<div><em>"The Last Sunset: A Dan Del Santo Documentary"</em> sets out to follow and examine the <em>“larger-than”</em> life of musician, DJ, activist, and 100% Austin, TX original Dan Del Santo --- from his humble beginnings and complex family life, to his musical breakthroughs and innovations, to his eventual death as a fugitive in hiding.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Utopia Unearthed Records is a DIY reissue label and multimedia project set to archive and preserve outsider and private press music from before the internet age, who have been working tirelessly over the last two years with Dan's family and friends to document and preserve his fascinating musical legacy.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/80530009_1740159219101013_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>THE STORY</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York — Dan’s musical beginnings saw him playing music with his then-band The Arm Brothers who raucously mixed bluegrass with country, blues, and western swing that garnered a rabid cult following, but didn’t exactly fit into New York’s greater music scene. He was carving his way as a blues session guitarist and pioneer of progressive bluegrass, but decided that he needed a change of pace.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>After a move to Austin, Texas in his early 20s, Dan furthered his status as an irreverent cult icon in the community. His “World Beat Hour” radio show on KUT was quintessential in bringing sounds from around the world to the American southwest and keeping Austin weird. He composed and arranged several albums with a revolving door of Austin’s greatest studio musicians — dubbed The Professors of Pleasure, with styles ranging from country, to reggae, conjunto to afrobeat, and just about everything in between. His absurdly prolific musical output and distinct baritone voice left a ripple effect on his hometown of Austin that's still felt today. He was also instrumental in bringing community awareness to atrocities happening the world over, drawing attention to the imprisonment of Fela Kuti and the ongoing evils of South Africa’s apartheid.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This, however, all changed when Dan fled the country in 1992. America's war on drugs was hotter than ever and marijuana was Dan’s drug of choice. After a federal raid busted Dan for a weed farm he was cultivating outside of town, he skipped town and spent nearly a decade in hiding in Oaxaca, Mexico — leaving his family and friends in Austin behind. Dan is, without a doubt, the most interesting musician you’ve never heard of. However, this film is not simply about Dan Del Santo — it’s about whether or not we can separate the art from the artist, it’s about how one’s actions affect others, it’s about the effects of our country's drug war, it’s about family, it’s about resilience, and it’s about healing in the lives of those he left behind, all while grappling with the balance of all of this paired with the joy, music, and inspiration Dan brought into the world.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>With unprecedented access to Dan’s family archives, this film contains previously unreleased footage and music from Dan Del Santo, as well as interviews from Dan’s friends (including his best friend, Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona), family, and former bandmates and collaborators.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/80530009_1740159258604054_r.png" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>WHAT YOU'RE FUNDING</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Funds raised through this GoFundMe campaign will be entirely used to cover the costs of equipment + software needed for shooting and editing and travel expenses needed to film in Austin, Poughkeepsie, Aptos, Denver, and Oaxaca, which are all necessary to get the interviews that will tell the story.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As far as security in your investment goes, the aforementioned trips and interviews are already booked and a shooting schedule is already complete, with the film set to be finished in September of 2025! This campaign would serve to reimburse the film's creators (us over here at Utopia Unearthed Records!) on the expenses we've already paid for, as well as help us complete and promote the film once it's done.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe. In other words, being able to publicly view the film in its final form upon completion will be the only result of your donations! Thank you for understanding!</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For more information on Dan Del Santo and Utopia Unearthed, visit our website <a href="https://utopiaunearthed.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong><em>HERE!</em></strong></a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/80530009_1717532761441038_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>

Neil Perkins

Michael Dreimiller

Daniel Venti

dominic venti

Sage McAndrew

zappa fitzgerald

Lori Sefton

Lonny Golas

Jack Tillis

Anthony Venti

Greychen Scruggs

Grey Lowler

A Scott Anderson

Jordan McLeod

K.c. Kazarian

Anonymous

Leon Cikota

Lissa Hattersley

Janice Bartlee

"The Last Sunset: A Dan Del Santo Documentary"

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

"The Last Sunset: A Dan Del Santo Documentary"

Still $12,794 to go. Help us build momentum.