Stomp It Out Productions

Documentaries to inspire and motivate action.

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'YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL'

Having finished up our time in summery L.A., Colin and I made our way to the airport for our 3 hour flight to Chicago at 4pm that day. We were scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 2pm, and had our meeting with Harpo at 4pm. Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards...yes...the Oprah Winfrey studios! So figured we would head over to Colin's hotel, change quickly then head over to Harpo which was nearby. However, that day, 3 men in Chicago had decided to have a gun fight, leading to a massive police chase which backed up traffic and shut down roads for a few hours.

So when we get in the taxi and our driver tells us that the normal 22 minute journey is currently going to take 1 and a half hours, and we have a meeting at Harpo just after that time...well there was minor concern!!!

So we decided to go straight to Harpo and hope that the traffic would allow us an on-time departure. Thankfully the incident was concluded and the congestion began to ease, leaving us about 20 minutes before our meeting. PHEW!! And our meeting was just lovely...the people that we met and the energy in the office there is wonderful. At first we had concern that we were arriving for a meeting at one of the biggest production companies in the world, smelling of travel, with our bags, and under dressed, but as soon as we were in there I felt very at ease and felt that our unusual Kiwi mode of operation was entirely appropriate.

We met with a beautiful lady called Lisa who mainly works on Super Soul Sunday, and she was so gentle and kind and relaxed. The 'positivity' amongst the staff is palpable and this women seemed to embody everything that Harpo is about - providing a service to the people with inspirational and uplifting content that can change lives. These people are in it for exactly the same reasons we are...not for big business or for glory...they are in it to create change, and as soon as we both realized that, and as soon as she realized that we were in the same position, it became a beautiful exchange. Below is a sticker that now lives on my computer. Lisa has a bowl of them on her desk from this site, that they did a feature on recently: http://you-are-beautiful.com/

Needless to say I was very impressed with Harpo...it was a refreshing change from the flashing bulbs and big characters of the Pan African Film Festival, and reminded me of the kind of creator I want to be - and the kind of organization I want Stomp It Out Productions to be. 

After Oprah it was time for Colin and I to go our separate ways! I have a sister in law who lives here in Chicago so I am staying with her and Colin is staying downtown in a lovely hotel. One of the best parts of staying with my family is not just that I get to be with a wonderful person who I love, and that she has a beautiful apartment overlooking the lake, or that I can sit in my pj's all day on our day off...but that she has a cat!!!!!

I am cat mad and every time I travel I miss my four cats at home so much...and after a few days I have kitty withdrawal. So I got my first kitty cuddles from the very social, playful and friendly kitten, Louie. He is a Persian and a very new member of the family. As I type this he is snuggled up against my leg...feeding me pure joy through his purr vibrations. 

So we have just one day in Chicago then tomorrow, weather allowing, we are back to the airport for our final destination of the trip...Detroit!! I've heard a lot about Detroit and seen a few doco's on it's downfall and mass depression...in fact I've mostly heard very bad things about Detroit and when I tell people I'm going there they have a similar reaction to the South African airport passport control upon learning we are staying in Soweto. However we found a magical place and some amazing stuff in Soweto, so I think we can do the same in Detroit, especially considering we are being shown around by a wonderful friend and Detroit enthusiast. I hope to come away with my own fuller and more balanced opinion of the city!

See you in Detroit!!!! 

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Pinch me...this is surreal!

Well as I write this the Pan African Film Festival had ended for the year of 2014, and it was a surreal experience I'll tell you.

Sunday was our final showing of Undercover,so we turned up to the cinema a little early to do some flyer hand outs...Richard dressed up for the occasion.

When we got into the cinema, once again we crept in not knowing if anyone would turn up for a Sunday matinee of an obscure unknown doco...but again - a good turnout with an amazing Q+A afterwards with lots of diverse and fantastic feedback. People seem to really respond to Richard's story and are surprised that they have been so engaged just watching a man's face on the screen for some 90 minutes.  And guess who else came to see our flick? Isaiah Washington!! And he loved it so much that straight after the movie we were whisked away to a nearby bar to have a quick lunch and drinks, courtesy of Mr. Washington.

You see, miraculously, Isaiah's elder Babou (spelling probably wrong), who is also the Executive Director of the Film Festival, had instructed Isaiah to come and see Undercover (we already knew that Babou felt our film was important..in fact he even gave a lovely introduction to the film for us before it screened). Aaand on top of that, unbeknownst to any of us, Richard and Isaiah used to be in the military together; something they discovered when they bumped into each other on the red carpet.

So not only did Isaiah love the film (boy did he stroke...and is continuing to stroke my ego) but he also has a personal connection to the subject, and he is very passionate about the message.

Pretty fantastic how the fates align sometimes, and we are really excited with the options opening up in front of us. Now I'm at the point where I'm not allowed to say any more - but we'll keep you posted when we can...trust us it's all very exciting! 

