Japanese American Internment Camp Documentary
Donation protected
Seven years ago I took an interest in film production and have been producing films of my own ever since. When college applications came around, I was asked to develop an idea for a feature film. My first thought was to do something surreal but when the idea of creating a documentary about the Japanese-American Internment camps and my grandparents’ time there came up, I immediately fell in love with the idea.
When further developing the idea, I realized that there was such a unique story to be told about the dynamic between my grandpa and his five siblings. Because of my grandpa’s age, I realized waiting until after college to produce the film may not be an option so I decided that I wanted to do it now. I plan to create a 30-minute long documentary about my relatives’ time before, during, and especially after the internment camps. Because I want to shoot this documentary using high quality equipment, I face a budget issue.
A professional level camera and audio equipment will cost me $5000. On top of this I will need to purchase historical footage of the internment camps to support what my relatives are saying with visual evidence. These clips can cost anywhere from $50 per minute to $200 per minute. It would mean a lot to me to create this documentary about my relatives. Being a filmmaker, I have the power to share people’s stories with the rest of the world and I feel it is important that my relatives’ stories are documented and heard.
If you would like to support the making of this film, you can donate funds through the GoFundMe link below, or alternatively, you can send a check, made out to me, to 1800 Wendy Way, Manhattan Beach CA 90266. As a thank you for your donation, all contributors will be mentioned in the credits of the film. My goal is $9500, and all funds that exceed this amount will be donated to the Japanese American National Museum.
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/japanese-american-internment-camp-film
You can see a sample of my most recent work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCaWq5mhLkw&t=25s
When further developing the idea, I realized that there was such a unique story to be told about the dynamic between my grandpa and his five siblings. Because of my grandpa’s age, I realized waiting until after college to produce the film may not be an option so I decided that I wanted to do it now. I plan to create a 30-minute long documentary about my relatives’ time before, during, and especially after the internment camps. Because I want to shoot this documentary using high quality equipment, I face a budget issue.
A professional level camera and audio equipment will cost me $5000. On top of this I will need to purchase historical footage of the internment camps to support what my relatives are saying with visual evidence. These clips can cost anywhere from $50 per minute to $200 per minute. It would mean a lot to me to create this documentary about my relatives. Being a filmmaker, I have the power to share people’s stories with the rest of the world and I feel it is important that my relatives’ stories are documented and heard.
If you would like to support the making of this film, you can donate funds through the GoFundMe link below, or alternatively, you can send a check, made out to me, to 1800 Wendy Way, Manhattan Beach CA 90266. As a thank you for your donation, all contributors will be mentioned in the credits of the film. My goal is $9500, and all funds that exceed this amount will be donated to the Japanese American National Museum.
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/japanese-american-internment-camp-film
You can see a sample of my most recent work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCaWq5mhLkw&t=25s
Organizer and beneficiary
Musashi Cohn
Organizer
Manhattan Beach, CA
Greg Cohn
Beneficiary