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99 Percent - The Occupy Wall St. Collaborative Film

In a parallel experiment to the OWS movement, 99 award-winning filmmakers & artists are making a film about it. Together.

On Oct 1, 2011 a few award-winning filmmakers in NY teamed up to make a collaborative film about the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  They called and wrote to their filmmaker friends, and they to theirs.  Soon, there were almost 100 people across the country who had come together to join the collaborative film.

It started with a few filmmakers in NY, but within a couple weeks people were joining in Portland, LA, Boston, Seattle, Philly, DC, Kansas City, Miami, Pittsburgh, Austin, Minneapolis, Jackson, Nashville, Chicago, Oakland, in short: it took off all over the country.  Skilled editors got onboard, PR people, producers, post production supervisors, a supervising editor signed on, post production services were donated by Metropolis Post, Duotone contributed library music, and everyone started pitching in what they could. As more and more people joined the project, people started helping each other with their shoots, with equipment and contacts.  This film had taken off; the experimental process was working!

All the contributors share a desire to make a compelling, cohesive and honest film; a film that documents the movement from many perspectives, from many cities and towns, and that joins these many voices into a singular and unique portrait.  Guided by award-winning filmmakers and editors, this exciting, independent collaborative film needs your help to make it a reality. 

Because of the spontaneity and urgency of this movement, we had no pre-production or advance fundraising. We jumped into this because we felt a need to do so and now we are donating our time and energy while raising funds as we go.

Support so far has been tremendous.  We've already got post production services donated by Metropolis Post (guaranteeing that this film will be completed), library music donated by Duotone, and close to 100 people around the country are donating skills and service, work, time and maybe even a little bit of love.  We just need to get enough funding together right now to get our editing needs covered.

Please support this collaborative film about the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We have a variety of rewards, including donated artworks by amazing artists, so please donate as much as you can and choose a reward!

Scroll below to see images of each work; one of them just might be the perfect gift for that passionate person in your life.

The Numbers:

We've raised $25,977 so far via donations - this is a blessing and yet also a fraction of the amount most films require. With so many people pitching in, it's dobale - but just. The strain that such a low budget brings to the work we're doing is real. Everything takes longer, is harder and more stressful. And yet, we're doing it.  Please join us in that effort, and please help bring in the funds that we need to edit this film!

Right now we need $5000 to buy the continually necessary hard drive storage and rent the editing space that will allow us to continue editing.  This will get us to the point that we can, at the very least, edit together a rough cut of the film which we can use to bring in additional funding.  We've already collected, logged and transcribed the majorty of our footage.  Now it's time to shape it into a film. 

We believe that crafting an honest portrait and bringing context to this important point in history is of crucial importance.  

FAQ:

Is this propaganda?
No.  Footage has come in from all over the country, from people with all different backgrounds and ideas.  There is footage representing many ideologies and opinions. We are not directly affiliated with the organizers of Occupy Wall Street.

No.  The feature will be shaped by experienced, award-winning filmmakers into a cohesive and thorough documentary about the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

You tell us.  

Ok: Yes.  It is.  We certainly think so, or we wouldn't be donating our time, work, and tremendous effort into this. And we've made films before.

We also know how to get our films seen and talked about. Here's a sampling of recent press:

WIRED: http://bit.ly/uJo1Cm
Film School Rejects: http://dld.bz/a9WHJ
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/mWYRAF

We've also had pieces in the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Cahiers Du Cinema, and many more.

Tweet about us, tell your friends online, or contribute your skills in some way. Write to contact@99percentfilm.com and tell us what you'd like to do.

We need editing space in NY. If you have space to donate, please write us: contact@99percentfilm.com. 

We already have Twitter, Facebook and even Pinterest pages up. Twitter:http://twitter.com/#!/99_film 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/99percentfilm
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/99percentfilm/
Website: http://www.99percentfilm.com

We have a website and youtube channel, and footage will be up and streaming. We have a mailing list and will update backers on all progress.

