Crowdfund This! SYLVIO, A Guerrilla Gorilla Feature (With Hand Puppets!)

When the six-second looping video app Vine came on the digital scene a few years ago, most of us went bananas for the thing. At least for a minute or two. While I never gained any creative ground with it myself, I did keep an eye on a small cartel of artists and filmmakers who were doing often amusing, sometimes radical things with the app.

One of those favorites, was, and still is, a gorilla with the online handle of Simply Sylvio. His Vines fall somewhere between the traditions of Buñuel and Chaplin, Mister Rogers and Kaptain Kangaroo... with a splash of hepcat, excuse me, hepAPE thrown in. Sylvio's Vines are outrageous if only because they often highlight the quiet moments in life. And now, with some help from a nifty bunch of the indie world's best, Sylvio is making a feature film.

Here's the official word:

Sylvio is an independent feature film shooting in January of 2016. It's the story of a small town gorilla, Sylvio, who is stuck in his job at a debt collection agency. Deep down he just wants to express himself with his hand puppet, Herbet Herpels, and his experimental puppet show that highlights the quiet moments of life. He accidentally joins a local TV program and a series of on-air mishaps threaten to shatter his identity, sending him on an adventure of self-discovery where reality and fantasy start to blend. Think Wayne's World but with a gorilla, then add an extra scoop of visual inventiveness and imagination.

Sounds good to me. So what are these folks up to?

Well, the folks in question are co-directors and writers Albert Birney (The Beast Pageant) and Kentucker Audley (Creator of NoBudge.com, actor in The Sacrament), plus producers Meghan Doherty (author, "How Not To Be A Dick") and Josh Polon (Manson Family Vacation). This eclectic bunch of creators are doing, as you have probably guessed from that there headline, a micro-budget feature. Contributions go straight into production and post costs, including camera and lighting rentals, flights for crew, and craft services AKA good food. You know, the essentials. And since this is a flick about an artsy outsider gorilla, the incentives range from Sylvio drawing you a picture of yourself, to autographed banana pills. And don't worry, those are framed.

Give the pitch video a gander, and if so inclined, head on over to their Kickstarter page to contribute to what we suppose is the first Vine to feature film project in the known universe!