Next Years Project

[jacob12_1993]

I just though I would let you all know about what I have planned for next year

As some of you may be aware in the summer I travelled with 12 other students from around the UK to the Burmese border region of Sangkhlaburi to help with the construction of a permanent school building at a school catering for Mon, Karen and Burmese children. I stayed at the school for five weeks, working as a labourer on the building site. Whilst working in Sangkhlaburi I also spent time working on a personal project to highlight the plight of these 'forgotten' people who live in conditions much the same as people in many third world countries in Africa and the Indian Subcontinent .The project page can be found here:

Well this year I am planning to expand on the project building on what was created last summer. During a planned 4 month trip through SE Asia passing through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China, I am looking to set aside 5-6 weeks of my trip to work on producing a documentary which will highlight the lives of local tribes, refugees and workers living on the border. Starting at the school in Sangkhlaburi I aim to spend time working in and around Sangkhlaburi, Mae Sot, Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang. I am hoping to also work with a variety of NGOs to showcase the incredible work they do to help these people. Below is a map of the area I will be travelling to. The red line is the route I will take over the course of the 5 weeks. Sangklhaburi, Mae Sot, Mae Sariang and Mae Hong Son are also labelled.

The border between Myanmar and Thailand has been in conflict for many years and it is something which is still going on today. The ethnic tribes of the area often clash with the Burmese army. This conflict has left millions displaced, many who have fled across the border into Thailand. The use of child soldiers and land mines has also been an major issue in the area. Below is a small video that was shot a month before I was in Three Pagodas Pass this year.

[YOUTUBE]mJlq5wZg_vQ[/YOUTUBE]

During the project I aim to produce a short documentary showcasing the work being done to help the displaced people of the border, I also hope to produce an new larger e-book building on what has been produced this year. I am also going to produce limited edition prints from the photo stills that I shoot. As with this year 100% of the proceeds will be donated directly back into the the organisations working on the border. The projects aims is to educate people about what it is like living on the border. Once completed I am hopefully going to take it into local schools and other places in an attempt to educate people on what is a fairly unknown problem.

The project dates are still not certain however it is likely I will be in Sangkhlaburi by the beginning of May and leaving Mae Sariang approximately 4-5 weeks later. The travel and living expenses will be solely funded by me, and therefore no money will be spent unnecessarily hopefully increasing what goes back to the organisations. I currently have Think Tank, Rycote, Beacktek and Litepanels onboard who have kindly donated kit to the project. I also had an offer from a large production company to fund the project with a rather large sum of money for a return on the proceeds, however my morals told me that I could not accept that sort of money when I could nearly build a school for that amount which would be a lot more beneficial to the people. Whilst there I am looking at employing a few local people as translators, guides and transport. As I don't want to be exploiting the people I am trying to help I will be looking at paying them well. To help fund this I have set up a crowfunder page (the link is in my sig below) which allows people to fund the project through small donations in return for certain rewards.

Hopefully you have learned a little more about the project. If you have any advice, could offer your assistance (may need the services of a web developer, graphic designer, animation artist) or would just like to know more please don't hesitate to PM me

Thank you for taking your time to read this

Jake

 

[Alastair]

I also had an offer from a large production company to fund the project with a rather large sum of money for a return on the proceeds, however my morals told me that I could not accept that sort of money when I could nearly build a school for that amount which would be a lot more beneficial to the people.

Jake, could you not negotiate to cap the return on the investment? i.e. if they offer to fund the expedition, they receive a percentage of the generated income up to a non-guarunteed maximum return of 20-30% on-top of their initial investment (I'm not sure what the going rate of return is for this market). A professional production company could offer valuable production skills and marketing opportunities that increase the final value of your work beyond that you'd achieve without them. You might be able to raise more money going this route, rather than less.

This wouldn't prevent you using crowdfunding or other traditional/social media means of raising money to fund a school of community project in-country.

 

[jacob12_1993]

Jake, could you not negotiate to cap the return on the investment? i.e. if they offer to fund the expedition, they receive a percentage of the generated income up to a non-guarunteed maximum return of 20-30% on-top of their initial investment (I'm not sure what the going rate of return is for this market). A professional production company could offer valuable production skills and marketing opportunities that increase the final value of your work beyond that you'd achieve without them. You might be able to raise more money going this route, rather than less.

