This is the final project update of “Masters”. The quest continues at “The Mechanical,” where 9 days remain to raise the funds for film processing.

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181 people got together to raise fifty thousand dollars in two months. Every time I describe it, I get goosebumps.

So much less for our accomplishment than for our potential. This was our first go, and all we had for tools were ideas and words. With them, we drew to us exactly the people we needed to, realizing an unheard-of goal by the thinnest of margins. Margaret Mead knew that something like this was possible: “a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

I have now lived in Cambodia. I have worked seven days a week alongside the finest humans I have ever had the privilege to know—Khmer and American. I have travelled a country, marveling at impossibly vivd testaments to the richness and worth of humanity. I have travelled a country, inspecting the remains of a human tragedy so massive as to be beyond belief. I have seen what survives, and how precious it is. I have sat at the feet of genocide survivors and offered them a new kind of mirror to see themselves in. I have seen people meet the greatness within themselves as they would a stranger. I have made a promise to return and see this through to the end.

I did this propelled forward by you; we all were. Knowingly or not, what you've kickstarted within this perfectly-named space is an entirely new platform for the creative mind to be of use to the world: The Vanderbilt Republic. As creative professionals, we're commissioned to create solutions for corporate agendas. The discipline required to succeed creatively instills a clarity of thought that's hard to earn. What The Republic will do with that clarity is powerful: we're going to task professional creatives with inventing much bigger solutions.

Here's the vision statement of Cambodian Living Arts: “we envision Cambodia in the year 2020 as a country experiencing a cultural renaissance so dynamic that the arts have become Cambodia’s international signature.” The Vanderbilt Republic is going to make that vision a reality. From November 8th—December 20th of last year we assembled the pieces of what will become Cambodia's new iconography. And we left the country with a plan. What remains is the execution, and that begins right now.

Step one is to get the film processed. This is inexpressibly urgent and, compared to what we've already accomplished, trivially simple. To beat back any chance of failure, we're tying the effort to our most compelling offering to date: “The Mechanical.”

For everything groundbreaking that it represents, “Masters” is only a page in this book, and I'm turning it. What follows are empty pages, and they beckon for a mark.

—g.

We'll be in touch with a timeline for delivery of rewards in mid-January. But first, a holiday break, reflection, and renewal. Thanks for making this the greatest year of our lives, guys.

—g.

The edit of the nationwide scout is complete, the plan's been made, our approach has been presented to—and enthusiastically embraced by—the executive team of Cambodian Living Arts, a cast has been confirmed, the production book has been assembled and now both the portrait and documentary teams are working at full steam.

The bulk of the updating we'll do from here onwards will be on the VRF's Facebook page. It's accessible (and linkable) without restrictions. No need to have a Facebook account to view or share what you'll see there. And if you happen to already be a Facebook member, feel very free to join up. Info about future VRF events, project updates and an unquantifiable array of general on-set silliness will flow freely through that space.

[ http://tinyurl.com/VRF-FB ]

Hope to see you there. The story's far from over. But know this, dear backers: this is happening because of you, and a greater gift you could not give.

—g.