About this project
A campaign supporting the largest and *final* to-date push behind the feature film For Thousands of Miles - bringing the documentary from its current stages in post to release.
The Goal
Finish and release For Thousands of Miles (FToM) six months from the end-date of KSR campaign (see timeline below). Additionally release the remaining making-of series, also known as 64 Days. Launch online + real-world outreach campaign to build interest during the six month build-up to release.
Important Links
http://everythingfeelsconnected.com + http://FToMfilm.com + http://facebook.com/forthousandsofmiles + http://ksr.FToMfilm.com
What is For Thousands of Miles?
It is a story about loneliness, about the great efforts required in finding who we really are... what we really love... about what we are each really capable of.
On July 3rd, 2007, Larry James McKurtis and friend Jayson Hale would leave by loaded bicycle from Anacortes, Washington, heading east towards a small parking-lot overlooking the Atlantic ocean in Bar Harbor, Maine. And whether or not the thought had ever crossed their minds in the months before or in the years after their experience; their miles were influenced and shaped by countless others. Others who challenged and pushed themselves in ways that lead to subtle buy long-term influence. And everything that happened on the road was part of something larger.
We shape for ourselves a routine that hides these questions in plain sight... and in life we can go on for years looking for our way back to things that have been lost inside. For Thousands of Miles is about finding that - it follows a young man during a two and a half month long journey and the enduring unraveling of those 60 days once returning home.
How far we've come
The story has been filmed, boxes of tapes have been logged and captured, the 16mm proceded, the 120+ hours of footage edited down to a 5 hour block, the narrative scripted... and to frame the next several months visually: we are at a split in the road - one like many splits that we've come to during this film's long and difficult production - and at this split, a decision has to be made.
Amanda and I can continue on with FToM at the pace and with the resources we've had, this pace is slow, and any unexpected issues can delay us for weeks at a time. Or, we can change everything about the next few months and bring the current rough edit to a completed edit by the end of this year.
I owe much of this Kickstarter campaign to our friend, Vu Bui, who helped push me to take this leap several weeks ago on the phone. Vu helped me see that chipping away at this feature film in small pieces, while holding other jobs to make ends meet, is going to mean one thing: FToM is going to take forever to finish.
The film is at a stage where it requires a huge amount of focus and a huge amount of momentum behind it. This campaign is, above anything else, a promise... a promise that Amanda and myself could never reach alone. Below is what this campaign would support:
Timeline of FToM ∞
August (2010)
• launch of KSR campaign
• launch of film's request tool through Openindie
• record last temporary FRoM voice-over track
September
• launch of real-world + online outreach campaign
• release of 64 Days (part 5)
October
• 60 hrs / week of editing film
• film short scenes relating to Library of Congress archival footage
November
• record final film voice-over with professional narrator
• release official trailer
• mail out all promotional-kits
• 60 hrs / week of editing last 3 parts of 64 Days
• minimal CGI for three scenes of film
December
• rough edit of feature length film completed
• submission into sxsw film festival (dec 9th, last minute deadline)
• privately screen FToM on a individual basis for feedback
• edit 64 Days (parts 6, 7)
January (2011)
• announce official premier event
• send FToM to Belgium for color grading
• release 64 Days (part 6)
• edit 64 Days (part 8)
February
• final re-edits of film
• release 64 Days (part 7)
March
• release the final 64 Days (part 8)
• official premier event ¹
• special online access to KSR backers ²
April
• release film online under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license
The Release under Creative Commons ∞
A film is an event, it's an expression of an idea - and ideas should be shared openly. From day one of this project, the end-goal has always been to release the film online and to do so freely. Much has changed since 2004, when this project first started taking shape, regarding filmmaking and distribution - filmmaking has come to mean much more to those who help fund it, those who help share it and those who help create it. And because of this:
FToM will be released and distributed under Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-SA). Which means several basic things: Anyone will be free to share FToM and anyone will be free to remix FToM.
Or to be more clear about this license: the film will be yours. You will be free to copy, to redistribute, to sell or remix FToM. It will be free in the sense that speech is free, that culture is free.
Notes ∞
¹ If selected for sxsw film festival the official premier event will take place in Austin, if not selected the official premier event will take place in Los Angeles.
² The official premiere event (TBD) and the early online access for KSR backers will take place at the same time. Meaning the moment we hit play in the theater, we will also be turning-on private access online.
