JOIN US IN THE MAKING OF THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER

Hi, I'm Gerrie Timmerman.

I'm asking for your help with my film’s production, but first a little bit about my background.

I am the daughter of a magician, but ceased to believe in magic.

And yet this is a story with a magical ending.

This is how it started:

In 1996, at the age of 40, after a divorce and the loss of my business, I left for the US with two dollars to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a filmmaker in Hollywood. Somehow, I was naive and optimistic and although afraid for the unknown future, I was also convinced that everything would fall into place.

And that happened: Against all odds, within eight weeks, I found a job at Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, a rewarding job that changed my life forever.

But after 18 months, my visa expired and I was out of work again. But a new project arrived. I stumbled upon the Dutch poem about the Jewish magician Ben Ali Libi, who disappeared in the Holocaust.

With this poem, I started the documentary project Disappearing Act. Part of the research led in 2015 to the Dutch documentary: Ben Ali Libi, Magician, which I co-produced for Dutch TV.

But more importantly, thanks to this project, I was able to mend the troubled relationship with my late father. This project took ultimately 25 years, but it became a magical journey of discoveries and resulted in an unexpected twist, which not only completed the story, but also gave answers to many questions.

And what is new?

My screenplay for the feature film The Magician's Daughter is now complete!

Working as a translator, AI seems to be pushing me out to pasture, so this seems to be the right moment to go back to Hollywood, to see if that magic from the beginning still exists, and that it can lead me to finally produce my feature film The Magician's Daughter.

I will be in the US from May 23 to January 8, 2024.

The first time, in 1996, I knew two people in the US who introduced me to others who introduced me to others…

Many who are reading this now have become a part of my extended family. I’ll start by visiting old connections, but I will also try to make new connections in Hollywood to help me bring my feature film to the big or small screen.

This new journey will be accompanied by a podcast series, that will follow me closely to see if this new adventure will succeed.

My starting position seems shaky, both on a personal level and in terms of the film world. Little or no income, participation in a new lifestyle program that challenges me physically and mentally… everything is under pressure.

Plus, the writers in Hollywood just went on a strike, so I'll be already curtailed my film promotion capabilities. Circumstances that will make you normally wait a while, but this trip has been set into motion, so no turning back.

But just as in other challenging stories, if it feels like an impossible task, doesn’t it make it more exciting to see what happens?

Unfortunately, additional funds are needed to support me on this new leg of the project. Hence this call for donations to help me complete this new challenge.

The donations will be used to arrange transport and accommodations to and from the appointments for the podcast series:

Our podcasts will cover old and new subjects that we researched before, but did not publish yet. Subjects such as the Holocaust and its survivor testimonies, film technology, magic, and we will go on a search if 'real' magic exists and can strike again.

Discover it all with me. And follow the podcast that will air soon. This way you can immediately see where your donation is going. Come along to see if magic still exists!

And once the WGA-strike is over, we will see if The Magician’s Daughter can conquer Hollywood once and for all.

Thank you for your support!

Gerrie