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Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

A team of women from different countries come together to film the life of an extraordinary man

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Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

Meeting Jim - A documentary on Jim Haynes

A team of women from different countries come together to film the life of an extraordinary man

A team of women from different countries come together to film the life of an extraordinary man

A team of women from different countries come together to film the life of an extraordinary man

A team of women from different countries come together to film the life of an extraordinary man

Meeting Jim
Meeting Jim
Meeting Jim
Meeting Jim
2 Campaigns |
Istanbul, Turkey
$19,712 USD 197 backers
56% of $35,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects

“Some people say that when they are happy they sing and dance.
But I say: when I sing and dance, I am happy!” - Jim Haynes


Many people call him the inventor of the social network, the real-life version of Facebook; his world famous open Sunday dinners in Paris are a must for "off the beaten track" lovers and his life story is the real proof that a life based on the good side of humankind is actually possible. Meet Jim Haynes in the film of the extraordinary journey that, in summer 2016, will take him to the cities of Paris, London and Edinburgh. Because "Meeting Jim is meeting people".



 Synopsis

Meeting Jim is a feature length documentary about a journey back to the lifetime of Jim Haynes, an extraordinary 83-year-old man who grabbed with heart and soul the spirit of the 60s and continued to carry it throughout his life. This journey becomes also a physical one when he takes a train from the city of Paris, where he lives, to London and Edinburgh, the cities where he left his unique mark. A journey that will not only bring out his past and memories, but also his carefully preserved collection of human interconnections. An unusual network he managed to create by realising the needs of a society that desperately longs for more humanity and collaboration. By establishing  social hubs and creative centres for artists and art lovers to express themselves and show their work, Jim Haynes made a strong contribution to the artistic and literary scene of the time and became a key figure in the counterculture movement during the 60s.


Who is Jim Haynes?

Jim Haynes established the very first paperback bookshop in Britain; co-produced the 1962 Conference on the Novel and 1963 Drama Conference in Edinburgh – which inspired the current Edinburgh International Book Festival; co-founded the Traverse Theatre, was a catalyst for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, established the London Traverse Theatre Company, co-founded the newspaper I.T., the underground pop club U.F.O., and the London Arts Lab. He taught Media Studies and Sexual Politics at the University of Paris VIII for three decades, co-founded the sexual freedom newspaper Suck, and directed the Wet Dream Film Festival in Amsterdam. In his Paris atelier, he created a salon tradition with open dinners every Sunday evening for some 38 years and over 150,000 guests to date – and counting… (1)

(1) from Jim Haynes’ memoir Thanks for Coming! Encore!, published by Polwarth Publishing, Edinburgh 2014


The Journey

In the film, the camera follows Jim in his daily life in the city of Paris, to some of his regular spots and activities and into his home: a parisian atelier where he has lived for the past 43 years. There, he is always hosting a friend or someone new and every Sunday evening welcomes between 40 to 100 friends and strangers for dinner, creating an ideal environment for people to connect with each other.

Then the journey begins. The destination, the worldwide famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which this year he will be attending for the 60th time. A long voyage he has been doing by train for more than 40 years, including a traditional stop in the city of London for a special dinner party in his honour. After spending 20 days in Edinburgh, the trip will bring us back again to London, where he will be attending both the private and public opening of a collective exhibition he will be part of, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. All the way throughout this amazing journey, the camera follows Jim as he encounters the friendships and relationships of a lifetime and interacts with the hundreds of people who always seem to surround him no matter where: restaurants, cafés, book fairs’ stalls, or theatre venues. Any place is ideal to meet someone new, any place is just perfect for a new human connection.

Meeting Jim is a documentary film aiming to be shot through Jim’s way of perceiving people, social missions, life. The journey of Jim and of the film -which will take place in 2016 between Paris, London and Edinburgh- is just an ordinary journey of an extraordinary man.

Director's Statement - Why am I making this film?

After meeting Jim in March 2015, he became one of the closest people to me during my stay in Paris. The friendship of a filmmaker at the age of 26 and a 83-year-old philosopher-artist who had managed to actualise his principles and ideals along his life, was for me an extraordinary and colorful one from its nature, and still continues to be so. As I started spending time with him, I observed that people’s lives around him were going through a noticeable transformation process, in which they started to create a new fruitful network of human relations and professional collaborations through him. It seemed very clear to me that the reason behind this collective transformation was him naturally adopting the role of a catalysor. In his world people are not defined by their beliefs, origin or age. Everyone is equal, no one has any privilege. He has this unique way of perceiving the world that is not easily witnessed in practice. Anyone who has ever been involved in his life still continues to be a part of this endless human chain, of this big family.

A month after meeting Jim, I asked if I could make a documentary on him. He said “yes!”, since he has this habit of saying yes to everything. Perhaps he thought that my question was just a rhetoric way to verbalise my admiration for him. Now I’m afraid it’s too late to say no (sorry Jim!). There are a number of interviews with him as well as short/medium-length documentaries on Sunday dinners. There are even some popular advertisements that he stars. However, there is no film about the essence of his life, of himself. As soon as I discovered that Jim was much more than just Sunday dinners and his network, I realised that these dinners and social gatherings were the side effects of his whole philosophy of life. Along the documentary, his intellectual background and lifelong achievements won’t remain in the background eclipsed by hundreds of people appearing in the film.

In today’s world, as a filmmaker, I feel I have the responsibility to show hope instead of violence. As violence is everywhere, hope is getting less and less visible. Therefore, I dream of working towards building hope in people’s hearts as an alternative way of  fighting against war and violence. Jim devoted his whole life to seizing the needs of society and satisfying them through his innovative enterprises and work. Why not doing the same

Ece Ger


Goals

Jim Haynes is a man whose unique personality, lifestyle and compelling story have already inspired, influenced and changed thousands of lives around the globe. Our aim with this film is to continue spreading his spirit and hopefully get to inspire many more along the way.

One of Jim Haynes' goals in life has always been to bring people together and create change in the community around him. Meeting Jim aims to take this philosophy to a bigger scale, showing people that a more peaceful, collaborative and enriching way of living is actually possible.

To achieve this, one of our main objectives is to make this film visible. We are currently working on a creative distribution strategy that would allow us to reach as many people as possible all around the world. We would like to make sure that anyone can have access to this film, regardless of their origin, age or background, with no distinction or privilege, since this film aims to be a loyal reflection of Jim's philosophy of life.

Therefore, we plan not only to try to take this film to the most renown independent film festivals around the world and organise mass screenings in prestigious venues, but also to small local festivals in remote places and more humble projections for all kinds of audiences. As we stated earlier, our ultimate goal is to reach and inspire as many lives as possible.


Behind the camera


Ece Ger
 – Producer/Director Ece is a filmmaker who finished her Masters Degree in Film Studies by the University of Kent in 2015. This Masters programme took place between the UK and Paris. A few years earlier, she graduated in Film Studies by Bilgi University (Istanbul). Ece has made a number of short films, music videos and a short documentary as well as participated in an international medium length film and a feature film. Her short film Ten (2012), was screened and awarded -including Best Woman Director- in various film festivals around the world and showed at the Turkish film corner in Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals in 2013. Nowadays she is based in Istanbul where she works as an independent filmmaker on her own film projects.

Marta Benavides – Producer Marta graduated in Computer Engineering by the University of Almeria, completing one academic year at the University of Edinburgh from 2003 to 2004. Later on she did her Masters Degree in International Business Management, also at the University of Almeria. Since 2015 she has been travelling and working as an independent artist on her own projects and in collaboration with other artists in different fields.

Gilliam de la Torre – Director of Photography Gigi is a Director of Photography who studied cinematography at the Art Institute ISA in Havana and completed most of the cinematography workshops in EICTV International Film School San Antonio de los Baños. She has worked as still photographer for feature films and publicity, as photographer for theater magazines and as cinematographer for short films, music videos, and mostly for documentaries. Her passion is traveling around the world documenting places, people and animals in a poetic mixture of sounds and images. Originally from Havana, she lives and works in New York City (for now).


