What the film is about:

In 2010, John Hardy introduced to the world at the TED Conference his dream: a Green School in Bali. When it opened in 2008, the Green School was met with a mixture of admiration, astonishment, and ridicule. Skeptics shouted: ‘it’s just a bunch of hippies in a bamboo hut. It’s not a proper school.’ Five years later, Green School has captured the imagination of a global audience as a children’s paradise, a parent’s dream, an architectural wonder, and a solution to environmental crises. Today, regardless of financial situation, more and more parents are pulling their kids out of standard or even prestigious schools, packing their bags, changing their lives, moving to Bali, and enrolling their children in the greenest school on earth. Are they mad or is it the best thing they have ever done?

This film is for:

• all the new moms and dads out there 

• students of every age

• my friends, their friends, friends of their friends

I can guarantee you'll never look at schools and education the same way ever again! 

This film is also for:

• the amazing people that make the Green School possible

• visionaries who believe in a new vision for education and want to build more Green Schools around the world

My Story

Hi, I am Natalia Kantor, director of THE GREEN SCHOOL EFFECT.

I have been making films for over 10 years now. My last project, the Roads Less Traveled Series, tells the story of people who chose to live unconventional lifestyles. www.roadslesstraveled.tv 

In 2012, my generation's baby boom began. A day wouldn't go by without my facebook wall filling up with my friends' baby updates. Things were changing and everyone was excited about the new generation.

I had just finished working at Canada's largest Environmental Film Festival, Planet in Focus. Every documentary I had seen so far warned of major crises. But, there has to be hope for the kids, right?  

I did not set out to make a film about the Green School, but after watching John Hardy's TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hardy_my_green_school_dream.html, I ended up spending 2 months and $10,000 of my own money filming at the Green School, in early 2012. It absolutely blew me away to such a degree that I decided to tell the Green School story. 

What We Need 

My team and I need to raise $55,000 to complete the film.

• We need exactly 2,200 passionate people to at least donate $25.

• We have 2 months to meet our fundraising goal.

• It's an all-or-nothing campaign!

Why This Amount?

While $55,000 might seem like a lot to those who are not familiar with film budgets, it is actually very little. Film editor, composer, sound designer and motion graphic designer all need to feed their families. Everyone working on this film has taken a significant cut in their salaries in order to make this film happen.

There are several stages that a film needs to undergo in order to attain the quality required for it to be able to compete theatrically, so that it can have a significant impact.

Stage 1:

Capturing a great story is a start. 

Stage 2:

Stage 2 begins once we have the funds. Natalia Kantor and the very talented Oren Harad, Film Editor and Charlie Finley, Composer, will be hard at work for 3 months piecing it all together and creating an unforgettable experience for you all. Jeremy Finklestein will create beautiful opening and closing titles and an animation sequence.

Festivals are a great way to promote a film. However, in order for the film to even be able to compete in festivals, it needs to look and sound great in a theatre. Our wonderful engineers and colourists from Theatre D in Toronto will spend a month mixing the soundtrack and colour grading for the big screen. 

Then come the festival submissions. Submitting and delivering the film in the screening format that is accepted by festivals also costs. Initially, the film will be submitted to HotDocs, Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes, Planet In Focus, South by Southwest, Sundance, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Venice International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Balinale International Film Festival in Bali.  

Stage 3:

Stage 3 is distribution. To further the chances of the film taking off, we will be working with an expert Distribution Strategist, Peter Broderick from L.A. to make sure that the film can reach the maximum amount of people. For this purpose, five different versions of the film are required: Theatrical, TV, Digital (iTunes), Home Use DVD & Educational Use DVD. Every format costs money.

"The Green School Effect is a very exciting project with significant distribution potential, because of its core audience potential" ~ Peter Broderick

Nowadays, a film cannot survive without online presence. Our expenses here will include website design and development, hosting and domain registration, search engine optimization, social media development & monitoring. 

Lastly, there is marketing, administration, accounting, and legal costs.

Note: Indiegogo charges 4% of the total amount raised. PayPal charges 3.5% of the total for depositing the funds in a Canadian bank account.

What You Get

By supporting this film, you are casting a vote for a better world. You get a Thank You Video from the Director herself and YOUR NAME ON THE SCREEN in the end or opening credits "With Special Thanks To", depending on which perk you choose. You get to be inspired! You get to witness a solution! You get to see the brighter side! You get hope!

Not everyone can afford the luxury to travel to Bali to get a taste of what Green School is all about. John’s talks are helpful in introducing Green School to the world, but cannot transport the audience into that world. I’m confident this film will do just that. The Green School Effect will offer a comprehensive look into the inner workings of the most transformative school on the planet.

Spread the Love

Please share, share, share this with your friends, their friends, friends of their friends, moms, dads, grandparents, students and teachers.