This blog post is a long time coming and for that I apologise.
Friend and film-maker, Emily James, is working on a ground-breaking film of utmost importance and I would urge you all to check it out. You can watch their latest trailer below:
Called Just Do It, the film follows three organisations, two loose affiliations and one domestic extremist from the streets of London during last year's G20 protests, north to Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire and even further north to the UN COP 15 climate summit in Copenhagen... with an array of other diverse locations in-between.
It's a ground-breaking film because the enterprise is entirely crowd-funded with both finance and other resources souced from a wider community - both on and offline.
This methodology-cum-ethos stems not just from the network effect driven by an Internet-connected community but by a deeper motivation that will ensure the integrity of the project. As the film's website explains, community-led production:
"embodies the spirit and culture of the movement that we are portraying. By applying community-led alternatives to existing production models we encourage the measure of the film’s success to be defined by how much it contributes to a genuine cultural shift, rather than by box office takings. We’re making a film that isn’t commercial, probably wouldn’t be profitable, but nonetheless needs to be made."
Not only that, as well as keeping production community-based, the film's distribution will also rely entirel;y on the same approach to achieve its objective: to be seen my 1m people in 2011.
To do this the makers have a plan:
"The film will be released under a Creative Commons, non-commercial license. We will distribute the film via free internet downloads, free-ish DVDs, film festivals and guerrilla screenings ... This is filmmaking as politics, as well as a film about politics."
In addition it's a film of utmost importance as it highlights the work being done by groups and individuals in the UK - and as part of a global network - to address the issue of climate justice.
With global corporations and world governments to tackle man-made climate change following the failure of the COP 15 summit the film is a call to action demonstarting how (extra)ordinary people doing (extra)ordinary things can achieve more than they could imagine possible.
In Emily's words:
"It urges people not to wait for others to act on their behalf, but to intervene when they see injustice, to take action against all odds and ultimately Just Do It."
With all this in mind it's vital that the film makes it to completion, which is where you come in.
There are a number of ways you can get involved and help make the film a reality, from donating some time or expertise to handing over some much needed funds.
There are a number of tasty incentives to encourage you to get involved and the all important FAQs about where your money will go.
What are you waiting for? Just Do It!
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