Kickstarter

Dear Friends:

As faithful supporters of Incident in New Baghdad, I wanted you all to be the first to know: minutes ago, I just launched a new Kickstarter campaign for my latest project SILENCED, a feature documentary about the unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers in Washington DC.

My new film follows the deeply personal struggles of people working within the national security establishment—at the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the State and Justice Departments—who, like Ethan McCord in Incident in New Baghdad, have decided to speak out about questionable official policies, and have endured harsh consequences.

Since all of you were so instrumental in the incredible success of the IINB crowdsourcing campaign, I wanted to give you a first look at the new SILENCED Kickstarter page right here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941167757/silenced-a-new-documentary-from-oscar-nominee-jame

I would really like to have a strong showing right out of the gate! And while I know it will be hard to match the astonishing 36-hour sprint to success of my last Kickstarter, I am hoping that many of you will be inspired to support my new documentary early in the campaign. The subject—the erosion of civil liberties in post-9/11 America—could not be more timely and relevant.

Thank you so much for reading this, and please, if you have any suggestions or feedback, do let me know. I love hearing from backers!

With gratitude,

Jim Spione, Morninglight Films

Thank you so much, my Kickstarter friends. You made this happen!!!

... to let you all know that the advance preview DVDs of Incident in New Baghdad are finally ready and will start going out in the mail this week to those of you at the $25 backer level!

However, if you contributed $50 or more to my Kickstarter campaign, you have a DVD signed by Ethan McCord and me coming to you--and for that there will be a little more of a delay. Due to scheduling issues, we won't be able to get the signed DVDs out until the end of January.  My apologies!

In the meantime, please cross your fingers, pray, organize your fairies, and otherwise do whatever else you can do to ensure a happy announcement from the Academy on January 24th!

Thanks once again for your invaluable assistance in making the past few months the most amazing ride of my life.

Sincerely,

Jim Spione, Director, Incident in New Baghdad

We did it!!!!!

Today the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the Documentary Branch had viewed all 35 eligible Documentary Short Subject entries, and narrowed the field down to an 8-film shortlist.  And I am so proud and honored to tell you that INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD is one of the films on that list!

But most of all, I am grateful to you!  Thanks to the generosity of each and every one of you, I was able to screen my film in Los Angeles in order to meet the Academy's qualification requirements.  Three to five final nominees will be selected from the shortlist and announced in January.

Again, thank you so much for believing in me, in this film, and in the message it sends to the world.

The world, it seems, is listening!

All the best,

Jim Spione, Director, INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD