This update was origionally published for Kickstarter backers here.

Work on our film continues to go well. Here are the latest developments:

Music

This month we finished a first pass of music, and let me tell you – it is really good. Way better than any documentary score deserves to be. We still have a few minor changes and revisions, but it’s definitely brought out some new layers in the film. It’s amazing how music can elevate a film and make it feel like a bit movie.

Post-Production

Everything else is close. Sound is basically there, mostly just waiting for music. Color correction still has a bit to go, but it’s don track. We’ve also got a post supervisor now who’s going to help us with final end titles and exporting the film in the right format for every platform including theaters.

Currently, we anticipate that all post-production will be done by the end of July. 

Bonus Features

Part of our release strategy from the begining has been to include a huge amount of bonus features. While the film is a stand-alone piece that will make sense on it’s own and appeal to audiences with zero previous knowledge about this topic, we know a lot of you are activists, medical professionals, birth educators, or just people who want additional information, who might be interested in additional material.

Currently the special features are going to include mini-bonus docs on specific areas (such as female genital cutting), deleted/bonus scenes, and extended interviews. We’re still deciding how much to include, so let us know if there is anything you’re curious to see in the bonus features – like a specific interview subject in an extended interview, or a topic that might not be covered in depth in the main film.

Distribution

There is an old film joke – a director and an studio executive are talking. The director says, “there’s three stages to making a movie: pre-production, production, and post-production. “No,” the studio executive replies. “There are two stages – making the movie, and selling the movie.” I tend to agree with the studio executive here.

This past month, I have been reading everything I can on indepedent distribution, consulting with other filmmakers, and developing a plan. We are going to have to treat distribution as it’s own separate stage, which could be as big as making the project itself. Doing this stage right might mean raising additional funds or bringing in additional help, so that this film reaches those beyond our current sphere of influence, and becomes a movement, not just a moment.

I’m developing a plan here, but I’d like to save talking about it till the next update or later. Just know that we’re working on it, and that getting this film out to the world will be it’s own crazy adventure. We want this film to be seen by as many people as possible, and that means taking it’s release as seriously as we’ve taken making the project itself.

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Tl;dr version: it all continues to go well. Let us know on social media know what bonus features you’re looking forward to. Distribution plans are in the works.