Husband and wife filmmaking team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney and co-producer Magda Segieda have successfully raised more than $2.1 million in one of the biggest crowd-funding film campaigns in history to make a film about convicted abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell.
McAleer called Gosnell "part Hannibal Lecter, part Dr. Kevorkian," and wants to tell the story of the man convicted of first-degree murder last year in the deaths of three babies at his Women's Medical Society Clinic in Philadelphia.
"I've been overwhelmed," McAleer told TheBlaze Friday. "It's an amazing thing that's happened that [23,000] people have trusted us to tell a story ... that's very important to them."
Image source: GosnellMovie.com
The filmmaker discussed his excitement over the team's ability to raise the money and encouraged people to continue donating to help his team exceed the $2.1 million goal.
"We're three immigrants in America. It's like an American dream ... in true American style, they've decided to help us," he said of the project's supporters. "People were determined that this film was going to be made."
McAleer said that the public is tired of Hollywood hiding, censoring and ignoring stories like Gosnell's, a fact he believes is validated by the campaign's success.
"We were the biggest film ever on Indiegogo," he said. "We're the third-biggest film ever to be crowd-funded."
Dr. Kermit Gosnell is escorted to a waiting police van upon leaving the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia, Monday, May 13, 2013, after being convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies who were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his clinic. (AP)
The next step, McAleer said, is to get a writer and conduct research. He said many people have already approached his team showing interest in the project, but said the producers will need to find someone capable of writing a crime movie.
The film will likely shoot later this year and make its way to the small screen early next year. McAleer said he's hoping it will create questions in the minds of viewers while exposing the details surrounding what happened at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society.
The campaign's success comes after McAleer's very public battle with Kickstarter, another crowd funding platform that he recently accused of censorship.
Read more about the movie here.
