Filmmaker Collaborative Emergency Relief Proposal
Filmmaker Collaborative Member Profile: Jordan is a gifted storyteller and filmmaker who has collaborated on projects with Hulu, and loves Reggae gospel songs. She is currently storyboarding her passion project, a documentary short examining how former atheists came to faith. Jordan has some free time because her paid gigs have been cancelled and three out of four breadwinners in her household have been laid off. Her brother and sole breadwinner for the family is a first responder and at high risk during this COVID-19 crisis.
The Filmmaker Collaborative is a diverse community of more than 30 Christian filmmakers, local to Boston, that has been meeting since 2017. This community includes members from over 15 local congregations, including media directors from Bethel AME, Congregation Lion of Judah, Park Street Church, and also the Emmanuel Gospel Center. The Filmmaker Collaborative is a dynamic learning community, exploring and sharing the story of God's work in Greater Boston.
Love in Action: Cry Out is the Filmmaker Collaborative’s most recent project. This hip-hop music video is an anthem of hope and a challenge to the Church to live out love in action during this pandemic. As we face systemic challenges, the Filmmaker Collaborative can help the faith community grow in storytelling and collaboration to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city" (Jer 29:7).
Why We Need the Filmmaker Collaborative Emergency Relief Proposal
The Challenge: Because of the COVID-19 crisis, many members of the Filmmaker Collaborative have experienced a complete or almost complete loss of income. A majority of the members are self-employed and rely on the gig economy, which has shuddered to a standstill due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Opportunity: The Filmmaker Collaborative will commission film projects as catalysts of beauty and hope. These projects will bless the Church and community in uncertain times while providing much-needed work for the artists.
The Filmmaker Collaborative seeks to raise $20,000 in order to fund 8 video shorts (at $2,500 each). EGC and Filmmaker Collaborative participants have donated $10,000, so an additional $10,000 is required.
The Deliverables:
8 Filmmaker Collaborative participants will receive a $2,500 investment in their projects. They will have the option to increase that funding by leveraging the $2,500 as a matching grant with friends & family fundraising and/or with a Kickstarter campaign.
The Filmmaker Collaborative will host a Film Festival to celebrate and view the finished projects. This event will bring churches together across diverse lines, strengthening Christian unity and prophetic creativity. Additional funding could be raised for filmmakers in need during the Film Festival. (Ideally this event will take place in the fall when it’s possible to gather in person once again, but we could also live stream the event.)
The Church & the city will be blessed by 8 projects, created by the Filmmaker Collaborative, inspiring hope and purpose in a time when that is critically needed.
Contact: Elijah Mickelson (Founder of the Filmmaker Collaborative & Director of Communications at EGC) at emickelson@egc.org for more information.
(Please indicate “Filmmaker Collaborative” in the “For” giving field)
Giving Information: You can give online at egc.org/give-filmmaker (please type Filmmaker Collaborative in the “for” field). Or you can also send a check made out to “EGC” with “Filmmaker Collaborative” in the memo line to PO Box 240017, Dorchester, MA 02124.
Donations are tax deductible. 100% of donations will go to support the filmmakers involved. Funding will commission 8 Filmmaker Collaborative participants who have been impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. EGC will be processing and allocating funding. The Filmmaker Collaborative Leadership Team will serve as a braintrust regarding implementation and setting milestones for the projects.
Filmmaker Collaborative Leadership Team
Elijah Mickelson
Filmmaker and pastor Elijah Mickelson is passionate about the intersection of culture and faith. An M.Div. graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, ordained since 2006, he has served in pastoral and communication roles in diverse urban environments for the last 14 years. Elijah is the founder of the Filmmaker Collaborative and serves as Director of Communications for the Emmanuel Gospel Center.
He has directed projects such as Cry Out, Voices of Human Trafficking, and Boston’s Civic Leader Summit, though his proudest achievements include filming an underwater music video with his two brothers, being the first person to fly a drone inside Boston City Hall, and his ability to change a diaper blindfolded.
Elijah and his wife Stacie live in an intentional Christian community in Boston and have two beautiful daughters, Eden and Anna, who enjoy string cheese and petting bees.
Jordan Knott
Born in Jamaica, and raised in the Greater Boston area, Jordan is a writer/story-teller/filmmaker with various cultural influences. She loves to incorporate themes of interpersonal relationships, mental health and faith in her projects. For the last three years, Jordan has been working as a freelance production assistant on a variety of shows in the Boston area for Netflix, Hulu, NBC, Pfizer, Puma and more. She is currently writing an original feature, which won her a spot in the 2019 Nostos Screenwriting residency. She is also writing two original series and writing/directing/producing an original documentary short on former atheist testimonies.