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Here are the amazing art rewards that have been donated to help make this campaign successful:

Slavoj Žižek Limited Edition Print

Slavoj Žižek print


"Revolution" Perfume and Custom Bottle

Lisa Kirk's Revolution


Mary Nicholson "Portrait of John Fahey" 

Portrait of John Fahey


Peter Eide "The Bear"

Peter Eide

The Filmmakers

Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites are the filmmakers who founded this project. They are also the award-winning director/producers of the internationally theatrically distributed documentary film UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US and are currently working on a narrative thriller, DARK PLACES.

Maria Breaux is an award-winning San Francisco filmmaker and owner/operator of Mbreauxsia Films. Her recent feature MOTHER COUNTRY premiered at the American Black Film Festival and won a Silver Remi at WorldFest Houston.

Tyler Brodie is the Executive Producer of ANOTHER EARTH, TERRI, UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US and many other award winning films. He lives in New York City.

Jeni Chua and Traver Rains are artists based in Los Angeles, CA. They are long-time collaborators, and this is their latest project together.

Williams Cole produced the feature documentaries GUN FIGHT (with Barbara Kopple for HBO Films) and GIULIANI TIME. Additionally, Williams co-founded THE BROOKLYN RAIL.

Jason Crump, a partner and colorist at Metropolis Post in NYC, has come onboard with post production services.

Stephen Willis Dotson is a writer/commentator, social and multi-media activist, and faith-community organizer in Philadelphia, PA. He currently works for the people-powered news website, Waging Nonviolence, which scooped the initial organizing of Occupy Wall Street.

Ava DuVernay is the founder of the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, better known as AFFRM. DuVernay is the director and producer of MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, for which she received the Best Director award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Alex Jablonski is the Los Angeles-based filmmaker responsible for films such as SPARROW SONGS. Jablonski also edited the narrative feature CALIFORNIA SOLO, premiering at Sundance 2012, and he’s currently editing and producing the doc feature LOW AND CLEAR, premiering at SXSW.

Nine Krstic is the award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer involved in films such as GRANNIES AGAINST THE WAR, “FORGIVENESS: A TIME TO LOVE, AND A TIME TO HATE and AFGHANISTAN: DEFYING SILENCE, and THE AMERICAN SIDE – (now in production with One Horse Shy Productions).

Ginger Liu is an award winning photographer, filmmaker and writer based in Los Angeles and London.

Kyp Malone is a member of TV On The Radio.

Billy Miller is a New York based filmmaker, publisher, artist and curator.

Bob Ray is an Austin-based filmmaker and founder of CrashCam Films. His critically acclaimed films include TOTAL BADASS, HELL ON WHEELS, ROCK OPERA, SLACKER 2011 as well as various shorts, music videos, and animated cartoons (CrashToons).

Lucian Read is a Texas-born, New York-based photographer who has shot on almost every continent and been published internationally in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Time, US News & World Report, Paris Match NYTimes, and many more. As a video producer, his video work appears regularly on Dan Rather Reports.

James Salkind is a post-production supervisor in NYC.

Casey Scalf is a photographer in Bellingham, Washington.

Anoosh Tertzakian has worked as an Assistant Editor on several documentaries by Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney, including MY TRIP TO AL-QAEDA and CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER. Anoosh’s editing work can be seen on the HBO film REAGAN and THE HOUSE I LIVE IN, which premiered at Sundance 2012.

Jason Tschantre is a documentary film editor; he edited STRINGS ON THE REZ, a PBS documentary, and he assistant edited THE GATES, a Maysles film.

Tyler H. Walk has worked on projects for VH1, ESPN and Martin Scorsese, and collaborated with documentary film legend Albert Maysles and director/editor/producer Max Nova. Tyler’s most recent work includes David France’s HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, which premiered this year at Sundance.

Melissa Webster is a screenwriter and freelance journalist from Foley, AL.

Aaron Yanes has edited many award-winning features and documentaries, from Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner PADRE NUESTRO, to James Toback's Cannes prize-winning TYSON. 

And many more!

 

Team on This Campaign: