PR for Deep Ellum
Sam Crutsinger
it'll just be picking at the wounds until we bleed out.
We need some positive Deep Ellum stories. Are there any documentaries about
Deep Ellum? I'm talking about Blind Lemon Jefferson, the blues, gambling,
pawn shops, gin joints during prohibition... You know, all the things that
got us all to move down here instead of living in the boring suburbs.
If there's NOT such a documentary, how much PID money is slated for PR?
We've got the talent right here to make one.
We have several film producers who would probably bare-knuckle fight for the
chance to do the job.
We have a world class animation and special effects company: RealFX.
There's no shortage of music talent, but James Neel is does awesome musical
scoring.
There are tons of video editing facilities. (Yes, that's my bag, but I'm
about to be busy for most of the rest of the year on other projects.)
We have some of the best photographers in the region, maybe the country,
right here.
One of the country's best time-lapse shooters is here in Dallas, Philip
Thomas. He did the TL footage in The Doors and that you see at the beginning
of any movie you watch at the Fair Park IMAX Theater. He doesn't live in
Deep Ellum, but his heart is here. =)
Artists? Sculptors? Glass blowers? Painters? Fagetaboutit!
I'm picturing lots of archival (public domain) footage and photos. Sort of a
Ken Burns documentary combined with "Live from the House of Blues" featuring
home video of classic performances from legendary musicians. That means we
would need a full-time researcher who knows how to really dig for existing
content.
Many of the musicians would waive the usually pricy music rights, but there
will be lots of legal work to make sure all rights are secured. Not sure if
we have any entertainment lawyers in the 'hood, but I know we do have
several lawyers. My father's a copyright attorney here in Dallas (mostly
patents), but I'd rather see a Deep Ellum lawyer do the job if possible.
I'd just hope that this would be a real film, not a hack job. Artists are
taken advantage of all too often. If it's going to happen, the people
working on it should be paid to make a top quality movie. The point being
that it's a project that rallies many local resources. It pays the community
to promote the community. Sure the budget would be low, but pay the artists.
Maybe put in the contracts that back end points go to the artists once the
gross tops a benchmark. That way if it takes off, everybody wins.
This gives us a product that can be shown on PBS, run in film festivals, and
SOLD ON DVD to raise more money! Hell, if the neighborhood can band together
TO WIN A NATIONAL EMMY, that would be AWESOME! Trust me, the documentary
category is the low hanging fruit most of the time and I can almost
guarantee that it would win a regional Emmy. There's lots of really bad docs
out there.
And that goes for the Oscar as well. Assuming Michael Moore doesn't have a
movie out... Or Al Gore. =)
A really well done documentary could create lots of local jobs, generate
awareness, increase tourism, create revenue, and the positive spin of the
local artists winning an Emmy could seriously undo lots of bad history.
--
Sam Crutsinger
Media Kingpin / CTO
Confidence Bay
http://www.confidencebay.com/
Edit in confidence... Anywhere.
rtbiv
3500 commerce. We had an art exhibition featuring fire-inspired art
on the 24th. we had a great turn out! We are haveing our open studio
with blown glass demonstrations on april7th - same weekend as deep
ellum arts festival. I have beeen trying to coordinate with Gianna
and Steve (orchestrating the event). It has always been a very unique
art opening, due to the fact that we do live demonstrations - if you
have never seen the process of blowing glass, it is one of the few
arts where it is almost like an orchestrated sport and requires alot
of physical strength and mental focus. we are trying to take this
gallery to the next step, but are still searching for a gallery
coordinator/manager. any ideas?
Rees
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> Edit in confidence... Anywhere.