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The Spirit of the Age

A creative film about the inception of the Roaring '20s

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The Spirit of the Age

The Spirit of the Age

The Spirit of the Age

The Spirit of the Age

The Spirit of the Age

A creative film about the inception of the Roaring '20s

A creative film about the inception of the Roaring '20s

A creative film about the inception of the Roaring '20s

A creative film about the inception of the Roaring '20s

Bruce Walters
Bruce Walters
Bruce Walters
Bruce Walters
1 Campaign |
Davenport, United States
$626 USD 9 backers
4% of $15,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal



The Spirit of the Age is a film and multi-platform production that will paint a vibrant picture of the Roaring Twenties at its inception. Jazz is new in the early 1920s. So is Prohibition. Women voters. Radio. Hollywood.  

We will experience the newness of the emerging modern world through the eyes of a young woman arriving at a dance –meeting young musicians, artists, dancers, bootleggers, flappers and suffragettes. The film will be supported by interactive media and a touring art exhibition that will feature building-sized exterior and gallery projections. Supporting interactive media will provide an historic background to the
 film –emphasizing that the cultural, social and technological innovations and 
pace of changes of the era continue to shape our world. 

We have arranged for the film's premiere and distribution through PBS station WQPT, created a non-profit association (contact us at info@thespiritoftheage.com for information about making a tax-deductible contribution) and have filmed a teaser with more than thirty crew, actors and musicians. We are poised to develop a unique production that will inspire, entertain, inform and foster critical thinking.
 

Your contribution will fund the development of this film: completion of the script, storyboard and shot list; securing a professional film crew and cast; securing legal rights; nominal pay for the creative team and others expenses such as website development and hosting.  The funds we receive above this amount will go directly towards the film's production costs. 

We will be seeking additional funding from a wide array of sources (for example, funding for the teaser was provided by a Research Council Grant from Western Illinois University). However, this does not minimize in any way our genuine need for your contributions at this point in the film’s creation. 

What will you get in return for your contribution? Perks include digital downloads, recognition for your contributions in the film and on the website, prints and posters of the artworks -even the original artworks themselves. Also the satisfaction in knowing that you were crucial in making this film possible



Bruce Walters, Writer and Director
Professor and artist. Walters recently created a series of videos in conjunction with the Smithsonian exhibition ”NASA | 50 Years of Exploration” that were projected across the entire width of the Figge Art Museum and displayed prominently at the State Historical Museum, Des Moines, and the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria. Other recent work has been included in exhibitions and presentations at the Russian Cultural Center in Memphis, TN; Tate Modern, London; Uster Festival of Art & Design, Belfast; and the Geddes Institute for Urban Research, University of Dundee, Scotland.


J. Douglas Miller
, Collaborator and Producer
Founder, Motion Pictures Midwest.  Field producer for SUGAR, a Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize nominee (2008), winner, National Board of Review Top Independent Film Award (2009) and AFI Movie of the Year Award (2010). And for The Mississippi: River of Song, a five part, Smithsonian multimedia series for the PBS Network; production director for six Aurelio De Laurentiis and Pupi Avati films - Cannes (1991) and Venice (1992) Film Festival nominations and multi award winners.  In addition, Miller has worked, coordinated, promoted and/or produced various projects with such 
entertainment figures as Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Lauren Bacall, Burl Ives, Pearl Bailey, Louis Bellson, Harry Belafonte, Hogie Carmichael Jr., Arthur Fiedler, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzie Gillespie, Ramsey Lewis, Wynton Marsalis, Leon Russell and Lalo Schifrin. 


James Schmedding
, Interactive Designer
Professional experience in user interface design, web development, management and marketing as well as in 3D animation and modeling.  


Additional creative team contributors:

Dr. John Cooper, professor and jazz artist and composer who performs with his quartet, with the Johnny Trudell Orchestra, with jazz artists -including Jon Faddis, Carl Fontana, Jim McNeely, Clark Terry, John Fedchock, David Liebman, Gary Foster, Alan Vizutti, James Moody, J. C. Heard, Duffy Jackson, Chico O'Ferrill, Jiggs Wigham Terry Gibbs, Slide Hampton, Ken Watters, and other national touring acts -including Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney, Jerry Lewis, The Temptations, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and Lou Rawls.

Dr. Hoyet H. Hemphill, interactivity coordinator, 
Professor who has an extensive publishing and presentation record in technology, psychology and cross-cultural study.

Dr. John Hallwas, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and author of
The Bootlegger: A Story of Small-Town America and other award-winning historical books on the American Midwest. 

Dr. Sherry Lindquist, assistant-professor who has research interests and publications on the social history of art and cultural exchange. 


The risks and challenges of this project will be mitigated in large part by the creative team's decades of professional experience. For example, J. Douglas Miller has served as a producer for films featured at the Cannes and Sundance festivals and for a PBS mini-series.  We will contract with professional filmmakers and media legal consultants to ensure that that outcome will be of the highest caliber and to minimize potential problems. We are planning thoroughly – developing alternative plans for every contingency we may face. 


Let the world know about our film!! Please - use the email, embed, link and follow buttons on the side to spread the word. You will be helping us tremendously. 

Join us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/spirit.film

We can't thank you enough for your support!

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Choose your Perk

Bee's Knees Certification

$10 USD
A few clams will earn a digital certification that you are, indeed, the Bee's Knees. Further, that you know your onions and are a fine judge of bootleg whiskey.
0 claimed

Digital Download

$25 USD
High-quality digital downloads of poster (11 x 17” x 300 dpi). Also, digital certification.
2 claimed

Sponsor Credit

$50 USD
Your name will be listed as a sponsor on The Spirit of the Age website and receive high-quality digital downloads of the poster and three drawings.
1 claimed

Set of Prints

$75 USD
Set of four 11 x 6” glossy prints of the poster and three drawings. Also Sponsor Credit and printed certification.
2 claimed

Signed Poster

$125 USD
The Spirit of the Age poster. Signed by director and artist, Bruce Walters. 18 x 24". Also full Sponsor Credit perks.
0 claimed

Signed Photo Book

$200 USD
Signed book that includes a dozen drawings made for The Spirit of the Age and images from the teaser shot at the Coliseum Ballroom. Twenty-four pages, 9 x 7", perfect bound, glossy, full-color. Also full Sponsor Credit perks.
0 claimed

Signed Set of Posters

$300 USD
Complete set of three posters signed by director and artist, Bruce Walters. Also credit as Silver sponsor on website and printed material.
0 claimed

Signed hardbound book/posters

$500 USD
Signed hardbound book and complete set of three posters -signed by director and artist, Bruce Walters. Also credit as Gold sponsor on website and printed material. Eligible as a $450 tax-deductible donation.
0 claimed

Original Artwork

$1,250 USD
Original 19 x 24” signed drawing by director and artist Bruce Walters. Choose from Image Gallery (first come, first serve!). Also credit as Gold sponsor on website and printed material. Eligible as a $1000 tax-deductible donation.
0 claimed
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