"The Dolls" Feature Film — Currently in Post-Production
As I've mentioned before, my days are spent on freelance work to keep the bills covered, which means "The Dolls" post-production work gets my late evenings and one day each weekend.
On top of that, I'm juggling daily social media — and that's not optional. You can't just show up on social media when you need something from people. Consistent presence is part of the reason these films have gotten made at all, so I show up every day regardless.
The point is: if I could afford to work on this full-time, it would have been finished weeks ago. I've received a couple of micro-investments from some brilliant supporters, which has helped buy extra time on the post work — but post-production costs on this film are actually higher than the production costs themselves.
Investments
There has been some investment interest, but I've turned most of it down. The equity demands on the table aren't ones I'm willing to accept. If I were funding everything purely through my day job, I'd be looking at next year before this film was complete.
My only solution right now is shop sales. Sales are coming in, but merch is a long-term build — it grows as the films and the IP grow. The only time you get real traction is when you go hard for weeks, kickstarter campaign-style.
I'm not running another Kickstarter — at least not until this film is complete and everyone has received their perks. The shop is a mix of pre-orders and print-on-demand. Posters, T-shirts, and mugs ship within days.
Starting next week, I'll be pushing hard to generate enough sales to get the film finished by summer. The plan is to release with a major promotional push — and that same push will be used to help fund Film 3, which I'm hoping to shoot around September/October.
This time, I won't go into production on Film 3 unless the post-production costs are also already in place. That would put me in a position to potentially complete the 3rd film in the franchise before the end of 2026.
I'm also offering micro-investments in the project — not in a single film, which carries real risk, but in the full Dolls IP: films, novels, the whole thing. Investing in a "Creative Business"
Thank you to everyone who has supported this so far.
— David