Hi everyone!!

We apologize for the delayed update, but we have been quite the busy bees!!  I have finally released Allyson into the daylight, as she has spent the past 7 months sitting in a dark room and furiously editing our 220+ hours of footage.  And she has emerged with a close-to-fine cut of the film!!  We are extremely excited, but there's still a bit more work to be done (sound mix, color correction, rights, and scoring), and most importantly, we need to send you your rewards!  

Anyway, we didn't want you to think we forgot about you, being that you are the reason this film was even possible.  We're so grateful for your support in the past year, and we thank you for your patience-- we're almost there!

Many, many thanks,

Nicole & Allyson

WE DID IT!!!!!

We reached our goal!! Congrats to all of us, and our heartfelt thanks to all of YOU who helped make this possible!!

Reaching our goal means we will be able to set out and begin production on January 10th. Now comes the fun stuff!

We have an amazing lineup of interviews already slated in Cleveland, but if you have anyone you think we should add to our list, please don’t hesitate to let us know! You can email us at: losinglebron@gmail.com.

Be sure to visit our website, www.losinglebron.com for updates on the film while we’re in production!

Also, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video of some of the wonderful people we met while we were in Cleveland earlier this month:
http://vimeo.com/17968853

Finally (and most importantly!), we’ll be getting in touch with all of you soon for your contact info so we can begin sending out your rewards.

Thank you so very much again, and enjoy the rest of the holidays!

Nicole & Allyson

Hello everyone!

Hang in there… it’s a big update!

It’s been a week since our whirlwind trip to Cleveland, and we have finally settled and processed all the incredible people we met and things we saw while we were out there.

As soon as I arrived to Shaker Square a la the RTA (kind of like the Green Line in Boston, but happily less crowded), my always-energetic, always on-the-go cousin Jeanne picked me up and we hit downtown for a driving tour of the night scene, where we hoped to shoot during the Cavaliers/Heat game (and LeBron’s much-anticipated return to Cleveland) on 12/2. We got permission to shoot at the Winking Lizard’s and Panini’s, both within a short distance from the Q Arena where the Cavaliers play. From there, we headed to some awesome “must get b-roll” locations for prime Cleveland skyline shots, and then headed to local bars on Lee Street in her neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. The most endearing thing about Jeanne is that she knows how to hustle (she’s a lawyer, which always helps!) and can pretty much persuade people into doing anything. Thanks to her help, we were able to get permission to film and possibly hold fundraising events at the Tavern Company (affectionately known as TavCo by local residents), Parnell’s Pub (owned by a former fellow Comm Ave-Allston-Rock-City-Bostonian), and Cedar Lee Pub. Both the owners and patrons were interested in our project and willing to help in whatever way possible… it seemed like everyone had a connection to a local media member or non-profit or other wonderful places to connect with and film (we even befriended an East Cleveland barber shop owner who also happens to be a Sox fan). I’m excited to get back there and film next month (and play trivia, which I quickly discovered is not my strong point).

On Wednesday morning I met with the President of the Cleveland Institute of Art, Grafton Nunes, who was formerly (just last summer) the Dean at Emerson College. It was great to see Grafton again and learn how he’s adjusted to his new remarkable role. He gave me a personal tour of the school, which has a spectacular facility that would make any art student swoon (open studio space in a giant former Ford factory, a glass blowing studio, and lots more). Grafton also introduced me to Marcie Goodman, the Exec Director of the Cleveland International Film Festival, which runs annually in March and where I definitely plan to attend. I also met with the heads of the Video and Photography departments to discuss their help with the film, and they were extremely receptive. We’re very excited to announce that we’ll be working with students (mostly female!) from the Cleveland Institute of Art to assist us in production shoots.

From there, we met with Kirsten Brownrigg, a local journalist/writer/die-hard Cleveland sports fan, who had contacted us the day before. Kirsten has been working on a project similar to Losing LeBron, and has shot hundreds of hours of footage of the LBJ story even months before he made The Decision. Kirsten’s wit, local perspective, and journalistic integrity are a winning combination, and we knew she’d make an invaluable member of our team. We’re very grateful to have her on board as our Field Producer.

Our first official interview was with Ian Petrella, known as Randy Parker from a Christmas Story. The afternoon was spent not talking about his experience as a child actor, but more on his current projects— it turns out he’s a fellow media artist. He’s currently working on a really fun animation project that highlights the diverse neighborhoods of Cleveland. A native Los Angeles resident, he’s excited to be in Cleveland and has completely immersed himself Cleveland’s thriving art scene. We might have also found a fellow karaoke-mate in him as well, so I’m pretty stoked!

Thursday was the Big Day. I had spoken to a few fellow film folks and they all agreed that I should sell my ticket to the game and focus on getting genuine interviews from people on the street and patrons at surrounding bars. We met with the friendly people at the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and had a great time discussing the film’s potential development and impact on the community (and I got to sell my ticket without any haggling!). For fellow filmmakers reading this—Cleveland is a beautiful city and has some unique landscapes/buildings to film… and their tax incentives are quite generous… just saying! Next, we met with the Greater Cleveland Partnership (Cleveland’s Chamber of Commerce) and discussed some amazing innovative projects that are up and coming, and also got a list of dynamic people to interview for the film.