³ You could expect a short similar to this: http://vimeo.com/13261494 - nothing commercial please, I have no plans on promoting a local landscaping company or patent-pending can-opener ;)
※ Promotional Kits are meant for those who either *really* love film, really love being nice, or really love FToM and being nice at the same time. Whatever the reasons for being so wonderful as to run around your town and hand out stickers or stencil on old buildings and back-roads or host your own screening event - we can't thank you enough! We are trying to keep these Kits as fun as possible and when mailing them out we will do our best to make them as personal as we can to show our deepest appreciation for people like *you* existing in the first place.
Campaign Thumbnails
A few different Kickstarter campaign images for those of you who want to help spread the word ♥
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
18
Backers
$1,136
pledged of $28,000 goal
Funding Canceled
Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator on September 29, 2010.
Pledge $5 or more
You may think $5 isn't much - but anytime you back a project on KSR, you're helping promote that project across the entire community! Plus you'll get access to our KSR backer-only updates!
Pledge $10 or more
Your name listed in the online credits + two FToM stickers, a thank you letter and that warm fuzzy-feeling inside from doing something nice!
Pledge $20 or more
All the above + Early online access to FToM coinciding with the official premiere event. You'll be able to watch the finished film two weeks before anyone else! ²
Pledge $30 or more
All the above + a 6 inch snippet of 16mm used during principle photography on the road. This is a very special reward to us - only a small fraction of FToM was shot on film, and we wanted to be able to share a piece of that film with as many people as possible ♥
Pledge $40 or more
※ All the above + Promotion Kit » Level 1: includes 20 of our brand new FToM transparent stickers. Slap one on your bicycle, your bumper, your apartment's mailbox, the speed limit sign near the end of your block or just hand them out to friendly looking strangers!
Pledge $50 or more
All the above + the opportunity to create a video for explaining why you ride or why you run, why you climb, why you write, why you swim, why you paint - whatever it is that *you* do to challenge yourself, we want to hear about it. The series, called Searching for Things, will be re-mixed for the feature film's DVD as well as posted in-full on the production blog.
Pledge $75 or more
All the above + an autographed 11x17 full-color FToM poster. You can pin-it-up right above your bed. Note: you will have the choice to opt-out of any promotional kits if this campaign is fully-funded. We just didn't want people worrying about wanting a poster and getting stuck with a small box of FToM stickers ;)
Pledge $100 or more
All the above + a special newly designed FToM color t-shirt!
Pledge $125 or more
All the above + A special, limited-run KSR-only DVD of the current 64 Days series! Containing commentary-tracks w/ Amanda and myself, plus bonus features. This will be a high-quality, fully-packaged, fully-designed DVD *high five*
Pledge $135 or more
※ All the above + Promotion Kit » Level 2: includes special FToM DVD package for localized screening events that will correlate with the film's official release. You can host a small get-together with just friends, put on your own screening at the park or even book an indie theater.
Pledge $200 or more
All the above + a special KSR-edition 64 Days production journal. This 7x7 198 page softcover book is full of production stills, twitters, and selected blog post! We've worked really hard on this one... we think it's pretty awesome.
Pledge $250 or more
All the above + an autographed copy of the finished FToM script.
Pledge $260 or more
※ All the above + Promotion Kit » Level 3: includes a handmade-with-love 9in x 12in Everything Feels Connected graffiti stencil.
Pledge $300 or more
All the above + the opportunity to help shape the final version of FToM. After December we will be conducting private screenings - you'll receive a reaction card in the mail and a special link to view the film online.
Pledge $400 or more
All the above + you know that 64 Days production journal we mention above, well you're gonna get that same book but with a full-page hand-written "thank you" letter on the inside cover written specifically for you :)
Pledge $500 or more
All the above + I will personally make *you* a 2-4 minute video. You can suggest some key-words if you like and I'll do my best to work them in - or, if you prefer, your video can be a complete surprise. ³
Pledge $510 or more
※ All the above + Promotion Kit » Level 4: a tube of 30 FToM 11x17 flyers.
Pledge $600 or more
All the above + an autographed FToM special 6-panel digipak DVD.
Pledge $4,000 or more
All the above + an "Executive Producer" credit. Which would make you one sports-convertible shy of being the next Lee Donowitz ;)
Project By
Connected as Mike Ambs (653 friends)
i currently live in los angeles. i love to film things and tell stories. and read on the subway. i'm pretty sure blue whales are my power animal.