Why do we need your contribution?

We truly believe in the magic of this film. For months we've been working non-stop giving it all we've got during the pre-production process. However, making a feature documentary takes more than just time and effort.

We've been investing all our savings on this project and will continue to do so, but to go onto the next step we really need your support.

The rental and purchase of the professional equipment, the accommodation and travelling expenses and the minimisation and prevention of possible risksare the most costly parts of the project.

We really aim to make a world class film and its quality will highly depend on reaching the goal for this campaign.

To make this film visible and continue to spread Jim's philosophy, we really need to make a great film. We're willing to give it all we've got but only with your contribution we'll be able to make it happen.


Where will the contributions go?

The total amount of the money raised during this campaign will be used exclusively to cover some of the costs of the production stage of this documentary film. This means the shootings and the expenses they involve. The campaign goal will not be enough to cover post-production costs.

In case we reach our goal of 35.000$, this is how your contributions will be used:

In case we don't reach our goal, we'll still try our best to make a great film. However, some of the resources and tools that would allow us to reach the standards we need to become visible for the film industry and the rest of the world, unfortunately won't be viable. For instance:

If we reach 15.000$, the storage of more than half an hour of filming a day won't be feasible. We'll be shooting with a very high quality of image (4K) which requires 256 GB of storage for every 19 min of filming plus the daily backup. In addition, the renting/purchase of some of the professional equipment we plan to use won't be possible either.

We also won't be able to accompany Jim to London on the last part of the journey and shoot him at the opening of the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, or make the interviews we've planned to make there.

Unfortunately with this funds we won't be able to have a professional sound technician in our team, which is something crucial for the quality and future visibility of the film. However, here we'd like to remark that no matter the funds raised, we won't compromise the use of professional sound equipment to record sound during the shootings.

If we reach 25.000$, we will purchase all of the storage devices that we would need for the project as well as travel to London with Jim for the final stage of the trip. However we won't be able to rent some other important equipment or have a professional sound technician.


Risks and challenges during the shootings

As any other project, this one is not exempt from possible risks and these are the most relevant we can foresee during the production process.

Permission to shoot in some locations could be problematic, especially taking into account that some of our shots will be very spontaneous. We plan to follow Jim wherever he goes during the 45 days of shooting and this can leave place to many last-minute decisions. To minimise this risks, we're trying to get in touch with all the places we can foresee we will be needing to shoot at, and applying for the corresponding permissions.

The use of expensive specialised equipment will also entail some important risks. Moreover, loss and robbery are some of the major problems filmmakers might need to face and deal with, especially while travelling.  We plan to address these by contracting specific insurance for the most delicate equipment and by keeping a triple backup of the recordings.

We are aware that travelling can always involve some kind of risk especially regarding health. Despite the fact that one can never prevent unexpected health issues, we plan to minimise these by adequate physical training during the couple of months before the shootings, as well as travel insurance for each of the members of the crew.


Perks

These are some of the amazing perks we have exclusively prepared for you!!


Others way you can contribute

If you can't financially contribute to our project, we totally understand, but you might like to know that there are also many other ways to support this film:

If you happen to live in London or Edinburgh and have some extra room at home, you can become our host by accommodating one or several members of the crew during the shootings in these cities. This generous gesture would help us save so much money that we'd be able to use for the making of the film instead.

You can help us find distributors or sponsors that would be interested in contributing to our project and in helping us with the design of our marketing and distribution strategies.

Share this campaign and help us SPREAD THE WORD! Use the Indiegogo tools available on this site to share the campaign with your network, announce it on your website, include it in your newsletter... Any of these actions is likely to have a high impact on the success of this campaign!

Thank you for taking part in this exciting adventure!



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Choose your Perk

featured

Super Fan Pack!

$100 USD
Jim Haynes signed book ("Everythign Is!" or "Thanks for Coming! Encore!") + Postcard from Paris (signed by Jim Haynes and the crew) + Jim Haynes' shopping bag (with printed quote by Jim Haynes) + Special thanks in the credits of the film
19 out of 50 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Thanks!!

