Fund the DZ Fest Documentary

Hello, my name is Ben Arguelles and I'm fundraising for the DZ Fest Documentary. DZ Fest is an annual Arts and Music Festival held for 10 years in my childhood backyard.

DZ Fest started in July 2012 with one small stage and seven unknown musical artists. Around 200 patrons attended the first DZ Fest. After 10 years of passion and big dreams, DZ Fest grew to 40 musical artists performing over two days on two stages with 40 multidisciplinary artists selling their original work. DZ Fest became a must-see Chicago event.

After 10 years, 300 musical artists from around the world have performed at DZ Fest. This massive roster brought different genres and styles from countless unique music scenes across the United States. This became so vital for the music scene and truly brought the artist together that normally wouldn't encounter each other. DZ Fest became a beautiful annual experience for the neighborhood, patrons, bands, artists, and volunteers. It grew a creative community.

DZ Fest is important to our creative culture in this country. DZ Fest holds the essence of true art that grows from the artists, musicians, and patrons who are involved. Without any corporate sponsors, DZ Fest has always been about the pure expression of art, music, and community.

For 10 years a passionate group of friends came together to put on one of the biggest DIY music festivals in the world. It was simple and small, a backyard we all grew up in. However, it grew beyond our wildest imaginations and reached across the world.

The funds will be used to complete all of the post-production of the DZ Fest documentary. The post-production video editing includes; 10 years of video footage, 50 interviews, animation, hundreds of hours of DZ Fest setup, and live band performances. Also, the funds will be used for all of the sound mixing, sound editing, musical score, and composition.

Additionally, we will also be using the funds to help pay for all of the application fees for film festival submissions. Lastly, we will use the funds to pay for screenings at theaters around the country. This will help to promote the documentary.

We hope you can find it in your heart to help the DZ Fest Documentary come to fruition.