This is the first post for the new media campaign that Ashley and I (Jared) will be creating so that everyone out there who’s interested can experience alongside with us the process of creating an independent documentary feature film–in this case our very own, Life’s Waltz, about the triumph of life in old age in and outside of a typical American retirement community–from beginning to end!

If you’re reading this, you probably already know a bit about what we’re doing. But just in case, let me catch you up really quickly. Ashley and I are co-creating (producing, directing, shooting, editing, etc.) a feature documentary (80-120 minutes) together. Just the two of us. We’ve already done a short-subject doc about the same thing–life in old age–and it was such an amazing experience that we decided to do it again in a way that could have the potential to get the message out to so many more people. So, we have gotten permission to shoot for a couple of months at Town Village North Dallas (and others in the works!), a really nice retirement community in Dallas, TX (Jared’s hometown). We’ll get to know a number of people there by interviewing them, talking with them, hanging out with them, and doing all of their activities with them. It’s kind of like a “day-in-the-life”! We’ve been working tirelessly for the past few months (ever since that fateful phone call I made to Ashley from New York City back in late July) to gain our bearings, research equipment, find a willing and ideal community (or two!), get all of the legal releases and matters taken care of, form a business (LLC), and get everything else ready to shoot and do it all the right way.

And now, after all of that preparation, Ashley is arriving in less than 24 hours! She said to me, “I’m not booking a ticket until you place the order on the equipment, buster!” So that was the deal, and I placed the order on Friday, so she did the same for a flight. We’re moving into Phase II (I just made that up…), where we actually do some creative stuff! Wow, I almost have forgotten that I once made movies. The next part of what we’re going to be doing isn’t just shooting and editing. In fact, it’s way more than that. It’s also the launching of this blog, our youtube channel (youtube.com/lifeswaltz), and the entire effort to create a community and interact with people who are interested in what we’re doing: you. (And also we’ve got a bunch of other work to do too that we’ll talk about soon.) But what do you mean you want to interact with us, Jared and Ashley?

Here’s how we want to interact with all of you out there. First off, we’re gonna do blogs (a.k.a. an online journal, which is what you’re reading right now, for the baby boomers and up out there reading this!) and vlogs (video blogs–talking into a camera… you’ll catch on!) about every single aspect of what Ashley and I will be doing and have done already (we got some catchin’ up to do here!), and in addition we’ll probably have some of the people who turn out to be our subjects do some vlogs as well. Also, we’re going to post clips from our select dailies (especially good footage from what we shoot, selected daily) throughout our shooting period (“production”). And we’re going to put up other media and try to interact in every way possible with all of you. Of course, we’ll always welcome comments and suggestions and hope that everyone can get as involved as possible (and learn a thing or two along the way) in the making of Life’s Waltz! I wouldn’t be surprised if some other surprises come up along the way, too. This is a dynamic enterprise!

Wow, there are some long sentences (and parentheticals with exclamation marks!) in there. You’ll be able to tell that Jared’s writing when the sentences don’t end and are fraught with little quips! Ok, I think I’ve explained it pretty well. Please, please, please post comments and questions, like, “Jared, what’s a ‘documentary’?” or “What kind of waveforms were you looking when you recorded that audio on yesterday’s dailies, and what kind of mixing techniques will you employ to fix that rubbish?!” or “I really like the direction you guys are taking! Here’s a bunch of money with no strings attached!” We’re hoping for a whole wide range of people who’ll be coming here, people of all kinds of backgrounds and expertises (or none at all!), so no question or comment is dumb. I love constructive criticism, so let’s have that too!

We’re so excited to start. Here we go!

blogYT campaign, producing, status update