PRODUCTION UPDATE:
We recently returned from our final (fingers crossed) shoots in NYC and DC, and it was such an inspiring trip. Every one we interviewed taught us so much.
The highlight of New York was getting to interview John Legend, musician/performer/ songwriter extraordinaire, who also happens to be a passionate (and very knowledgeable) advocate for equality in education! John serves on the board of the Harlem Village Academies, amazing schools founded by Deborah Kenny, who is also featured in TEACHED. Deborah arranged for us to interview John and to film both of them on MSNBC's the Morning Joe show. More photos on our Facebook page (just search for TEACHED).
We are now basically done with production, and have AMAZING footage to work with--beyond our wildest dreams, thanks to our gifted cinematographers (special shout out to CHRISTINA VOROS and SERGEI KRASIKAU both of New York City) and all the amazing people willing to give us so much of their time and let us into their lives. It has been a long process-- a year and a half of research, crazy travel and long days of filming-- but we now have all we need to make a beautiful, engaging and, most importantly, impactful film.
What comes next is finding and hiring the right editor to take the film to the next level. We've created a rough cut on a shoestring budget that serves as a great starting point, but now we need to raise some $$$ so we can hire a top editor with great experience and proven success (we also need to hire color, audio and other specialists to polish the film).
Needless to say this means taking some time for fundraising; we're launching a campaign next week. We are very happy and proud to say that we just received fiscal sponsorship from the International Documentary Association, so all contributions are now fully tax-deductible! This is big news for us (and our financial supporters).
Also hopefully you've noticed that at long last, our website is looking professional, because we found an amazing local website designer to work on it for us-- thanks to Barry Low! Please send any suggestions you have for improving the website, any time. You can send them to me at kamis@loudspeakerfilms.com.
That's all for now. Look for our next email blast in the next week or so!