The Outlook for Someday team have been on our radar for a while. We chatted to them a few months ago about how we could help with the festival, and crowdfunding seemed like a pretty natural fit (from our end anyhoo!). We were really excited when the project came through as a double effort (with the lovely WIFT team) and decided to do a bit of a blog – especially to get an insight into the powerhouse crew behind the scenes.
Tell us a bit more about the team behind your campaign – who is involved, where do they come from (literally and professionally) and why do you do what you do.
There are four of us: Chris Widdup, Ilai Amir, David Jacobs and Samantha Caughey (L-R)
David: I’m the greybeard among us (though I shaved for the team photo!). I’m originally from the UK and I came to live in New Zealand 20 years ago on the 1st of October. As a film-maker I’ve always enjoyed working with others.
A career highlight was when I worked with 7 young environmentalists around the world, helping them to tell their stories on television to coincide with the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. It was a nice ‘gig’ and I was pleased that the films were screened in 99 countries at the time of the summit. But it was still a case of me helping others to tell their stories, and them helping me to make my films.
With The Outlook for Someday I get to support young people to make their own films. In a way that’s even more satisfying. A guiding principle of the project is to avoid being prescriptive – we encourage participants to tell their own stories and to open the creative box. The reward we get for that is some amazing entries to the film challenge. We get a real buzz from all that emerging talent with fresh ideas and new approaches.
Ilai: I came on board in 2007, the first year of The Outlook for Someday. I was discovering an emerging passion for film-making and was at that point quite firmly rooted in environmental/sustainable activism. I couldn’t have stumbled upon a better project to work on!
Lately the thing I’ve been enjoying the most is going on the road taking our film-making workshops around the country. I love connecting with young people in the smaller towns/cities and getting them on a buzz about not only film-making and storytelling but also The Outlook for Someday as an opportunity to have their voice heard on the defining issue of our time.
Chris: I come from the South Island but spent most of my childhood in Northland. I have a varied background having trained and worked initially as an actor, and then as a camera operator and editor. I joined Connected Media as Project Manager in 2011, so I’m on my second year of The Outlook for Someday.
My first big task at Connected Media was to develop and run The Outlook for Someday Workshop Series – a nationwide programme of eight one-day sustainability film-making workshops. That programme grew to twenty-one workshops in 2012, which has been hugely satisfying. With the entry deadline looming, we’ll start to see the entries roll in, which is thoroughly exciting and just a little daunting!
Sam: I joined The Outlook for Someday team in 2012 having made winning films for the project in previous years. I have a degree in Film, Television and Media Studies as well as Political Studies and I have always had a strong interest in the environment and social justice.
The Outlook for Someday helped to develop me as a film-maker and as someone who cares about these issues. I am now very excited to be a part of bringing this opportunity and experience to other young people.
2) What made you turn to crowdfunding?
Our approach to growing and sustaining The Outlook for Someday is to have lots of partners involved. That way we are not dependent on any one partner if they walk away – and we also have a wide circle of people involved in the ongoing conversation about how the project evolves.
Crowdfunding is the next stage for us in that approach. It reaches out to a community of supporters. And we hope that community will also feed their ideas and suggestions into the project.
3) What has been your favourite Outlook For Someday experience?
Having The Someday Awards ceremony at the Aotea Centre last year – it was a coming-of-age moment for the project.
4) If you could get one person to pledge on this project, who would it be?
James Cameron
5) I say crowdfunding, you say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQ0vDAbF7s
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So if anyone has James Cameron’s number, feels as powerfully for sustainability as we do, or just likes the fact that crowdfunding makes Chris think shiny happy thoughts – please pledge. Help make this happen.
