On the contribute page at the site it says: "Grassroots filmmaking requires funds as well as heart. We ask you to contribute what you can to help us finish and distribute Grassroots: The Movie. For a gift of $30 you will receive a free advance copy of the DVD. For a gift of $50 or more your name will also appear in the film's end credits.

Your gift will make possible a final cut of the film that is distribution ready. Also, any profits from distribution will in turn make possible our next film on grassroots participation in American democratic self-government. This is a continuing story, we trust."

So yea, even though I'm told again and again that I can't expect to get more than $50,000 as a first time feature filmmaker, I do hope I can get that to make the next film on grassroots politics. Of course, I hope I am still married after all this too (that's a joke Clyde, stop rolling your eyes). So technically speaking I am not a big commercial entity but you are correct, I am commercial since I want to recoup my cost and produce, distribute and shop around a film that I think will be beneficial on a large scale for our community. So if it's all right with you I still consider it a community project since it is told by, and is about the community. It costs money to get those dvds and names in the credits so I consider that a return on an investment for the small donations.

1. Are the producers getting salaries?

No. In three years money has gone out and I have paid for my co-producers flights etc to keep her happy though she works as a professor of film at the New School in NYC and Purchase. In fact, our original budget is $175,000 that includes salaries for time actually making it estimated, but I cut that out and other things because I didn't think I could justify certain costs yet with the community. The $108,130 budget is what I thought was the bare minimum we needed to beg for to simply keep the film alive and get it into production. I had the budgets up initially at the site but took it down because it just was not necessary and took away from the concentration of the video I thought. I'm not against putting them back up.

2. If the movie brings more revenue than its production costs, where will the surplus go?

Again, as it says on the donation page:

"Also, any profits from distribution will in turn make possible our next film on grassroots participation in American democratic self-government."

3. Will viewers be able to download the film for free and also share copies online?

I'm so far away from that stage I do not know how to answer the question. Do you have resources you can share that would give me an idea how I could do that and still get a return to get out of debt?

One idea I have been kicking around is to offer shares for the level of commitment to the film. I'd really like to see this kept in the family because a big movie house would make demands on the direction of the film. That could disastrous for this type of content. Anyhow, if one sends in $100 for example they get .00000001 or something from a percentage pool of any profits (if there ever is a movie). If you know about these things please share. What do you think of the idea?

Clyde, since you have not seen the video. Let me briefly share what it is that is free on my site:

1. the first clip is about annatopia.com and me (citizen journalists video blogging for Dean Nation at the time) canvassing for Dean in Iowa and talking about that lost sense of community.

2. Citizen journalist going after Sean Hannity, Carville, Tucker, etc etc... in the hopes that in a finished film younger generations will see that cheap technology can even the playing field with the MSM if one has the courage to go after them to get unscripted moments. In the film, you will see me get on the CNN bus and confront Bob Novak for instance.

3. This road trip of a film includes regular characters like Darius Mitchell who became my friend on the trail of democracy during the campaign. He's a big black guy from Lowell, Mass. who is concerned about the way MSM depicts African Americans. He says the media is segregated. He wants to change that. I want to help get his message out within my message in the finished movie.

4. The MSM kept reporting these peaceful protests in NYC at the RNC as violent, unruly hippie people. You and I know that was not the case. The video shows an undercover cop revving up and gunning down a woman on purpose. My video actually shows the cop doing this (when blown up and in better light you can actually see the cop smiling before he did it). That night and the next morning MSM all over reports that a policeman was attacked by angry mobs. If I was into conspiracy theories, this is the video that would make me believe in them because I think this attack by the cop was coordinated somehow.

5. The last video just shows how nuts things get during these times following presidential candidates. Larouche supporters rioting at Dean speeches. Al Franken "wrestling" protestors into submission (he used the video on a talk show--for free. I just hope he'll speak with me again for the final cut of a film).

I hope you will see the video and consider what's at stake here.

So, if you have some ideas on all this please write. Perhaps I'll post part of our discussion to see if others want to chime in. I'm open to all ideas but think I've been up front about what's going on.

Again, I didn't mean to hijack anything either. Do you think it would be okay to post my ad in open threads? I really don't know the answer to these questions. I am really still learning about how these things works so thanks again for opening up the discussion..

And what does a 17 rating mean?

My shoulder is killing me I have to stop writing for now.