$10 USD
Mention on the film website + Shout-out on Facebook and Twitter
9 claimed

Special Thanks

$15 USD
Special thanks on the credits of the film + Mention on the film website, Facebook and Twitter
27 claimed

Shootings Updates

$30 USD
A weekly email update during the shootings, including an exclusive backstage image + Special thanks in the credits of the film
16 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Postcard from Paris!

$50 USD
Signed by Jim Haynes and the crew (sent from Paris, London or Edinburgh during the shootings) + Special thanks in the credits of the film
17 out of 200 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Jim Haynes' signed book!

$75 USD
To choose between "Everything Is!" (Jim's compilation of soft manifestos for our times) or "Thanks for Coming! Encore!" (Jim's autobiographical book) + Special thanks in the credits of the film
11 out of 30 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Join a Sunday Dinner!

$150 USD
Get an invitation to attend one of Jim Haynes infamous Sunday dinners in Paris! Every Sunday evening for almost 40 years, Jim welcomes between 40 to 100 friends and strangers for dinner at his parisian atelier, creating an ideal environment for people to connect with each other. (Specific date to choose according to availability)
6 out of 30 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Sunday Dinner Full Experience

$250 USD
Get an invitation to attend one of Jim Haynes infamous Sunday dinners in Paris and receive one of Jim Haynes' signed books at the end of the event!! Every Sunday evening for almost 40 years, Jim welcomes between 40 to 100 friends and strangers for dinner at his parisian atelier, creating an ideal environment for people to connect with each other. (Specific date to choose according to availability)
2 out of 30 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Appear in the Film!

$350 USD
Get an invitation to attend one of the Sunday dinners that will be featured in the film (31st of July 2016 or 7th of August 2016)
1 out of 20 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Full Film Experience

$500 USD
Get an invitation to attend one of the Sunday dinners that will be featured in the film (31st of July 2016 or 7th of August 2016) and receive one of Jim Haynes' signed books at the end of the event!!
1 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Join the shootings!

$750 USD
Join the crew during one day of shootings in Paris, London or Edinburgh!! To complete the experience you'll get an invitation to attend one of Jim Haynes' infamous Sunday dinners in Paris and receive one of Jim Haynes' signed books at the end of the event. (Check availability to attend the Sunday dinner).
0 out of 15 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Jim Haynes' Private Party!

$1,000 USD
Join Jim Haynes and the crew in an exclusive private party at Jim's atelier in Paris (last week of July). At the end of the event, you will also receive a signed Jim Haynes' book pack (including "Everything Is!" and "Thanks for Coming! Encore!"). You will also receive an invitation to join the crew during one day of the shootings in Paris, London or Edinburgh!
0 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Jim's Annual Edinburgh Dinner!

$2,000 USD
2 invitations to join Jim Haynes and the crew in an exclusive private party at Jim's atelier in Paris (last week of July). At the end of the event, you will also receive a signed Jim Haynes' book pack (including "Everything Is!" and "Thanks for Coming! Encore!"). In addition, you and a companion, will be invited to attend Jim Haynes' annual dinner party in Edinburgh in August plus an invitation to join the crew during one day of the shootings in Paris, London or Edinburgh!
1 out of 8 of claimed

Become our Sponsor!

$3,000 USD
Become one of the sponsors of the film! Your name or company will appear in the film as one of our official partners. In addition you will get an invitation to join Jim Haynes and the crew in an exclusive private party at Jim's atelier in Paris (last week of July). At the end of the event, you will also receive a signed Jim Haynes' book pack (including "Everything Is!" and "Thanks for Coming! Encore!")
0 out of 5 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Co-producer credit!

$5,000 USD
Become "Meeting Jim" co-producer! Your name or company will appear in the credits of the film as our co-producer (check conditions with the team). In addition you will get an invitation to join Jim Haynes and the crew in an exclusive private party at Jim's atelier in Paris (last week of July). At the end of the event, you will also receive a signed Jim Haynes' book pack (including "Everything Is!" and "Thanks for Coming! Encore!")
1 out of 2 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
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