New Kickstarter Project Takes on Paranormal “Evidence” of Life After Death
Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) January 28, 2015 -- Todd Moster knows he’s going to die someday, and isn’t happy about it. But unlike most of us, who deal with the inevitability of our own demise through religious faith or even outright denial, Moster has found an innovative way to face his mortality. He’s launching a crowdfunding campaign.
“Woody Allen once said that he doesn’t want to achieve immortality through his work. He wants to achieve it by not dying,” says Moster. “He expressed my own sentiments exactly. I don’t intend to take death lying down – at least until absolutely necessary.”
Moster’s answer to this universal conundrum is a cutting-edge scientific expedition and documentary-style TV series wrapped into one package. Called “The Afterlife Files,” it launches on Kickstarter.com on January 28, 2015.
The project explores an area of paranormal investigation called “Electronic Voice Phenomena,” or “EVP," that uses recording equipment. Many researchers in the area have obtained audio and video recordings that they believe to be communications from people who have died. The Afterlife Files will feature a collaboration of mainstream scientists, seasoned paranormal investigators, die-hard skeptics and others to carry out the most sophisticated experiments ever devised to prove, or debunk, claims of life after death.
“I’m a skeptic,” says Moster, a former trial attorney who has written for a History Channel series and runs an executive search firm in Los Angeles. “I believe in evidence. But when I began investigating EVP, I saw instances of people getting apparent voices on recording devices, including my own equipment, that weren’t audible when the recordings were made.”
The most common objections to claims of EVP, notes Moster, is that they’re ordinary sounds or inadvertently recorded radio transmissions that people misinterpret as communications from another dimension. “And there’s a lot to those objections,” says Moster. “Many alleged examples of EVP are staticky and unclear. But researchers have also come forward with images that look like real people, and voices that refer to actual people and events in real time.” Excerpts from EVP Recording Session during making of THE AFTERLIFE FILES Trailer (56 sec.)
What to make of those clear-cut instances of voices and images? “I don’t discount fraud,” says Moster, who saw many instances of people lying under oath during his days as a prosecutor. “And that’s what the science part of The Afterlife Files is all about. We’re going to hire experts who are above reproach to design experiments that shield the recording equipment from external transmissions and tampering.”
The entire project, from project design through completion, will be filmed as part of a weekly reality series intended for TV or Internet distribution. “It’s all about transparency,” says Moster, “but it’s fundamentally about people – families grieving for a lost loved one, researchers with opposing agendas trying to work together, and all of us coping with the human condition.” Love Survives: Cathy's Story (52 sec.)
Faced with the difficulty of raising money and preserving artistic freedom, many producers have turned to crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter to pursue their own vision for entertainment projects. Director Spike Lee secured $1,418,910 for his movie “Da Blood of Jesus,” and the producers of “Veronica Mars” raised more than $5.7 million for their recent film. Moster is seeking to raise $500,000 during his 40-day Kickstarter campaign that launches today.
"That seems like a crazy amount of money,” he said, “but it’s the absolute minimum we need to obtain the high profile scientists, lab facilities and cutting-edge equipment to do this right.”
Can he do it? “The odds are long,” Moster admits, noting that under Kickstarter rules a project that doesn’t meet its funding goal within the designated campaign period fails, with no pledges being redeemed. “The only way for The Afterlife Files to succeed is to go viral. There are a lot of people who are fascinated by this topic. If we can reach them and get them to back us with a pledge that’s comfortable for them – it could be just $10, $75, $100 or more – we may be able to go into production as early as April.”
“Todd understands this subject matter inside and out,” said Nancy Williams, an independent producer who co-produced the 8-minute video that viewers will see at the top of The Afterlife Files’ Kickstarter page. “He has a journalist’s nose for a good story and a trial lawyer’s skepticism about what people tell him,” added Williams, a multi-Emmy winning reporter and producer with more than 20 years of network TV experience.
Ever the hard-core journalist, Williams underscored one aspect of The Afterlife Files that she believes will ensure its success. “When you come down to it, the one thing all of us love is a good mystery, and that’s what The Afterlife Files is all about. It’s about taking the most effective tools that modern science offers to tackle the greatest mystery of human existence.”
The Afterlife File's 40-day Kickstarter campaign period begins Jan. 28, 2015. The project’s Kickstarter page is available at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/afterlifefiles/the-afterlife-files.
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Todd Moster, Vitruvian Productions, Inc., 310-431-9354, [email protected]
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