A new Year!

The making of Going Dark took about a year from preproduction to its submission in its first Film Festival. The film was inspired by the title of Dr. Guy R. McPherson's book, Going Dark.  


This has been an incredible journey and I've traveled to so many wonderful places and met incredible people. Making a film also required new skills for me in filmmaking since my training was from the video tape era.   What a pleasure it was to learn Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. 
The film was completed on Adobe Premiere Pro CC platform, a truly amazing editing platform. It was shot on a Canon XA10, Canon DSLR 6D and a little Canon Rebel t3i. Oh, and my iphone. 

The first festival I had the gall to enter and which served as the motivation to forge ahead with completing this enormous project on my own (no funds to hire anyone), was the Sundance Film Festival.  Not only is it the most prestigious festival, it is also the hardest to break into.  I knew I didn't have a shot in he%$ but I shot for the stars and it helped me focus.   I have ADHD, so, focusing a camera is not my only issue. 

Introduction:
When I was first introduced to Dr. Guy R. McPherson it was through an adorable Youtube video of him lecturing that validated pretty much all the sustainability work I'd been doing over the past 20 years.  As a result, I was pretty excited to meet him in person and hear his updated lecture in my neighboring town. 
Unfortunately his message was far more grim, dark, hopeless, depressing and tinged with "run for your lives" that I'd been expecting. Everyone left with their jaws dropped.  The climate science was very grim.    

The prospect of humans going extinct in a handful of years had become not just a science fiction idea, but a real life possibility.  It was not only depressing, it was terrifying.  Instantly I thought of my children, of all the children, and then the unborn children.  Of course, I'm a self-centered human.   All the other 99% of Earth's organisms going extinct with us came to me as an after thought. Though not much longer after.  I'm not a callous human, just self centered. 


I spent a month mostly in bed, crying, feeling sorry for the Earth's beings that we were exterminating each day at a faster pace.  And feeling sorry for my kids. 
They would not get to have the opportunities we did.  Well, aside from the economy still in the stinker, the opportunities they would miss out on would be beyond a nice job, a cozy home, access to food, having babies.  These were already in the trash heap.  No, their future is a grim one, and most likely I will live long enough to see it. 


But then the day came when I decided I needed to live my life the way I wanted to, the way Dr. McPherson challenged us to. To do what we love.  NOW!

Because there was no time to lose!  No more time to waste on the career hamster wheel, no more time to sacrifice the best of our lives to the owners of industry in return for slaves wages.  
The time had come to step off the cliff and spread my wings and trust that they would cary me to incredible heights.  
And they have!    And my first documentary Going Dark is the result. 


It has already screened at four film festivals and is entered in several where its status is still to be determined during 2015.  


I challenge everyone to spread their wings too.  Now.  While we still have time.
Peace and love to everyone.