The Singing Wilderness

To the following people who made our May shoot a reality, either through financial support or donation of services:

• Professor Alan Brew at Northland College and his “Pens and Paddles in the North Woods” students: Abby, Elise, Katherine, Matt, and Maureen.
• My crew: Josh Borchardt, Nathan Oliver, and Brad Studstrup, who volunteered their time and hard work.
• Steve Piragis of Piragis Northwoods Company, for donation of canoe rental, paddles, PFDs, bear can, and generous discount on purchases.
• Greg Seitz and Paul Danicic at Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, for their endorsement, encouragement, and financial support.
• Ann Schwaller and The US Forest Service, for letting us shoot inside Superior National Forest!
• Byron and Alis Olsen, Steven Scollard, Bob Countryman, Mark Nolan, Jeffrey Anderson, David Roloff, Hans Gregersen, Thomas Warth, Rocky Barker, Chris Jensen, Carolyn Sundquist, Mark Knox, Hank Roberts, Sharon Kaufman, Tom Pinkerton, Timothy Fie, and others who wish to remain anonymous, for financial contributions.

Look for footage from this important section of the film soon!  And thank you, thank you, thank you all who helped make it happen.

"Pens and Paddles" class in the BWCA

Dear Friends of “The Singing Wilderness,”

If you are reading this, it’s probably because you’ve supported this project in the past.  And thanks to you, we were able to go to the Boundary Waters for five days last October and gather some pretty incredible footage, a sampling of which you can watch right here.  We also shot another key interview with Sigurd’s son Bob, and another with a 92 year-old woman in Ely who knew Sigurd and was inspired by him to become an outfitter.

After watching that clip online, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Communications Director Greg Seitz called me and asked if there was any way they could support the project, since it aligns so closely with their mission.  After a meeting with Greg and Executive Director Paul Danicic in March, Friends of the Boundary Waters has featured the project on their website, in newsletters, and in several Tweets (!), and even pledged a financial contribution.  As THE premier advocacy organization for the BWCAW, their support means A LOT.  Read their lovely, complimentary blog post about the film here.

I also made presentations in March at the The Moving Pictures Collective New York City (MoPictive), and Docuclub Minnesota, where I got a lot of praise and a ton of great feedback.  Thanks to Melody Gilbert, the matriarch of the Midwestern documentary scene, for her guidance and connections to the talented and vibrant Minnesota filmmaking community.

In December, the monthly Good Age did a cover story about me and the film.  You can download a PDF of the full issue here.  We’ve also been featured prominently on a number of great blogs, along with the footage, including  UpNorthica.com, MidwesternGentleman.com, new-wood.blogspot.com, WildernessWatch.org, and CreateHappy.org.  Thanks to all of you for helping us broaden our exposure.

In just the last three weeks the video had been visited almost 2500 times through these websites.  So, word is getting out.  We’re gaining momentum.  But our most important shoot to date is coming up in May, and we are lacking in the funds needed to undertake it.  A group of students from Northland College, Sig’s Alma Mater and home to the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, will they take to the lakes and rivers of the BWCAW for a two week canoe trip.  They will be studying the works of Olson, Thoreau, and other wilderness writers, recording their reflections, and finally, composing their own essays on what it means to live among the elements, to touch the infinite, and reconnect with our evolutionary origins.

This sequence, this story, which will be interwoven into the body of the documentary, stands to become the backbone, the lifeblood, and the living spirit of the film.  Interviews and wilderness footage can go, well, only so far in bringing Sigurd’s ideas to life.  But these eight students will embody the notion that wilderness can nourish the spirit where modern civilization and digital technology only leave it dulled, empty, and wanting. Or they won’t!  Either way it will be interesting.  Their observations, conversations, and insights discovered during their deep immersion into the wilderness will bring intimacy, perspective, and contemporary context to the film.

We’ve budgeted about $6000 for this shoot (this will cover costs for travel, food, lodging, and gear rental – but NOT any sort of compensation for the crew, all of whom will be taking time off of paid work to give to the project).  I still have about $2500 left over from last spring’s fundraiser, but that leaves a considerable gap.  Please, if you can help with even a small contribution, donate now.

 

We start shooting the first week of May, so we ask that you MAKE YOUR DONATION NOW, if you want it to go toward this shoot (but we’ll certainly accept donations after that!).

Thank you everyone for your support in the past, and hopefully in the future!  But please don’t feel obligated – many of you have been very generous already.  As a way of saying thanks we are offering everyone who donates $50 or more a DVD of the film when it is released (the goal is fall of 2012).  That is cumulative and retroactive, for all of you who gave at the fundraiser last spring.  I’m working on some more premiums to offer in the future too, for larger contributions – one possibility is the clever, sweet, highly coveted canoe paddle salad tongs Dick Haskett hand-made for the fundraiser silent auction.  We just have to figure out how to make them in greater quantities!

