Immigrant Voices Of America
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Miguel Duran and I’m currently working on a ten-episode documentary series called Immigrant Voices Of America that will share the personal stories and contributions of immigrants in the US. Each episode will come in at ten minutes showcasing the hardships, triumphs, and aspirations of our immigrant brothers and sisters as they strive to achieve a better life in the US.
Why I'm Making This Series
I’m a proud son of immigrant parents. My parents came to this country, like many immigrants, to find a better life not only for themselves but for their children as well. One of the best ways to humanize an issue, in this case, immigration is by turning the camera on our immigrant brothers and sisters and have them share their stories, their reasons for coming to this country so that we can empathize with their struggle. This project is very personal to me and it’s a timely issue. We need to remind ourselves and the immigration hardliners that we are in this together and storytelling is the best way to reconnect with that bond we all have with our immigrant past. People come from all over the world to make the US their home, it's important that we share the perspective of immigrants from all backgrounds. I hope the viewers will be able to see a part of themselves or their families in the stories told because the story of immigration doesn't just belong to one group of people, it belongs to all of us.
Why GoFundMe
Last month my team and I were able to raise $16K from an Indie GoGo campaign we ran. It was a lot of hard work, but the response was amazing. I truly felt the love and support of the community. But we still need to raise more funds. After the campaign ended, I had a lot of people still wanting to contribute to the project. Some folks donated to me via Venmo, Facebook, Paypal or in person. No, I'm not trying to be greedy and take your money or anything like that. Making movies and documentaries is really expensive and I'm trying to raise as much money as possible so I can hire folks and execute this project properly.
Early Exposure
This project will impact so many lives that Buzzfeed picked up one of our stories about Sara, a DREAMER who's a YouTuber, and shared it on their Facebook page. It has close to 700,000 views. We were blown away by the love and response we have received from audiences. This tells us that people really want to see these stories.
Sara was terrified to come out to her supporters as undocumented, that feeling of vulnerability was palpable, but not contributing to immigrant rights was even worse. So, she decided to share her immigrant story to the world. This video is the first part of her story. There's more to come. Here's the original video we did:
Where Does Your Money Go To
Your hard earned money will go to hiring personnel and the post-production phase, which is one of the most expensive aspects of filmmaking it covers editors, a composer/music library, color correcting, editing software, motion, sound engineers, festival entry fees, tech, gear and a lot of tissues–tears of joy of course!
Your Help
I've been truly blessed to have the love and support of so many people that I won't stop until the stories of our immigrant brothers and sisters are told, which is why I’m here asking you to contribute to this project. If there was ever a time you wanted to participate in immigrant rights, well, here it is. You can fight back by contributing to my project that will showcase the immigrant community in a positive way, as they should be.
It’s amazing what we can do together, so please, contribute whatever you can, any amount goes a long way.
Thank you,
Miguel
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Stay Connected:
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Instagram
Twitter
Why I'm Making This Series
I’m a proud son of immigrant parents. My parents came to this country, like many immigrants, to find a better life not only for themselves but for their children as well. One of the best ways to humanize an issue, in this case, immigration is by turning the camera on our immigrant brothers and sisters and have them share their stories, their reasons for coming to this country so that we can empathize with their struggle. This project is very personal to me and it’s a timely issue. We need to remind ourselves and the immigration hardliners that we are in this together and storytelling is the best way to reconnect with that bond we all have with our immigrant past. People come from all over the world to make the US their home, it's important that we share the perspective of immigrants from all backgrounds. I hope the viewers will be able to see a part of themselves or their families in the stories told because the story of immigration doesn't just belong to one group of people, it belongs to all of us.
Why GoFundMe
Last month my team and I were able to raise $16K from an Indie GoGo campaign we ran. It was a lot of hard work, but the response was amazing. I truly felt the love and support of the community. But we still need to raise more funds. After the campaign ended, I had a lot of people still wanting to contribute to the project. Some folks donated to me via Venmo, Facebook, Paypal or in person. No, I'm not trying to be greedy and take your money or anything like that. Making movies and documentaries is really expensive and I'm trying to raise as much money as possible so I can hire folks and execute this project properly.
Early Exposure
This project will impact so many lives that Buzzfeed picked up one of our stories about Sara, a DREAMER who's a YouTuber, and shared it on their Facebook page. It has close to 700,000 views. We were blown away by the love and response we have received from audiences. This tells us that people really want to see these stories.
Sara was terrified to come out to her supporters as undocumented, that feeling of vulnerability was palpable, but not contributing to immigrant rights was even worse. So, she decided to share her immigrant story to the world. This video is the first part of her story. There's more to come. Here's the original video we did:
Where Does Your Money Go To
Your hard earned money will go to hiring personnel and the post-production phase, which is one of the most expensive aspects of filmmaking it covers editors, a composer/music library, color correcting, editing software, motion, sound engineers, festival entry fees, tech, gear and a lot of tissues–tears of joy of course!
Your Help
I've been truly blessed to have the love and support of so many people that I won't stop until the stories of our immigrant brothers and sisters are told, which is why I’m here asking you to contribute to this project. If there was ever a time you wanted to participate in immigrant rights, well, here it is. You can fight back by contributing to my project that will showcase the immigrant community in a positive way, as they should be.
It’s amazing what we can do together, so please, contribute whatever you can, any amount goes a long way.
Thank you,
Miguel
--------------------------
Stay Connected:
Organizer
Miguel Angel Duran
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
