Soul Friends
Screenwriting gurus are fond of their claim that all good stories are rooted either in sex or violence. The Master Cleanse: A Short Film has neither, and it’s definitely a good story; does it turn that rule on its head?
We’ll let you guys decide that once you see the film. But whether or not our movie has subliminal undertones of sex and/or violence, the primary subject matter and theme of the film is friendship.
It’s rare for movies to take friendships seriously these days, but one film that does so to great effect is Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin. The central relationship of the film isn’t even remotely sexual; it deals exclusively with two people brought together by a shared past. It’s one of the movies that inspired us as we were writing The Master Cleanse.
Our film is an absurd (dare we say totally batshit?) comedy, not a treatise on friendship. But one of the reasons we make independent films is to add a new perspective to the so-called conversation dominated by big-budget productions. We want you to give us the chance to prove to you that we can make a crazy, crazy-funny film that takes friendship seriously.
In the meantime, please help us fundraise at: http://www.seedandspark.com/studio/master-cleanse. It makes the whole process possible.
All the best,
Daniel Goldberg
videoccult 
What’s up Daniel Goldberg? I don’t buy that all good films or stories are rooted in violence. I don’t think that violence necessarily disqualifies a film from being great, nor do I believe non-violent themes take anything away from stories that are just downright good. It’s all in the telling, I guess.
I completely agree. Blue Velvet is a favorite film of mine and it has some pretty lurid scenes. Polanski is one of my favorite directors and I’d say all of his films are rooted in sex and violence. The question is, can a film that isn’t rooted in sex or violence get made today by conventional means (i.e. the studio system)? It happens quite rarely. And as a result, I don’t think we’ve fully explored friendship as a dramatic vehicle. That’s one of the things I’m trying to do in my strange little short. Thanks for commenting!