Looking for: Outreach and Communications Interns
The DreamTown team is seeking documentary film interns with an interest in soccer/futbol, Ecuador, Latin American/African Diaspora Studies, and/or great stories told through the medium of documentary film.
DreamTown is the inspiring story of three young soccer players chasing success in the face of extraordinary challenges. Entwined with their athletic dreams are the hopes of all Afro-Ecuadorians, for whom soccer is more than a sport but the means to recognition and respect they have long been denied.
LOOKING FOR: Outreach and Communications Interns!
Interns will learn how to do research, outreach, fundraising support, and audience engagement for a documentary film project. Bilingual candidates (English/Spanish), and individuals who are knowledgeable about soccer/futbol are encouraged to apply. While living in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut is a plus, interested applicants who live elsewhere are welcome to apply.
The DreamTown team will discuss the time commitment qualified candidates are able to give the film; ideally, we would like outreach and communications interns to work 10 – 15 hours a week. We will gladly work with students and their schools to make this experience comply with college/university internship programs for credit, and will provide letters of recommendation as needed.
Please send a cover letter and resume to:
Lauren Townsend, Associate Producer, DreamTown – lauren@voicesofdreamtown.com
Deadline: April 15, 2012
DreamTown is feeling energized!
With more light, and more sun and warmth, DreamTown is feeling refreshed and energized!
Our story continues to evolve.
Our characters lives are in flux, holding both promise and uncertainty. Anibal continues to rise against all odds; he is now playing for El Nacional’s sub-18. At age 15 he has been offered a 3-year contract to stay on the team. This promises to bring long-awaited financial stability to his family. Meanwhile he continues to try out for the Ecuadorian National Team as they prepare for the Sudamericano Sub-17 Tournament in Argentina on March 2013. Anibal’s chances are strong as he pursues his soccer dreams.
Anibal's family, Dreamtown's youngest rising soccer talent.
Carlos, on the other hand, is preparing for fatherhood. At the end of this month, he will have new baby boy named Jean Carlos! We have sent him a flip camera to document this transition and have local crew ready to capture this life-changing event. We are really happy for him and wish him and his partner a safe delivery.
The DreamTown Team is growing!
The spring brings new members to our production staff.
Welcome aboard, Maria Agui Carter, Marco Antonio Varona, Tupac Galarza and Lauren Townsend! We are honored and lucky to have our first Executive Producer, Maria Agui Carter, a fellow Ecuadorian Director, writer and chair of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Maria has been delivering long-form documentary films for national public television for over two decades. She will review scripts, production plans, give edit notes, help connect Director Betty to resources, and help create strategic plans around funding, production, post production, distribution and outreach.
We have also partnered up with a local production company in Ecuador called TerraVision. Director Marco Antonio Barona and Director of Photography Tupac Galarza are delighted to work on completing DreamTown and bring local and professional knowledge to our production. We are glad to have someone in the field, ready to film new footage as crucial story developments take place.
Lauren Townsend joins the DreamTown Team as an Associate Producer bringing breath of experience, enthusiasm and energy to our fundraising, communications and outreach efforts. We are thrilled to have Lauren and her campaign management and organizing skills on the DreamTown team.
Fundraising and more fundraising!
We sent off the Tribecca Gucci Grant for $50,000 this week. Please join us in keeping fingers crossed for a DreamTown winning proposal!
Feliz Fiestas! Happy Holidays!
We are taking this moment to send our BEST WISHES to you and yours during the holiday season and the start of a New Year. Here are some highlights from 2011:
• Dreamtown’s Website up and running thanks to our talented team member, Armand Emamdjomeh!
• We reached $40,000 on Kickstarter with more than 3,000 people’s support and contributions making possible a production trip back to Ecuador and advancing our story along tremendously. A list of special thanks to everyone that contributed can be found here.
• Georgina’s eyesight (Carlos’s mom) was saved from going blind thanks to Do Gooder contributions from Dahlia Philips and Ruth Ayala-Quezada. She is healing right now.
• We managed to screen DreamTown’s work-in-progress in 12 venues including Museo del Barrio, Upper 90 Soccer store, La Peña’s Cultural Center, Jacob Burns Film Center, NYU’s Afro-Latin Film Series, and many more.
• Our community of fans is growing strong and we partnered up with JUVE, NALIP, ULP, United Latinos en Accion, and Young Ecuadorian American Professionals.
• We were nominated for and awarded a year round mentorship from NALIP’s LAMP program!
2011 was an amazing year thanks to each of you!! We still have a lot of work in 2012 and want to make sure we finish the film next year. If you can, please consider an End of Year Gift to DreamTown. You can make a tax-deductable donation through Woman Make Movies on our behalf and know you are supporting Latino independent film, EL Chota Valley, and cooperative economics ☺
Click here to donate.
May 2012 bless each of us with abundance in health, love, prosperity, peace & happiness.
SALUD!! CHEERS TO ALL!!
DREAMTOWN CONTEST & DAILY TRIVIA QUESTION:
“I don’t know much about the history of El Chota or where I come from, as much as I wanted to learn I had to stop going to school because I couldn’t afford it…” – Anibal Chala, 15 DreamTown
Help Anibal and other children learn more about their AFRO-ECUADORIAN heritage and have a deeper understanding of their own Identity…AND WIN A PRIZE!
WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION:
… … When were slaves officially freed in the country of Ecuador?
A. 1492
B. 1982
C. 1851
D. 1821
— FIRST 5 PEOPLE to Answer correctly get entered to WIN a Special Prize Announced tomorrow morning!
SUBMIT ANSWERS IN COMMENTS SECTION HERE:
www.indiegogo.com/dreamtown
New Material from our last trip to Ecuador!
