On November 1st, Sunnyshore Studio launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to complete the We are Family documentary. Learn more about the documentary here.
We are 1/3 of the way through the 30 day support raising campaign. Before I share the stats of where we are at in achieving our fund-raising goal I have two stories to share.
November 5th
On November 5th I shared this on my facebook page.
“I’ve got to admit, I was pretty discouraged today with how the Kickstarter campaign was going. 4 days in and we had just broken $3,000 and seemed to be making slow progress, just a little over 10% with 25 days to go.
I had come to the conclusion that I couldn’t make this happen, as much as I would like to, and for the last couple of days I have been praying “‘not by might or by power but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD.”
I realized that I had to do all I could do, then leave it up to God. That is hard. I felt vulnerable, afraid, sad.
Today is my day off so I went to play basketball at the Y. I got into the car and checked Facebook and saw that Luke Sanders had shared my Kickstarter post and was advocating for the project.
[Luke had written this: “I need everyone to support this documentary about an inner city basketball team from Indianapolis. The film has my Superintended from elementary school in it, the sports reporter of the team, my second family and more! “We Are Family“ is produced and directed by Jason Dorsey. The Dorsey Family has played a HUGE role in my family’s lives so make sure you support this project by clicking the link below!”]
I started to cry.
I remembered back to the days when I first met Luke. My friend Kipp and I walked around the Old Northside soccer fields each weekday morning from 6-7am. On those walks we met Luke’s mom walking with her then little boys Luke and Will. That began a friendship with the Sanders family that lasts to this day.
I thought to myself, if nothing else, to have Luke stand with me in the way. This means the world to me.
When I got home Judah came up to me smiling. He asked if I had seen the kickstarter campaign recently. I said “no”. He encouraged me to look at it so I did.
I was shocked. It said we had 22 backers and were at $8,356! 1/3 of the way to our goal! Someone had given an anonymous gift of 5K.
I cried again.
No matter what happens, today was worth it all.”
November 8th
The morning of November 8th, I received an e-mail from Mark Nottingham, a deacon at Redeemer Indianapolis, the church I served as pastor at for thirteen years. Mark shared that the deacon team had agreed to give David Lichty and I a resource grant of $1,500 to help us complete the documentary. We had applied for this grant because we believe that this film has a strong truth-telling and justice component. Urban schools like Arsenal Tech get so much bad press. We want to share a story of hope and overcoming to counter the negative.
It was super humbling to hear this, and so encouraging and affirming of our work. It was also so great to receive this support when years ago I had worked with the deacon team to create grants like this to encourage congregation members in the works of mercy, outreach and justice.
The Numbers
So where are we at 9 days into the campaign? It’s good news!
31 Supporters have pledged $10,336.
we are 41% funded
We have 20 days left to raise about 15K.
Kickstarter FAQs
Many people are not acquainted with Kickstarter, so here are some FAQ’s
What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. A home for film, music, art, theater, games, comics, design, photography and more.
How does Kickstarter work?
In a kickstarter campaign “backers” support a particular project and receive “rewards” based on their level of support. If the project fails no money is collected from the backers. Their credit cards are not charged unless the project is 100% funded. So it is all or nothing. Backers receive “rewards” based on their level of giving.
So, for example, we’ve set our Kickstarter goal at $25,000. If we reach our goal and are able to make the film, backers who give $10 of support will receive the original sound track made for the movie. At $40 of support they receive (1) the sound track and (2) a digital copy of the movie. At $100 of support they receive (1) the sound track, (2) the movie, and (3) the “uncut” movie with extra footage, bloopers, interviews, etc. And there are more rewards at other levels of giving too. You can see these on the link to our kickstarter project which I provide below.
What happens if you don’t reach your goal?
If we don’t raise the money, we can’t complete the documentary. Every dollar pledged helps us reach our goal.
Why is the story important to tell?
So much bad is in the news all the time about urban schools in general, and Indianapolis Public Schools and Tech High School in particular. This movie tells the inspiring story of a group of young men, their families, coaches, that had a dream, who came together to achieve it, and who rallied an entire city in doing so.
How will the $ raised be used?
Here is the budget for the WE ARE FAMILY Kickstarter project
· $ 8,000 Musicians/Composers
· $ 2,000 Sound Track Mix/Mastering
· $1,000 Documentary Trailer
· $7,500 Video editing
· $3,250 Production Costs (this is everything from
· $ 2,000 Rewards Cost (what the rewards cost us)
· $1,250 Kickstarter Percentage, 5%
The video we made for Kickstarter shares more about the story we want to tell, as well as the rewards we are offering, etc.
If you’d like to support this project go to:
Search for “We are Family”
Thank you so much for your support!