The late comedian/actor Patrice O’Neal, who passed away in 2011, at age 41, will be the focus of a new documentary feature from producer and director, Mark Farrell (best known for his work on acclaimed shows like "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Von Decarlo, O’Neal’s fiancée of 10 years, who are both producing along with Mile High Productions.
An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help finance the film, which will be titled "Better Than You – The Official Patrice O’Neal Documentary," and which will explore the life of the comic, considered by his peers to be the most honest and unique voice in comedy.
Contributing to the documentary will be other comics including Jim Norton, Colin Quinn, Dane Cook, Bill Burr, Rich Vos, Denis Leary, Jay Mohr, Greg “Opie” Hughes, Anthony Cumia, as well as friends and family, including O’Neal’s mother, Georgia – all sharing their experiences with O’Neal, and providing insight into his life, his career and untimely death.
The campaign’s goal is $125,000, to be raised by May 1, with production for the feature length documentary set to go into production this summer.
In response to the inevitable question of why the filmmakers chose the crowdfunding route to finance the film: "We want to do this movie the way Patrice led his life and his work, the way he would have wanted us to make it, and that means keeping creative control. Once a studio or network is financing, the very imminent danger is that they would force certain changes just because of financing and internal politics – changes that would not honor Patrice’s relentless pursuit of the truth. We want to preserve his brutal honesty and not sugar coat it in a way that may seem more commercially appealing to executives. In fact, Bill Burr told us (and his words reflect most other top comics) that he would only do an appearance in the movie if it is done ‘the right way, the way Patrice led his life and the way he would condone.’ We have invested our own money, as well as our time and hard work in this movie but we want this to be a movie FROM the fans, FOR the fans. We are excited to get people talking about the movie early, raise awareness, and set into motion the groundswell of support we hope will continue through to the film’s release and beyond."
Watch the pitch video below, and make your contribution here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/better-than-you-the-patrice-o-neal-documentary.