Sending an angry email to someone! I’m not going guilt trip you, just because you have funding to go to Africa and film the horrific conditions, and yet you only want to utilise this footage for your own personal gain.
I’ve had loads of professional emails corresponding to my pleading for footage of Uganda to use in my documentary, from Invisible Children, Amnesty International, BBC, etc, and each one of them was well-written and still gave me hope in my documentary.
But this one email really pissed me off, and i’ll tell you why…. In the past 4 months i’ve opened up my 3 email addresses to multiple spam threats in order to send about 50 different emails to organisations, institutions, even YouTubers about the documentary I’m making. Now most of these ‘contact’s haven’t gotten back to me which is fair enough, because i’m well aware that footage-royalty is a big issue in media, and why would someone put their own blood, sweat and tears into shooting a scene, and then be willing to give that away for free to a college student? I can’t think of many people who would be willing to do this, but what did annoy me is that this ‘film-maker’ decided he wasn’t going to delete my email along with the other imminent ‘viagra pills’ and ‘invest $200’ emails, he decided he would take a moment to reply to me whilst in his mothers basement saying ‘ I would prefer to distance myself from your subject.’
:/ - I want to reply in a professional manner, but hey, I’m not a qualified ‘film-maker’ so what do i have to lose?
Remember to submit your ‘Mr President’ photo’s to the blog or to president @invisiblechildren.com and support the president’s the decision to send the troops to Africa
Decided i would sneak into my friends’ photography lesson and take some photos of the invisible childrens bracelet in the dark room.
I’m not asking you to donate to a fund you probably don’t trust or put money in a charity box that could go anywhere, but what i am asking is…
- the next time you want to buy an awesome t-shirt, check out the invisible children’s store’s collection
- the next time the strap on your handbag or backpack rips, instead of buying another overpriced one, perhaps buy a MEND that has been stitched and hand-sewn by inspirational women in northern Uganda
- the next time you run out of accessories, get an Invisible children’s bracelet or a whistle from the fallingwhistles store to wear with pride
- the next time you want to have a movie night with your friends, think about bringing the invisible childrens documentary and educating yourselves before you watch your films
No matter how old you are, you are a part of the voice of the people.
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Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco (via kristinehwong)
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There is a shift happening, a movement coming. The current state of this country is shaking people up, waking them up, jolting them from their sedated slumber of the “American Dream”. The old are growing weary and bitter, but the young are looking at this world that has been promised to them and asking themselves, “What is happening to our future?” There are disasters on our doorsteps eroding the impenetrable sense of security that once made us blind to the greater suffering of this world. But now we are connecting, and we are crying together. Look to any great humanitarian movement these days and note it is the youth who have committed themselves to sleep outside, to go without food, to rally in support of their global brothers and sisters so that their voices may be heard, too. We may be young, lacking experience or education and naïve to the ways of the world, but we have hope. We have passion. We have resolve. And most importantly, we have LOVE. And we are taking back this world, to make it ours, to love together. Because we ARE the revolution. And I am so damn proud to be a part of it.
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Meg Fagundes (Fourth Estate)
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