About this project
After producing over 30 installments of the original "Far From Home" series of short documentary features, we have turned our sights to the evolution of this project and developed it into a 30 minute show, formatted with the intention of internationally televised broadcast and online streaming.
What's this show actually about?
We want you to see what we see - this isn't a show about us - it's about the players, fans, event management and even mascots that we meet all over the world. Our stories will follow the daily routines of everyone from the game's top players to the guy who shows up before everyone else to prepare the ice in the morning. This is a game of chess on ice with millions of dollars on the line and played by champions from all walks of life.
Forget what you think you know about curling and where it's played; we intend to show you where things get interesting on and off the ice from a uniquely Canadian point of view.
Pilot Episode: Karuizawa, Japan.
We're in the business of finding great stories from all over the world for you to enjoy wherever you please. For our first episode we decided to take you to a breathtaking Japanese mountain town that has become the stuff of legend throughout the realms of international curling. Enjoy.
What We Need.
As you can see from the pilot, we are great at what we do and we love to do it, but we could use a few more specialized people and tools to support the production of Far From Home and to take it to the next level (let alone around the world). We will require a few more crew-mates, transportation expenses and a lot of production hours. We are working with broadcasters to show the episodes so long as we get funded (to prove there is interest in the first place), so help us reach our goal and bring people behind the scenes of elite international curling. To do this right we need $65,000 CAD (approximately $48,000 USD) to produce 4 additional half hour episodes that document our stops on the 2016/2017 curling season.
We've meticulously calculated the costs of transportation, production and fulfilling rewards - we already have all the gear we need and enough crew to get started but we want to get the community involved and take things further from home than we've ever gone.
You can get in on this for practically nothing, but even if you can't spare a couple dollars, you can pitch in just by sharing this campaign with your friends! There are a bunch of share buttons up near the top of this page, test them out and if you're feeling really good, consider helping with purchasing one (or more) of our rewards!
Rewards.
If we get funded, everyone gets at least one thing; 4 beautifully crafted new half hour episodes of “Far From Home”, available online for all. We will be pitching this to TV networks and distributors around the world, spreading the word of the roaring game. For those who contribute; you will be rewarded with anything from commemorative gear to credits in the series, placement of your product or a selection of exclusive collectibles.
We have several designs to select from in short and long sleeve and your choice of men's or women's for either - all sizes. Represent your favorite Dynasty wearing curler or even get your own custom name on the back if you'd like at no extra cost. Gallery of all designs coming soon!
Currently you can take home your choice of uniform from:
- Team Edin (Sweden)
- Team McEwen (Manitoba)
- Team Carruthers (Manitoba)
- Team Sweeting (Alberta)
- Team Carey (Team Canada)
- Team Hamilton (United States)
Why Us?
Because of our jobs; we have access to the underbelly of international curling like no one else. We work with the players, venues and management teams alike, which makes us uniquely positioned and experienced to bring viewers behind the scenes with an intimate look at the game enjoyed by so many all over the world.
While Jesse has been honing his skills as a documentary filmmaker for over a decade, he has been exploring the sport of curling since 2011 when he created the original “Far From Home” series with the Grand Slam of Curling and CurlingZone. He has continued to develop video content in curling including most of the commercial player features on Sportsnet for the Slams in addition to the recent "Thomas Arbuckle" series and “Pete on the Street” as well as “The Sheet Show” with Ben Hebert. Jesse and his cinematographer Nathan have earned the trust of the world’s best players and teams and they hope to document the true experience on the road with the World Curling Tour and beyond.
Risks and challenges
Problems with weather and delays in transportation are the kind of challenges we love to overcome. There's always the potential for something to go awry, and if it does we will be there to document the journey with the elite curlers of the World Curling Tour.
As with any form of media production, something can always go wrong. We have learned that the hard way in over a decade of commercial and documentary film/video production. We back everything up (three times), double check every room we leave for rogue equipment, we even bring back up gear with us and work in pairs just in case something happens to a key member of the crew. We are professional travelling video people and this is what we do best.
That being said, we can never prepare enough for the unknown, and equipment can break down at key moments, events could get cancelled, or emergencies may arise which prohibit us from documenting the events outlined in our schedule. In this case we would aim to feature an alternate event or location in the place of any we could potentially miss. It wasn't easy narrowing our list down to 4 events, so we have lots of others to hit up.
The same goes for anything else that could go wrong - if something doesn't work out, we will do it again until we make it work. We are asking for the funds to do this project the right way, and that's the only thing we intend to do.
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Funding period
- (60 days)