Down to the wire, don't let us down!

As many of you know Wes Ennis and I have been working on a documentary about the Mashpee Nine, a story of injustice, outrage, activism, and vindication that emboldened cultural pride and integrity for the Mashpee Wampanoag in 1976.

Wes and I posed in front of the green screen with
Bruzzy Hendricks interviewing him about his experience.

Over the weekend donations to our Kickstarter campaign that began on May 15 put us over the $10,000 mark toward our $12,000 goal. Wes and I want to thank everyone who has pledged in amounts that range from $10 to $1,000. Each of you represents a desire to shine a light on social justice and preserve this story for the next generation.

But as of today, with six days to go, we are nearly $2,000 shy of our goal.  If you are unfamiliar with this kind of crowd source online backing for entrepreneurial projects, a pitch is made and the goal must be reached by the end of the campaign - in our case June 15 - or nothing is awarded.

Some of you have asked a very legitimate question. What is the money needed for?

I am a freelance journalist and scholar of Wampanoag history and principal owner of SmokeSygnals. Wes is a freelance photojournalist and filmmaker with Wes Ennis Films. We have teamed up with help from the Indian Spiritual and Cultural Training Center Inc. to produce a half hour film to be distributed in 2016 in time for the 40^th anniversary of the raid on 12 Acres on Mashpee Pond that inspired this story. You can learn more about the project on the website for Mashpee Nine: The Beat Goes On.

The cost to produce even a low budget documentary film ranges anywhere between $1,000 per minute to $3,000 per minute depending on the scope of the story and scale of production. The research, writing, scheduling locations and interviews, and gathering consents has been largely my job.

Wes has been collecting and editing video of interviews and events with his team and equipment that bills out at up to $3,000 per day on commercial projects.

Each of us have donated countless hours to this project to date, time we know we will never be paid for. As committed as we are to finishing we cannot afford to neglect our professional bottom line indefinitely. We each need to support ourselves, pay employees, and finance support services.

At the end of the day the finished product, Mashpee Nine: The Beat Goes On will be debuted in Mashpee for our home audience, shown at film festivals, shared with tribes nationally, and with any luck at all will be aired on public television.

An initial donation of $10,000 from our Friend and generous supporter Rachel Carey Harper who is also passionate about justice got us on our way. In addition I have also submitted two grant proposals and am working on a third.

The success of this Kickstarter campaign will keep this dream alive as we seek the remaining funding to finish the film.

Thanks to everyone for all your support and consideration. 

*In order to count toward our goal all donations must be made on the Kickstarter site. Anyone having difficulty can contact me directly and we will find a way to facilitate your donation online.