Good afternoon everyone! Thank you for tuning in to our monthly report for our short film "Show and Tell." This is our first monthly report which will entail the journey of our film and connecting with the community about our passion for storytelling.
A collection of books. A little time. A lot of learning. Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash.
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP
As of two weeks ago, our short film team is really excited to have our paperwork approved for Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media is a nonprofit organization that provides fiscal sponsorship for artists, journalists, and media producers. They support noncommercial work that benefits the Bay Area through the educational, social, and cultural values. Our team reached out to Independent Arts & Media in hopes of attaining a fiscal sponsorship to improve our skills in grant application. What's great about a fiscal sponsorship is if the donation goes towards "Show and Tell" through our fiscal sponsorship, the donation would be tax-deductable.
We are continuing to look for funds for our project to prepare for costs such as location rentals, equipment, food, studio teacher services, and so forth. When the coronavirus conditions subsides, safety is the #1 priority in our production as we are involved with school-aged artists.
Any donation towards our project through our fiscal sponsor would mean a lot to us. Please help spread the word about our project. Your contribution on the link below will help us bring our short film project to the next level.
Developing film. Photo by Mitchell Hollander on Unsplash.
PRACTICING WITH ACTORS
The quarantine conditions have definitely put a halt to our production since April 2020 (the original month for principal photography). During this time, our team took a step back and re-evaluated the important things we needed for our project. We reached out to more grants, rewrote our budget and timeline, and conducted Zoom Communications video practices with the young actors and actresses 1-2 times a month.
While the quarantine status has left the film production on a tough spot, our passion in cultural acceptance still grows from our continued engagement with our cast, crew, and audience. Most of the practices we conducted so far are improvisational practices that were taught in high school and college. One of the games the young actors and actresses loved is "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing?" is a fun improve game that needs at least two players. This is how the game goes:
PERSON A begins doing an action (ex. dancing).
PERSON B asks, "What are you doing?"
PERSON A will respond with an action that is different from what they are doing. (ex. wrapping presents).
PERSON A will then stop their actions whereas PERSON B will begin the actions stated by PERSON A. (ex. If PERSON A says they are wrapping presents, then PERSON B would be the one who is wrapping presents).
After a few seconds, PERSON A will ask, "What are you doing?"
And the process repeats.
Photo by Alvin Mahmudov on Unsplash.
This exercise helps actors and actresses think quickly of the action and perform. "What are you doing?" is not limited to theatre/film, but this is something very fun for families to play at home. Do try it out and let us know how well you did in the game!
WAITING FOR PRODUCTION
At the time, our film production intends to film in the Bay Area. Unknowing of how the future production will go, we continue to conduct practices and engage with the Native American/Indigenous community across the United States and Canada to share more of their stories through the podcast and learn more about their unique heritage.
We hope to begin filming in September 2020, but time will tell. We appreciate everyone who are still in touch with our film's journey up to this point. It is a tough time for everyone. The quarantine conditions have helped us a lot in better preparing our production and connecting to a wider community for our project. I, the director, had originally thought that this student project would go to a few local film festivals after the production and that would be it. Some time with self-reflection has brought me to an understanding that our project is much more capable of a few film festivals as we intend to eventually share this to the primary education system.
LAST NOTE OF THE DAY
To all the supporters of "Show and Tell," thank you for continuing to be with us. Keep in touch with our weekly updates on Saturdays at 3:00PM where we share stories, food for thought topics, and updates in our filmmaking journey.
Stay safe everyone and have a wonderful weekend!
SPECIAL NOTE: Our team has successfully fundraised 12 percent from our Indiegogo campaign. We only have about 30 days left to fundraise $4000.00 for our short film!
It would mean so much to us if you could provide feedback and contribute to our project. The donations go straight to the funds needed to make this film come to life. Please visit our campaign at
Thank you and stay safe everyone!
DELICIOUS DAY: Spirit Mountain Roasting Company is one of our wonderful partners who have a passion for sharing delicious coffee while maintaining their Quechan roots.
Please support this company through their website
where they offer different blends that suit your eager taste buds. Their coffee is not to be missed!
"Show and Tell” is fiscally sponsored by Independent Arts & Media, a San Francisco nonprofit organization dedicated to building community through media and the arts.