Documentary - Project update

Presenter

A couple of weeks ago our chosen presenter dropped out because of a paid acting jobb that crashed with our shoot. We then put up an advert on Casting Call Pro to see if we could find someone else. The first day the advert was up we got 6 applicants and in the end when we had to decide who to choose we had 16. We got back to 3 of the applicants (2 guys and 1 girl) asking them to make a short self tape showing how they would like to open the documentary.

All of the three applicants made a self tape and sent it to us where 2 of them were very good. We ended up deciding on one of the guys, Kamran Vahabi, since he's studied under a big Holocaust historian and he's very keen on the project. He has also previous experience from being both behind and in front of the camera. 

Sponsorship/budget:

To save as much Money as possible I’ve been emailing hotels in Berlin to see if someone would be able to offer us a discount. After a lot of emailing I came across a hotel in the heart of Berlin named Hotel Big Mama who were interested in our project and offered us a room for free for the entire period when we’re filming. They also gave us filming permission to film the  interviews in the room where we’re staying and in the hotel lobby. 

I’ve also been emailing a car rental company, Hertz, as they’ve sponsored me with free rental of car before. I have called them and got directed to a sales manager whom I’ve emailed, but yet to hear back from. 

Another thing we’ve done to save money is setting up a GoFundMe-page. This was Simon’s idea to see if anyone would be interested in funding the project. We all thought it was a great idea and decided that if someone gives £10 they get their name in the credits and if they give 20£ they get both their name in the credits and a copy of the finished project, any amount below or above that would of course be more than welcome as well. 

Simon set the page up and after 1 day we had 140£, which would be almost enough to cover the expenses of one person.

Risk assessments:

Since we’re filming in Berlin we have to fill out different risk assesments to what we’d normally do. At the moment we are filming in 6 different locations in Berlin, making it 13 differnet risk assemssments to fill out, including for the locations in England (7). 

We are currently working on the abroad risk assessments which I hope to hand in on Thursday. The risk assessments for the locations in England will be done over the weekend and handed in on Monday. 

Script:

On monday we had our first feedback session with Helen on the script. She liked where we were going, but had a couple of suggestions for the beginning which we were adviced to work on a bit more. We also need to decide on how to end the script as we still are strugling to find a good way to end it. 

Interviews:

The people that we’re going to film are have slowly come together and we’ve gotten confirmation from all of them now.

England:

George has managed to get a hold of a group of 3 Holocaust survivors who we’ll be filming. 

Gavin has been in contact with the Imperial War Museum and landed a deal where we’ll be interviewing the Director and a Tour guide. We’ve also gotten permission to film in the exhibition. 

I’ve been in contact with a lady named Jodie Cook, UK’s leading expert in social media, who got me in contact with a man named David who’s an expert on war studies and social media. He's verry interested in talking to us about the Selfie culture.   

Berlin:

We still have Shahak Shapira, the creator of ‘Yolocaust’ on board on the project. 

I’ve also gotten in contact with the Jewish museum in Berlin where the Programme Director will be talking with us. 

These will be the only two sit-down interviews we’re doing in Berlin. Other than those we’ll also do VOX at the Memorial where we hope to talk to someone who are taking selfies. 

Locations:

London - confirmed:

- Imperial War Museum, office and in the exebition - Confirmation on email. 

- At the office of the social media guy - Confirmation on email. 

- Holocaust survivors, office - Confirmation on Email. 

- Stansferd airport - Confirmation on phone.  

No permission needed:

- London streets - Since we’ll be filming everything handheld, using a shoulder rig, we won’t need any filming permission. 

Berlin - confirmed:

- Holocaust Memorial - Confirmation on email. 

- Hotel Big Mama - Confirmation sent on email.

- The Jewish Museum - Confirmation sent on email. 

Waiting for confirmation:

- The airport in Berlin 

No perission needed:

- Berlin city - No permission needed since we’re going to film handheld.

- Inside car - No need for filming permission 

Other things that has to be done:

-Contact the foreign office for travel advice, print & sim.

-Find out emergency procedures for hospitals etc. 

-Police-, fire- and ambulance number. 

-Contact The local Film Office.