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Update on our documentary
Jan 4, 2015
A brand new year is upon us and we wanted to start 2015 sending best wishes to all our friends and supporters. We have been quiet for a while, so an update on progress with the documentary is long overdue.
We previously announced the successful conclusion of our Kickstarter campaign. Since then we held the much anticipated Argosy Cruise event on April 26th and mailed the swag items to our supporters (please let us know if we missed you in the mailing).
We are grateful for the job Dannul Dailey did in leading the Kickstarter campaign that culminated in the well-received cruise event.
We had nearly a full house as the Argosy Cruise toured on Elliott Bay. One of our Board Directors and Argosy Cruise Captain, Kevin Mullarky had promised to wear his official captain’s uniform, so the rest of our Board and officers also showed up in fancy attire. Fortunately Kevin did not have to be at the helm and could spend much of his time with us.
As we mentioned on the Cruise, we’ve brought in additional resources to help with the movie – Joseph Anaya. Joe is a truly talented filmmaker with significant production and post-production experience. Joe joined us on the cruise where he shared a film clip with our audience that covered a sequence displaying Erden’s growing despair with the un-cooperative seas while on the Pacific. The prevailing La Niña conditions on that ocean in 2007-08 and the months of incessant rain under the cloudy skies of the inter-tropical convergence zone were making Erden’s life miserable. The audience appreciated a view into Erden’s isolation as a solo rower and laughed as he appeared crazier by day at sea. While watching, even Erden was chuckling at the unkempt man whose beard got longer over time revealing a mad glow in his eyes earned after over 200 days at sea alone. Erden remarked: “He appeared strangely familiar to me yet so removed from my current reality in the city.”
As for progress in putting together the film, we have all the hardware and software – including backup protection – in place. Just getting all of the different types of video onto a single computer, into a useable format, and backed up was a huge task. Remember, Erden shot his footage on multiple cameras over years – in the time before GoPro. In total, we spent weeks and had to convert over 5,000 files into a file type that our editing software could easily read. After completing this, Joe recruited qualified help in Los Angeles to comb through over 120 hours of footage – which is painstaking work. Progress takes time. Once the existing film material has been fully reviewed and catalogued, we will be able to identify themes in the footage to be used in the final cut, while also identifying holes that will need to be filled by additional interviews, voiceovers and graphics. Expect some more updates in 2015 with our progress in this task.
As for timetables, we’ve learned that this won’t happen as quickly as we had originally desired. That said, we are hoping for a rough-cut in 2015 and release in 2016.
Please stay tuned – and let us know if you have any questions.
The Around-n-Over/Castaway with Purpose Team
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Our Board and Officers: Nancy Board, Ronnie Henderson, Kevin Mullarky, Erden Eruç, Bill Hinsley and Graeme Welsh.
Erden on the stage during the Cruise, introducing Joseph Anaya.