After that we had the closing night 'affair', which involved attending the premier and after party of the closing film, Blackbird, starring and produced by Isaiah. It was a lovely film...it will be interesting to see if anyone is brave enough to pick it up as it deals with a gay, black coming out story in the South...with a hint of High School Musical thrown in there...an odd mix. We'll see! The after party was a true hollywood bash: music, dancing, food, mingling and a tiny bit of networking, though very difficult over the loud music. Richard was able to blow off some steam (that boy can move!!)...and I...stood around. lol. I'm not a successful mingler at the best of times :)  

The morning brought us our last event of the festival: the awards brunch and ceremony...and like most awards ceremonies, it started late and went on a tad too long :) But it was lovely to see some of the film makers acknowledged for their hard work, and it was a privilege to be in that space with so many talented and passionate individuals. It's amazing to see how many people work on so many varying projects, and good to know that they are able to sustain themselves through their films. Hopefully we can do that some day soon!

And that's a rap for the Pan African Film Festival 2014!!! We are at the beignning of a new stage, and we don't really know what comes next. As I was coming back from the bathroom I bumped into Isaiah leaving the event. As we were chatting he asked me who else was involved in the project...i.e. cinematographer. I told him...no one! Our films are made by just me and Colin (and the wonderful Bruce Gainsford who helped me with the final sound mix)! He couldn't believe it...so he gave me a high five and again congratulated me. Colin and I are starting to see more and more how unusual our way of doing things is - but I like the way we are doing things...with honesty, with passion, with hard work and with only the aim to inspire and motivate our fellow humans into seeing eachother in a more positive and loving way!

And tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have more to share about our unusual way of doing things as we head over to Chicago to meet with one of Oprah Winfrey's Producers...as you do.

After we finished the festival and got home, I think we were all in need of some down time. For me, I was in desperate need of some grounding...and I got it in the form of some beautiful vegan pizza and cheesecake from a raw restaurant, buying some hemp clothes and going for a lovely jog along the beach. After all that, I was restored. We finished our evening with a beautiful joint dinner with some mutual friends and packed up ready for an early start the next day. Time to leave the sunny shores of L.A. and head to some REAL winter - CHICAGO!! 

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Downtime...and celeb mingling time!!

Hello again from L.A!!!! We have had a wonderful few days, a mixture of work a play - and we've done the extreme of both!! We've explored our area here in Santa Monica, cruised Venice Beach and even taken a day trip to Disneyland for some serious queuing and some serious fun!

On a long walk along the beach - Santa Monica Pier in the distance.

One of the many characters at Venice Beach!

It was great to have some time to explore the area and to have a little fun - although we did accidentally pick a bad day to hit Disney. it was the 14th - Valentines Day...and come night time there were loved-up couples everywhere and the queues to the rides had doubled (although it did make for some excellent people watching entertainment). One of the rides however, had a 120 minute wait...we didn't go on it :) 

You're never too old!!! The big kids at Disneyland!! 

Then today it was back to work! We had a special event day involving the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa. This involved two screenings of South African movies and a forum/lunch to network. The first movie was a narrative feature called State of Violence and the second a documentary called Sobukwe. If you haven't heard of the South African anti-aparthaid activist Sobukwe, which you probably haven't, you should look him up. Although I didn't particularly enjoy the style of the doco, the subject was very interesting and very relevant for us having another film (Stomp It Out) which we shot in South Africa.

The forum was fascinating for all of us. It was an opportunity to learn about the government film funding process in South Africa and how they want to help make connections and collaborate on projects with film makers and producers - and to share all of our knowledge and do some networking. Now those that know me, know that I am about as good at networking as a stuffed dog - but the dog would get more attention. I'm more of the hide-behind-the-camera/drumset/computer/under the table kind of person. Thankfully though, we had Richard, star of UNDERCOVER and Malcolm, long time friend of Colin and Stomp it Out Productions supporter. Those two are the best networkers I have ever met. We gave them a pile of flyers and some cards and set them lose. Look - this lady below is proudly smiling with our flyer! She is an established film maker. She hasn't seen the movie - she doesn't know us...but look how nobly she holds that flyer. That, is all down to Richard and Malcolm. They rock - they are my networking saviours.

And much to my giddy, gleeful delight, we had a few celebs in the room, most notably, and most to my giddy, gleeful delight, star of movies such as Predator and Commando, Bill Duke.

If you're having difficulty picturing him, here he is in the amazingly classic 1987 film Predator...one of my favourites. It's Mac!! 'I'M GONNA HAVE ME SOME FUN TONIGHT!!!!'

Richard and Malcolm continued to do their amazing flyer handing out, trying to whip up some patrons for our final showing of UNDERCOVER tomorrow. As we were hanging out at the cinema, a man came up to Richard who had watched UNDERCOVER on Wednesday night for it's first showing - he loved it, he wanted to talk to Richard about some specific scenes in the movie and he was trying to convince others to go and see it tomorrow, saying that he might even go and see it again. This is after we also had some fellow film makers tell us that 60 people is a really really good turn out...so we are pretty happy with what we are hearing! :)

Tomorrow is that last big day, starting with our daily breakfast at Urth Cafe, followed by some pre screening flyer handing out at the cinema, then the final showing of UNDERCOVER!! Then we are hanging around a bit until the closing night movie and after party. The closing movie is Isaiah Washington's new film, Blackbird, which I am looking forward to seeing! 

