Hey Folks,

OK, we are just a little over a day and counting until we launch the crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo for our documentary project STRANGER AT HOME.

I’ll admit, I’m feeling a combo plate of excitement and nerves here at launch headquarters  slash production offices. Excitement because we can’t wait to share the campaign with you. I’m proud to say it’s a beautiful and compelling site, laid out with elegance, dignity and respect — we felt our veterans and their families deserved nothing less.

In our viewpoint, this film, which will give our veterans and their families a relevant and truthful voice — what it’s really like after war, after combat — debuts in this campaign.

Yikes, right?

Yes, the pressure’s on us and there have been no half measures in preparing this stage of the filmmaking process for you. In other words, you’re getting all of our professional integrity and artistry at this stage of the game.

Fundraising through crowd sourcing? Really?

It’s wild, I know. They sure weren’t teaching that in my early film schooling days, I can assure. Now, it’s the way of things, a way to make it a full-on, WE filmmaking experience, which personally, I feel is right for this documentary.

Here’s what I also know — we all get contacted about many Indiegogo and Kickstarter projects. Like I said, it’s how the world moves at this time. As a dear friend said to me about that, “there’s a lot of noise out there, it’s tough to cut through, and get people’s attention.” Then he added, “but this is a really meaningful and important topic. If you stay on people’s radar, you’ll get through.”

From Dan’s mouth to God’s ears!

We really believe that STRANGER AT HOME belongs to all of us. Not enough can be done for and said about our veterans and their families at this time. And honestly, since we’ve embarked on making this movie, we are experiencing the collective caring (and frustrated outrage) about what is being overlooked, neglected, forgotten.

Energies run high and hot on the subject of our veterans, that’s for darn sure. People — good-hearted, privileged civilians like you and me — don’t know how to mend that which needs so much healing, so much sorting out, so much real attention. We throw up our hands, right? Frustration’ll do that. Man, I’d hate to be a decent, hard-working VA employee right now, snagged-up in the red tape of “massive mess in review.”

STRANGER AT HOME is our way of channeling that “I give up” energy into a more hopeful and positively impactful message. We’re not politicians, we’re storytellers. We believe in the identification factor through the authentically told human experience. We believe a well-made film can open hearts and minds with greater ease than any other creative medium. We believe that in that opening confusion clears and solutions present themselves because we can see ourselves in another. Enter compassion.

We are offering this film as a healing and we really want you to join us in that intention. Idealistic or expansive? Both feel good to me.

I mentioned “nerves” earlier. Thanks, I think I’ve worked them out by writing this to you. We’re as prepared as we can be for the launch. Now, it’s just a matter of faith and trust that we’ve got your attention and you’re looking forward to joining hands with us on this special project.

The LIVE link for the campaign is coming.

Launch day:  Thursday, May 22nd at 6AM (PDT).

Gratitude on overload for keeping STRANGER AT HOME on your radar,

Beth

P.S. Enormous thanks to the many angels who are helping us boost the campaign and SPREAD THE WORD. You know who you are and we love you. Extra, extra thanks to the veteran wives of <href=”http://livesofpromise.org”>LIVES OF PROMISE who have truly lived going above and beyond the call of duty and are now doing so now for this film. Here’s a poem by one of them — Melissa Comeau — from her stunning collection Sleeping With the War:

HEART

His Purple Heart

For my glass heart

Both broken by battle

And scarred to the soul

A token, an outside nod exist for Purple

But this shattered glass is invisible

And all mine to clean up

And here’s Mandi Linville — also speaking from her heart: