Kickstarter

I'm seeking funding in order to produce a free, internet only HD version of Gulf Crossing. This first of its kind documentary on trans-gulf bird migration would then be accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Free downloadable copies will also be available.

Gulf Crossing is an attempt to showcase a truly remarkable and highly visual natural phenomenon that, despite occurring all around people right here in America, has hardly been glimpsed in animal/nature programming. Rather then skipping without direction from one interesting or impressive scene to another like most big-budget nature documentaries, Gulf Crossing gives a comprehensive and sequential picture of bird migration, explaining its relation to geography, climate, and seasonal change in both habitat and organism. And it does this with high definition video of hundreds of species of tropical birds.

I mention $1800 as the goal in the video but I hadn't included the fees that Kickstarter and Amazon take(~10%), so the project goal is $2000.

The money is needed for:

A) Professional narration/recording. The film has been cut to the ideal time of an hour so the narration will need to be re-recorded. An experienced speaker/recordist would be much better than current narration. Listing the narration for offers will cost at least $1000.

B) Licensed footage from some of the best bird videographers in America. Only a minute or two but even at prices well below market value that would be at least $500. Most of this footage has never been released and will fit in perfectly with the existing video. NOTE: If my fundraising goes over the target the extra money will be used to license more footage or possibly to commission soundtrack music.

Some advantages for the online version:

1) Image quality will be significantly better than on a standard definition disc.

2) Physically distributing DVDs is difficult and time consuming whereas online is instantaneous and requires only internet access.

3) By editing a new version I can improve the overall quality of the documentary.

4) Since it's free it will be easier to tell people about and share.

I hope this version will be appealing to science teachers and nature groups in addition to the general public.

Donors can give any amount of money. Donations of $12 or more get one DVD, $20 or more gets two. There is a limit of 200 for those as that's all I have left. They come in a colorful case and feature the original version of Gulf Crossing.(If you already have a copy and don't want another just let me know). Fundraising ends February 21, 2012.

I think this is a great story and it will look really good online where it will be free.

To donate money, you can use either a facebook account or you have to create a kickstarter account. Creating a kickstarter requires only an email address. In either case you can pay by credit-card. 

If you can only donate by check, you'll have to get a friend to make the donation for you online, as the fundraiser can only accept credit that way.

Please note: if the threshold of $2000 isn't met then no money changes hands and I don't get anything.

I have the DVDs mentioned as rewards already, however they will not be distributed until the funding goal is reached. 

Thanks for your help!

Jackson Childs

To learn about Gulf Crossing go to gulfcrossingmovie.com

jchilds@fas.harvard.edu