The Doc I AM DIVINE Is Divine

A couple years ago, I posted about an Indie Go-Go campaign that a friend and fellow filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz was doing for his documentary about the actor Harris Glenn Milstead, who was infamously known as Divine. The feature I AM DIVINE hit festivals a year later and is now having it's NYC theatrical run.

After supporting the project, I finally got a chance to check it out last night and it was awesome. For a huge Divine and John Waters fan like myself, the film is a treasure trove of interviews from the Dreamland-scene and new information (to me at least) about Divine that I didn't know. Being more a film person, I was surprised to find out that Divine was such a disco star with multiple records and tours even. I just knew of her big hit "You Think You're A Man", which was a club staple in the 80's/90's. It was also fun to hear about Divine's theatrical work, here in NYC and also in San Francisco with the equally infamous Cockettes. And the personal story about his mother and his family was really quite touching.

Anyway, even though the film has been running for a few weeks the theatre was packed on a Tuesday night and even got applause at the end!  The last time that happened in a movie was when I saw LINCOLN last fall. Who knew that Divine would ever have something in common with one of our greatest presidents.  :)  Anyway, it's well worth checking out as the run has been extended to November 14th at Cinema Village...or looking for it at a local indie cinema near you.

Final Days For Funding THE DEVOTION PROJECT

My friend and fellow filmmaker Tony Osso is in the final days of an Indie Go Go campaign to raise funds for THE DEVOTION PROJECT.  This is a series of short films which I've featured here on the blog which portray a wide range of LGBT long-term, committed couples.  Tony has told some amazing and touching stories...and with your help he will be able to tell many more.

Below is the fourth installment of this series, about a transgender couple and their daughter. Another beautiful love story...

The Devotion Project Debuts New Film & Fundraising Campaign

This week, my friend and fellow filmmaker Tony Osso debut's his latest film from The Devotion Project, a series of shorts about gay and lesbian couples in committed long-term relationships.  This latest short is especially touching, about a couple in Oakland dealing with the challenges of a chronically ill child.  In this moving film, Tony has done it again, telling the story of this beautiful couple in a way that is both honest and touching too.

With the release of this 3rd film in the series, Tony has also started a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo to keep the project going. You can click here to see a special video starring Tony himself as he explains The Devotion Project and how your donation of even just a few dollars can help.  In a year when marriage equality is being challenged with referendum votes in states like Washington, Maryland and North Carolina, it's important to show the real gay families that are out there and the challenges that they face. Rather than "destroying" marriage as some people claim, all they are doing is loving each other while trying to care for and support their unique families.

Documentary about Divine Needs Your Help

Earlier this year, I had a campaign on IndieGoGo to raise money for the off-Broadway debut of my play, WTC VIEW.  Now a fellow filmmaker I know has his own crowd-sourcing campaign going for a documentary about Divine, the fabulously filthy star of John Waters early films from the '70s and '80s, including most famously HAIRSPRAY. So it's time to pay it forward, as they say....

Today is the last day of Jeffrey Schwarz's IndieGoGo campaign for I AM DIVINE and he is still trying to reach his goal for this film.  So give what you can...$10 or $100 or more. There are some fun and trashy perks too.  (I got a copy of Jeffrey's William Castle doc!)  And Jeffrey has also put together a hilarious appeal video/trailer for the project as well which is (obviously) NSFW but is highly entertaining. Just like Divine!

The Final Countdown For Crowd-Sourcing On WTC VIEW

Today is the final day of our crowd-sourcing campaign on IndieGoGo to bring WTC VIEW to the stage this spring at 59E59 Theaters. The good news is that we have raised nearly 10K in the last 6 weeks.  The bad news is that we still need to raise another 10-12K to make the show happen.  But the good news is....time has not run out yet!  We still have until midnight Friday April 22....which is actually 3AM because IndieGoGo runs on PST (based on Seattle, of course).  So you can still donate!

Even better news is that, this morning, we got a matching fund challenge.  A generous donor has pledged 3K if we can raise 3K today.  That means we need to get to the 12K level in the final hours of our campaign.  And that's not so hard really if you break it down.  All we need are 150 donors giving $20 a piece.  Or 300 donors giving $10.   So much math right?!   It's all about the numbers...today at least.  But next week I'll have some very exciting news about our cast for the show, which will be officially announced on Monday.

In the meantime, check out our final video for the campaign on IndieGogo....my tour of the area around the new World Trade Center complex rising in lower Manhattan.  Thanks for your support! :)

WTC VIEW Playwright Brian Sloan's Walking Tour Of The New WTC from Brian Sloan on Vimeo.

To The Crowd! Nearly 1K Raised For WTC VIEW This Week

Our crowd-sourcing campaign for WTC VIEW Onstage kicked off with a bang this week.  We've raised nearly 1K since Wednesday which has been great!  We still have oh, 24K to go....but this is a great start and, as the word gets out, I'm sure we'll keep going over the next 40 days and reach our goal in April.

A lot of people have asked me recently what exactly crowd-sourcing is?  It's sorta the opposite of traditional funding, where you seek the smallest number of donors giving the largest amounts possible.  In crowd-sourcing, you farm the task out to the Internet through social-networking, emails, Twitter, etc. and try to get a large number of people giving smaller donations.  The math is basically that with crowd-sourcing, you want 1,000 people giving you 20 dollars as opposed to 20 people giving you 1,000.  So it's just as crucial to give as it is to post, like, re-tweet and share our campaign with anyone you think is interested in supporting the arts, specifically theatre in NYC.

I don't have to tell you that times are tough. They have been even tougher in the theater world, while some shows spend millions and millions of dollars (something about a spider?), new work has a tough time finding support here in the city.  Because of this, WTC VIEW will depend solely on donations, most of which are tax-deductible to make this all happen. So please, give what you can't....and if you can't give, keep spreading the word online; our link is www.indiegogo.com/wtc-view. Thanks so much and have a great weekend....

We Need YOU To Help Bring WTC VIEW Off-Bway This May

As I previously reported here last month, my play WTC VIEW is getting its off-Broadway debut this spring at 59E59 Theaters.  To make this happen, today is the start of a 6-week fundraising campaign to raise $25K by the end of April and we need your help.

This is not a traditional fundraising campaign. The traditional model is all about finding the smallest number of large donors.  But with crowd-sourcing it's the reverse: We are looking for the largest number of small donors via social networking, with the hope that we can get 1,000 donors kicking in 20 bucks as opposed to 20 donors with a 1,000 bucks. Not many people have a cool grand lying around these days.  But a $20...or even a $10? That's a little easier to swing.  Also, since we are a fiscally sponsored project through Fractured Atlas, donations to WTC VIEW are tax deductible too.

So please check out our campaign which went live today on IndieGoGo.  I also put together a short video in which I talk about my inspiration for WTC VIEW and why I feel strongly that now is the time to bring this show to New York audiences as we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11. However, the only way this is going to happen....I repeat the ONLY way....is if you give.  WTC is a small non-profit play at a non-profit theater and we are depending on these tax-deductible dontations for our production budget.  The other thing you can do, that would be a huge help, is share our IndieGoGo campaign with your Facebook friends of Twitter follows and LIKE our Facebook page as well.  The direct link is: www.indiegogo.com/wtc-view  

Thanks so much and stay tuned for more updates on the show, including casting news, and also some more videos too.