickstarter), If you would like more than one unit, we suggest selecting the Multi-unit pledge. The other option is to have a family or friend place another order for you.