Story of America: A Nation Divided

Summary

Story of America: A Nation Divided is a documentary video series to be developed into a feature length film, and a national campaign using storytelling to heal divisions and unite America. We launched our production the week before the 2012 election and we have already received national recognition for our revealing videos for our series, Battleground Virginia: A Divided Electorate. We're currently working on edits on that series and just started working on a new series, New York after Sandy.

We have plans to go across the country to explore the various ways in which we are divided; meet many of you and hear your stories; and challenge all Americans to share stories, listen to each other, and heal the divide. We hope you join our campaign and growing community!

We know it sounds very ambitious, but with your participation and the “fierce urgency of now,” we believe we can have an impact.

Annabel Park, the director-producer, writes, “As an immigrant from South Korea, a country that went through a terrible civil war 60 years ago (and is still technically at war), I experience the vitriol, division and near-violent rhetoric in our public discourse with deep concern. Story of America is itself an answer to the question, how can we become more united? I believe that we will begin to unite as a country when we begin to talk to each other. When we share stories of our struggles, openly discuss our hopes and dreams, express our fears, we will begin to create that sense of community, that united-ness we currently lack.”

What We Need

Story of America is an ambitious project and we need your support to get started. We hope to raise enough funds to travel across the country and visit all fifty states. This will require significant financial support. We are asking you to donate so that we can raise $60,000 in seed money to demonstrate how much can be done by a small group of dedicated people who ask all Americans to be part of a national conversation. 

The funds will go toward paying a small staff for 3 months, production costs, travel costs, organizing story-sharing community events, and the creation of a robust website that will become a hub for sharing stories, creating a sense of community and sustaining an ongoing dialogue.

The perks include:

• DVD copy of the award-winning film, 9500 Liberty, a documentary about the immigration culture war, directed by Annabel Park and Eric Byler, who is also part of Story of America’s team
• Lifetime status as Founding Members of this community
• Producing credit
• Status as Angel Investors
• Postcards from the team as they travel across the country
• Video call with team members with updates
• Invitations for you and a friend to the world premiere of the feature film and VIP after-party
• Invitations for you and your friends to local screenings of the feature film
• Beautiful, custom-designed posters

Other Ways You Can Help

Even if you can’t contribute financially, we invite you to be part of our growing community.

• Help us spread the word! Please share this page using the share tools with your friends and let them know why it’s important to you.
• Share your story with us and be part of the national conversation.