Well there is only 5 days left in the online fundraiser on Indiegogo. I've been blasting everyone I knew on the internet and I'm sure a lot of people are getting annoyed with me and will be happy when my campaign is over too. We've already raised a little over $5,100 by 101 different funders which is amazing but isn't as much as I would have hoped for. I'm feeling really good though about the campaign, even though we are no where near the $15,000 goal. I'm glad we finally hit the $5,000 because it feels like a lot more than $4,000 which doesn't make sense. I'll also be glad when this whole campaign is over because it's been really stressful. Thankfully I'm not measuring my self worth by the success of this campaign.
Other exciting things that are happening: I'm working on the ITVS application even though I probably won't get it. I've been pulling my hair out trying to finish it. Both my producers, John Moore and Spencer Stoner, are too busy doing their own project to help me. (John is working on his MFA graduate thesis documentary and Spencer is working for the Discovery channel, producing a show in South America.) ITVS would be the dream grant if I get it because they help secure exhibition through PBS.
Redseven Entertainment GmbH, a German company is currently working on a TV-show named "Galileo Big Picture" for German national free TV broadcaster ProSieben is wants to use some of my footage for a segment about new fads in art and graffiti. We're still working out the logistics but it's pretty neat that I'm getting their attention.
I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to write about but I've been filming some things with Magda Sayeg lately. 
I'm not going to name anything but she's been directing a commercial that has a lot of knitted/crocheted stop-motion animation. I've been shooting the behind-the-scenes of the making-of which has been really exciting. I'm going to share my footage with this ad adgency and in return they are going to share some of their behind-the-scenes footage of Magda and give me access to the finished commercial for my documentary. Because everything has been really last minute, I couldn't get anyone to help me shoot. I was running both sound and camera. I'm a little afraid that the ad company isn't going to like my footage as much as they would've hoped.
Tomorrow I'm suppose to be interviewed for K&L Media in Bellingham, Washington, which is always exciting. Yay for more press.
As you can tell, it's been busy around here in yarn bombing documentary central. After the indiegogo campaign is over, I'll be planning a trip to Seattle and Vancouver.
Today I did something that may be stupid, I quit my job. You might be wondering why I'm sharing this here, well I'll tell you: I haven't been working on my documentary at all lately because I've been caught up in work drama. Lots and lots of drama. It was all just too much.
During the normal school year, I teach a high school film class and I work at UT helping the students in the film school produce their movies. I also work at a filmmaking non-profit which was my sole job this summer. I was suppose to work at a film camp this summer but not enough kids signed up so the job fell through. Needless to say I've been living on a part-time wage this summer and it's been rough. All the stress has been piling up. How could I raise money for my documentary when I barely had enough money to buy groceries? Today I woke up and realized that I didn't need that drama in my life, I need to focus and make sure I'm not going to bring work stuff home with me.
In my college career I have been thankful enough to have heard some great people speak: Spike Lee, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, Mike Judge, Richard Linklater, Morgan Spurlock etc. During one night, probably 3 or 4 years ago, I got the opportunity to hear Francis Ford Coppola speak. One thing stuck out to me about what he said, he credited his success in film to being a father. He said that when he first heard that he was going to be a father, the thought that he would be supporting his family pushed him to do whatever it takes to be successful. I don't need to get knocked up to hopefully push myself. I'm hoping that being unemployed for the next two months, barely having enough money to pay my bills, will light a fire inside me to do what it takes to succeed. It's been more stupid of me to neglect my doc. I not only owe it to myself to make this doc, but I owe it to the yarn graffiti community and all the people who have back my project on Indiegogo.
Sometimes it's okay to be stupid and take risks. Wish me luck.
When I was at work today, I wandered down the hall and was water-cooler talking with the guys at Picturebox Productions. In a lot of ways, I feel like Kevin (J. Smith) , Mike (Nicholson) and David (Layton) are my older brothers. They are all definitely super supportive on my doc. I'm hoping to raise enough money down the line for my doc so that I can hire them during my post production phase of my documentary. They did an amazing job with a feature documentary called Better This World. If you get a chance to see it, SEE IT. It was easily the best documentary I saw at SXSW Film Festival this year (Where Soldiers Come From at a super close second). I digress...
Today Mike showed me an article on Slate which was talking about this Craft Social Media Networking site called Ravelry. "The best social network you've (probably) never heard of is one-five-hundredth the size of Facebook." I feel stupid that I haven't been utilizing craft, knitting, and crocheting online communities. Today I joined Ravelry (user name Gonzography, please add me as a friend). It's awesome. I can't believe my friends and even my aunt have been on this site for years. It's funny because people are freaking out about Google+ but I'm getting excited about Ravelry.
Thanks Picturebox guys for always looking at for me! I now have a new way to waste, I mean spend my time.
I'm not going to name anything but she's been directing a commercial that has a lot of knitted/crocheted stop-motion animation. I've been shooting the behind-the-scenes of the making-of which has been really exciting. I'm going to share my footage with this ad adgency and in return they are going to share some of their behind-the-scenes footage of Magda and give me access to the finished commercial for my documentary. Because everything has been really last minute, I couldn't get anyone to help me shoot. I was running both sound and camera. I'm a little afraid that the ad company isn't going to like my footage as much as they would've hoped.