Lee Francois
In 2009, Lee Francois received his Digital Design degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. When he could not find employment in his field, Lee started his own business. Following that, some unfortunate unwise choices were costly to Lee when he had to serve time in prison for 4 years, putting his dreams on hold.
However, after a tremendous bounce back and re-evaluation of his life, Lee relaunched his company under the name "FrancoisGrphx." Through hard work and opportunities to set a new course in life, Lee is building his business into a successful digital arts company.
Reflecting on his life, Lee says, "Looking back, I realized that if I had never experienced any struggles in my life, I probably would never have had the courage to take those giant leaps of faith to become the courageous man I am today."
Today, in addition to being the CEO of FGXstudios, Lee is also the Director of the Digital Media & A/V Ministry at Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain, MA. Red Chair Stories, directed by Lee, reveals the riveting narrative of men impacted by incarceration who are becoming entrepreneurs.
John Buckley
John Buckley is the founder of Studio Numio, a marketing and creative studio based in Cambridge, MA. Through Studio Numio, John assists various startups and life science companies through marketing strategy and content creation services; including branding, digital/web design, video production, and print design materials. John also volunteers as the Creative Director for Trinity Cambridge Church – a church plant in Kendall Square.
Shaneez Tyndall
Shaneez is a storyteller passionate about identity and representation in the media. She received her Screenwriting MFA from Boston University and her work has placed in Final Draft’s Big Break, ScreenCraft’s Pilot Launch, and BET and ColorCreative’s Script to Film contests. Shaneez has worked with Mass Cultural Council, a leading state arts agency and public funder, and the award-winning media company PRX, helping NPR stations and international producers develop podcasting and entrepreneurial skills. She loves a good dad joke, collecting postcards from every city she visits, and is most likely to be found jamming to an old-school bop.
Luke Zvara
Luke is a Boston-based filmmaker. He studied film production at Emerson College, though he lived overseas for the majority of his life. He grew up in Central Asia, went to high school in Germany, and has traveled to over twenty countries. He does narrative and documentary work, and has worked on films for Giorgio Armani, Walden Television, and various non-profits around the world. Luke has a passion for storytelling, lighting, cinematography, and cultures. He serves on Park Street Church Films. Luke directed Blind Spots, a ballad of distorted vision. His dream is to travel and make beautiful cinema.
Brandt Gillespie
From his studio in downtown Boston, its 9-camera set-up, beautifully lit Green Screens, control room, and 4ME 20 channel switcher, Brandt produces high quality video projects daily.
Brandt has produced for “700 Club,” “100 Huntley Street,” “Dish Network” from TV stations like INSP Charlotte, Comtel Miami, WEDU Tampa, WLAE New Orleans, and Lone Peak Salt Lake. He has directed live events from Boston Garden; the Superdome; the World Congress Center-Georgia Dome in Atlanta; Anaheim Pond, LA; the TWA Dome, St. Louis; the RCA Dome, Indianapolis; the Delta Center Salt Lake; and the Blue Jay Stadium, Toronto, plus numerous smaller venues. Brandt serves as Director of Communications for Congregation Lion of Judah.
Sue Murad
Interdisciplinary artist Sue Murad looks to contemporary cultural artifacts for material and meaning. With a keen interest in the common object and site specificity, her projects are a blend of public interventions, private happenings, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She began making films as a way to document her ephemeral sculpture and live performances, and continues to develop her intimate observational style of documentary film.
In 2018 she joined the MIT Video Production team and in 2019 became a Summer Media Fellow at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. Sharing the creative process with others is a trademark of her work, beginning with Orange, an art company and partnership that launched her career. Other select projects include: playful experimentation with the synth-pop band, UV Protection, with whom she won a Massachusetts Cultural Council award in Choreography; an Artist Residency at Boston Children’s Hospital making films with young patients; performing a duet at the 7a 11d* International Festival of Performance Art; the film, Meditations on the Tide, with sculptor Samantha Fields that screened at the International Artmaking Film Festival in Scotland; partnering with Reciprocity Collaborative on residencies at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Jacob’s Pillow, and Boston’s historic Old North Church; and over 20 years of inviting others into her surreal world of intuitive, sensory exploration.
(Please indicate “Filmmaker Collaborative” in the “For” giving field)