A loss of a TRUE San Franciscan

The news of Robin Williams death has sent shock waves throughout the world. As soon as a friend of mine Tweeted at me the breaking news it was numbing. I had to Google right away to make sure it wasn't a hoax. I knew that Mr. Williams had recently been seeking professional help for substance abuse problems but never knew about the deep seeded demons. As I drove my car this afternoon to run an errand I tuned into the AM news channels to see what they were saying about his death. It was much of the same but with a palpable sadness. The sports reporter came on a bit verklempt talking about how he was seeing a lot of pictures flood in of Mr. Williams attending San Francisco Giants games, 49er games and baseball games across the country. I realized hearing his tone followed by a local comedian's live interview about Robin Williams that San Francisco as well as the Bay Area lost one of their own.

I could hardly contain my tears, sadness, broken heart or the bare feelings of utter loss. I had no direct connection with Robin William except the time I was an extra in a lesser known film that he starred in during the late 90's. When I met him he definitely lived up to the hairiness you often heard about but he was also one of the kindest talent I have ever come across. After a lunch break on the film Mr. Williams stood there shaking the hand of every extra that had been hired that day to fill a small outdoor auditorium in the Marin headlands. What a class act.

After remembering that interaction this afternoon I came to realize that Robin Williams was Mr. San Francisco. In a time where San Francisco is steadily losing it's identity we had Robin Williams. A guy who moved out here with his family early in life and stuck it out here. He loved the Giants, he walked around San Francisco like no big thing, he supported local non-profits and he never left. I think that is the biggest loss for us that are native to not only San Francisco but to the Bay Area. His death is a reminder that the good in San Francisco is disappearing. San Francisco's rich history is slowly but steadily moving away from itself. Old establishments are getting uprooted to other parts of the city or decimated completely. Cultural icons such as the famous twins of the city are passing away one by one or your favorite restaurant has shut its doors forever. The things that have made San Francisco special are fading away including an international star who never turned his back on his city.

Today will be a day I'll never forget. Robin Williams was one of the good guys. His dedication to the craft of comedy, improv and acting will forever be studied and imitated. He brought Hollywood to San Francisco and San Francisco to Hollywood.  He never seemed to get too big for his britches and lived with a sincere soul. Mr. Williams will forever be a true City kid. He may have been born in the Midwest but he certainly left his heart in San Francisco and we will never forget his kindness or love for the city by the bay. May you rest in peace Mr. Robin McLaurin Williams.

Behind the Scenes Anxiety aka Documentary Filmmaking

It's been four and a half days since my partner in production and the director of our documentary Angela Tabora and I pulled the trigger on our second Kickstarter campaign. On day two we were on the phone asking each other why we were putting ourselves through this again. Was it this stressful last year during our first campaign? Are we doing enough to get the word out? Do people care? WHY is the potato salad Kickstart making money hand over fist? So many questions coupled with oodles of anxiety and stress had me wide awake for the first two nights of crowdfunding. It wasn't until night three that I decided the Melatonin pills weren't working and that it was time to take some Nyquil to get some quality ZZZZZZZ's.

The Nomadic Family Project has been in production since September 2012. It's been one of the craziest adventures I've ever been involved with and I've had my fair share of crazy. Being able to successfully fund our first campaign was mind blowing. We didn't really do the research about how to successfully crowdfund that we probably should have but we put a lot of heart in soul into it and I think that's what made it successful. This time around Angela and I did our research. Had several conversations with a wonderful person who is a professional fundraiser and gave us great feedback. Angela and I were way more conscience about our Kickstarter video and made sure to listen to our first round of feedback from our donors to make sure all basis were covered. We looked at the current landscape of documentaries that are on Kickstarter to see what was making money and what was not. How their pages looked down to their logo's. Angela and I made sure to create better incentives and really think about contribution price points. We've scoured travel blogs, women in film and documentary sites, any online bloggers as well as other groups that might be interested in spreading the word or even donate to our second Kickstarter campaign. Anything and anyone that could be interested in our film we are contacting and quite possibly stalking. ;)

We never thought for one second that making this film was going to be easy and boy this couldn't be truer in the last month and a half. Angela and I had a plan for our second crowdfunding campaign. We had set a date for late July to initiate our Kickstarter campaign. We had someone interested in hosting a great backyard party for us down in Southern California. We started researching new donors and were in the process of putting together fancy invites for this cheese and wine Kickstarter kick off. Well, all of that changed at a moments notice. Due to unforeseen circumstances The Nomadic Family had to head back home to Israel. We received a message from them on a Monday in late May and by that Saturday they were home. Thank goodness for good friends in TV production as we were able to scramble and find someone to shoot their homecoming. Our production crew of three wanted to be there so badly but life happens and that's the beauty of a documentary - you never know what's going to happen! Since the family went home so abruptly we had to hustle on the crowdfunding and that's where we're at now. Thanks to one of our donors, Angela is flying over on stand-by passes to Israel this coming Monday. We realize that there is a war going on (believe me, we're monitoring the news and keeping in touch with friends over there) but the family is over there and have been home for a month. That is a lost month of footage and that is why there is an urgency to make our goal of $25,000 in the next 25 days.

The rest of our crew (me and our wonderful Director of Photography - Noah Cooper) need to join Angela in Israel to help her with filming. Once we get back from Israel Angela will need to finish the last portion of editing all of the Israel footage and then get it into the second editing phase. Piecing together Angela's edits, adding music, color correction, and title treatments will need to be done by a professional. Once that process is done we'll need to start applying to film festivals. We're not limiting ourselves to just the US circuit, we dream of going back to Nepal and Israel to show the final product.  In a time of gun violence, wars, poverty, consumerism, technology, and mind numbing entertainment we want to tell this story about chasing your dreams, family unity, cultural understanding, and kindness. We will press on to get this film done and hope that this behind the scenes information will help you decide if you can help us. Thanks for reading and thanks for dreaming.