Before the First Frame

Will Benninghoff said it plainly in a video he made for Canal Zone Documentary:

“Unfortunately, when we go, the stories go with us.”

That is the sentence that frames everything happening here. Not just this article. Everything.

Canal Zone Documentary launched on Substack in April 2026. Today we have 927 subscribers — approaching 1,000 and with a 50.28% open rate. The industry average is somewhere between 20 and 30 percent. Ours is more than double that.

In the last 30 days alone: 11,204 views on this platform.

On Facebook and Instagram: 219,580 views total. A few of the top posts: Italian Workers on the Panama Canal (61,000 views), They Came from the Islands (26,500 views), The Wilson Sisters (20,000 views). The numbers tell part of the story. Of CZD's Facebook audience, 86.4% are non-followers; meaning most who find this content are discovering it for the first time. 77.6% are based in the United States; 18.5% in Panama. Of the cities represented, 63.5% of views come from Panama City, followed by New York City at 9.5% and San Antonio at 6.2%. Who exactly is watching — Zonian, Panamanian, curious passerby. That’s difficult to determine without a full report. What is clear is that the content is traveling.

And yet.

927 Substack subscribers are, for the most part, people who have chosen to be here: Zonians, family members, researchers, and others who found CZD and decided it was worth following. The 219.5k Facebook views represent a much broader and less defined audience. The two numbers are not directly comparable. What they do suggest is that awareness of this project extends well beyond the community that has formally subscribed.

Canal Zone Documentary is a full-time operation. Research. Content creation. The CZD Review (a free quarterly archival magazine), produced with Managing Editor David Dahlstrom and Contributing Editor Catherine Stockwell. Article writing. Graphic design. Source-finding. Archival materials mailed in need physical storage, which means external hard drives, archival materials, subscriptions to design software, and everything else that keeps a project like this running.

This is not a side project. There are no other film projects currently being taken on. This is the work.

In recent weeks: the Panama Canal Authority contacted CZD in connection with a project they are developing for next year. That call did not come out of nowhere. It came because the work has been consistent, credible, and visible. The message from the journalist and researcher at the Panama Canal Authority read:

That kind of recognition doesn't come from a Facebook post. It comes from years of consistent, documented, credible work.

El Visitante — the English-language expat magazine in Panama, has used CZD content. Will Benninghoff and Ricky Royo’s show, SCN Canal Zone on YouTube has featured this work. The Panama Canal Museum Collection is a resource in active relationship. Connections with researchers and filmmakers continue to develop.

The host and interviewer search for the documentary is active. Sage Steele, a television anchor, sportscaster, born in the Canal Zone was contacted. She has no personal memory of the Canal Zone and respectfully declined, which is the right call for a role that requires genuine connection to the community. The search continues. Other names are being pursued. CZD Insiders receive those specifics.

A trip to Panama is being planned for January 2027. If it comes together, Alex Reyes has extended an invitation to speak to those attending the Canal Zone Reunion.

I have not been back to Panama since 1995. Thirty years. The January trip is pre-production: location scouting, community meetings, documenting what remains. I plan to bring gear to begin capturing what is still there before more of it disappears. If you want to be part of making that happen, a GoFundMe is active.

Here is the reality of documentary filmmaking.

When a filmmaker walks into a conversation with a film studio or a producer, one of the first questions on the table is: who is the audience? Often they’ll also ask, what big name do you have attached to this project?

A 5-digit Substack audience helps answers that question before it’s asked. It says: the community exists, it is documented, it is measurable, and it showed up before a single frame was shot.

927 subscribers approaching 1,000 is real. It is meaningful. It is more than most documentary projects have at this stage.

There are an estimated 30,000 Zonians on Facebook. A significant portion of them have seen CZD content. Many of them have liked it, shared it, commented on it. And a fraction of them have made their way here.

The single most important thing any Zonian can do for this documentary right now, more than any donation, more than any share, more than any comment — is to join this Substack and invite every Zonian they know to do the same.

It is free. It takes less than a minute. It is an email address.

And it becomes part of the evidence that this story has an audience waiting for it.

First: If you are on the free tier and this work has been worth your time — consider becoming a CZD Insider.

$5 a month. $50 a year.

What it funds directly: research materials, archival storage, design subscriptions, production development, and the ongoing costs of doing this work properly. What CZD Insiders receive in return: deeper research with full dates and sourced citations, specifics on documentary development including who is being contacted and what is happening; the inside view of a film being built from the ground up.

Beyond the tangible costs, there is the time: researching, designing, networking, writing, organizing. An Entertainment CPA handles the financial structure, which is another real cost, at rates that mean every conversation counts. State filings, legal fees, and administrative costs are part of building a production company properly. None of this is glamorous. All of it is necessary.

Just FYI, if you choose to purchase a subscription and you use one of the mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay — they take 30% right off the top! Substack and Stripe understandably take their percentages as well. Just not 30%.

How to upgrade if you are already a subscriber: Go to canalzonedocumentary.substack.com. Click on your account. Select “Manage subscription.” Choose the paid tier. That is it.

The free tier is a full membership in this community. Every subscriber, paid or free, is part of the audience that makes this project real and fundable. If the free tier is where you are, you belong here.

Second: Invite every Zonian you know to subscribe.

Not to the paid tier. Just to subscribe. Free. One minute. An email address.

Post it in your Canal Zone Facebook groups. Text it to the Zonian you grew up with. Send it to the cousin who still talks about the Zone at every family gathering. Share it anywhere Zonians gather online or in person.

The link is: canalzonedocumentary.substack.com

This is the metric that matters most right now. Not views. Not likes. Subscribers — people who said yes, this is worth showing up for.

The eldest among us are fading. Will Benninghoff is right. When they go, the stories go with them.

Every Zonian who subscribes is one more name on a list that says: we are here, we are real, and this story matters enough to document.

One more thing: share it.

A shareable graphic is available: 1080x1080 and 1080x1920 to post directly to Facebook, Instagram, text it or wherever Zonians gather online. Post it. Tag someone. Drop the link in a Canal Zone group. The address is simple: canalzonedocumentary.substack.com. The ask is simpler: tell a Zonian it exists. And you do not need to use these graphics. Only if it helps.

Thank you!

A note on the CZD Review: we are always looking for volunteers — writers, graphic designers, graphic artists / retouchers, photographers. If you have skills and want to contribute to the publication, reach out at archive@canalzonedocumentary.com.

The CZD Review is free and published quarterly. The current issue is available at canalzonedocumentary.substack.com.

Subscribe or upgrade: canalzonedocumentary.substack.com Support the archive: Amazon Registry: Visit the Amazon Registry • Zelle: CZDSupport • Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/thaynewheeler • Panama trip GoFundMe: [https://gofund.me/3d0f72ba6] • Shop Canal Zone®:canalzone.net/collections/czd • Send materials (documents, stories, photos): archive [at] canalzonedocumentary [dot] com