Kickstarter

Hello Again,

I hope everyone had a safe, relaxing and fun holiday season.  I'm back in LA, where I plan to remain, chained to my desk, for the entire month of January (except for a few days promoting "Throw Like A Girl" at the Sundance Film Festival, so that I can have at least a rough cut completed by Opening Day.  For the non-rabid baseball fans out there, that targeted date is March 31, 2013.

The other major task that I have to complete this January is fulfilling all the rewards that you all have been patiently awaiting.  Naturally the DVD's will have to wait until the film is done, but the shirts, hats etc will be done this month!

I intend to have about 60 minutes of footage strung together to submit for finishing funds to the Sundance Documentary Fund by mid-Feb.  I think this is a great way of not only getting finishing funds, but also to get on Sundance's radar.  Sundance has long been one of the most difficult film festivals in which to get a film programed.  This year they received over 10,000 films for less than 300 slots.  However, they do tend to favor projects they select for labs and funding, so we shall see.

Thank you all for your faith, patience and support in/with and of me, as I travel this road.  The most exciting thing is that are always more and more female baseball events that deserve to be covered, but at some point one has to stop shooting and start actually making the film.  And that's where I am now!

Best Wishes for the New Year!

Cami

PS:  In case you are interested in supporting another baseball dream, this link will take you to a fundraiser that I helped create for Peyton.  She's a 12-yr old girl who has been fighting cancer since 2010.  She has the opportunity to go an play in Mexico's first-ever, female baseball tournament, but lacks the funds for plane tickets and housing.  If there is anyway you can help, Peyton, her Mom, Kimberley and I will be eternally grateful!  I have an interview with Peyton that I shot this past summer at BFA's Baseball Academy.  I'm ashamed to admit how unproductive I was and for how long after suffering a head injury in a car accident last year, especially after I met Peyton.  She played baseball ALL THROUGHOUT her intensive chemo treatments.   Imagine that!  What a true and deep love for the sport she has. http://baseballpeyton.chipin.com/cancer-patient-peytons-birthday-baseball-trip-to-mexico

Also attaching a few photos from the last official shoot for TLAG, at the AAGPBL's reunion in Syracuse/Cooperstown, NY Sept 2012.

Greetings All,

"Throw Like A Girl" is coming along very well, and I'm back in the saddle after my rather lengthy recovery.  The kickstarter donations got us pretty far in shooting this project, but I had to take a few months away to do some contractor jobs to earn cash to keep going.  The good news is, I was able to do that.

So, we basically have one more major shoot left, the Women's Baseball World Cup in Edmonton, Canada Aug 2012.  Many of you may know that I started on this journey with Dawn Hoopes and Amanda Vos at the previous World Cup in Maracay Venezuela in Aug 2010.  I think I can speak for everyone involved when I say we are hoping for less heat, humidity and gunfire in Edmonton. 

We are going to be focusing on the future of women's baseball at this shoot especially considering that the Olympics will be overlapping this event and it looks like there will be no campaign by the IBAF to get the women's baseball into the Olympics.  They just announced that they are putting in a joint bid for men's baseball and women's softball.  But maybe, just maybe, we can help change their minds with this film....and that is my plan.

I hope to have the official logo designed and ready to go this coming week, so I can finally fulfill all the rewards that are long over due because they need the logo before they can be made. As far as the actual film, my target is to be completed in March 2013.  Should you have questions, concerns and/or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out to me here on kickstarter, on our Throw Like A Girl page on Facebook or at throwlikeagirlmovie@yahoo.com

In the meanwhile, here are a few photos taken by Richard Hopkins at the 14U Dream Team's latest tournament in Sunnyvale, CA last weekend. 

Thank so much for your patience, support and understanding!  Play Ball!!!

My apologies for being silent so long.  No excuses, just a quick explanation for the long delay in sending out your rewards for backing "Throw Like A Girl" for those of you I don't get a chance to talk with on a regular basis.  I was in a pretty severe car accident in September which resulted in a moderation concussion among other issues. Because of that I was virtually useless for much of the fall, once I got back on my feet, I got right back into production shooting footage of the now 14U Dream Team, new 13U Dream Team and So Cal Dream Team.  That's right, the Dream Team is not only surviving - they are thriving and inspiring whether they go!

The team I play on, The International Earth Stars, played at the Phoenix Cup in Hong Kong in February.  We were able to bring on some local players from Hong Kong and the Philippines living the IES dream of fostering the development of women's baseball internationally.  I offer a fact I hope you will find interesting; a previously unknown team of High School girls from Taiwan went undefeated to win the tournament even beating Japan who has won the tourney nearly every year since the Phoenix Cup began. 