Thanks everyone for your interest, your patience, your trust, and your support.  Please stay tuned…

Last Saturday, May 22, Alis and Byron Olsen (no relation to Sigurd) held a fundraising benefit to raise money, awareness, and to gather support for the film.  Kim made an assortment of savory, theme-oriented goodies and Carla made the desserts, with help from the Hillers.  Dad concocted a giant batch of deadly-but-delicious Fish House Punch, served in a bowl molded from a block of ice.  Bob Countryman, my original collaborator and first contributor, brought his amazing barbeque brisket.  Chris Cunningham and Greg Reese of Mississippi Peace performed music.  And many folks hand-made or donated items for the silent auction.

David Backes, the world’s foremost authority on Sig Olson, delivered an impassioned and poetic homily about why the world needs to hear what Sigurd had to say all over again – and more than ever before:  as we become more and more interconnected – electronically, virtually and absolutely – we are ever more disconnected with our environment, with our primitive origins, with the mystery and wonder which make us alive.  And he made a stirring case for this film as the new medium for Sig’s message.  I screened an expanded new promo which tells the story of Sig’s struggle to find his voice as a writer and get his work published.  Then Dick Haskett pled for everyone to take their place in the historic legacy of conservation by supporting the film.

One hundred-some were invited; more than half showed up (and more showed their support).  We received an average of over $100 per person in attendance.  More than I could have ever dared to hope for.   THANK YOU EVERYONE!  I can’t wait to get out there and start shooting again…

Annie Shull donated a case of her Raptor Ridge Wines, and Surly Brewing Co., U of M Press Books, Uncle Franky’s, and The Red Stag Supper Club all donated.  Thanks also to Dave for huge amounts of set-up help and the use of his PA; Ken for bartending, Sieren for greeting and checking in, and last but not least, Krissa and Jane for taking money!

To receive an invitation, please contact me.

Red Stag Supper Club

Thanks to our sponsors!

U of M Press

I learned in December that I was declined my application for a grant from the Jerome Foundation.  While they say that every “no” is one step closer to your first “yes”, I was pretty discouraged.

But perhaps in some way it’s for the best.  If nothing else it’s forced me to re-evaluate my approach to the material and helped me reconsider the identity of the project.

It has dawned on me that arts organizations may not be interested in funding a project which, on the surface anyway, appears to be a paean to a white guy from Minnesota with a canoe.  By a white guy from Minnesota.  Even though I know this project is about so much more: as I’ve envisioned it, the film is not so much a biography of Sigurd Olson (a man whom few have heard of and most may not think they’d care to learn about) but rather a story about the vital importance of wilderness in our lives, in which Sigurd is the protagonist.

One of the panelists commented that while the production values of my work sample (the promo) were strong, he couldn’t envision the arc of the story; another panelist echoed this concern.   I am taking that to heart, even though I know from experience that the structures of my films – especially documentaries – are usually conceived in my gut and sort of assert their narrative during the process of creating them.  But I have dedicated myself to formulating a more coherent story arc before asking anyone else for money.

Another thing I think the project has working against it is that it’s not addressing any hot-button topical issues, as is the current fashion.  It’s not overtly  political.  It’s not famously controversial.  And it doesn’t address any obviously pressing social concerns.

Or does it?  Or should it?  The other panelist that turned down my grant application said it felt like a conventional bio-pic.  This is exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid in my conception of the film.  But maybe she was right.  Maybe the human need for wilderness is of more urgent concern and should be brought to light.  I’ve always felt this to be true, and in my proposals for the film I’ve hinted at the premise that our alienation from wilderness is one of modern society’s greatest ills.   Maybe the film should be more about Sig’s ideas about wilderness and less about his life.  I honestly don’t know – I’ve gone back and forth.

REDEFINING “THE SINGING WILDERNESS” – THE FILM

I’d like to know what you think.  Please leave a comment below and tell me which film you think should be made –  a film about A MAN in the WILDERNESS, or a film about WILDERNESS and the HUMAN RACE.  Aside from considering which version would be more compelling to potential sources of funding, try to ask yourself which film could reach a wider audience, and which would have the greatest potential impact in the public awareness of the importance of wilderness and, in turn, its conservation.

And again, if you’d like to read the grant application and offer any feedback, you can download it here.

Thanks so much your time and your thoughts (click on the post title above if you don’t see the comments area below).