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on April 8, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #11a recipe, without further ado ~
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on March 21, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #10THANK YOU ~
Post Comment...and happy Iranian New Year to all!
Thanks so so very much to you, all my generous backers. That sure was intense ~ thanks for bearing with my constant email pleadings. A toast to your patience. I can't wait to really dive into the project and get it up off the ground. I would not have been able to do it any time soon without your support. Please stay tuned to your email regarding questions / info about your rewards. I'll be contacting each reward level one by one this coming week.
I'll try to keep updating this Kickstarter page with my progress on the project. But feel free to write me at peopleyouthinkyouknow@yahoo.com to join my email list ~ I will probably be more able to keep you up-to-date that way.
Here's one update for now: I'm going to be interviewed tomorrow (March 20) on the local Iranian radio station here in the LA area - KIRN 670AM - at 6PM (Pacific time). Tune in if you can (especially if you speak Persian!) and I'll do my best not to bore you! I'll be speaking about both my recent music video award as well as P.Y.T.Y.K. If you don't catch it, I'll try to somehow get a hold of it and post it on the site. Who knows, true to form I may even take a camera with me...
Once again, thank you all so much ~
As you may know, today was the first day of the Iranian new year (what a way to start it off!) ~ I hope you all have a wonderful year filled with wine and song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch...
(for some reason I keep getting errors when I try to upload this video, so there's a link to it on YouTube)Cheers ~
Alborz -
on March 20, 2010Funded!
People You Think You Know - an intimate look at U.S. / Iran relations by Alborz Kamalizad
an intimate portrait of a family in the Iranian diaspora, PYTYK studies how the Iran/US conflict is a result of two cultures' inability to communicate
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100% funded $5,281 pledged
- 45 backers
- Funded Mar 20, 2010
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on March 17, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #9"Iran in a Nutshell" - video countdown to new years #4 ~
Post CommentThe Iranian New Year predates Islam by well over a millennium - if not more. But like most Persian culture it's stuck around and adapted to fit the mold of the times. Here's my cousin in Iran giving me a crash course in 2 1/2 millennia of history and politics...in under 1 minute - not to mention a brutal diagnosis of Iran's problems:
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on March 16, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #8a little challenge ~ (last week video countdown - day 3)
Post CommentHello again backers - there's been a slow stream of new pledges over the last few days. Thank you all immensely. Now what we need to do is turn that stream into a waterfall. So here's a little goal that might help:
PYTYK is 50% funded. If everyone who has funded thus far finds one kindred spirit to match their own pledge, we'll be set! So think hard about that one person who loves good documentaries, in-depth looks into history/politics/cultures and/or who loves me as much as you. Contact them and encourage them to match your pledge. Then feel free to ignore my subsequent emails :)
...unless you want to keep watching my little video countdown to New Years ~
***
When Iranians want to say they miss someone, they say "your place is empty." As in your place at the dinner table - or more broadly, your place in my life. -
on March 15, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #75 days left ~ (video countdown day 2)
Post CommentHere we go folks. Five days till Spring, till Iranian New Year and till the end of fundraising emails from yours truly. Only 5 days left and just over $2700 left to raise. Other projects on Kickstarter have raised over three times that in the final few days! So it's very possible ~ please help me get the word out to your friends and family. We're right down to the wire so please don't hesitate to help out in anyway you can!
There has been a lot of interest for the project lately: I've been approached for a mobile-distribution deal (more info on that in the future) - and have been getting generous fan-mail from people stumbling onto the project saying things like "I am really impressed with your premise for your project, and the diligence to which you are trying to put the intangible thing of a greater cultural meaning into both words and film. I have been looking for something like this for a while now!" (thanks Riis - and I hope you don't mind my blurbing you).
Also, the music video I posted a few updates back received 3rd Prize at the Farhang Foundation Film Festival. The contest was to create a music video that somehow showcased Iranian heritage. I accepted the award yesterday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art where I also helped generate more interest for P.Y.T.Y.K. (by, along with other things, being interviewed by Voice Of America).
Now, here is a video of my (characteristically facetious) acceptance speech - luckily, everyone seemed to get a kick out of it (it's preceded by a clip from the music video):
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on March 14, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #6the home stretch ~ (featuring a new video)
Post CommentDear backers and would-be backers,
Welcome to the last week of fundraising for "People You Think You Know!" Thanks to the project's generous backers so far, we're just about 50% there. However, that means things are going to be a little intense for the last week...
But plenty of Kickstarter projects make well over 50% of their goal in the last few days, so I know it's still possible. The trick is for a project's supporters (that's you!) to pick up the campaigning effort and spread the word via email, facebook, twitter and blog to their friends and networks.
Remember, if the project doesn't make it to $5250 by March 20, 5:32PM PDT, I won't be getting any of your hard-earned cash! So please spread the word any way you can and help me shake some money trees.
Which brings me to this update. As you may have noticed, my fundraising deadline falls on the minute of the Iranian New Year (!) - which marks the first day of Spring. So here is a mini-video to help kick off the last week of...1388. (I would like to do more of these mini-videos for the site. Not quite an "episode," but a short video-essay of sorts.) Here's to a new year and with your help, a fully funded "People You Think You Know":
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on March 14, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
commented on a projectThanks Gregory, it's the home stretch now...
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on March 9, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
Posted project update #5Some news and a friendly reminder ~
Post CommentFirstly, a huge thank you to the burst of very generous backers in the past few days. Really. Can't thank you enough.
Now ~
1) I just posted a first-draft of what will become my project proposal for People You Think You Know. Please take a look and let me know what you think - especially if you've done any grant writing before. It's my first attempt at it. Read it on my blog: www.peopleyouthinkyouknow.com/theblog
2) Unrelated to PYTYK: My music video (see two updates down) won third place! For those of you in the LA area, it may be screened this Sunday the 14th at LACMA ~ as part of an Iranian New Year extravaganza. Stay tuned for a confirmation and an improved (from the previous post) version of the video that I'll be posting here.
3) As of this update, there are only 11 days left to reach my goal! But the good news is that according to Kickstarter statistics, 94% of projects that pass the 25% mark for their fundraising goal go on to succeed. PYTYK is currently at 41%! So we're as good as gold. It just depends on everyone continuing to do all they can to support the project:
a) Make a pledge!
b) If you've already done that (or are financially challenged like most of us), email your friends and family about my Kickstarter page. Just copy and paste this link: http://kck.st/a0crym into your message.
c) And share that same link with your Facebook, Twitter and blog networks: http://kck.st/a0crymDone.
Thanks again, and stay tuned for more updates.
~ Alborz
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on March 2, 2010
Alborz Kamalizad
commented on a projectCaitlin ~ thanks for the support! Of course you'll be getting the recipe. I was planning on writing it out fancy somehow and mailing it out once fundraising ends. But if you (or anyone else) wants the recipe or blog mention sooner, then just let me know and I will gladly email or blog accordingly. Just message me (or email: peopleyouthinkyouknow@yahoo.com) if you don't want to post your email publicly, etc. ~ Cheers. P.S.: Hope you make it to Iran someday. P.P.S.: Huge thanks to "Abbas" too!
Alborz Kamalizad
Los Angeles, CA
Alborz Kamalizad makes movies, drawings and other artifacts while living in (near) Los Angeles, CA.
