The past few months have been a whirlwind for our little team. It’s like we’ve experienced every emotion under the sun in an impossibly small window of time.
If you want to know how guarantee a film screening near you, skip below.
Sammy, Ava and myself (Eli) along with the dozens of other collaborators have had so many meetings, shoots, edit chats, review sessions, test screenings, phone calls, laughs, tears and even a stress-induced trip to the emergency room right (not fun). All to finally birth the baby that is the GENX documentary.
Now, we stand on the other side of two remarkable screening events hosted by two of the biggest colleges in North Carolina: Duke & UNC (ironic huh?)
We took a moment to celebrate all of the good news:
Hundreds of people (about 450 total) showed up to these screenings
They came from an impressively wide range of backgrounds and locations
Dozens of people came up to speak with me after these screenings, explaining how one aspect or another moved them, or inspired them to do something.
Our screening partners were VERY happy with the events, a few quotes:
“The film was excellent, and the turnout was great. What a tremendous success. ”
Rebecca Fry, PhD, Director of the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, UNC
“Your work clearly touched the audience. I heard from students, faculty, and community organizers afterwards wanting to get involved.”
Ryke Longest JD, Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Clinic, Duke
Okay so what’s next? When can everyone see the film?
The earliest expected is May, because we plan to release this film exclusively with in-person events like these. There are many reasons, but the core reason is because this story exists to inspire change. The energy and experience from a live event, is not something that can be replicated by sitting at home flicking through Netflix.
How are we going to run a national or even GLOBAL tour?
With help.
We plan to announce a series of screenings soon, beginning in May and lasting indefinitely. We have designed a structure to be highly involved or entirely hands-off to help the thousands of communities who could benefit from this story. We have confidence that this can work because we did it before.
When we released our film BURNED, it began with a single premiere hosted by the International Association of Firefighters at their annual leadership conference. This one event, sparked hundreds more. By the end of our campaign, we facilitated over 1500 individual events across the globe.
So if you want this film to come to you there are TWO ways you can help.
Recommend that an organization you know hosts a screening. This could be a school, a business, a fire department, a non-profit, or just a few people with some time and money. Ask them to get in touch via email.
Donate to our Campaign. Every $500 raised buys a community screening. As we plan screenings, we’d like to launch 10 big events across the US that can cascade into more, just like we did with BURNED. This would cost $50,000 - based on the cost of the Duke/UNC events. When you donate, please leave a comment on WHERE you want a screening (details help!) And share the donation page :)
We have over 2000 readers, so if everyone gave just $25 we would be done.
Realistically, far fewer have donated but also some give significantly more.
Thank you so much to Andrea, Allison, Nancy, Charlotte and the anonymous donors who gave since our January events - and everyone else who has supported.
If you’ve felt moved or touched by our work in any way, please I am asking that you contribute whatever you can to our campaign and share with others.
The only way we’ve been able to make any of this happen over the past 8 years are donations. I spend months out of each year fundraising to pay our team & bills.
Soon, we will take open call for requests of place to include on our tour.
As always, thanks so much for your time.
With love & respect,
Eli and the team,
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