Grey Matters Media has now conducted two sets of interviews for our current project. We are producing a documentary on the expansion of executive power and the claim of executive privilege. Brewster Kahle, cofounder of the Internet Archive, graciously invited us to stay for a luncheon meeting after his interview in May. Guests to the luncheon were asked to tell everyone who they were and what they were doing. Arthur gave a brief introduction of our crew and project. The affirmation we received surprised me. I was obviously excited about our project, but some people seemed even more excited. I knew we were on to something.
Confession: I voted for Bush in 2004. It was before the Downing Street memo, before the Iraq Study Group Report, before The Surge, before so much truth had come to light. After Bush’s reelection and 2005 State of the Union Address, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake. I learned about Bush’s illegal spying on Americans, his authorization of torture, his authorization to fire appointed US Attorneys for refusing to file bogus lawsuits, and his outright lies for invading Iraq. I trusted the President and he abused my trust. I felt genuinely betrayed and I knew I wasn’t alone when Bush reached record setting low public approval ratings. Unfortunately, instead of pushing back, weary Americans became numb. The truth hurt too much. Besides, we had Congress and the media to restore the honor and integrity of our government… right?
Three years after Bush’s reelection, Congress hadn’t done anything to assert its responsibility in representing Americans and the media was more interested in reporting the democratic and republican nominations like a horse race than doing the hard journalism it used to do. The issues that bothered me hadn’t gone away, but no one was talking about them anymore. My own congressional representatives kept voting as Bush desired even though I wrote them regularly. I still wanted to push back and it was time for personal action. I needed to find a way to use my skills to just do something that seemed like a step in the right direction.
Before all of this, I met Arthur at Emerson College, a small liberal arts (that means “lots of art” not “crazy left wing”) college in Boston with a great media program. We learned how to tell stories. We benefitted from being part of the iGeneration — the first generation to grow up with the internet and personal access to computers. We had high definition cameras, Final Cut Pro, and YouTube by the time we got to college. Access to tools that allow for professional quality video production became a reality before we could even drink a beer legally. Now, it was time to use the tools and our skills to aid our intellectual angst. We had to tell the story of how average, and not so average, Americans have been hurt by the power of the presidency and how they are pushing back. It was just a matter of funding.
In January, Arthur and I agreed that we would live on a tight budget. I would continue working full time as a web developer and he would produce the documentary as he finished grad school. Over the past six months, we have researched, structured a story, requested interviews, gotten some, and are now preparing for our biggest series of interviews in Washington D.C. The production has been entirely self funded up to this point. We have been joined by a great team of young Hollywood working professionals, many of them our friends, who have agreed to deferred payment to help us with the documentary.
Please watch the short video attached this post. The interviews we have captured give me chills. This is a passion project. Everyone involved is doing this because we believe this story needs to be told. We want to tell this story right and we now need your help.
I will write more about this later, but I’d like to introduce busking as a business model. Busking is the act of performing in a public place for tips, a common cultural experience in major cities. Some performers do it for small tips given by passersby, but most do it because they enjoy performing. With this documentary, Grey Matters Media is using the internet as our street corner. We want to inform, influence, and inspire Americans to take back their country. We’re funding it and doing it because we believe in the performance. While we’re not working for tips, we do need your financial support. If you like what you see, please drop a few dollars in our guitar case.
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