If you are in L.A. tomorrow, COME AND SEE THE FINAL SHOWING!! 12.15, Rave Cinemas in Crenshaw!!!

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Director Rachel Dickinson and Executive Producer Colin Salisbury - LIVE from the Pan African Film Festival

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We have PREMIERED!!

What a whirlwind few days!!! 

After a night in San Francisco, Colin and I were off to L.A. The plan was to to meet Richard, star of our soon-to-premier-doco at the house we have rented in Santa Monica. From there we were to get ourselves refreshed and head out to the cinema for an early arrival before the premier. 

Instead what happened is we arrived at the house and got a text from Richard saying...'You guys have to get here as soon as possible...we are connected to a major celebrity. I'm being interviewed at 4.' So we immediately called a cab, threw some clean clothes on, ran out the door then sat in the cab for the short 11 mile journey to the cinema...which took us almost an hour and half. Traffic in L.A....yikes.

When we finally arrived we found Richard in the film maker lounge - and he filled us in on his adventures. Turns out he was on the red carpet chatting away to people when he bumped into a chap who he knew from the Air Force....Isaiah Washington! He was then interviewed with Isaiah and by himself. For those of you who don't know Isaiah Washington, he is mainly known for his role on Gray's Anatomy, but was dismissed amid backstage issues involving a homophobic comment. He was labelled quite badly by 'Hollywood' and has been focusing on charity work and independent film ever since. His current film, which is closing the festival, is a gay film set in the South - should be interesting! He is also planning on coming to UNDERCOVER on Sunday and supporting Richard - which would be so awesome!!!!

           Then there wasn't really much time before show time! We met Mark, a wonderful friend of GVN's who had driven an hour to join us for the premier. We got all of our tickets and passes in order, we took lots of pictures (it never gets old to see you movie's name next to Robocop)...

...and took more pictures...

...and we were generally merry!!!!

And then it was movie time!!!! AAHHHHH!! The corridor into the cinema was one of those that only allows you to see the front few seats and not the large auditorium behind - but we could see as we went in that it was a big cinema...and we didn't know what to expect when we turned the corner. Why would someone come and see Undercover when they don't know anything about it? Why when there are nearly 200 movies in the festival would someone see our tiny little production? I was prepared for there being 3 people. BUT THERE WERE PEOPLE...about 60 of them.Wow...and during the movie they were so responsive. It was awesome!! They laughed..a lot...they cried...they gasped at the tense bits!! It was really cool. I was sitting next to Richard and he was quite emotional - this has been a big journey for him and every showing is a release of emotion.

When the lights came up there were claps and then a Q+A. As soon as I pointed out Richard to the crowd, you could tell how happy they were, and all of their questions were to him. I think we could have carried on with the Q+A all night, but alas 15 minutes went fast and then it was time to go and grab some dinner and relax!!!!

We can't really believe that this has all happened, it's quite surreal and it's all thanks to our supporters. It's wonderful to have people come up to you and say in awe, 'what a wonderful movie'. People seemed to be genuinely touched by Richard's story, as were we when we first heard it. I'll be posting a video later!!

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After a wonderfully smooth and breezy flight, with a complimentary upgrade to business class, we safely touched down in the USa! Tonight, we are in San Francisco catching up with some friends, but tomorow is the big day!!!  We off to L.A. for the premiere showing of UNDERCOVER at the Pan African Film Festival 2014!!!

Photo: Director Ray and Executive Producer Colin at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francicso.

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WE'RE OFF TO L.A.

Well this is it!! It's Ray here (Rachel Dickinson - Creative Director of Stomp It Out Productions). It's the final 10 minutes in the office to get everything together that I need, because tomorrow, Colin and I are off to the USA for the World Premiere of UNDERCOVER at the Pan African Film Festival!!!!

It has come around really quickly and I can't quite believe that in a few days time we will see UNDEROVER in big text on the big screen, in L.A.!!! It will be crazytown. Colin and I will be bloggin over our 2 weeks in the States - keeping you up to date with our adventures and all the excitement of the festival and our exploits in other areas! We have a few meetings set up and a few friends to visit - and last week we got our business cards so we are totally prepared!!!

The Stomp It Out Productions Crew: Rachel Dickinson, Sanford Reece and Colins Salisbury.

So it's time for me to go and do my final shift at the gym where I do a few hours a week as a fitness consultant (that's right...film making is my day job and working in a gym is my hobby job...isn't it supposed to be the other way around?). Then tomorrow morning I will pack - unusual of me to leave it til the last moment but I've been so busy! Then tomorrow afternoon we fly!!!

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Undercover Official Trailer #2

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rayneleafe/undercover-is-almost-ready-to-come-out

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Become an Undercover agent and help us get this doco out!

A story of survival, loss, strength, courage, endurance and of coming out...of a life lived undercover.

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Official Undercover Trailer #1