Film Synopsis
Restaurant Provence in Carrboro, North Carolina may have to close its doors due to irreversible damage caused by COVID-19. CrossFit Local, a gym in Chapel Hill, NC was forced to close on March 17th. Neither were a part of Governor Roy Cooper’s Phase 2 “reopening” plan that started on May 22nd. In 2012, Elaysa Jessup started Elaysa B’s Candy Tree, a gourmet candy and custom cake business located in Winston-Salem, NC. In March 2020, she and her family went from making gooey candied apples and custom cakes to a business that makes homemade face masks for buyers around the country. Governor Cooper has started slowly relaxing the shelter-in-place mandate. Will CrossFit Local members scramble to do the 8am workout at the gym or continue taking Zoom classes online? Will guests return to their favorite French restaurant for racks of lamb or will they continue ordering take-out? Will Elaysa continue to make masks or go back to selling candied apples?
Taking Orders moves the audience into a world of three small businesses struggling to survive and keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic. Filled with heartbreak, frustration and anger, the five-part series is also a story about hope and perseverance. This episodic documentary exposes the cruelties and greed demonstrated by large, publicly-traded corporations, like Ruth’s Chris and Shake Shack. When the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) monies became available, Wells Fargo and Bank of America provided their commercial clients with concierge treatment by processing their applications, leaving small businesses to fend for themselves. Websites crashed and emails went unanswered. Although Baptist and the Edwards received PPP money during the second round of funding, the money is about to run out. Now, Baptist Knaven, Chad and Kelly Edwards, and the Jessup Family wonder every day if it is their last as a small business owner.
This episodic documentary is about much more than a pandemic’s impact on small businesses. It is about the spirit and strength these small business owners demonstrate during a time when they are watching the businesses around them lock their doors for the last time. Over the course of five episodes, 20-minute episodes, the audience will hear stories about adaptation, resiliency, dedication, setbacks and perseverance. We will focus on the financial impact this has had on these small businesses and their respective communities but as importantly, the psychological toll it has taken on all of them.
Why $5,000?
The $5,000 will cover the cost of the equipment rental, music licenses, and legal research fees.
We have some great incentives!
If you are able to donate, we will make sure the audiences who see the film know that without you or your organization's generosity, this film would not have come to fruition. Everything from a film funder credit to dinner with the directors is available based on the contribution amount. Check out the options in the "perks" section.
Why make this film?
About a year ago, Baptist Knaven and Meg Daniels started a monthly event called Drinks and Docs at Provence Restaurant in Carrboro, NC. Before the pandemic, local filmmaker’s work-in-progress or completed films were screened on the last Sunday of every month. Baptist was generous to open the restaurant on the one day a week he was closed in order to host this event for the community. It grew from having six people in the audience to sell-out crowds of 35 people. He is a loyal follower of documentary films and is dedicated to helping the filmmaking community grow in a small town. All the cash donations were given to the filmmaker(s). Baptist is struggling to keep the restaurant open. Now it is Meg’s turn to use her skills as a filmmaker to be a voice for Baptist, Chad and Kelly, Elaysa and her family. Meg wants to raise awareness about the power of banks and American-owned institutions, run by wealthy, predominately white men, have defined who is important and who is not when it comes to small business owners. These four people and their businesses have a story to tell and should not be left to face financial ruin due to governmental ineptitude and greed. It is Meg’s hope the viewers will leave the theater talking about the value of small businesses and how they can help them survive.
Using filmmaking as a platform, Chris Hudson hopes to make sense of what this means for his business (Chris Hudson Productions). He and his wife Angie own Creative Drama Children’s Theater (CDCT) in Clemmons, NC and have struggled to maintain their small, successful business. They specialize in dance, music and musical theater yet the majority of their revenue is generated through their performing arts program staged in front of audiences of 50 people or more. All musical and performing arts classes have been postponed resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars of income for their business and staff.
Moving to the online platform Zoom, allowed CDCT to “stay open” however, since March, the children’s theater has lost a large number of clientele and have decided to shut down their business until September. North Carolina’s Phase 2 did not allow for CDCT to reopen as they had diligently prepared to do; therefore, they have had to adapt and postpone spring productions to the fall. Considered a Phase 3 entity, Chris and Angie remain frustrated and at the same time hopeful that large audiences will one day be able to enter their business to watch their children perform.
Our hope is that Taking Orders will generate conversation about small businesses, their vital importance to our communities and to our economy. Large, commercial corporations had the obvious advantage in applying and receiving PPP loans yet at what cost to our communities and the fabric of our nation?
About the Directors
Meg Daniels, Co-Director
Co-director and cinematographer Meg Daniels has been telling people's stories for over 25 years. After she received her BFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, she became a photo essayist and freelance photographer producing projects about various topics ranging from restorative justice in South Africa to teenagers exploring their identity. After a three-year career as a newspaper staff photographer, she received her Masters Degree at North Carolina State University where she won an award for outstanding scholarly research for her thesis project in which she used photography and qualitative research methodologies to explore the emotional impact photographs can have on women. While a student in the Master of Fine Arts Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest University, she won the Student Pitch Competition at the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival and received her degree in 2019. Her first feature film, Proper Pronouns, was selected for the 2020 Indie Grits Film Festival and the Queen Palm International Film Festival where she was awarded Best Director and Best Co-editor in the Third Quarter Technical & Performance Awards. Meg uses filmmaking to address social justice issues in North Carolina.
Information about Meg’s first feature-length film, Proper Pronouns can be accessed here: www.properpronounsfilm.com
Chris Hudson, Co-Director
Emmy-Nominated and Silver Telly Award winning television Producer/Director, Chris Hudson has worked in television for over 20 years. Holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Queens University of Charlotte and an Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Film from Wake Forest University, Hudson started his career at WTVI, Charlottes’ PBS station producing World War II documentaries like How I Survived WWII (Emmy Nominated 2007/Silver Telly Award 2007) and If They Could See Us Now: The Story of Charlotte’s 38th Evacuation Hospital (2007). From 2005 to 2013 Hudson produced local, regional and national TV commercials for cable companies in Charlotte and Greensboro, NC. Since then, Hudson continues to provide TV commercials, web videos and documentaries through his own production company, Chris Hudson Productions.
Chris Hudson’s most recent feature-length documentary The Mayberry Effect’s trailer can be viewed here: https://www.themayberryeffect.com/
Just spreading the word helps!
Being that we are in the middle of a pandemic and our economy is fragile, many people who would like to donate just can't at this time. Sharing both the campaign and our intentions for making the film is valuable to us and you can do so by posting links on your social media pages, chatting with your friends, or yelling it from the tree tops. To make it easy on you, the smart folks at IndieGoGo have created "share tools" for you. Be sure to use those so you don't have to write multiple posts on various platforms. Thanks in advance for your support!
Our Challenges
As is the case with all observational, documentary films that focus on raising awareness, we are starting to prepare for potential obstacles that could prevent us from reaching our goal including: 1) finding a local or state government official to speak on camera about how the CARES ACT failed to rescue small businesses in a timely manner and 2) interviewing a bank employee who struggled ethically with how the institution was handling the PPP distribution process. We are already formulating a workaround that will still provide audiences with valuable information as to what small businesses experienced during the pandemic. We may have to restructure our series. Instead of five episodes, we have considered making it a two-part series with each episode lasting about 30 minutes. Currently, we plan to pitch the project to NY Times Op Docs, REEL South, and UNC-TV; the latter two focus on stories about the South.
