Film Award and Update
First, some good news. One of the films I worked on (as a story consultant) won top prize at the Sundance Film Festival last week! “The Russian Woodpecker” employs that same three-act narrative structure we will use to translate Barbara’s dramatic story in “American Visionary“. If you are interested, check out this “Variety” review at:
I deeply appreciate your contributions! And in case you missed it, I want to update you about our progress on American Visionary: The Story of Barbara Marx Hubbard. Last year, I announced the ambitious goal of finishing the remarkable story of Barbara’s life in time for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Despite our combined efforts, we simply have not yet raised enough funds to finish a superior film with high production values. FYI, the average one-hour PBS documentary costs $500,000 and takes 6-9 months to edit. Currently we have raised half our budget, and I have been honoured to be the project’s top cash contributor.
Independent films frequently take 3-10 years to complete because of the time it take to raise funds. At year three, I am proud and grateful to say that with your help, we have hit these important milestones in 2014:
– Filmed four compelling interviews with our Academy-nominated cinematographer. Our recent interviewees are Neale Donald Walsch (Barbara’s biographer and a terrific storyteller), Patricia Ellsberg (Barbara’s sister told heartfelt stories), Carolyn Anderson (Barbara’s articulate VP Campaign Manager) and Carter Phipps (providing cultural context for Barbara’s work in conscious evolution);
– Logged 200 hours and transcribed 13 interviews;
– Assembled an advisory board of journalists and academics from top universities;
– Found an Academy-nominated editor who agreed to work on the project;
– Began applying to grants
My current projection is that we’ll be ready to release the film in 2017, unless we get full funding soon.
Looking ahead, our goals in 2015 include:
– Raising $70,000;
– Applying to 7 grants;
– Editing 200 hours down to 40 hours.
Please be on the look out for our upcoming fundraising campaign, which will feature new film clips.