I think this verifies that women's baseball is indeed growing at home and throughout the world!!!  Now we just need to complete this film, so the everyone else will know what we know; women love baseball AND are good at playing it!

The next Women's Baseball World Cup will be contested in Edmonton, Canada in August 2012.  Our plan is to have the film completed by then, but we plan on making the trip to enjoy the high level of baseball that is played at this tournament and possibly capture some footage for the DVD extras.

Everyone receiving this update is already a much loved backer of our project and we wouldn't have gotten this far without you, however if you happen to know of anyone else who wants to pre-purchase a DVD of the film, and/or make a contribution, please let them know that we posted a profile on indiegogo this time around to increase our potential for finding an even larger audience.  http://beta.indiegogo.com/Throw-Like-A-Girl-a-documentary?a=149870 

Thanks much,

Cami

PS I'll be using kickstarter to send out mailing address and size/color requests (as appropriate) shortly so that we can get your rewards to you.

production is proceeding full steam ahead!

Thanks to all of you, we are able to continuing traveling to tournaments and events to capture more footage about how women are succeeding in baseball and continue our quest to learn why their are some people who still try to keep us out.

Since my last update;

We have traveled to Ypsilanti, Michigan where the Dream Team was playing in a tournament.  Ypsilanti is especially relevant because that is where, in 1973, the town rebelled against the Little League organization and allowed Carolyn King to play baseball even though Little League threatened to remove their charter if they let a girl take the field.  Carolyn came to the tournament and met the girls between games.  It was one of those full-circle moments that we were honored to be able to film.

Then it was off to Toronto, Canada as part of the International Earth Stars.  I was mostly filming, but did play a few innings and had several at bats resulting in RBI double and scored a run.  Plans are afoot for the Earth Stars to play in October/November in Ft Myers for the Roy Hobbs World Series and return to Hong Kong for the Phoenix Cup in January/February 2012.  Please let me know if you are looking for a women's travel team to play on, and I will connect you with the Team Manager.

Finishing up at SABR 41 closer to home in Long Beach, CA, where as a guest of Meredith Wills, I was able to present an update at the Baseball and the Arts Committee and the Women and Baseball Committee meetings; and meet and interview some of baseball's top historians in effort to solve the mystery of why are women still not welcome in baseball.

I'll be back on the road soon, to Denver July 20-22 where the Dream Team will make history as the first girls team in a World Series tournament, then a few days later to the oppressive heat of Yuma, AZ where Tiffany Brooks is still in pursuit of a pro contract to play ball this season showing her stuff in the Arizona Summer League, and then to Cary, NC Aug 3-5 where USA Baseball is hosting the Friendship Cup and the first-ever Women's Baseball Development Camp for girls age 12-15 simultaneously.

It is my expectation that what we film in Cary will be how "Throw Like A Girl" ends as, perhaps for the first time, these young girls (Dream Team, Pioneers and likely others) will see that there is a place for them in baseball and they will be able to see their future as the current Team USA takes on Canada and Australia in tournament play preparing for next year's World Cup in Edmonton, Canada.

I do hope how much I appreciate the support you have given to this project!  I remain humbled and honored that you chose to trust us with the telling of this important story.

Thank you very much,

With Respect,

Cami

Thank you All once again.  We are thrilled, honored, humbled and intensely gratified by your support and enthusiasm. 

However, what is awesome about June 2, 2011 is not just that 109 people came together to help fund "Throw Like A Girl."    But also that Marti Sementelli signed her Letter of Intent accepting a baseball scholarship to play college ball at Montreat College in North Carolina.  According to her Dad, Gary, she is only the 3rd woman to ever be awarded a baseball scholarship in the USA.  She said at a press conference today that she doesn't want it to stop at 3, let's have 10, 12, 15 more in the next few years and keep it growing.

Her Team USA teammate, Ghazaleh (Oz-a-Lay) Sailors may well be the only other female to be playing college baseball next year.  She'll be playing at University of Maine at Presque Isle after finishing a stint in the Canadian Western Major Baseball League for the Yorkton Cardinals in Saskatchewan.

We are gearing up for our next shoot already - off to Michigan on June 9 to film the Dream Team as they continue their march across the US playing all boys teams in 13U tournaments.

Thanks again to each and everyone of you who are making this film possible, so that soon everyone may know that "Baseball is a Game.  Girls Want to Play It" - Joni Stegeman

We'll keep you posted as we journey on!  If you haven't found us of Facebook, please "like" our page to get all the updates. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Throw-Like-A-Girl/134383966594052  And send us an email to throwlikeagirlmovie@yahoo.com with your zip code so we can let you know when we'll be in your area for a shoot and/or a screening.

With my unending gratitude,

Cami