On Sunday, Feb 12, 2012, the Athentikos Guatemala team and primary characters from Becoming Fools went to a show performed by Pancho Toralla in Teatro de Cámara of National Theater of Guatemala. During the show, Pancho Toralla, professionally known as Panchorizo, showcased a variety of talents including juggling, miming, singing, playing several instruments and dancing among other acrobatic stunts to entertain the crowd. Panchorizo also incorporated lots of jokes and several very Guatemalan elements throughout the show to add to the theatrical performance… everything kept us laughing throughout the whole show!! Several members from our team scouted Panchorizo’s show 2 weeks ago to develop a plan for documenting the event and the street kids' experience. Athentikos captured the event with 3 cameras. One camera focused on Panchorizo and the other cameras picked up different angles of the show and captured the kids’ responses as they watched. We plan to use...
Film production is as much about organization as it is passion and creativity. Documentaries like Becoming Fools are unique in that the story is not scripted in detail at the beginning. We can set a scope for the story, but we must capture details as they happen and develop the story along the way. There is a constant battle between systematic preparation and the chaos that happens when capturing an uncontrolled story. Ultimately, we desire to immerse an audience in a journey with these street youth learning to clown. Their story is inspiring. We've seen it first hand. But inspiring lives do not in themselves jump into motion pictures in a way that captivates an audience. Events that are spread over time in real life must be edited together into a seamless plot that communicates a coherent message and connects to the heart. It sounds simple in theory, but even...
We spent three weeks in Guatemala during the month of November to officially begin production for Becoming Fools. During this time, we interviewed 24 people including street youth, professional clowns, government officials, church ministries, foster families, rehabilitation participants and organizations responding to the needs of homeless youth. We also captured footage at several clowning events and training sessions. It was inspiring to see the street youth working so hard to improve their skills and pursue a dream. Needless to say, we were very busy! We learned so much about the issue. Many children begin street life because their parents send them there. Children sell candy and trinkets to contribute to the family's income. Parents sometimes physically abuse children who don't bring home enough money. As result, many 8 year olds decide to leave their homes and keep what little money they make. We met a seven year old girl who...
We purchased airline tickets to Guatemala. Two weeks from today we will board a plane to Guatemala and Becoming Fools will officially move from Pre-Production status to Production! I cannot even begin to explain the excitement that is building in our hearts! If you have not already done so, please make your pledged donation directly through our website at BecomingFools.com/donate. You might be asking why we are moving forward even though we didn't hit our fundraising goal ... or ... why we didn't just raise funds through our site to begin with? We ran a Kickstarter campaign because thought it would allow us to reach a broader audience, outside of our sphere of influence. People from all over the world go to Kickstarter to fund creative projects. It is a great accountability system and caused us to work very hard hard. We were inspired by the momentum gained in the...
Thank you for backing Becoming Fools! We received a $10,000 check today. With that we've raised over $100,000! Unfortunately we did not reach our goal of $150,000, therefore NO MONEY will be transferred due to Kickstarter's policies. But we are not giving up. With your help, this film can still get underway ... We want to move forward with this important film and will begin production in November. Please make your donation directly through our website at BecomingFools.com/donate. Together, we will build on the momentum that has been set in motion the last few weeks and tell this story to ignite a movement to impact the lives of homeless children around the globe. We will honor the incentives promised to you and keep you updated through our website and bi-monthly emails. If you would like to maximize funds available towards production you can opt out of your incentive. Please note,...
We're 48 days into the campaign with two days left to raise our goal … and we have a ways to go to get there. I can remember other times in my life when things seemed impossible. During times like these, I like to go back and read old journal entries that describe road blocks … and detours. They put things in perspective. On March 4, 2005, After years of wrestling with infertility, I wrote in my Journal: "I believe in a God of miracles … Lord, my prayer has been 'If it is your will, then please give us a child'. I want to take risks and be bold in my faith. So as a result, I am changing my prayer. From now on, my prayer is, 'Lord, please give us a child'. I pray this with expectation of your faithfulness … So much so, that I am leaving...
(Campaign update: $46,525 pledged // 237 Backers // 2,744 Likes // 13 Days Remaining with $103,475 to raise) I'd like to introduce to to someone very special. He is sort of the catalyst behind both Reparando and Becoming Fools and he doesn't even know it … yet. His name is Micah. He isn't a homeless youth - but he could have been. He could have walked the streets looking for food. He could have become addicted to sniffing glue as a way to cloud his mind and forget the loneliness. He could have been recruited by a gang and ended up in prison … or even killed in some violent act. He could have … but he didn't. The author of Micah's story had something else in mind. Micah was born to a mother in Guatemala who sadly could not keep him. She knew her son was special. She loved...
(Campaign update: $45,575 pledged // 237 Backers // 2,744 Likes // 14 Days Remaining with $104,425 to raise) At Athentikos, we expose needs through inspiring stories. Becoming Fools is an inspiring story. Part of our model is to use our web site to connect audiences to organizations responding to specific issues .. in this case the issue of homeless youth. We are partnering with several organizations responding to the issue of homeless youth to seek their expert advice. Additionally, Athentikos will direct people towards these organizations to facilitate response to the story. One such organization is At Risk No More. At Risk No More (ARNM) is committed to bring God’s love and justice to children at risk by providing a community filled with unconditional love and forgiveness. ARNM seeks to create ways for these desperate children to receive healing and wholeness through Rescue, Refuge, and Released based ministry initiatives. ARNM...
Today it stuck me - we have two weeks left to raise our Kickstarter goal so we can tell this story. This reality keeps me up at night. I started thinking back to try to remember why and how we got to this point today. I thought through the last several months and all of the work we have put into this campaign since May. I thought back further to the story pre-production which began in January. I thought back further yet to the joy we experienced when we shared Reparando in Guatemala City last November ... and the pain we shared when we met these kids who live in the streets. To be honest, I am tired. I'm really, really tired … physically and emotionally. I think back at all of the sleepless nights I have had over the past year and wonder if I truly am a fool...
