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Kickstarter project - documentary on small ski areas

Nick

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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1272375267/the-story-of-small-ski-areas

Guy is working basically on a documentary to:

The film tells the remarkable story of the Northeast's remaining small, community-based ski areas and the passion that sustains them.

Looking to raise $5k to fund the project. While I think the documentary sounds interesting, I don't know how well this applies to Kickstarter. Basically for funding the project the guy will give in return a T-shirt, your name in the credits, and a seat at wherever the premiere will be.
 

thetrailboss

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From Kickstarter: Filmmakers Ask for Help to Create Movie on Small Areas

MRG had a post on Facebook about these two brothers who wish to make a film about several of the local town ski areas that still remain in the Northeast.

While one might picture slopeside hotels and high-speed quads when thinking of skiing in the Northeast, small ski areas were the norm not long ago. Going back to the beginning, Bunny Bertram is credited with building the first ever rope tow, using an old Model-T Ford in southern Vermont in 1934. They were so popular and easy to build that by 1966, there were 81 ski areas across the state—most were small with only a rope tow or t-bar. Yet the past 45 years has seen a sharp reversal of that trend; today, there are roughly 116 “lost” ski areas in Vermont alone.
The good news, however, is that despite the high cost of insurance, energy, and taxes, there remain several small ski areas operating in Vermont. Reliant on volunteers and firmly embedded within their local communities, each of these areas have defied the go-big-or-close logic that has come to dominate the sport. Their stories are ones of resiliency, frugality, and sheer passion for the sport of skiing.
The project:

This fall and winter our team is going to shoot a short documentary that captures the histories and personalities behind several small ski areas, including Hard'ack, Northeastern Slopes, Cochran's, Suicide Six, Lyndon Outing Club, and possibly several others.

We want to show people why skiing at your local hill can be as fun as heli-skiing in Alaska and a whole lot more accessible to local residents and children. The film will be both documentary and ski film, including narrative and footage of skiers of all ages. For us, telling this story is our small way of giving back to the community of skiing in Vermont and will hopefully gather recognition and publicity for these ski areas with little advertising budget.


HOW YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP

This film is being created by a team of volunteer filmmakers, skiers, and organizers who will working for free because they want to see this film produced. While we are committed to working on a shoestring, we are dedicated to creating a top-notch film. There are some things that we just can't compromise on:
$25 will pay for a ski specific camera mount
$50 will pay for the cost of one film festival submission.
$75 will pay for a full tank of gas and wear and tear for our vehicle to visit ski areas or conduct interviews
$150 will pay for an external hard drive to hold the digital video for editing
$300 will pay for a professional editing software
$500 will pay for the rental of a computer capable of editing high resolution footage.
$1,000+ will pay for the rental of sound and video gear for the winter

Their site is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1272375267/the-story-of-small-ski-areas

Hopefully some folks here can help them.
 

bobbutts

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[h=5]83
backers[/h][h=5]$3,461
pledged of $5,000 goal[/h][h=5]17
days to go[/h]


Looks like they're doing pretty well as far as reaching the goal. I'm curious to see how well they do with only $5k, that's low even for a low budget film.
 

thetrailboss

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I merged my thread....just saw that Nick had the same thing.

I'm thinking of contributing because like these guys I learned to ski at the "LOC" and folks need to know about it!
 

Nick

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I just threw them $25 from AZ. Will be fun to see where it goes.

In some ways I feel like as a documentary filmmaker you need to suck it up and pay for your own gas and hope your movie sells but at the same point I can see how it's difficult to get going.
 

thetrailboss

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I just pledged. Happy to see that they have rounded up 163 backers and $7,400 for the project!
 

AdironRider

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Hope this actually gets produced.

Little accountability with Kickstarter. Couple buds of mine have gotten screwed. Nothing to write home about, but what is a good idea in concept often gets abused.

Buddy of mine donated for a humanitarian project in Mali, ended up funding some guys month long vacation.
 

Tyler Wilkinson-Ray

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Hey Guys,

You've got one of the brothers here. More updates on the project can be found on the kickstarter page (link at the bottom), but I want to respond briefly to two questions brought up on the forum. The first is the small size of our budget: sure, we would love a few hundred thousand dollars, but its hard to pull in that kind of cash for a film on small ski areas. We are making this film in the same way the small ski areas operate-- a frugal budget and lots of volunteer effort. Like we say in the kickstarter, there is some gear we just need to buy, but otherwise we have a very talented team of volunteer videographers and editors. Yet, at the end of the day, we really think the story tells itself and the stunning cinematography that we are going for will be an added bonus.
Secondly, the question of accountability. There is frightening little of it on Kickstarter and it is a good thing to question. I would like to offer more accountability than my cyber word but that doesn't exist. What I can say is that my brother and I both work in the ski industry and it is a very small world. You don't spend half a decade working with kids for next to nothing at a small ski area and then decide you want to rip those people off. We are making this purely out of love for these areas and are not include any wage for ourselves in the budget. Not sure what else to say on this note, but feel free to post any questions here and I will check back in to respond.

-Tyler Wilkinson-Ray

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1272375267/the-story-of-small-ski-areas
 

Nick

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An update from today via email:

Motivated by the response on Kickstarter, we’ve been hard at work laying the groundwork for the film. Here are some steps we’ve been taking:-Speaking with ski area owners and historians about their involvement in the project.
-Building our team, including the addition of two experienced videographers.
-Building a website complete with a project blog, Facebook feed, donation page, etc.
-Working with the design firm at Select Design to develop logos and branding.
-Communicating with ski film companies and action sport videographers about optimal gear and a strategic approach to our budget, timeline, and a business plan.
-Speaking with film festival organizers about what it takes to produce a successful film as well as the ins and outs of marketing and distribution.

WHAT’S NEXT:
We are writing both as an update and as an invitation to participate in the soft launch of our website (See below for link). As we stated in kickstarter, we are committed to being as frugal as possible and that means we declined the cost of a professionally designed website and built one ourselves. We think it gets the job done, but if you know a web designer, want to pay for it, or are yourself one, we welcome your support.
Secondly, we are seeking a local marketing, social media, and public relations intern in the Vermont area. We realize the importance of marketing and promotions as we approach the film’s release next fall and just can't do it all ourselves.
Third, once our logo and website are complete, we will be approaching business sponsors whose products and missions are in alignment with the spirit of our project. These sponsorships will go directly towards publicizing and distributing the film.

Last but not least, filming begins on Oct 27th. As you can see the project has once again grown considerably, and we have set our sights on new horizons. Follow the project on our website, be in touch, and have a great winter.
-Elliot and Tyler Wilkinson-Ray
Website: http://www.t-barfilms.com/index.html
 

billski

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BenedictGomez

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Wow, cant believe they're including Hard'ack, lol. They really mean it when they say they're making a small ski "area" movie.
 
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