Thanksgiving celebrates family, food, happiness and health. It’s a huge part of American culture, community and collaboration. It’s about joining cultures and giving thanks. In this spirit of all of that, we wanted to let you know how thankful we are for this summer, for the experiences we had, for the adventure of a lifetime and the kindness we experienced every step of the way.
We wanted to let you know how thankful we are for you!
This summer, we took a huge risk, and so did you – we were putting our lives in the hands of strangers, in the hands of the country, and you were letting in two people and a camera, after just a couple minutes of conversation. But as our first host Joe predicted, we met the people we were supposed to meet. Amazing people, amazing stories, and amazing and constant care and sharing. So for the people who opened their homes and their hearts to us, we are thankful for you. Thank you for giving us a roof to sleep under, a meal to eat, and a story to share. Thank you for opening up to us, for spending time with us, for proving our optimism about people in America, and hopefully proving it for countless future viewers.
The journey into making this film started months before we hit the road. We wrote so many grants, sent out so many letters and worked so hard to get our film made. But without the people who supported us we would never have made it to our first home. So for those who donated time, money, snacks, and advice to help us make this film, know that we are thankful for you. Thank you for getting us on our feet. Thank you for helping us meet so many amazing people. Thank you for being our first kind strangers. Or not so strangers.
We are not doing this alone. We are joined by a fabulous team of editors, producers, buzzers and website designers who volunteer their time to make our film possible. They are all behind the scenes, all working diligently. So to our team – Thank you. Thank you for doing your jobs so well. Thank you for all of your hard work and time.
We have a phenomenal support network – our family, our friends, our team, our hosts and supporters. All of you make us incredibly excited for the future of our film.
What is in the future? We know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from us. So much has happened!
We started editing the second we got back – we now have four editors working hard on the film – Parrish Tigh, Alex Forstenhausler, Mahsooma Abbas, and Roxy Harbitter. We have a rough cut of about the first half of the movie completed and soon we will be entering our second stage. We will have video footage up by the end of next week, so you can see some of the beautiful footage that we shot – only minutes of our 90 hours, but a great sneak preview of what’s to come.
Our co-producer Savannah Winchester is working as hard as ever helping us with our buzz campaign, our upcoming press campaign, and recruiting members for the team. We have a website under construction – Katrina Kopeloff and Marly Wilson have been bouncing many exciting and creative ideas around with us about the website. It should be up in the next month.
Last week Sarah attended a distribution conference, with sessions and conversations inspiring countless ideas about getting our movie out there! She’s now working on an elaborate business plan, along with guidance from our distribution professor. Sarah’s become intrigued and obsessed with the process (and Greg is thrilled to support and explore everywhere this is heading).
Much like Thanksgiving, our film is made up of different components, and stuffed with different themes: family, food, community, culture (and pie!). It’s a holiday that celebrates everything we want to celebrate in the making of our film. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving! Celebrate your family, your friends, and our strange and wonderful culture. Be kind to a stranger in the spirit of the turkey! (Or tofurkey if you are meatlessly inclined!) Thank you for everything and enjoy the pie!
Be kind to a stranger,
Sarah and Greg
