Friends,

Thank you all so very much for pledging to our project and showing your continued support! Our deepest gratitude.

Many of you have already done so much but we need you to help us spread the word. We have 1,349 likes on this page (and are grateful for every one of you who has followed and supported our journey). We currently have 102 backers thus far on our Kickstarter site. If you are reading this and haven't yet pledged, or, are waiting to pledge, please do so now. It is crucial to our campaign to maintain momentum. If you don't have the means to pledge, please share this link and encourage others who can.

As we embark upon our nationwide campaign road trip in the coming days, we will be thinking of you all and hope to see you at the finish line.

Thank you once again for all you have done!

Charlie, Steven & Matt

Actors Charlie Bewley (Hammer of the Gods, Twilight), Matt Dallas (Baby Daddy, Kyle XY), and Steven Grayhm (Wyatt Earp’s Revenge, Alcatraz) are hoping to bring Thunder Road, a film about the difficulties faced by American war veterans when they return home from action, to a theater near you, but they’re going to need your help to do it! Bewley, Dallas and Grayhm have founded their own production company, Astoria Entertainment, and taken to Kickstarter to fund the project.

Thunder Road will tell the story of fictional soldier Calvin Cole (Grayhm) who’s recently returned home from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he attempts to cope with his illness and adjust to civilian world. Bewley and Dallas will also star with the script being penned by Grayhm.

Astoria Entertainment hopes to receive full funding for the film, set at $750,000 USD, from Kickstarter.com, a crowdsourcing website (I didn’t know that was a word either…) which is defined on Wikipedia as, “according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter and how it works, here’s the rundown. Basically, Astoria Entertainment (or any other Kickstarter project) gets money from random people like you and me via “pledges,” and we fund their creative ventures. Which I kind of think is pretty cool. You know, completing an art-is-altruism cycle. The artist creates art for societal relevance or purpose and asks for society’s contribution.

It’s very democratic, in a way.

There’s almost a popular consensus on what art gets made. Like some kind of “monetary belief” in the project. Society is directly influencing and choosing the art it wants to see. Ergo, art directly influenced by society.

I like the concept of Kickstarter because I believe art (and its creation) is a selfless act. So in a way, Kickstarter mediates the funding of one of the most selfless acts, and allows the gift of art to be given and received by the audience.

But it’s not entirely selfless. Not only do you get to see a movie made that you really want to see, you also get awesome gifts for “backing” the film if you donate $10 USD or more (donations start at $1 USD). Depending on how much you’re willing to pledge, the filmmakers are offering gifts like exclusive updates on the movie as they begin filming, autographed Thunder Road swag, and admission to advance screenings attended by the film’s stars who will conduct Q&A’s after each viewing.

Like Bewley himself said (in a recent interview with an outrageously talented interviewer, on this website), “This is a movie about the people, for the people.”

There is one catch to the Kickstarter system. If a project doesn’t meet its goal amount for funding, the project doesn’t receive any funds at all. This is good for you because your pledge isn’t charged unless the project meets the goal, but it also puts the pressure on to get the message out there and bring in pledges before the deadline. So if you want to see Thunder Road become a feature film, be sure to share the film’s Kickstarter page and get to pledging. The campaign launched on July 31 and the deadline to meet the funding goal is Sept 12.

For more information visit the Thunder Road Kickstarter, “like” the film’s official page on Facebook, and “follow” Astoria Entertainment on Twitter.

kickstarter.com: We are just hours away from departing Los Angeles to embark upon our nationwide road trip that will span the entire US and parts of Canada! We are very excited to get out there into the heartland and meet many of you as we continue to spread the important message of our project. We are so grateful for all of your support and will be updating this page every day throughout the next 40 days - including special content exclusive to our BACKERS ONLY.

STAY TUNED for an exciting VIDEO update that will be posted in just a few hours...

Thank you ALL for believing in us!

With deepest gratitude,

Matt, Charlie & Steven



Seniors of Arrow Senior Living communities across the country are intrigued by the efforts of three young gentlemen who have chosen to tell a story that explores the physical and psychological repercussions of combat for this generation's soldier.

Special thanks to Steven Grayhm, Matt Dallas and Charlie Blewley for telling this story and to the residents of The Fremont Senior Living in Springfield, MO; The Atrium of Belleville in Belleville, IL; and The Echelon Senior Living in Las Vegas, NV.

VAMPIRES! Normally associated with red eyes and red carpets, actors from the Twilight Saga movies are rarely spotted outside the comfort of their high-security underworld domain.