This wouldn't prevent you using crowdfunding or other traditional/social media means of raising money to fund a school of community project in-country.

I know I really want to say to them yeah, but I keep feeling like I will be doing the wrong thing taking thousands of pounds to shoot a documentary which may not bring back the same investment for the school. I don't know what to do, my head is telling me say yes, my heart is saying no.

Jake

 

[Vic]

I am hoping to also work with a variety of NGOs to showcase the incredible work they do to help these people.


During the project I aim to produce a short documentary showcasing the work being done to help the displaced people of the border,

Hi Joe,

Your project sounds extremely worthwhile and very admirable. The only thing I have to say, and only because I feel very passionate about it, is the above quotes. I would say what is equally, if not more, important is to show what these displaced people are doing for themselves, i.e don't go down showing them as victims route. These people do just as much to try to help their situation than the NGO's Try to show something that someone from the UK can relate to rather than seeing them as people completely different from ourselves.

You probably have already thought of this and it isn't meant to be condescending It's just an area of research I am working on right now in getting away from the eurocentric eye that is often cast on other cultures by western photographers and thought I would mention it. Little mention of it here at the Guardian as well.

Good luck and I hope you manage to fund this

Have you tried Kickstarter or Emphas.is?

 

[jacob12_1993]

Hi Joe,

Your project sounds extremely worthwhile and very admirable. The only thing I have to say, and only because I feel very passionate about it, is the above quotes. I would say what is equally, if not more, important is to show what these displaced people are doing for themselves, i.e don't go down showing them as victims route. These people do just as much to try to help their situation than the NGO's Try to show something that someone from the UK can relate to rather than seeing them as people completely different from ourselves.

You probably have already thought of this and it isn't meant to be condescending It's just an area of research I am working on right now in getting away from the eurocentric eye that is often cast on other cultures by western photographers and thought I would mention it. Little mention of it here at the Guardian as well.

Good luck and I hope you manage to fund this

Have you tried Kickstarter or Emphas.is?

Hello Vic,

I will be doing exactly what you have said along with working with NGOs. When I was there this year the determination of the people living there was probably the most inspirational thing about the whole time I was there. I have probably missed so much of what I have planned out of the above writing. There is just so many ideas and things running through my head I forget most of it. :bonk:

You research sounds extremely interesting and something I have actually been reading about not so long ago. I think it is something we can all learn about and something which hopefully my project will portray.

I have looked into kickstarter but I believe it is US only but will have a look at Emphas.is

Thanks Jake

 

[jacob12_1993]

Small Update:

I have received some excellent support from many large manufacturers who have kindly donated kit to make the project even more successful. The project supporters so far include: SmallHD, Think Tank, Rycote, Cinetactics, Beachtek, Manfrotto and a few more where negotiations are still ongoing.

I also received some excellent news about the school that I worked at last year. They have started planning to extend into some smaller community schools to allow around 50 children who have never been to school to gain access to education and hopefully a much better life in the future.

Finally I have discovered that the General Election in Myanmar is due to be held on April 1st the same day as I am planning to land in Yangon. This will hopefully be the start of better democracy and freedom for the people of Myanmar and will hopefully call an end to the rape, murder and pillaging currently being carried out by the Burmese military in and around the border regions. It's definitely not going to be a quick fix for the millions of displaced people but it is a small glimmer of hope that I know every one of them have been looking forward to for the whole of their lives.

I will also hopefully be creating a blog to document my journey and the project as it develops in an attempt to highlight the lives of the people living along the border. I am also still looking for a few technically minded people as mentioned in the original post to possibly donate some of their time to help the project.

 

[Jayst84]

I'm confused about the production company? Why not take the cash if they're offering? If you could 'almost build a school' with it, then why not do that?

 

[jacob12_1993]

I'm confused about the production company? Why not take the cash if they're offering? If you could 'almost build a school' with it, then why not do that?

Because they wanted a return on their investment i.e 20% of all profits from the documentary. So I would have to still shoot a documentary and spend £5k doing it. I am now going it alone, yes I am having to give up a little on production value but I have already had offers from people to help score the music etc so with zero costs except my own money to buy kit, flights etc (which won't be included in the project) I will have a 100% margin to donate every single penny back to the people most in need.