To mark the one year anniversary of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, we’ll be celebrating the official release of our film with a special screening celebration at W2 on February 12, 2011.  We’re two years into the project already, so to be able to see the end so close at hand now is very exciting.  We’re hoping to have picture lock on the film by mid-December and then hand everything over to our audio genius Kenton Gilchrist to put his stamp on the final product.  The first festivals we’re looking at applying to right  now include SXSW, DOXA and HotDocs.  More details will follow in this space, but in the meantime  we’re giving people one last chance to become a part of the WGH producing family with our special commemorative Producer’s Package.  This handsome package includes:

Buy it now!

• An official Producer’s certificate and name in the film’s credits
• A certificate confirming your $5 contribution to the construction of a wireless mesh network in the Downtown Eastside
• A ticket to the February12th, 2011 screening and afterparty at W2
• One copy of the completed film on DVD or USB

You can get all this for the great price of $30 and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve given your loved one a gift that is affordable, unique and contributes to a great cause.  We’ve also begun taking pre-orders for the film on DVD or USB for $20, with exisiting producers getting 10% off any order.  Click here to get yours.

How many producers does your film have?

We are proud to annouce the first screening for locals and the community around the film will be FREE! Register for your tickets below. Max 2 per person. Location TBA. Downtown Vancouver.

Are you disappointed that you couldn’t make it for our first Unfest?  Well of course you are, that’s totally natural, but now there’s something you can do about it!  Life sometimes does give you second chances!  November 18th, 7pm at the wonderful Rhizome Cafe .  We’ll be doing the silent auction again and the Rhizome kitchen will be open to feed you and keep you nicely buzzed (they are fully licensed after all).  Look forward to seeing everyone there!

All of these great businesses have thrown their weight behind WGH

It feels like we’ve been picking up some momentum in the past few weeks and the finish line is getting closer and closer.  A huge step to the good occurred recently with the addition of our 120th producer and the heartwarming story of her participation in our project.  An anonymous contributor approached us last week with the story of his 93 year old aunt, who recently passed away, and the small inheritance she had left for the contributor and their siblings.  While mulling over how to best memorialize their beloved aunt and her left-leaning politics (and deciding that dedicating a bench to her was just too boring), Mr(s). X hit on the idea of contributing the money to the production of our film.   We were really bowled over by this unexpected generosity and the profound impact that this school teacher in rural England we had never previously known, was now going to have on completing our film.   Our community of producers – individuals and businesses – now spans three continents and we feel honored that you have all chosen to involve yourselves in our saga.

Our new production goal is to have the film done for the first week of December so we can submit it to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.  DVD presales are just around the corner, watch this space for more info.

hello everybody,

As the search continues for Tyler Wright, please join us and our friend @craigjkharris in praying for his safe return.  For updates and how you can help please follow this link.

Here @WGHthemovie we have a few things in the works including an upcoming ‘work in progress’ screening of our film both in Vancouver & in London.  An announcement is coming this week, so stay tuned!

The excitement of the day  is a SMCYVR ‘Meet the Geek’ dinner @salttastingroom!  We are honored that they have chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds from this dinner to complete our film.  With the cuts to arts funding in BC and Canada we have found it most difficult to get any funding from traditional methods.  Our current challenge is being able to compensate our editors for their enormous time commitment, the hours/days they are putting into finishing our film.   So we are really excited that SMCYVR & Vancouver Food Tour are putting on this dinner.  Jon, Kemp and I will all be there so come and meet the GEEKS!

In keeping with the food theme, here is an embedded tweet using blackberry pie.

As a child of the Internet age who started getting access to computers in school as early as the 2nd or 3rd grade, I can say without a doubt that this access to technology has had a profound effect on my life. While I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that says that technology can solve all of our problems, the Internet in particular has given us some tantalizing glimpses into a better future.

The ability that anyone with Internet access now has to reach out and connect with any other person on the planet is unprecedented, and for the more hopeful amongst us, that can only lead to a future of better understanding between people. But this is where the “Digital Divide” comes into play, what if you can’t afford that access? As more and more of our lives get digitized and move online, two thirds of the planet still can’t get online consistently and that puts all of these people at a decided disadvantage in a world where information is king.

From the beginning, our goals with the film were to document the efforts of people who were creating this kind of access to information – be it the DTES-centered objectives of W2 or the Olympic aggregator that was the True North Media House – and to make positive contributions to these communities. One of the founding principles of W2 is that the access to information should be protected as a fundamental human right, and by getting involved in helping us complete WGH, this is an ideal which you will be directly supporting. Our hope is to use the film to galvanize our audience in to action on these issues, but we won’t be able to build that audience until we finish the film, and that’s where you come in again. Despite what Michael Moore might have you believe, no one gets into the world of documentary production to get rich. While Andrew and I certainly hope the film is successful enough to recoup our investments and allow us to continue to making films, the measure of success for WGH will not be measured on the bottom line.

So, why should you get involved and become a producer on WGH?
- support alternative media and viewpoints
- strengthen the social media community globally with a film that demonstrates its impact
- promote social media efforts in the DTES that are making real differences to real people
- add momentum to the decorporatization of the media
- help put Vancouver on the map as a global leader in information technologies
- bragging rights, be the first on your block to be a producer!

Whether the reasons are your own or one of the ones listed here, investing in this project will pay great returns in ways that don’t involve your bank account.

We were out on the streets of Vancouver on July 30th for ‘Human Curling OH CANADA’.Teaming up with Improv Anywhere to have a little fun and raise a few funds towards completing our film. Here’s a taste of what ‘Human Curling’ is all about!

Thanks to all who participated and to those who made a contribution.  This is what our word cloud credits look like so far!

Password: hotdocs

Password: hotdocs

Hey Everyone we attended HotDocs, the Canadian Documentary Festival in Toronto, rubbed elbows with some industry folk and created some excitement about our project. We also felt it only appropriate to host a Tweetup while we were there. So we asked a few SM types in the area and they suggested C’est What at 67 Front St (@Church) So that’s where we held our ‘HotDocs & Cinco de Mayo Tweetup!’ We had the party on May 5th and showcased our new ‘sizzle reel’.  So thank you Toronto and those who came down for your support and your feedback.  If you were not able to attend and would like check out the video it is above. Enjoy

There were door prizes!! Thank you Vincor Canada for the wine and Manic Coffee for your donations.