Not this one.

Actor Charlie Bewley, of both Twilight and Vampire Diaries fame, is currently traveling around Texas jump-roping in 100 degree-plus conditions.. in full US Army combat gear. His aim is to draw attention to a Kickstarter.com campaign on the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) amongst veteran soldiers.

Together with his production partners and fellow actors Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) and Steven Grayhm (White Chicks), Bewley has developed THUNDER ROAD, a feature film which follows the lives of three soldiers returning home from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heart of the film lies in the true-to-life repercussions of war zone combat and how these young veterans coming home today cope with their new environment:

"We should be educated to the changes that soldiers go through during combat, so we as a society can help them better assimilate back into life upon returning from war. Right now, many are isolated, living in the shadows."

As Bewley sweats for vets, Dallas and Grayhm are recording every moment, LIVE!. Those who want to see the crazy feat can tune into their site www.ThunderRoadKickstarter.com where the feat is broadcast thru a TwitCam stream. "I don't think he entirely knows what he's got himself into," said Dallas.

Bewley, a British national who has been living in America for 4 years, has previously raised $20,000 for BC Cancer Foundation in memory of Jocelyn Clarke, a friend and victim of a rare form of lung cancer. He ran 65kms (42 miles) having never even passed the half marathon distance beforehand.

"Compared to what Jocelyn went thru in battling cancer, running this distance is nothing. We live in such comfort, all of us. It's good to put ourselves in a place of suffering and pain now and again, to make us realize what others less fortunate are going through."

He has a similar philosophy towards his current challenge. Asked about what he hopes to learn from such a ridiculous endeavor: "How am I supposed to play a soldier if I haven't experienced at least the physical rigors of the desert? Soldiers bodies are subjected to intense conditioning in preparation for the climatic and physical hardships of war zone environments."

"Plus, it's far more entertaining than watching cats on YouTube."

The Astoria Team arrived in town last night and can be seen in Downtown San Antonio on Monday morning from 7am. Watch Charlie online at www.ThunderRoadKickstarter.com.

Their Kickstarter campaign runs for the next 38 days and the target is $750,000. Click on the link here to see the pitch video and pledge to this great cause now! THUNDER ROAD KICKSTARTER

A little earlier: Driving through the night right now on our way to San Antonio, TX. It was really great speaking with some of you tonight (sorry for our spotty signal throughout the desert). We can't tell you how much your support means to us. We'll continue to update you on all of our adventures from the road and will be posting our locked tour dates tomorrow afternoon as we are continually adding dates daily so stay tuned...we might be headed to your hometown. For those of you still interested in hosting fundraisers or events, please let us know and we will continue to do our best to coordinate attending.

Thanks y'all!

Matt. Steven & Charlie

THUNDER ROAD / Nationwide Tour Dates:

Below is a list of our THUNDER ROAD national tour dates! We are continually adding events and cities daily so we will be sure to keep you updated!
TOUR DATES

AUG 5-6 - San Antonio, TX

AUG 7 - Dallas, TX - 7pm @

AUG 9 - Columbus, GA (tbd)

AUG 10-11 - St. Louis, MO #SeniorsSaluteThunderRoad

AUG 11-12 - Springfield, MO #SeniorsSaluteThunderRoad

AUG 13-14 - Minneapolis, MN

AUG 15 - Marshall, MN

AUG 16 - Wilmar, MN - Wilmar Convention Center

AUG 17 - Granite Falls, MN

AUG 18-19 - Detroit, MI - MVF - Mitch Albom Radio Show (tbd)

AUG 20 - Toronto, Canada (tbd)

AUG 23 - Syracuse, NY (New York State Fair)

AUG 24-25 - Pittsburgh, PA

AUG 31 - MT. Washington, NH (Motorcycle Ride For THUNDER ROAD)

SEPT 1 - Boston, MA

SEPT 2 - Bangor, ME (tbd)

SEPT 8 - Scottsdale, AZ

SEPT 9 - Phoenix, AZ

SEPT 11 - Las Vegas, NV (tbd) #SeniorsSaluteThunderRoad

SEPT 12 - (tbd) Campaign ends at 6am PST

Please know that we're out there fighting the good fight every moment of the day [we haven't slept in 3 days]. Make no mistake, we have a mountain to climb but we are as determined as we were two years ago when we first set off on this journey to bring our message to the world and we're so grateful to now have you along!

Please continue to spread the word. Every dollar counts!

Matt, Charlie & Steven

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ― Rocky Balboa