A web series featuring the much-loved ‘Paphos Rat Pack’ performers was recently filmed in and around the town and across Cyprus. The venture is seeking crowdfunding backers to raise at least £5,000 to complete its final episodes.

‘I Gotta Be Me’ follows frustrated soap star Paul Shah as he travels to Cyprus to portray his hero Sammy Davis Junior in a chaotic Rat Pack tribute show.

The 10-part mockumentary features a great cast of British expats, swinging tunes and is narrated by Eastenders legend Steve McFadden. A comic look at the entertainment business, fame, identity and the nature of success, ‘I Gotta Be Me’ blends fact and fiction, suntans and swing as Paul goes on an emotional road-trip around the island.

Using crowdfunding platform  Kickstarter producers Nine Productions, Flaxman Films, soap actor Phaldut Sharma and director Steve Bloomer launched the campaign at a live event in London this week, where they screened episodes four to six.

“These episodes will be released in the coming weeks, but backers of the project get them as soon as they pledge,” Bloomer told the Cyprus Weekly.

“For higher donations, we are offering priority access to the final four episodes as soon as they are completed, and some exclusive bonus ‘featurettes’ created from our treasure trove of 200-plus hours of footage.

“These include profiles of our main characters, a 20-minute feature focusing on Cyprus itself and access to view the full, two-hour Rat Pack tribute show.”

For even higher donations the team have some signed books, signed memorabilia, credits in the series, invitations to a UK screening and tap dancing lessons by Sharma for UK-based backers.

Campaign
“The campaign lasts for a month, and we are looking to raise at least £5,000 – which is what is needed to finish the series and release the final four episodes this summer.

The money covers post-production expenses like licensing stills and videos of the Rat Pack, grading and a sound mix.

“We’d love to surpass that total, so we can enter the series into festivals, have a screening over in Cyprus and recoup some of the £7,500 we have personally invested in the show to get it this far.”

The first 48 hours of any crowdfunding campaign are the most important, Bloomer explained.

“Research suggests we need to raise around 30% of our target in this period. The more our audience support the campaign early on, the more likely it is that Kickstarter will list the project favourably and promote us to their fans.

“If we don’t reach our target our backers won’t be charged, and we won’t receive the money necessary to complete the show – so please help us get off to a swinging start.”

The slickly-produced series features fabulous Rat Pack music and well-known local performers such as Andrea Morrelli (Frank Sinatra), Martin Rhodes (Dean Martin), Karen Kendall, Angela Rhodes, Chris King, ‘Psycho’ John Hughes and Andrew Oliver against a backdrop of local scenery and spots.

“Having spent a year developing the idea, by the time we started filming, Phaldut and I had a shared understanding of the themes and overall direction of the piece – including a 10-day research trip in which we scouted locations across the island,” Bloomer said.

“Once we arrived, I told Phaldut to forget all of that work, and to stay in character whenever he was around the rest of the company. Along the way, I had several surprises planned – like arranging for Phaldut’s actual agent to call and tell him he was in danger of losing his job in Eastenders!

“It was a little cruel, but we knew the task of blending his performance in with a group of genuine people required us to play these sorts of games on each other. That said, the rest of the world was equally capable of surprising us!

“‘Psycho John’, for example, is a brilliant character who just happened to show up one day, so we found a way to weave him into the story and now his scenes are among my favourite parts of the series.”

Bloomer said the island enhanced the series.

“Our cameramen were keen to capture the beauty of the place and I think the series benefits greatly from the stunning Cyprus backdrop.

“Some of the shots are just awesome and the locals, bar and club owners were so accommodating. I definitely plan to return but, as you’ll see in episode 7, I did have a mad night out in Ayia Napa I’d rather forget about!”

The ‘I Gotta be Me’ Kickstarter campaign is live at: www.igottabeme.net/kickstarter

To watch the first three episodes, go to: www.igottabeme.net