Because of many of YOU our 1st fundraising campaign was a success bringing us from 25% of footage filmed to 75% –within 2 months! Having worked on this project for over 4 YEARS, we think this is an amazing accomplishment! So we want to show everyone what we could make possible with these funds by giving you an exclusive sneak peak of this NEW footage from our recent production shoot in Ecuador with more installments soon to come.
Blog Video #1 – – Tragedy and Triumph
After 2 years young and talented Anibal’s life changed forever… a huge tragic loss in his family was followed by a huge opportunity in his soccer career! With these dramatic highs and lows we are in awe of his continued humility and strength, now more than ever he is stepping up as his whole family puts their hopes for a better future in his pursuit of a dream.
“What Soccer teaches me is the importance of a team in being there for each other, respecting each other and staying united… It made me so happy to know that my team is there for me in good times and in bad times.”– Anibal Chala, 15, speaking of the support he received from his teammates when his father passed away.
This New Video kicks off our NEW CAMPAIGN – Phase II! Our goal is to EXPAND and GROW our number of supporters and raise $35,000 to fund the LAST film shoot in Ecuador to capture the Final Chapter of DreamTown’s compelling stories!
So we ask that you PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD of our NEW campaign and support this inspiring story in the making here: www.indiegogo.com/Dreamtown
Our goal is to attract NEW backers happy to support an underdog story of unity and hope through the power of soccer with 10% of all proceeds going to help the people of El Chota Valley!
DreamTown Regresa de un Exitoso Rodaje en Ecuador
Tenemos mucho que reportar y estamos muy agradecidos por tener un verano lleno de metas, retos, y sacrificios que se ha podido alcanzar y sobresalir. Primeramente, nuestra meta en Kickstarter se la alcanzo con el apoyo de una comunidad de 415 personas que contribuyeron hacia un sueño que se hizo realidad. Estos fondos hicieron possible un viaje al Ecuador, el cual avanso a la historia y la ha llevado a un nuevo nivel.
Chequen el video para escuchar nuestras ultimas noticias directamente de la Directora Betty Bastidas, conozcan al equipo de 8 que se integraron al equipo, enterensen sobre la historia y vean fotos del rodaje.
Si desean encontrar maneras de ayudarnos, o quieren estar involucrados en este proyecto, o no mas quieren saludar, pueden comunicarse con nosotros por medio de voicesofdreamtown@gmail.com .
De antemano, muchisimas gracias por tomar su tiempo y leer este mensanje.
Un Abrazo,
Betty Bastidas
Big things happening here…
Dreamers y Soñadores!!!
There are big happenings here at DreamTown that we want to share with everyone!
This past weekend, producer Maia Monasterios was a very busy bee, representing DreamTown at the Kicking and Screening Film Festival and at the MLS All Star Week activities at the Football Factory at Legends in Manhattan!! On Sunday and Monday evenings, she was able to screen the DreamTown trailer before the feature film of the evening and bring some much needed attention to our cause!!
We also want to share some dates with all of you to let you know when you can come out and SEE the work in progress for yourselves and meet the DreamTown team in person!!
Here are Screenings/Events coming up that are confirmed:
August 3, Jacob Burns and Media Arts Lab in Pleasentville, NY @7pm – www.burnsfilmcenter.org/
August 8, Upper90 Soccer Store (Stay tuned for time) – http://www.u90soccer.com/
And also, August 7, DreamTown will be part in the Ecuadorian Parade in Queens!!!
We would love to have everyone come out and see the work-in-progress and show your support!! We have two weeks left in our campaign, but we have nothing but faith that with amazing supporters like those who have already pledged, we’ll hit our goal!! Tell a friend to tell a friend to share this link: http://kck.st/dreamtowndoc!!
Peace and Love,
– The Dream Team
Full Steam Ahead
Dreamers y Soñadores!
It has been quite a week here in DreamTown. First and foremost, our Kickstarter Fundraiser is in full swing! We’ve received an amazing outpouring of love and support with 47 backers contributing over $3500 towards the completion of the film. We can’t thank everyone enough but there is still a lot of work to be done and only 23 days left in this all-or-nothing campaign!
DreamTown was also featured this week on LatinoSports.com in an exclusive article by Cesar Diaz! (http://bit.ly/DreamTownLatinoSports)
Cesar has been incredibly supportive of this important cause since we met him at the Ecuador vs. Greece match in NYC last month. This article is the first in a series he is writing to showcase our film, El Chota Valley and the efforts taking place to improve the social and economic conditions in the area.
In the meantime, we are planning screenings of the work-in-progress version of the film in cities from New York to Los Angeles! Stay tuned right here for more information as we announce dates and locations so you don’t miss us when we’re in your area!
That’s all for now, but don’t forget to spread the word to all of your friends and families about our fundraiser! Remind them that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing campaign and their cards will NOT be charged unless our goal is met! August 11th is coming quick and we need all the support we can get!
DreamTown goes to Citi Field
by Martin Brecht, Soccer Consultant
The DreamTown crew was behind the scenes at the Ecuador vs. Greece international soccer match at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows, NYC on Tuesday June 7th. It was the stadium’s first ever soccer game and a near sell-out crowd of more than 39,000 fans turned out to see Ecuador’s last warm-up match before Copa America 2011, the South American championships. The stadium was a sea of yellow representing Ecuador, with some blue and white Greece fans sprinkled in there as well. The game ended 1-1, however it was a spirited affair with both teams deserving of the draw. From our perspective, it was exciting to realize we have such an enthusiastic audience in our own backyard that is energized and passionate about soccer in Ecuador. One highlight from the night was securing an interview with two-time World Cup finalist Edison Mendez, a native of El Chota Valley where our film is set. Thank you again to everyone that shared their passion, opinions, and love for the beautiful game with the DreamTown staff. We got mad love for YOU.