Meet a stranger a day. Get involved!
Those of you who have been reading along here since July may recall the post I wrote back then about 365 docobites – which is the mad, but fabulous, project of two talented Australian Gen-Y film-makers, Epiphany Morgan and Carl Mason. (Click on the post link to remind yourself about this project, or to catch up.)
The pair have set out to meet 365+ strangers across six continents, convince the strangers to appear on camera, film a mini-documentary about each of them, edit the video and upload the finished ‘docobites’ to social media platforms every single day for a year.
Now, I love a year-long challenge (in fact, this very blog came out of my 2014 New Year’s resolution to write over 100,000 words in a year. Yes, tick…100,000+ words achieved), so I have followed their progress with much interest.
Back in July, they were just over a third of the way through the 365 docobites. Yesterday, they posted No. 247 from Santiago in Chile (Virginia, who talks about being a woman in a prominantly male workforce using 3-D printers in manufacturing.)
And two days before that was this gorgeous father and kids below (also in Santiago, Chile) who talk about family, love and happy memories.
Each 2-4 minute docobite is a fascinating small glimpse of the lives and thoughts of ‘strangers’ around the world. It strikes me that this is exactly what traditional written blogging is all about too. (Can you believe I used the word ‘traditional’ to describe blogging?) It’s all about the art of storytelling…drawing others into our lives and offering a little glimpse of our experiences, hopes, dreams, opinions and thoughts.
Through this sharing of stories, we make connections around the world, breaking down barriers, and opening up pathways to a greater understanding of each other, our cultures, our countries and our backgrounds. Storytelling also has a very important role in ensuring atrocities and tragedies are never forgotten and never occur again, as this post on the 365 docobites blog explains.
Now the reason I’m revisiting the 365 docobite subject today, is that the next chapter of this great project needs some financial backing to see through their ambition of the whole 365 docobites. And they’ve come up with an exciting way for us to become involved and help them out. They have created a Kickstarter project which is currently open for pledges.
If Kickstarter means nothing to you, let me explain. Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. You can find projects to create movies, games, write books, produce fab new technology or designs. Anything creative at all, really. It’s great and imaginative stuff.
Each project creator sets a backing target that is required to carry out their ambitious plans, (for 365 docobites, the target is AUD$17,000) and then if people like the project they can pledge varying amounts to make it happen. If the goal amount is reached, it goes ahead and backers’ credit cards are charged at that point in time. If the project falls short of the full amount, no-one is charged. It’s all or nothing.
And the ‘get involved’ aspect? Well, that’s the fun part. Each level of backing of any Kickstarter project receives something in return. For instance, someone I know just received a drone that was a reward for backing a Kickstarter drone project. I pledged to a book project last year that I really wanted to see happen, and received one of the first edition copies of the book, plus my name in the acknowledgements (along with the other several hundred people who had done so).
In the case of the 365 docobites project, if you pledge $25 you can think of your own question for them to ask a stranger in an upcoming 365 docobite. Pledge $2,500 and the 365 docobite team will come and conduct a one day ‘run and gun’ interactive film-making workshop for your school or community (location limitations apply). There’s reward packages for everything from $5 to $8,000.
It’s a really great win-win situation, and helps to get worthwhile projects off the ground or completed. Not only do you get the warm, fuzzy feeling of helping out a truly creative and imaginative project, you also get your own bit of involvement or unique reward. Pledging your backing tells the project creators that you think their idea is worthwhile and you want to see it exist.
So far, the 365 docobites Kickstarter project has over $10,000 pledged, with two weeks still to go. But they need to reach $17,000 for the backing to go ahead.
They say:
Quitting is not an option for us. So far we’ve faced travel cancellations, crashed internet, hail storms, broken and stolen equipment, illness and even no bed to sleep in and we’ve still managed to release a film every day we’ve been on the road, because we believe in the work we’re doing. Each film we share is a film we are proud of and one that says something about the world we live in. But we now need your help to accomplish the goal of reaching a total of 6 continents to share 365 stories.
Epiphany and Carl have not received any financial compensation for the full-time, 240+ days of that they’ve done so far. And that will remain the case, as the funds raised in this campaign will only go towards some of the travel, accommodation and equipment expenses.
So if, like me, you think that compassion is important and want to be a part of this positive project to share the stories of the world’s ‘strangers’, or if you just can’t live without your daily 365 docobite, and want to see them reach the end of their year-long challenge, please consider getting involved.
How can you be involved?
- Check out the 365 docobites Kickstarter campaign project page for yourself
- Pledge a little something (or a big something!) to help them reach their target.
- Share the Kickstarter campaign with your friends, family and community. Every effort helps to keep these stories alive: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/365docobites/365-docobites-a-documentary-series-celebrating-hum
- Share this post on any one of your social media channels (see the ‘Sharing is Caring! buttons below)
- And if you haven’t already met any of the 365 docobite strangers, you can follow Epiphany and Carl’s 365 docobites project by visiting their website, or through Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Vimeo.
And then tell me…have you ever pledged to a Kickstarter project in the past? What was it?
This post is linked up to:
#WeekendWanderlust hosted by A Brit and a Southerner, Justin plus Lauren, Carmen’s Travel Trips, Outbound Adventurer, and A Southern Gypsy.