Then, it was down to business… we had crews shooting in both Akron and downtown Cleveland, covering the calm before the storm… anticipation was pretty high for all of us, and I think at one point I remarked to my cousin Jeanne that it felt like New Years Eve and the Apocalypse at the same time. I have to admit, when the game started I had wished I could be there (I’ve loved watching basketball since I was 12), but in the end I know I made the right decision from the fact that I scored some passionate, funny, and heartbreaking interviews and made some new friends as well (Case Western Med students are a wildly friendly bunch!). Of course, this goes without saying that my cousin was utterly instrumental in getting people to talk to us—like I said before, the persuasive lawyer tactics go a long way in documentary filmmaking!

By the end of the (heartwrenching) game, the bars started to fizzle out, but people were still willing to talk and were upbeat. It seemed that people were relieved that it had gone over without anything bad happening, and closure, as bittersweet as it was, had somewhat been reached.

The next morning I recovered from a late night at the Coffee House in University Circle (it’s an actual roomy house for coffee lovers and we need to get some of these in Boston asap!). From there I headed to town and on the way was approached by a friendly man who had asked if I was with the local news (camera in tow). We ended up taking the bus downtown and I learned more about his troubled past and his hopes for the future. He’s permanently disabled and hopes to become a volunteer orderly at the Cleveland Clinic. He’s also an aspiring actor and screenwriter and is in the process of moving his son from Chicago to come live with him. Though he had experienced a life of hardships that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, he was positive, upbeat, and optimistic for what lies ahead in both his life and the future of Cleveland without LeBron. He agreed to be interviewed (I was too caught up in listening to him to turn the camera on!) so I hope to meet with him next month and follow him as he adjusts to his new life with his son.

When I arrived downtown I met with my friend’s father, Mark, who should be given a key to the city (if he doesn’t have one already), because he’s one of the biggest Clevelandphiles I have yet to meet. Mark has always lived in the Cleveland area and has spent the past 30+ years as an area real estate agent, so he was able to tell me the story behind every Cleveland building and its spectacular architecture. We went on a trolley tour around the city and I began to realize that Mark knew more about Cleveland’s history than our tour guide himself, much to the chagrin of the guide. From there we walked up and down Euclid Avenue, gaining access to view the magnificent theatres that make up Playhouse Square (Mark is just as persuasive as my cousin!), to the thriving nightlife hotbed of East 4th Street. We also got an impromptu tour of The Idea Center, an interactive center (and gorgeous space) for art, technology, education, and ideas, and also home to WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN/NPR. Our tour ended with a walk through the Arcade Building, home to America’s first indoor shopping mall and Cleveland’s first skyscraper. Mark has graciously agreed for us to go back and film him for another tour of the city, hopefully a driving tour this time so it will be easier to film (I’m starting to think I should make my own Glidecam rig for the shoot).

The trip ended with a family celebration at Melt Bar and Grilled, a place where calories and other nutritional concerns don’t exist. If you ever dreamed of a grilled cheese stuffed with Mac n’ Cheese or lasagna with a tower of crispy fries, this is your Graceland. I’m still recovering from that meal, and I ordered the vegan version.

I am still in awe over the warm, welcoming reception and overwhelming response we received in regard to the film. What seemed to impress us the most is that everyone is a Cleveland historian—all well versed in its development since Moses Cleveland first claimed the land (and then headed back to CT, which, by the way, I hope in a tiny way to make up for with this film… not all Nutmeg New Englanders are bad people!). Everyone we approached was friendly and ready to share his or her stories with us—stories of Cleveland pride, of sports heartache, and hope for the city’s future. If anything, it’s living proof that we are exactly in the right place at the right time to make this film, and we couldn’t be more excited.

With that, there’s just one week left to go for our Kickstarter campaign. We are thrilled that we’ve even made it this far, but now we’re down to the wire for the final push of funding. We thank all of you tremendously for your help, both financially and emotionally, and we hope you will continue to spread the word about our film, and share this update with your friends, because it’s your film, now, too!

One week left… let’s do this!

With heartfelt thanks,
Nicole

We’re headed out to today to begin production in the City on the Lake, and we have a VERY fun and busy week ahead of us! We’ve secured meetings with folks at the Cleveland Institute of Art as well as with Ivan Schwarz, the Executive Director of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. We’ll also be meeting with members of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and we’ve scored an interview with actor Ian Petrella, who played Randy Parker in the film, A Christmas Story, and is giving tours at the Christmas Story House. We’ll also be filming fans outside the Q before and after Thursday night’s GAME OF THE CENTURY!, as well as at downtown Cleveland bars (Winking Lizard and Thirsty Parrot, to name a few). We’ll also be filming at restaurants and bars in Akron (Arnie’s Standing Room Only) and Cleveland Heights (Panini’s, Melt Bar and Grilled)… and somehow squeezing in a walking and driving tour of downtown.

If you’re in the area, PLEASE come find us! I’ll do my best to keep alerting everyone of our location on Twitter and/or Facebook. We’d love to talk to anyone who is interested in the film and would like to be interviewed.

In the meantime, please get the word out about the film and our fundraising campaign! Thanks to you, we’ve raised 15% of our $10,000 goal on Kickstarter and we have 18 days left!! You can track our fundraising here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nprowell/losing-lebron-a-documentary-feature.

Please help pass it on, and many thanks for all your support so far!!

Nicole