Fundraising Is A Demon In Disguise

Distracted and Exhausted

perhaps I need a team

Here's the deal, my fundraising campaign has taken over all of my time. the actual documentary has taken a back seat which everybody agrees is a dangerous thing. Fundraising through KickStarter is a full-time job of networking and I just don't know how to do it. I have exhausted all of my call-in favors and all I can think of is The Godfather. if the Don were to call in more favors than he gave his reputation would be ruined and respect lost... my hope is that real life is a little more forgiving and that by calling in all these favors I'm not damaging friendships.


I haven't posted in a few days because I have been out of town and busy. I have a lot of Backer updates but those will come at the end of this post.

I've been contacting businesses in the area. Big ones. but haven't gotten any responses. I have also contacted the Chamber of Commerce but they won't be in the office until the 9th.

A friend has agreed to be my marketing team. Jessica Jaramillo and I worked together last summer in the office of media and public relations at SUNY Binghamton I did video stuff and she did all the social media stuff. she set up campaigns and everything else (and did a great job of it) so basically what I'm getting at is that I am lucky to have her on board. I was lost in a sea of idk... shit I don't understand. I have been learning how to use networks and how to connect with people when I absolutely have to so it's been overwhelming but Jessi came in and gave me some goals. She's "funemployed" :p so we're working together to tag-team this fundraising campaign which is already much better (maybe because it has focus).

Anyway, I'm going to brainstorm a video to make in a few days to post as a KickStarter update and blog post to show people i can actually do it and keep them interested.

for all you who are following along to get some advice on becoming a documentary filmmaker: there is a lot of mental/emotional turmoil when trying to tell an honest story about something real. You WILL question whether or not you're doing the right thing or being honest because no matter what you will need to pick and choose what you show and tell. The closer you look at any situation the more doubts you have. it's like seeing a patterned tapestry and magic-schoolbussing it so you're a spec of dust seeing the make-up of fibers. You will wonder if there really is a bigger picture or if you just made it up based on what you knew before. I'll tell you how to destroy that obstacle when I know :p

Our list of Backers has grown greatly! a big shoutout goes to these 18 great people who are now part of our documentary family:
Eden Littrell
Sera Onishi
Roseanne Grigoli
Kimberly Spaulding
Josh Cohen
Angela Pagliaro
Valentine Monfuega
Hybrid Vigor Films
Norman LaFave (sorry I messed up your name on Twitter. I fixed it I promise)
Ben Summers
Michele (I messed up your name too I added an extra l I'll fix that now.)
Lauren Thomas
Kevin Allen
Patricia Hutchinson-Day
Jamie Lee
Zachary Elkind
Michelle Davis
Kathleen Crawford


Thank All Of You

-Kevin