Our Story
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Raise Up is a documentary feature that follows an underground movement that started in the playgrounds of New York City and is rapidly spreading across the world.
A few years ago, Flying Flounder Productions was hired to produce a public service announcement about alcohol abuse by the historically black college Shaw University. The spot featured a fitness/alcohol awareness group from Harlem called The Bartendaz. You can check out the PSA here: javascript:nicTemp();
After working with them, we started looking into this type of workout, and realized that there were several teams in New York that performing these impressive physical maneuvers. The amazing thing was that they were working out in groups, and participating in a kind of healthy competition -- everyone had smiles on their faces! They were constantly trying to outdo the previous person, and the free flow format of it all forced them to be creative and come up with new and exciting moves. It resonated with the people of the community, all dealing with a rough economic climate, and trying to find a way to combat the issues that presented. They needed to get back to the parks! Pretty soon, they were being recognized in their neighborhoods and were treated like local superheroes -- kids and adults would line up just to watch and would follow their favorite teams and athletes. Some of the NYC teams that will be featured are: Bartstarzz, Barmasters Xtreme, Bar-barians, Beastmode, Hannibal (individual), Team Wingate, and Highlandaz. If you aren't familiar with this movement, we urge you to just YouTube any of the above teams. We'll continue to post videos here, too. You'll see what all the hype is about.
Now, this subculture has moved beyond the five boroughs and teams are sprouting up in nations across the globe. Just to name a few, some of the currently participating countries are: England, France, Australia, Spain, Germany, Serbia, and Latvia. It's growing fast and they're getting organized. In August of 2012, Latvia is hosting the second annual World Street Workout Championships which is already looking to be much bigger than last year's competition. This year, teams are coming from 20 different countries and will compete in front of a panel of judges and a huge crowd of spectators, media, and fans.
This is genuinely becoming a movement that is moving the world.
The Impact
This film extends far past just the realm of fitness enthusiasts and touches so many communities, scenes, and issues across the planet. It emerged out of hip-hop culture, is followed and respected by professional athletes and sports fans, is being implemented into schools to combat the childhood obesity issue, getting people in low-income areas (with the highest percentage of heart disease and diabetes) to realize they don't need a gym membership to exercise, and is educating the people about getting back to eating real food. This is just a few of the sectors it touches -- there is wide range of already-existing audience members for Raise Up.
If everyone who is already a part of this movement, in some shape or form, donates as little as 10 to 25 dollars, we can make this film happen. We can show the world how to educate and protect our youth, get the people healthy and having fun, and watch the birth of a new sport that is growing faster than anything we've seen in a long time. It's important to all of us, as a people, and this documentary can be the catalyst to really implementing the change we need -- and get people to stop looking for and depending on outside variables, but instead look around them and use what they already have to awaken the world of possibilities within them.
What We Need & What You Get
We're trying to raise $40,000 over the next two months to complete this documentary. With your help, we can reach our goal and continue our quest to tell this amazing story.
What your money will go to:
Continuing to film key interviews and the NYC teams competing
Travel to the World Street Workout Championships in Latvia
Editing costs - cutting the film, sound editing/mixing, graphics/animation, and color correction.
Submitting to the major film festivals
If we don't reach our goal, it will not stop us. We will continue our efforts in showcasing this lifestyle as it becomes mainstream. This will make it harder to get through the editing process, as what we're trying to raise is a minimum. However, we've been talking with potential sponsors and feel confident that if we can get enough people on board to show this whole story, we can find a partner to take us to the finish line.
Teams already on board:
Barstarzz
Barmasters Xtreme
Bartendaz
Body by Chosen
Calisthenics Kingz
Hannibal
Teams we'll get soon:
Bar-barians
Beastmode
Highlandaz
Team Wingate
Other Ways You Can Help
Making a donation would be amazing (no matter how small), and will be what makes this film successful. But, we understand if you can't. That doesn't mean you can't still help, and we absolutely still want you to be a part of this. We want this to truly be a collaborative effort. Pass this link along. Follow us on Twitter. 'Like' us on Facebook. Talk about what you've learned at the office, gym, school, and everywhere else! Continue to interact with us here on our Indiegogo page and please send us your feedback. Let us know if there are any events we might not know about and any teams you'd like to see featured.
Raise Up is a film about people moving past age, gender, racial, and economic barriers all working together to help their communities. We feel it's only fitting that it is funded by all those people, from different walks of life, coming together for this common goal. Come on board. Please help us. We would be eternally grateful.
And lastly -- if you can't do any of the above -- get out, get moving, and get healthy!
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