Hi friends, adiposity
We have been incredibly humbled by your huge heart and generous spirit. We are so proud to be ending our Kickstarter campaign with over $36, remedy 000 raised from 373 different individuals. Thank you for caring about the cause of global equality and for making a difference at such a pivotal time in the history of lesbian, gay and transgendered rights.
With this money, we have enough to take us through the post-production process and get this film made. This is a huge achievement, and we cannot be more proud of how far this project has come since we first came up with the idea to “find the Supergays” over 2 years ago.
We will continue to apply for grants and look for other sources to fund the distribution and community organizing expenses of Out & Around, as our hope is to truly make a wide and actionable impact with this film. But now that we have raised the bulk of our budget, we are confident that this film is going to get made and watched by people all over the world. We are targeting to have the film completed by the end of the year.
Lisa and I, along with our film producers Lauren and Susan, would like to introduce a couple of new people on our team. We are thrilled to have Ryan Suffern come on board as editor and producer. Ryan has worked on films of all kinds over the past decade, from independents to working with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall. He recently finished editing the award-winning documentaries Right to Play and Bidder 70 as well as the upcoming Running Blind. Ryan’s passion is to use filmmaking to tell stories that make a difference, and we cannot be more excited to have him on board the Out & Around team.
We are also excited to bring on marketing guru, community organizer, LGBT activist, world traveler and all around superwoman Leanne Pittsford to head up the distribution and community activism part of this project. Leanne is CEO of Start Somewhere, a marketing agency on a mission to help profits and social enterprises grow and fund their vision. Previously, she was a senior director at Equality California, the largest statewide LGBTQ organization in the US. She has used her tremendous energy to make a difference, and we are excited to harness her talent to make Out & Around a catalyst for changing hearts and minds around the world.
So what’s next? Well, the big news is that Lisa and I are getting married in a month! As we were sitting down together to write our vows a few nights ago, we’re just both blown away by how much has happened for us on a personal level and on a macro level. Just this month, we saw marriage equality pass in France, New Zealand and Uruguay. The other day we were walking by a public school in our neighborhood and saw a huge bulletin board celebrating LGBT leaders.
We do not take any of this granted, and we realize what a huge privilege it is to be able to stand in front of 150 loving and supportive people on June 8 to celebrate our wedding vows, even if the State does not yet recognize it. And in this detail, we are hopeful change will come soon.
This is an incredibly exciting time. Thank you again for your support of this project. This is for all of us.
Jenni, Lisa, Lauren and Susan