Amar Wala
Toronto Arts Council comes through!
We just got some great news in the mail! ST5 has been awarded a Toronto Arts Council Grant for $4k. Our sincere thanks to the TAC for their support and recognition of our project. So what does this mean for ST5? Here's a quick progress report...
As many of you know, we've been spending time with Mohammad Mahjoub in Toronto lately. His house arrest conditions were recently loosened dramatically, which gave us the opportunity to finally film with him. We also plan to shoot with Hassan Almrei later this month, and hopefully build a relationship with the Jaballah family, whom we have yet to film with. Most of the obstacles standing in our way have been lifted and we are poised to dive head first into our production phase. That's why the TAC grant is so exciting, but it's also why we need to continue to raise awareness of the project and encourage new donations. All our progress means nothing if it stops here.
As for the producing side of things, we've recently completed two very important applications with Hot Docs. The first, is for their FORUM which would give us a chance to pitch at the largest documentary conference in North America this May in Toronto. The second is for Doc Ignite, which is a new crowdfunding site initiated by Hot Docs to help Canadian Docs raise money through donations. Way to steal our idea Hot Docs (just kidding). We believe our funding campaign coupled with the reach and muscle of Hot Docs would be an unstoppable combination. So let's hope we're one of 5 projects they will select this year! Check out Doc Ignite's pilot project, HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE, here.
This has been a slow and long journey thus far, but when things happen they happen fast. As always thank you all for your support, and please continue to spread the word and encourage donations.
More updates soon.
Thanks
Amar.
