Finished! World Circus E-Newsletter Update 10

    Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, Children of all ages.... 

THE FILM IS DONE!!  

...or close enough to done that Friday September 21st, the film was submitted & shipped off to the Sundance Film Festival with fingers crossed that it will be accepted to screen this winter. An answer will come in December, so we have a while to wait. The film will be submitted to other top film festivals around the world to get the ball rolling for the film to be out in the world. 

NOTES FROM Director / Producer Angela Snow 

THE FILM

The film looks and sounds absolutely spectacular. It turned out just as I had hoped. A tribute to circus art, culture, and history around the world, as well as very personal stories and behind the scenes looks at the Monte Carlo Circus Festival.

WHAT HAPPENED 

 Some exciting things started to happen, and the film drew some attention from people that matter in the film world, so I put my head down and somehow raced to the finish line. 

The finishing Post Production team really put the cherry on top of all the work Ian Issitt and I did filming in Europe, Canada & the US. 

• EDITING: Emma Morris, award winning editor, whittled down the 200 hours of footage to tell a gripping, smooth, and deep story. That process took about 20 weeks. 
• MUSIC: Charles Newman, composer and engineer/producer for bands such as The Magnetic Fields, composed an amazing sound track to the film that enhances the visuals and story beyond what I could have hoped for. There are also a few tracks of music that will be from well known, and lesser well known, indie bands.  
• GRAPHICS: Vince Clemente, filmmaker & graphic designer, swept in & cleaned up all the graphics and text to really give the film all the pieces of a clean & professional film. 
• OTHER ESSENTIAL PEOPLE: the translators, advisers, and those who gave feedback during test screenings lent their time and wonderful brains for the film. 

IT TOOK THIS LONG TO FINISH BECAUSE.....Documentary filmmaking is NOT a quick process, especially since I've been working full time in the TV industry during this process. Just in this last month I was in New York, Los Angeles, and Alaska on TV shows. Over the last few years, I also made the not so minor move from Los Angeles to New York, where the city has welcomed me and the film with open arms. I've also juggled finishing my short documentary, "Runaway Circus", and screened it at festivals, continued filming on my next documentary in Peru, "Solo No Puedo", and started a non-profit with friends called, Yantalo International Volunteer House, to build housing for volunteers in Yantalo, Peru. I can hardly remember a time when I didn't set my alarm early in order to have meetings and work on the film before my "job" and then continue after hours into the night. But all worth it!   

NEXT

• There is paperwork and technical finishing details that I still have to take care of before calling the film finished finished. A Producer's job is never done! 
• The film will be submitted to Film Festivals, deals for distribution will be sought, screenings planned & DVD sales arranged. 
• Updates happen daily on
    FACEBOOK - so like the page to keep updated
    
• DVDs will be available after the Festival rounds are made and distribution deals worked out.  
• More patience.   

THANK YOU

I want to thank you all for your patience and interest in the film over these many years (since filming started winter of 2009). I have been so grateful to the generous donations and support that have kept the film going financially, as well as kept my sanity and motivation afloat. 

I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE THIS FILM WITH EVERYONE! 

KEEP UPDATED & FOLLOW ON  FACEBOOK. Follow the film on TWITTER. Check out the WEBSITE. Spread the word.  

Chocolate & Cookie Filmmaking Metaphors

(This was originally posted on the blog by filmmakers of World Circus Culture - To the Moon Productions Blog)

These just come to me as I'm working...so thought I'd share.

1.

When I finally get a scene translated that I have tried to edit into the timeline, it's like after looking at a huge delicious box of chocolate and trying to decide which ones to eat first, and then finally getting the little picture map of what is inside each chocolate. You have the answers and then you can really dig in.

2. The whole long process of finishing my documentary is like following cookie crumbs through a dark, bleak, and scary forest. Every now and then I get a big cookie crumb and trudge happily ahead and then it's months till the next crumb and the doubt sets in. Am I on the right path? Is there even another cookie crumb ahead? Will all the crumbs actually even lead to a huge cookie at the end? No turning back now, I know there's no cookie crumbs left where I came from! So, we can just know there will be another crumb to inspire us, or pay us, and lead the way, and also know there will probably be many more dark spells in between, so strap on some comfortable shoes.

ARMED WITH CHOCOLATE (and maybe some ice cream and cookies), I CONTINUE THE EDIT ADVENTURE....THE SLOWEST ADVENTURE I'D EVER AGREE TO.

PRESS RELEASE - IndieGoGo Fundraiser

By David Shade

Angela Snow, filmmaker and producer, turns to alternative funding sources for her latest feature length film, World Circus Culture, a documentary portrait series about the circus. With just a few weeks to fund, the process is testing both the online fundraising model and the filmmaker's nerves.

