Kickstarter

Dear Supporters:

We are reaching out via Kickstarter because the story of the Chattahoochee-Flint-Apalachicola (ACF) Rivers deserves to be told through a moving picture. The water resource issues facing the ACF are just the beginning of drought and overuse-related water shortages that could face many American rivers in the future. If you value rivers and clean water and conservation, please help us tell this story.

Mission

We will paddle from the Chattahoochee's source in the north Georgia mountains to its mouth at Apalachicola Bay, FL. In Atlanta, one week into the expedition, David will hop over to the headwaters of the Flint River and paddle its 344 miles while Michael continues down the 'Hooch. We will meet again at the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers in Lake Seminole. We will then continue, together, down the 107 miles of the Apalachicola River to cover the entire ACF Basin. The canoe expedition will take one month.

To inspire a collaborative solution to the ongoing water wars that threaten to destroy a classic American river. We hope that our journey and film about the river will instill an appreciation within the constituents of this vast watershed so that residents of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama will put the pressure on legislators and stakeholders to come to a sustainable, conservation-minded solution to protect the Chattahoochee-Flint-Apalachicola Rivers.

About the Film

We will make a 45-60-minute documentary film about an American river at the heart of a decades-old water war. In 2012 the Chattahoochee River of GA-AL-FL was designated as the country's first National Water Trail. Two months later it was named one of our nation's Most Endangered Rivers by American Rivers. 

The problem is simple. Atlanta and its increasing population (3.5 million now, projected to reach 6.5 million by 2050) can't find enough water. The South is prone to catastrophic droughts that nearly left the Georgia resources dry between 2006-2009. And the solution currently being offered by Georgia officials is to simply build more dams and grab more water. 

We intend to make a film that follows our canoe journey through this conflict, down the entire contested basin of the Chattahoochee, Flint, and Apalachicola Rivers. We’ll document the landscape and the people that are shaping and have been shaped by these Water Wars. Our goal is to illuminate the opportunity for conservation measures and alternative solutions that can be sustainable even as population increases and weather patterns fluctuate. Our film will ask the question, "Who owns water?"

Finally, we will share our film and the story of the Chattahoochee at film festivals, through partner organizations like the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Flint Riverkeeper, Apalachicola Riverkeeper, Southern Environmental Law Center, Georgia River Network, American Rivers, American Canoe Association, Alabama Rivers Alliance, and via social media and print media. 

Kickstarter funds will be used to support the production of the video. The canoe trip down the Chattahoochee will require some simple equipment and logistical costs - canoe equipment, occasional shuttle car drivers, food, and occasional overnight lodging to charge batteries and download files. 

But the majority of the fund will be used for production costs. We will be hiring a second videographer to shoot with us for at least ten days of the production. We'll take small airplane tours for aerial videos of the watershed, a powerful tool in telling a story from the big perspective. Finally, the Kickstarter funds will be used for post-production editing and to purchase original music to score the film.

We will be on the river(s) from March 9 to April 9. The film will be complete by September 1, 2013.

The Team:

David Hanson (writer, photographer, producer) : www.davidhanson3.com

Michael Hanson (videographer, photographer, producer) : www.michaelhansonphotography.com

Andrew Kornylak is an Atlanta-based, award-winning director and cinematographer who will be assisting us as a primary shooter at various intervals throughout the project.              www.akornphoto.com

Non-Fiscal Partners

• Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
• Flint Riverkeeper
• Apalachicola Riverkeeper
• Southern Environmental Law Center
• Georgia River Network
• American Canoe Association
• American Rivers
• Friends of Lake Eufaula
• Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Stakeholders
• Alabama Rivers Alliance
• Southwings

$18,000 will afford us:

Transportation and river journey costs: 3k; Aerial flights: 2k; Post-production editing: 5k; Music rights: 3k; Film Eqpt: 3k; Kickstarter incentives and share: 2k

Images from the 2009 float that inspired this project: