Short, Sweet, and to the Point:
Here I am with Seattle's giant piggy bank, Rachel. She's short, sweet, and to the point, too.
Disguised as the company Cheep Art, I'm a theatre artist committed to creating high-quality, engaging new work and taking it beyond my hometown for more people to experience.
This funding campaign is a bookend to the year-long process of developing THE TWO-STEP. Like the contributors who've met my initial $880 goal (YOU DID IT!), a village-worth of individuals have contributed their time, talent, stories, skills, and more in support of my idea becoming a true theatrical experience. THANK YOU! (WE DID IT!)
And I DID IT! With abundant tears, sweat, and blood (thanks to a park bench injury), I've condensed 40 years of my grandparents' love, wisdom, dancing, traveling, and dreaming into a 52-minute solo play. HOORAY! I've performed it seven times in Winnipeg, five times in Chicago, and four times in Seattle. The Winnipeg Fringe Festival press gave my show 4 stars, and the Seattle Fringe Festival audiences voted THE TWO-STEP as their top pick! The standing ovations and teary-eyed smiles require no explanation. Closing night of my final 2014 festival was in some ways just the beginning; I now know so much about the artistic potential of this show. I'm ready for more!
Praise aside, I'm starting to feel the financial "bumps in the road" as I've invested all my time and earnings into a full-year process. This summer, I toured away from regularly paid work hours for 2+ months, while paying rent, insurance, and all the other daily expenses on top of travel and marketing costs.
MY CAMPAIGN GOAL...as flexible funding STEPS:
THANK YOU! $880 covered the airfare and city transit costs from Winnipeg & Chicago, plus 10% in various fees (Indiegogo, credit card, etc). Whew!
NEW GOALS for the final week:
$980 - help me pay my volunteer sound designer/operator at least $100!
$1,100 - help me partially pay off the newspaper ad from Winnipeg!
$1,300 - help me partially pay off rehearsal space costs!
$1,500 - help me pay myself $200 for all this work?!
A few of the major Cheep Art Expenses ($5,000), paid by Christine, July 2013 - September 2014:
$1,650 fringe festival application (x10) and participation (x3) fees
$900 director stipend for the one and only Paul Budraitis
$0 sound designer/operator stipend (very generously volunteered)
$200 composer stipend (paid by an unsolicited friendly donation!)
$125 photographer stipend for poster image
$300 rehearsal space for 3+ months
$240 advertisement in Winnipeg newspaper
$400 transportation/meals/advertising materials during three weeks in Winnipeg
$350 Poster/flyer printing & distribution costs for Winnipeg and Chicago (paid by an unsolicited family donation!)
$650 airfare to/from Chicago & Winnipeg
$150 weekly bus passes & train tickets in Chicago & Winnipeg
(Note: I haven't compensated myself a single cent for this over-time work in the past 395+ days.)
DONOR PERKS! READ THE LIST OVER THERE! -->
THIRTEEN PERKS TO CHOOSE FROM! CLAIM ONE!
I WANT TO GIVE BACK TO YOU!
If you've already visited (and/or donated to) this campaign, read them carefully! I've adjusted some of the price levels and a few of the perks!
Impact.
Your contribution fuels my faith in community, collaboration, and creativity. I've ridden the undulating waves of doubt and exuberance throughout my play's development, and I ultimately believe that this is a show worth experiencing. I'm very proud of my work. Help me keep THE TWO-STEP on the road for its future audiences around the world!
To tell you the truth, the successful 2012 Indiegogo campaign for ROBERTA AND THE MOON provided THE TWO-STEP with a strong start of $1,000. The first thing I did was invest in quality direction from Paul Budraitis. I am ever so grateful that he accepted what I consider a very paltry paycheck (compared to his caliber of work). He offered the richest collaborative experience I ever could have wished for.
Any surplus from this campaign - after paying my debts - will go straight to a savings account for developing my next project. The cycle of generosity keeps moving forward!
You can help beyond the piggy bank! Tell people about THE TWO-STEP!
Now that I have the show in production-ready form, I want to produce it as much as possible! If you have connections to a venue in ANY city, let me know!
Please help me spread the word about my show and this campaign. Make some noise! If ten of your friends can spare a cup of coffee for one day, that really makes a difference!
THANK YOU, ALL!