How to Save Democracy: The Production Phase of the Documentary Feature Film is Over!

And now moving into post-production!

It's been quite a whirlwind over the last few weeks in the political scene--Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, Kamala Harris rose up to become the nominee and then named Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. 

It's also been a busy past few weeks in the filming of the documentary feature film that I am making, How to Save Democracy. I am excited to now say that production is over and we have  entered into the editing/post-production phase.

Now that the production is done, I am aiming to have either a rough cut or a short version out before the election, and the finished version out after the election, whether the end of 2024 or the early part of 2025.

If you would like to have the film shown in your locality or through an organization you are aligned with, please let me know--it can be shown with or without a panel discussion after the film. This will truly be a grassroots effort to get the word out about the film.

Speaking of the production, July saw a number of interviews. We went to Seneca Falls, NY, the birthplace of the women's rights movement in America, to interview Melina Carnecelli, the fomer mayor of Auburn, NY, and the founder of 1st Amendment, 1st Vote, an organization whose aim is to train teenage girls to take positions of government leadership. As Melina pointed out, 51% of the U.S. population is women, yet women only hold a total of 25% of elected leadership positions nationally, statewide and locally. Through her organization, Melina is looking to change that.

Along with Melina, we interviewed two of the girls in the 1st Amendment, 1st Vote program, one of the teacher-mentors, and also Diana Smith, the former mayor of Seneca Falls, NY.

Our next interview was with William Berry, the publisher of the cultural magazine Aaduna, and a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on African American history:

Our next interview after that was with the internationally acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Marilynne Robinson, who has also written extensively about politics in numerous magazines, along with being interviewed in the New York Times and other publications, on the subject of creating a society that works for all its citizens:

The last of our interviews was a virtual one with Laura George, the founder of the Founding Mothers Movement. The Founding Mothers Movement is an organization whose mission is gender equity for all women worldwide, and an end to war worldwide. Like the Founding Fathers that founded the United States, the Founding Mothers are looking to take the idea of America and help evolve it, and the entire world, to a new level of peace, happiness, and co-existence. In October, the Founding Mothers Movement will release a manifesto with certain demands, and will begin acts of civil disobedience next year if their demands aren't met:

All told, it's been an amazing journey and a remarkable few months of production, and I am honored to have met and engaged with so many brilliant people.

I will keep you posted on the progress of post-production, as I move forward in this phase. And again, if you are interested in hosting a screening of the either rough cut/short film (with panel discussion) or the finished film, feel free to let me know.