MAKE YOUR DOCUMENTARY FILM

STILL DREAMING SHOOT DAY 2

We began Day 2 with another interview, this time with Doris, who is a recognizable actor, having been in 'Tootsie' (one of the best comedies ever), as well as a lot of TV. Doris lives in the assisted living section of the home, which means she can come and go as she pleases. She still attends auditions in NYC, and keeps an active social calendar with lunch dates and so forth. She is living at the home because her husband is in poor health, and needs constant attention. The two of them gave up their brownstone on the Upper East Side, and moved to the Home so he could get the care he needs, and she could be near him. Talk about a story of love, devotion and courage. Her interview was great as she talked about her love of acting, her standards of excellence for her art, and what she gets from her creativity.

STILL DREAMING SHOOT DAY 1

What is it like to be an artists near the end of one's life? Does one still have the creative drive, or are there too many dreams unfulfilled to have any motivation for creativity? Can we still be creative as our health declines and death nears? These are the types of questions I raised to potential funders during the last year about our film called 'Still Dreaming', a doc film about Shakespeare being done in an old folks home. The main response I kept getting from funders was 'love the idea, can we see some footage?'

So we have been fundraising for our film 'Still Dreaming' which is about a group of aged entertainers doing Shakespeare. Since this project is similar to 'Shakespeare Behind Bars', we decided to go back to those who funded that film. Why not, right? Go to the ones who are the easiest sell first. Try for the low hanging fruit to start—that way you'll have energy to get the hard to reach apples later.

Twenty some odd years ago, Jilann and I made a film about Native American Elders called 'Bless Me With A Good Life'. Since this film was about an elderly population, we received a great deal of support from AARP. So now that we are fundraising for another film on old folks, I thought maybe we could go back to them. Maybe we could come full circle with this project and partner up with AARP again.