Kickstarter

5/7/12

Three Days to GO!  Thank you to everyone who has helped us with this campaign.  We have made a lot of noise and garnered much in the way of attention to the film which is very good. We haven't come close to our goal yet so I ask you blast the campaign one last time.  Thanks!

4/23/12

Seventeen days to go. We've poured our heart and soul into this movie for the last 3 years and in truth we've come this far from just sheer tenacity.  We started with an excess of talent, a dream and as with most independent films no financial support. I am so excited to bring this story to the screen.  As we went into the kickstarter campaign I couldn't help but hope that we might be at the beginning of a movement that could help indy filmmakers raise just the bare essentials to make their vision reality.  The story we are telling is about everyone who loves Squaw.  Do you love Squaw?  To tell that story we need your help.

4/11/12

Squaw the Documentary began for me in late 2008 when I spoke with Tim Walton about a film he wanted to make.  Like most Directors, Tim is a great storyteller.  He told me about two families who battled for 40 years over control of one of the most beautiful and challenging alpine valleys in the Western United States. He told me about the run up to the 1960 Winter Olympic games when, against all odds, the International Olympic Committee was convinced to hold the games in a remote, underdeveloped valley in Northern California, and the subsequent scramble to make it happen. He told me about the amazing list of historical firsts that followed. I loved the area already but for me the stories brought Squaw Valley even more to life. 

I signed on as Producer and we discussed Tim's vision of the film. "I want it to feel like an IMAX" he told me. I was struck by the enormity of the project. Five thousand years of history is a lot to cover in a two hour film. So we met with the Warrior Council of the Washoe Tribe to solicit their help with the history of the area before the arrival of European settlers. We scoured historical archives and film libraries for background materials and met with many of the principal characters still living in the area. The more we dug into the history, the more people fell in love with the project and offered to be a part of it. Long forgotten stories, photos and films began showing up at our door.

In early 2009, armed with a RED camera package and a small crew we rode to the top of the Siberia chairlift at dawn and shot the first sequence.  We interviewed the families of the co-founders, Alex Cushing and Wayne Poulson, who told of the not so private battles between the visionary men. We spent hours with two of Squaw Valley’s most respected historians; the eloquent Tom O'Neill and the late Robert Frolich, who both gave us great insight into the heart and soul of the valley. IBM, who invented the computer system used to tally the results at the '60 games, opened their archives and sent us a big box of films. Olympic medalists Peggy Fleming, Johnny Moseley and Julia Mancuso jumped at the chance to talk about what Squaw Valley meant to their careers. Even extreme sportsmen JT Holmes and Jeremy Jones came on board (no pun intended) to talk about their own special magic in Squaw Valley. 

What I came to realize is that Squaw Valley means different things to each of the people we spoke with. But the universal feeling is a love for a place, an extraordinary place, that shaped the people who made its history. As a filmmaker, the process of bringing a story so vast to the screen could be overwhelming. But drawing from the story itself - I realize that nothing is impossible. All you have to do is believe. 

After nearly four years we are very close to a finished film.  We need your support to fund the final phase of HD film transfers and post-production to complete this compelling story.  

Please join our team and be a part of the history.