THE DELAY

As some of you might remember the original ‘deadline’ for the documentary was the end of 2010. Now here we are in May, 2011 with nothing ‘finished’ and it turns out that making a movie in a language that you don’t understand is stinkin’ hard. Due to budget constrictions and the time it was taking us to edit I had to let my assistant, Julia, go in January. She was extremely gracious and continued to stay on for another month with no pay and then did some more ‘paper editing’ via email. I would take her paper edits and select the timecodes she had given me and do my best (in Chinese) to edit it all together.

THE VIEWING

One thing I am really excited about is a group of students that have volunteered to do some ‘watchings’ of the movie as it progresses. At one screening during the first part one of the students (who was from a village) said that she didn’t realize there were poor kids like some of the ones she was seeing in the movie. This was really encouraging to me because the main purpose of the movie is to open up these students’ eyes to the reality around them and encourage them to be apart of the change.

THE EXECUTION

Originally we were thinking about production and a premiere in or around March. Now that March has come and gone we have a rework of the plan. I will most likely get a hard copy to the people that donated via Kickstarter in the summer and then near the end of the summer there will be a Premiere in Kunming where hopefully we can show it to a large group of students.

THANKS!

Thanks again for all the encouragement and thoughts we have recieved during this experience. I really believe that at least a few Chinese University students that view this will be inspired to get involved with helping some kids. This is all because of you guys so a continuing heartfelt thanks!

Now, for a bit of a progress report. I have moved my editing system into an office down the road from my house and setup  a room for work. I have hired a new editing assistant who is going slowly through the 60+ hours of footage everyday and finding the highlights and I (as of this Monday) have started editing. The goal is to be done with a “mid-final” edit by Dec 15. This would include everything from the music and art, to the video. Then hopes of a final product by the end of the year.

One of the most exciting things so far has been the artist that Juliann (our Art Director) discovered. The artists’ name is Xiao Mi and she is amazing. I’ll close this post by showing you a page from her storyboarding for one of the animations that will be in the documentary (click to make it bigger). Peace to all!  roger

Today we made some huge steps in documentary planning. We have decided to attempt to take two of the kids (instead of only one) we have found and develop their stories.

I really enjoy working with David, the word that comes to mind is synergy. He is a great leader and really allows people to take a part in his vision of seeing orphans and poor kids have a better life in China.

Tomorrow is a “befriend the government” day. We need official letters from a few government departments to show to the villages where these kids live so they can come to camp. It’s all about grace in these situations.

You guys, we have the coolest kickstarter thing going on right now, please join it if you like what we are doing!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rogergreenlee/roger-makes-a-documentary-in-china-bring-me-hope

Find out more here:

http://kck.st/9aS1y8

thanks, Roger

Category

Film/Video

Funding Goal

$2,000.00

Project Description

I am a filmmaker currently working with a California based organization called Bring Me Hope. I have been hired by them to produce a feature-length documentary in China about the work they do there with orphans. The documentary will follow two Chinese college students as they find a kid in need and work to change their life. I have been thinking it would be great to give my friends and family a chance to get involved with the project on a creative level and Kickstarter gives me the chance to make that work.

The idea is that the music and artwork for the documentary will be funded through Kickstarter. This means we will be working with artists and musicians in America and China that have a heart for the subject of the documentary and I want to creatively inspire them through Kickstarter funding.

Project Rewards

Any amount would be greatly appreciated and receive our deepest gratitude, but there are three specific rewards listed below. The rewards are very simple:

$10 or more gets you a custom Youtube video from me and the artists in China during production saying, “Thanks!”

$20 or more gets you a DVD of the documentary when it is released next January.

$50 or more gets you the above DVD plus a credit in the Kickstarter section of the credits at the end of the documentary.

THANKS!

For this documentary we are adding an additional $2000 budget after the initial shooting is done to add a section where we will be able to use that $2000 to change the kids life that we meet. To do this I hope to use the services of kickstarter.com and I am in the process of submitting them my proposal and hopefully that will go through and all of you will have a chance to participate in the project.