Saturday, July 28, 2007

Dare Not Walk Alone Support Site Re-launched

We invite you to visit the new dnwa dot info, a site designed to publish information about Dare Not Walk Alone that doesn't fit on the official site and needs to be more permanent that postings to this blog (although blog postings never die, they all go to archive eventually, making them less accessible).

dnwa.info is also a good link to send to friends and family when you are telling them about the film. For example, dnwa.info has information about things people can do to help get the film more widely distributed.

Speaking of distribution, several people have asked why it costs money to get a film into distribution. The answer is licensing fees. The copyright to some of the music and photographs and newsreel footage that make Dare Not Walk Alone such a vivid and moving portrayal of the civil rights struggle belongs to other people and we have to license it from them. Some of 'them' are big companies, like TV networks and record labels.

Some of these big companies want big fees from anyone who uses their material in a movie that is to be shown in theaters or on TV. Even the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. requires payment if a film includes part of certain speeches that Dr. King gave. And people who license material typically want payment up front, before the film can be played in cinemas or on television.

Dare Not Walk Alone does include a lot of original contemporary footage shot by Jeremy, the director, and his crew. But just about all the original footage of events in 1964 belongs to someone who wants to be paid. Although Jeremy was very careful and sparing in the way he used this copyrighted material, the final bill to put the film in distribution for 1o years may still come close to $50,000.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Reflections on Race: An interesting discussion at washingtonpost.com

We thought DNWA supporters might interested in these reflections on race in a discussion hosted at washingtonpost.com.

...Dr. Cornel West, renowned scholar and professor of religion at Princeton University, was online to discuss his upcoming socially conscious recording project, "Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations," (Hidden Beach Forum) which explores the issues of race, the use of the "N-word" in popular culture and hip-hop and the current state of the world...

There are some interesting questions, and answers that reflect on the issues raised by Dare Not Walk Alone. Consider:

"The race problem in America has always been, in part, a class problem and it remains both a matter of economic deprivation and color prejudice."

Friday, July 20, 2007

Dare Not Walk Alone Needs Your Support

These are exciting times at Dare Not Walk Alone, the "little documentary that could." We are on the verge of a new phase in distribution. All we need is your prayers, meditations, positive vibrations, whatever you turn to or offer up when you want to help something move forward.

The situation is this: We stand a good chance of getting the film into "select theaters" by the end of the year, and onto DVD and TV in 2008, hopefully just in time to inform election year dialog about issues like poverty, equality, and race. The only thing in our way is money, something we will discuss in a future posting. But don't worry! We're not asking for more money from you, our faithful supporters who have already done so much to keep this project going and spreading.

What we do want from you is your vote, not for President, but for Dare Not Walk Alone. And the place we need vote right now is IMDB, the Internet Movie DataBase.

To learn how this works, click here. Please read this before voting. And please, only one vote per person, just like in a proper democracy. (And to those loyal supporters who have already cast their vote: THANKS!)

Our goal is to influence the cinema owners, and later the DVD retailers, people who decide which films to screen and which DVDs to put on the shelves. Some of these people pay close attention to IMDB. The higher the score and the more the votes, the better the chances of Dare Not Walk Alone getting a shot at wider distribution. Voting only takes a few minutes, so if you can, please do vote. It is really quite exciting to see the vote count grow. (If you are a movie buff who is already familiar with how IMDB voting works, you can click here to get to the Dare Not Walk Alone page, otherwise click here.)

THANK YOU!
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