Kickstarter

明けましておめでとうございます Akemashite omedetōgozaimasu!

PROJECT NIHON extends a very Happy New Year to all of our friends! We also wish to extend a resounding THANK YOU for your support in making our international, collaborative project possible.

PROJECT NIHON started fundraising exactly a year ago -- and look at where we are now. In 2010 we fund raised over $10,000 of support for making this trip, this art exhibition, this cultural exchange, and this experimental documentary a reality. We had overwhelming success in completing our project in Japan (only missing one ferry ride is not bad!) and there have been pretty remarkable developments since our return home.

We've received newspaper press from our hometown in Minnesota, our trailer was screened in a hip Bushwick warehouse last moth to robust audience cheers, and we are in conversation with NYC's largest Japanese bookstore emporium about launched our exhibition catalog and DVD at their store across the street from Bryant Park / 42nd Street in Manhattan -- fingers crossed!

That said: What a year! We celebrate these milestones along with you!

As you know, we are currently editing the documentary feature film. If you didn't get the message yet: WE FINISHED THE TRAILER AND IT'S ONLINE, JUST FOR YOU!
Please check it out: http://projectnihon.com/trailer.htm
As you'll see, the film is really coming along.

We are so grateful to you: our backers, our friends, our supporters.
Which leads us to....
The best news of 2011?
Our gifts of thanks to you will be fulfilled this year -- the delivery of backer rewards and the completion of the art catalog AND the PN documentary. We are eager to finish, to continue doing nothing but the highest quality work, and to be poised to share our creative product with you and the world.

Please stay tuned for a bright year ahead!

Best wishes to you and yours on this eve of fresh starts and endless possibilities,

Meghan (artist) and Michael (filmmaker)
PROJECT NIHON / sustainable art travel
Brooklyn, NY

Dear Friends,

We're very pleased to announce that White Bear Press, the local newspaper from our hometown of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, just published PROJECT NIHON's first newspaper interview.

If you're in Minnesota, you can find our interview on page 3a of yesterday's paper.

If you're anywhere else in the world, you can find our interview here:
http://presspubs.com/articles/2010/06/22/white_bear_press/news/doc4c212fcf1224d418002005.txt

We hope you enjoy the article and we'd love to have your feedback and comments on the Press Publications page. Your brief commentary on why you sponsored this project is an incredible way to continue the transnational artistic dialogue!

Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to having more exciting updates before the summer is through.

All our best,

Meghan + Michael
PROJECT NIHON / sustainable art travel

http://projectnihon.com

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your generous support of PROJECT NIHON / sustainable art travels. What a treat it has been to have you all on the adventure with us these past few months!

We are finally re-assimilating to Brooklyn life and are looking forward to getting you a copy of the documentary as soon as possible. Since arrival we have been diligently transcoding over 80 hours of footage... which is not just a lot, but A TON, of footage to turn into editable video.

Great news? We wrapped transcoding last weekend! We're reading to start editing!!

Even greater news? Since we certainly didn't skimp on the documenting part of the trip, we're excited to be in a position to reconsider if the film will be feature length or not! Either way, all good things.

That said, now the exciting and challenging process of sifting through these 80 hours and constructing a beautiful and compelling documentary can take place. We are thrilled to bring it all together.

With crossed fingers, we hope to have a rough cut ready for viewing by August. We will be sending out special backer editions shortly thereafter, as soon as they are ready.

Thank you for sticking with us and please continue to follow the journey as it evolves on our Facebook page. We're well aware that 4, 5, 6 months is a long time to wait for a reward, so we plan to continue posting images, short clips, and travel journal entries on FB over the summer until we have a more refined product to share with you all.

You can follow us here:
http://facebook.com/projectnihon

Again, we really can't thank you enough.
If it wasn't for your support, Project Nihon would still be a proposal. THANK YOU for making this a reality. Domo arigato gozaimasu!

All our best,
Meghan + Michael

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NOTE: update includes images shot by Tokyo-based photographer KUMIKO SUZUKI, offering a sneak peak at Day 2 of the Tokyo exhibition - the Artist Talk + Workshop Day!

Special thanks to Kumiko for generously donating her time and photographic eye to Project Nihon.