Confessions of Filmmaker
A few months ago, the Director and I were brainstorming innovative ways to collect stories and promote the film. We had just finished a Story Contest that brought in several poignant and heart felt stories but we slightly missed the intended 1000 story goal we had set out for ourselves. True I have the proclivity to fantasize about monumental results and outcomes for any goal I set for myself but I really did beleive collecting 10000 stories was a tangible goal.
We were way off to say the least and started looking for new ways to engage our followers, to promote the film and stimulate outreach. It was between ideas that we came up with the idea of utilizing a safe space where we could invite people passing by to walk in and share a personal story about their shoes. We wanted to connect the storyteller to the audience with personal stories, emotions and real lives that represent women’s issues. We felt that face-face interviews would entice people to share their story rather than engaging in the long process of writing-editing-re-writing and then sending it in. So we decided to record the stories as they are told by turning our mobile booth into a recording studio that would stream the stories. In regards to the name, there was something about sharing guilty pleasures to a stranger that reminded me of the dreaded weekly confessions I had to give as a young girl in the Catholic church. Thus the birth of a clever name inspired by archaic traditions-”Shoe Confessional”.
To stay true to our Social Media Outreach strategy we wanted to build upon the online community that has grown over the last year to engage our viewers and spark a dialogue between age groups, ethnicities and genders. Knowing that we are connecting in new ways than ever before and the present is clearly in social media and crowd sourced experiences we wanted to integrate the social connectivity component into this project. By incorporating transmedia techniques into the Shoe Confessional we wanted to generate a unique narrative experience that connects the storyteller with the audience allowing for an intimate storytelling experience. We wanted to create a space where a woman could feel comfortable sharing a personal story in a sacred space amidst a crowd of strangers yet feel connected to each women there and be part of a larger community of women who have been empowered simply by being listened to and sharing their story.
That was the easiest part. Next came the “how” and “when” segment of bringing this idea to life. Knowing that the films roots had been planted in community partnerships we wanted this to be a community collaboration so we put out a call to artists, designers and craftspeople, of which many of you have seen. We had a great response and put together the following team:
Cynthia Salzman Mondell, Media Projects, Inc.
Jen Mauldin – Wilson Associates Designer
Arnulfo Chavez – Master Builder
Valen Chavez – Media Projects Community Outreach Director
Steve Shipp – BRW Architects Construction Team
Misti Chambers – Graphic Designer
David Friedman – Wavemaker Audio Audio Visual Design
Phil Allen- Allen Media
Marlon Madrid – Handyman
Alyx Martinez, Media Projects, Inc.
Rondi Hillstrom Davis – Costume Designer
Everything after that just fell into place… well not quite that easily but I will spare you the details. After looking high and low, we were donated a space by Sarofim Realty Advisors and received several donated materials from Cutting Corners, Home Depot and Target. Jen Mauldin, our lead designer on the project, was a tremendous help and resource since she is LEED certified with a passion for sustainability and loves integrating re-purposed materials into her designs. With that in mind while also drawing inspiration from the re-cycled and re-used fashion trends from the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit, 90% of the materials used to build the confessional were re-cycled and eco-friendly thanks to Jen! Everyone on the team who devoted their time, energy and efforts were greatly needed and appreciated to help finish the project as well. Everyone who brought their talents, vision and passion to the project-we salute you for the shining star you are, we really could not have accomplished this without you.
Special Thanks to
Dallas Museum of Art, Jim Greenfield, Janimation, RepliCopy, Mark Rutledge, Jeff Hurst, Laura Flagerstone, Aleah Dillard, Jessica La Torre, Carlos Macias, Allen Mondell, Fonya Naomi Mondell, Media 13
SOLE SISTERS invites you to experience the new era of storytelling at the Debut of our Shoe Confessional Febuary 11-12. For those unable to attend, we welcome you to send in your shoe confessions along with pictures of your shoes at http://twubs.com/shoeconfessional https://www.facebook.com/SoleSistersFilm or http://www.solesistersfilm.com/share-your-stories.
About Valen:
Leave a Reply
Follow Us!