Students launch GoFundMe for documentary about local magician
Carlos and Kyle Plummer at the 2018 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival with their independent production company, SuperImage Ltd.
Carlos and Kyle Plummer hope to submit their documentary “Becoming Rich” to numerous film festivals across the nation
—Carlos and Kyle Plummer of Cambria, California are two young men with a passion for all things film. The brothers have a serious interest in filmmaking and it all started at a very young age. It all began at age 3, when Kyle and his family sat down to watch Star Wars. The little tot really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes interview of director George Lucas, and for the rest of his life that feeling really stuck with him and inspired him to want to create movies of his own.
The brothers have been making movies since Kyle was 12, and Carlos was 8. Their love of movies, toy cameras, and encouraging parents lead them to create and screen one of their first movies at the Old Cambria Grammar School in 2009. They say the film, “Indiana Jones and the Crystals of Eternity.” was fairly well received, with a line out the door. Kyle and Carlos got a lot of enjoyment out of the creative process and final outcome, and so the following year they created a film together called “The Magic Hat.” It won them the award for “Best Local Film” at the Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase, at the SLO International Film Festival.
Magician and mentalist, Rich Ferguson.
Recently, the duo completed their latest film, “Becoming Rich” which is a short, self-produced student documentary on the life and career of the magician, entertainer, YouTuber, and SLO resident, Rich Ferguson. Kyle and Carlos are eager to show their most recent production across the United States, in as many film festivals as possible.
“Rich does some mind-blowing, shake your brain out of your head tricks, and we thought, this is very interesting and we wanted to know what was behind the magic.” Expressed the Plummers. “Carlos did the directing and cinematography, and I did the editing.” Shared Kyle Plummer. He continued, “The film is a bit of a life story, and behind the scenes peek at what lead Rich Ferguson to become who he is today.”
Local magician and mentalist, Rich Ferguson.
“The interesting thing about Rich Ferguson, is his perceptive nature, which has formed who he is today. He is a Cal Poly graduate with an engineering background, and the guy calls himself a “kind” prankster, who doesn’t condone violent or negative jokes to get laughs. Ferguson has a great story to tell, from his bizarre childhood to his successful adult-life, all of it adventurous and quirky.
“The documentary features his uncanny ability to observe other people, and his street smarts make each trick, prank, and performance exciting. ” Shared Carlos Plummer. He continued, “Ferguson discovered magic in his late 20’s, and fell in love with psychology. He made a business of messing with people’s heads, creating one of the fastest growing youtube channels in the world.”
Ferguson has almost three million subscribers on Youtube, 60 thousand on Facebook, and he performs and amazes at large events all over the world. Ferguson has a busy schedule between events, regularly filming for his Youtube page filling it with original pranks, social experiments, comedy, magic tricks, and funny videos.
Rich Ferguson in Bubblegum Alley performing his severed head trick.
Their documentary’s title,” Becoming Rich” is a play on words, and it came from being at the SLO Film Fest, with Rich. The Plummer brothers heard him say to someone, “I’m Rich.” He continued, “That’s my name.” They thought it was pretty funny and it just sort of stuck. “Becoming Rich” started filming this January and was recently completed, just in time for submissions to the film festivals across the U.S.
Currently, the Plummer brothers are in the costly process of submitting their documentary to the film festival circuit, which they have created a GoFundMe campaign for, hoping to raise a total of $10,000. The brothers wish to raise enough funds to get Rich’s interesting life story out. Their goal is to submit it to at least 100 festivals, which increases the chances of getting their movie seen. Carlos shared, ” Film festival acceptance is quite low, and the more you submit to, the better chance it has of getting out there.” Film Festival submissions and travel can be a very costly process and, being student filmmakers, this would not be possible without a community of support.” Shared Kyle Plummer.
Kyle and Carlos Plummer at the SLO Film Festival.
Kyle Plummer is currently going to film school and just finished his third year, at Dixie State University in Utah. Carlos Plummer is planning to attend the same film school after his final year of high school.
The Plummer brothers started their independent production company, SuperImage, Ltd. in 2012, and specialize in various forms of production; ranging from narratives, documentaries, to promotional videos and more.
To date, Kyle and Carlos have made 11 movies under the SuperImage name, all of which have been picked as official selections at several film festivals across the nation, and they have had the good fortune of being able to win some awards at the festivals as well. They won 1st prize for the Children’s Jury Award, at the 2010 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, along with awards for Best Local Film at the Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase, for their movie, “The Magic Hat,” in 2010, at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Their “The Nine Lives of Harald Bauer” won Best Central Coast Student film at the SLO Film Festival in 2016.
To donate to their campaign, and help make their dreams a reality, visit www.gofundme.com.
