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Timo Vuorensola • Director

Creative control via crowd funding

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- For his science-fiction sequel, Iron Sky director Timo Vuorensola already raised US $182,000 on the Internet

Timo Vuorensola • Director

Iron Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tero Kaukomaa
interview: Timo Vuorensola
interview: Timo Vuorensola
film profile
]
director Timo Vuorensola plans to shoot the second part of the comic science-fiction action film in 3D in 2015.

Cineuropa: What will the Iron Sky sequel be about?
Timo Vuorensola: The sequel is based on a big conspiracy theory that there are Nazis on the moon but it goes beyond that. My idea was always that if I ever got to make Iron Sky 1 and in case it was successful then I had a sequel and a third part in mind. Since Iron Sky was very successful we realized that this was the moment to start working on the sequel. I had a general idea of what it was going to be about but now we have started writing it down.

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Is the actual idea to do a trilogy?
Yes, I like science-fiction trilogies, all the good science-fiction stuff is always made in trilogies such as Aliens or Star Wars. I want to do a European science fiction trilogy.

What kind of story do you have in mind for part 2?
The title of the second part is The Coming Race. It is a big epic story that starts to explain human culture and goes on explaining several historic events that took place during human history and how they were all connected together. Basically, it starts from where Iron Sky left off but it continues many years from Iron Sky and then it goes on but it also has a prequel element. It will have Nazis deep down in the centre of the earth.

Will the film have a similar style?
Yes, but I want to shoot it in 3D. I think that this is a film which is good for 3D because it is a big world that we are building and we want to show all the limits of that. It is a comedy which is a little bit darker but it will continue in the same way that we made fun of politics, history, religion, war and all those serious topics.

Is 3D a particular challenge for you?
I have not done a film in 3D yet but my cinematographer Mika Orasmaa has done a lot of stuff in 3D.

When are you going to shoot the film?
Next year we will start with the developing and shoot a promo. Our plan is to shoot the film in 2015 so that it will be out in 2016.

You already collected some money by crowd funding?
We already raised US $182,000. With that money we will write the script and then shoot a promo. Our intention is to get a big portion of the budget from the Internet community. Our budget will be between 10 and 15 M€ through crowd funding because it works pretty well for us. This helps us keep a lot of creative control over what we do.

Did the people who participated in Iron Sky also make money?
Absolutely. The idea is that they participate in the film and also make money when we are making money. Eventually they get their investment back but film money moves very slowly. In the first year, other people are taking it first and now it is starting to get to producers, directors and the investors. The good thing is that it will keep on giving and coming for the next couple of years. A lot of people who participated in part one also want to participate in the sequel.

Will you structure the production as an international coproduction again?
Yes, it seems so. Right now, we are keeping it in Finland but we are in talks with producers in Germany because we had a really good relationship with Oliver Damian and the people there and in Australia. But until we have a script, we won't make any decisions as to whom the coproducing countries will be. For sure, there will be two or three other countries involved.

Where are you going to shoot the movie?
I would love to shoot in the film studios in Berlin. In case that doesn't work, there are a lot of other opportunities. I was just in Hungary and visited the great film studios in Budapest. There are quite a variety of very good studios in Europe.

Will you build all the sets or work with CGI?
It is going to be a lot of CGI. What we basically need is a studio with a lot of green screen space. We try to build as little as possible like we did with Iron Sky and do a lot of visual effects but this will depend on the story.

Will it be more complicated to shoot in 3D?
No, the only difference with 3D is that you render an additional layer of material. Shooting on location is a little bit harder because you have to have a bigger camera rig but even those are getting smaller now. This is not a problem anymore.

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