Kickstarter

Wow!  As many of you know, we started a second Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the American Winter outreach and engagement campaign that will bring the film to communities and legislatures nationwide.   We are so thrilled to have reached our $25,000 goal yesterday!  We have had over 200 requests for screenings across the country and these funds will help us start organizing these, and capitalize on the momentum around the film!

BUT, before we shift gears, there are still 7 HOURS left to go on the Kickstarter campaign for outreach, and we could still use every dollar that comes in between now and the deadline at 6:29pm tonight!

Here is a link to the other Kickstarter campaign:  http://kck.st/14YO6pG

Please help us in these final hours and SHARE this campaign with your friends, family and social networks!  If someone didn't get a chance to see the film on HBO, $25 gets a copy of the film AND and it brings more people into our campaign to change policy and bring back the American Dream for struggling families.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT --please share! 

Dear Backers,

We just had a very successful screening of American Winter in Iowa City, Iowa over the weekend where nearly 400 people came out to see the film in an amazing restored theater from the 1920’s called The Englert. Co-Producer Devon Terrill attended the screening and spoke at the Q&A, along with local political and civic leaders, and members of the Eastern Iowa social services community (United Way, Crisis Center, County Social Services, Shelter House, etc). The panel discussion and Q&A was moderated by Iowa State Representative Dave Jacoby.

We have been getting wonderful feedback from people who came to this screening. One of the panelists was invited by the local newspaper today to write a follow up to the screening that will be published with three lessons or actions to be taken away from the documentary. And Iowa State Representative Dave Jacoby, who was the moderator at the screening on Saturday, said he is telling his colleagues about the film on the House floor this week.

This is the kind of engagement in these issues that we are aiming for with the film's outreach campaign!

We hope that these kinds of community screenings can go a long way to humanize the discussion around America’s economic challenges as well as to underscore the need for safety net programs and encourage support of organizations and policies that promote economic security for families.

Our Kickstarter campaign for outreach will help us to put on more screenings like the one in Iowa City. Our campaign now has 139 backers supporting our cause, BUT WE HAVE ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT to raise another $18,856 to reach our funding goal or we receive NONE of the funds offered by backers so far.

The Kickstarter link for our outreach campaign is - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1158154396/american-winter-documentary-outreach-and-action-ca

Please SHARE this link on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media platforms or with anyone you think would be interested. HELP US REACH OUR FUNDING GOAL SO WE CAN CONTINUE BRINGING THIS FILM INTO COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND INSPIRE POSITIVE CHANGE!

Thank you for your support!

We are thrilled to announce that HBO has picked up American Winter for U.S. broadcast distribution. HBO will premiere the film on March 18, 2013!

As you know, American Winter has been a labor of love. We are very passionate about the issues in this film and feel a sense of urgency to share the personal stories of these families – especially at this critical moment when poverty and economic inequalities are increasing at the same time that pressure is mounting to slash budgets to critical social and human services, education, and safety net programs.

We are extremely grateful to our Kickstarter backers for helping us reach this amazing milestone. Thank you!  Your support and contributions made this film possible, and now we are throwing all of our energy into making sure it makes a powerful impact.

***Please LIKE us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmericanWinterFilm and share with your friends, families & colleagues.

SAVE THE DATE – Monday, March 18, 2013 on HBO at 9pm EST/PST (check local listings) - tune in at home, or set your DVR, for the US television premiere.

American Winter’s first festival screening will be February 17th at the Portland International Film Festival. We welcome anyone who is in the area to join us there!

The broadcast premiere on HBO (and the press and attention we hope to generate around this) gives us a unique opportunity to highlight the experiences of millions of families across America, including working families losing their homes, losing heat in the dead of winter, children going hungry and remaining jobless or underemployed. Our goal is to de-stigmatize those who need assistance to make ends meet in this economy and create awareness about the importance of funding the social safety net --while underscoring the need to restore economic stability and opportunity for the middle class and ALL struggling families.

***Please stay tuned! We will be delivering Kickstarter rewards following the HBO broadcast window, and we will be sharing info about how you can get involved in the American Winter social action campaign in your communities and online.  A big, sincere THANK YOU for your support!

Warm regards,

Harry & Joe Gantz (Producers/Directors), Devon Terrill (Co-Producer), Aaron Butler (Editor/Co-Producer) and the whole American Winter team
www.americanwinterfilm.com

We wanted to say THANK YOU to all our backers for helping us reach our Kickstarter goal --and beyond.  It was exciting and encouraging to see the interest and support for this film after two years of working to get it to this phase.  With these funds, we are able to begin the post-production sound work on the film in a few weeks, and our composers are plugging away on creating the music for the film.  After that we will tackle color correction and do all the rest of the fine-tuning and technical finessing of the film to get it ready for release.  We hope the film will be able to premiere at a major film festival and roll out to the public soon after. 

So, THANKS AGAIN!  And stay tuned as we continue this journey. We'll be fulfilling rewards along the way.

All the best,

Joe & Harry, Devon and the whole American Winter team