8$ is a series which occasionally highlights interesting crowdfunding projects. Every day, the 8Asians team is inundated by many worthy pitches. We are unable to highlight every one that comes our way, or even the ones we might individually support. The projects selected for 8$ are not endorsements by 8Asians. (To be considered for 8$, we highly suggest you not harass the writers or the editors of 8Asians.)
WHO: Samantha Futerman, one of the “twinsters.” Adopted, raised on different continents & connected through social media, Samantha & Anaïs are twin sisters separated at birth.
WHAT: Kickstarter project: TWINSTERS Part 2: Post Production
On February 21, 2013, Samantha, an American actor living in Los Angeles, received a message via Facebook that would drastically change her life. It was from Anaïs, a French fashion design student living in London. Anaïs’ friends viewed a KevJumba YouTube video featuring Samantha and were immediately blown away by the identical appearance of Samantha and Anaïs. With a few light Google stalking sessions, Anaïs and her friends discovered that both girls were born on November 19, 1987 and adopted shortly after. Anaïs knew immediately that it was possible for Samantha to be her biological twin sister and reached out to her through Twitter and Facebook.
After endless Skype conversations, text messages and any other possible form of communication, the girls were ready to meet in person. Samantha and Anaïs decided they wanted to document their story to share with the world. In May 2013, Samantha, her family, and a small film crew flew to London to meet Anaïs and her family for the very first time.
WHEN: Deadline to contribute is Tuesday, February 18, 2014 (6:00pm PT).
WHY:
Having previously gained the bulk of our budget through Kickstarter, we are now struggling to complete our project. With every life-changing moment caught on camera, we need additional funds to put all of the pieces together in post-production.
With your support, we made it to London and experienced an amazing 10 days with both of our families in tow. After such an incredible reunion, our relationship quickly blossomed and our story continued to unfold in unexpected ways. We were able to capture even more life-changing events, including 2 weeks in California and 10 days in Seoul, Korea where we attended the International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA) 2013 conference, visited our adoption agencies and together, discovered the land where our separation took place.
In addition, we were able to begin the post-production process—organizing all 42,000 video clips in preparation for the editing room. The funds from this Kickstarter will go directly to hiring an editor, assistant editor, colorist, composer, graphic designer, sound designer, publicist, film festival fees and legal fees.
Our goal of $80,000 is the bare minimum we need in order to complete the film. Anything more will grant us access to the best resources available so we can tell this story as it deserves to be told. We will be in post-production 8-10 hours per day for another 8 months, with a finished film ready to submit to the 2015 film festivals.
We are firm supporters of the social media world. Having access to such a powerful resource as Kickstarter, we are beyond grateful to have the chance to complete this project with the generous support of the people who are truly invested. Without the world of social media, we would have never been able to connect.
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Disgusted
- Sad
- Angry
