I came across a website that really made me think, and I'd like to post the video here. Times are hard economically, and charitable giving tends to reduce when folk have less money in their pockets. This inititive aims to highlight the plight of the homeless..initially in the USA, where we don't tend to think of people needing 'aid'. Watch to the end of the video, to where the gentleman speaks about a smile. If you have the funds, you could be credited as an executive producer of the film this group are making, if you have a dollar, it will still make a difference. I hope you'll forgive this posting.
I posted this for three reasons:
For a time, through no fault of his own, Michael was 'homeless' (ie when he left / was driven from Neverland)
Because I have been struck by the number of homeless people living outside the LA courthouse. When the TV cameras move on, they will still be there.
Because in 1966 a TV film called 'Kathy come home' led to a revolution in provision for the homeless in the UK, and judging by this short clip, this film may have a similar impact in the US.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1027369847/the-invisible-class-the-story-of-americas-homeless
http://
We've been working on The Invisible Class for 18 months now and we've been traveling around the US to tell the story. It has been an eye-opening and fantastic experience working with the homeless population, and the organizations that help them, and even more importantly finding out what causes homelessness and what can be done that actually helps. It's amazing how incorrect our understanding of homelessness is and that there actually is a clear cut solution to solving it (and spending less while doing so).
The goal of The Invisible Class is to help the homeless people of America (and hopefully other countries as well). Though we've been almost a no budget film, and we've mostly been spending our own money (other than some much needed help from Tapout), we've had fantastic success so far. We were lucky enough to interview Howard Zinn a few months before he passed, as well as Professor Noam Chomsky, we've got Saul Williams (the spoken word artist and musician) on board to help us do some narration, and it looks like Shepard Fairey may help us as well.
But plain and simple we need more money to continue. We need money to finish shooting the rest of the film, for post-production and and for getting our film entered into film festivals. I've been a cameraman for a living for 6 years, and I've worked on a lot of projects (both professionally and personally), but this is the first that has such an amazing amount of potential to help others, as well as change some unjust stereotypes we've all been taught.
Our team has been sleeping on couches and floors, dealing with equipment failures we don't have the money to replace, filming out on the streets, and we're very proud of that. But we simply don't have the budget to continue without your help. We've asked for $11,500 to be donated because it's the bare minimum we need to finish the film, and we'd be absolutely delighted to reach that amount. However, if we receive more, rest assured there are more than enough areas of the film that can improve to make it a better farther reaching film.
If you're looking for a good cause, you've found it