New York, NY (WEB) February 1, 2012 -- Independent filmmaker Angela Snow is turning to the Internet to raise funds for her latest feature film project, World Circus Project, a documentary portrait series about competitive circus. With funding as the first major obstacle to getting any film off the ground, current economic conditions don't make the job any easier. Filmmakers have to become more innovative in their fundraising tactics, and the independent filmmaking community has embraced sites like Indiegogo.com.

Indiegogo.com is a major player in the emerging crowd sourcing market. Founded in 2008, the site helps small projects to raise funds through its marketing service as well as social media. In line with Indiegogo.com guidelines, artists have a set number of days to raise all the funds. Snow’s film has an 30-day fundraising window, from start to finish. Snow has allotted this amount of time to raise the $12,000 she needs to complete her film.

When asked about why Indiegogo.com was appealing, Snow noted, "it’s a great community builder and helps me spread the word and update people easily. Having personally invested heavily in this project, it gives others the ability to help. The site is invaluable to my project. "

Snow’s film, World Wide Circus, examines circus culture worldwide and focuses on the annual Monte Carlo International Circus Festival. In addition to covering the history of the circus, including well known circuses like Ringling Bros., Cirque du Soleil, and The Big Apple Circus, Snow followed five individual performers around Europe to understand what different lives these performers live and how their passions affect their journeys in this world. A feature-length documentary, World Wide Circus uses stylized interview portraits of performers to tell a universal story about life's most important lessons. Thematically organized around life lessons that reflect a wide range of human emotion and experience, the film seeks to reveal a larger more complex portrait of our shared humanity.

Over 200 hours of footage has already been captured and now Snow is looking to raise funds to continue the editing work of Emmy Award and Academy Award winning editor, Emma Morris. The $12,000 that Snow hopes to raise from this campaign should see the process through the final edit. If the film is successfully funded, Snow expects to deliver the final cut before the end of the year. To learn more about the film, readers can visit the project's pitch page here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/World-Circus-Culture-Documentary

About Angela Snow: NYC based Angela Snow directed her first short films while a student at Columbia college in Chicago. Snow
 has worked on numerous projects as well freelancing on various commercial and reality television productions, including an intimate internship with documentary master Ken Burns. Her productions have won prizes in festivals in Los Angeles, St Louis, and Humboldt Park.

E-Newsletter - Update 8 - Editing

WORLD CIRCUS CULTURE THE MOVIE

http://worldcircusculturemovie.com/ (FILM'S PAGE)

THE HOME STRETCH!

The end is in sight! Editing has begun and it feels great.

Check out the big updates below...and see the next steps, as there are always next steps!

Become a FAN of the film on FACEBOOK. Follow the film on TWITTER. Check out the new WEBSITE. Spread the word.

30 days to raise $12,000 - VISIT World Circus Culture on Indiegogo (see the new video!)

NEWS!

Editor hired & editing has STARTED: I've always said I wanted to "do this film right" and that meant hiring a talented editor - so I did.

• Emma Morris has won an Emmy for editing. Her work has also won an Academy Award and been an Official Selection at Sundance winning the audience award and the Filmmakers Trophy.
• She has spent a month editing and funds are in place for 2 months of editing, thanks to recent donations.

Filming is DONE after 3 final interviews:

• July 13^th in New York City- Paul Binder, Founder of the Big Apple Circus.
• September 19^th in Peru - in a village in the jungle of Peru, we filmed a small Circus and its owner.
• December 12^th in Tampa, Florida- Kenneth Feld & Family, owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Screening in Monte Carlo:

• A 10min clip of the film screened Friday, 1/20 during the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo, thanks to the World Circus Federation.

Finalist in $5,000 pitch:

• October 29th - The film was 1 of 5 finalist at the Paley Center for Media Documentary Pitch Workshop. I pitched in front of 5 judges & 200 people in an attempt to win $5,000, sponsored by the Documentary Channel. http://www.paleycenter.org/paleydocfest2011-documentary-pitch-workshop-2/

HELP!

30 days to raise $12,000

http://www.indiegogo.com/World-Circus-Culture-Documentary

(see the new video!)

In order to keep editing and work with the award winning editor, to make this an award winning film....we need more money! So I've started an Indiegogo campaign where I have 30 days to raise $12,000. I am reaching out to the circus community that has began following this film as well as to other networks.

A lot of you have been following updates on this film from the beginning and have supported it along the way, and I thank you so much. I ask you now to help spread the word, you never know who will be interested in supporting the film, I've had many surprises in the past with donations that proves just this!

In this day and age, filmmaking has become even more of a collaborative effort....which just means you get to be a part of making a film!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

http://worldcircusculturemovie.com/