Saturday, December 3, 2011

Newsletters and Fundraising




Asking people for money is always a bit awkward. I've had very few opportunities in life to do so. But, with this film getting closer to completion I have come to the stage where asking is an important part of the process. Some readers may have received an email newsletter this last week. For those who didn't, check it out HERE. I tried to strike a balance between humility and self promotion. It's uncomfortable putting your endeavours out there and telling others they should be opening their checkbooks for you. But Im feeling pretty good about the film so far and think it's worth putting out there for the world to see. I have gotten a few negative responses from people who were offended I would ask them for money. But mostly the response has been favorable. The negative reactions are a good opportunity to thicken my skin and stem, I think, from a basic misunderstanding of how documentary films are made. No one gets rich doing this. If my wildest fundraising dreams came true I would break even. I've taken the film this far and I'm only raising money to get the rest of the way.

My next post will be about some of the specific progress being made on the film.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

K2 Film Progress

After taking a big break we've finally started to get a handle on all the footage shot during the 2009 season on K2. The plan is to complete a one hour documentary by the end of this Summer. Working with us again is the Emmy award winning director and editor Jason Reid (2rfilm.com.) He brings his superb editing skills as well as a wealth of experience moving films though the final stages of production.

The previously completed fifteen minute short (see below) concentrated on Fabrizio Zangrilli's experiences with K2 and was shown around the country during 2010. The current iteration of the film now follows three or four different people on our trip to K2 and explores their motivations and philosophies concerning climbing in the high mountains.

In this one hour version there will also be time to talk about the death of extreme skier Michele Fait as well as our rescue attempt on Latok II. Both of these were significant parts of our journey and capture well the difficulties and dangers of climbing in the Karakorams.

After two years, we're really looking forward to putting the polish on this project. We'll be posting more details about progress and fundraising campaigns as we move along. More soon.