Sometimes in life you come across an amazing group of individuals who give so much back to the community you feel simply awed by their actions. Such is the Romero Theater Troupe.
A little over a year ago I was looking for a project for my Masters Thesis in Anthropology. Through a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver I was introduced to the founder of the Troupe Jim Walsh. Jim indicated that the Troupe was looking for someone with a media background to work with them. At this point I had nearly a decade of experience working in video production. I suggested that I follow the Troupe around for a little while with a camera while at the same time doing my Masters research. Jim agreed and in November of 2012 I began to follow the Troupe.
The Romero Theater Troupe is the most amazing group of individuals I have ever encountered. Most of the members work tirelessly for social justice in their everyday lives on top of participating in the Troupe. These individuals are out in the world changing lives on a daily basis and doing everything they can to make this world a better place for all of our children.
There are no professional actors in this Troupe. Anyone is welcome to join and anyone is welcome to share their story and their struggles for justice. Not only do the Romero's put on plays, but they share their model in workshops at homeless shelters, women's shelters, high schools, conferences as well as a variety of other places. The Romero Theater Troupe has created a tool through theater and storytelling for healing wounds and combating injustice.
Recently the Romero Troupe put on a play called Semillas: Stories from the Stuggle. Which included a series of vignettes about unknown activists in history, modern struggles for immigration reform, the lonely life of a homeless man, a true story about the dangers of fracking, a Troupe members first and account of racial profiling and police brutality, as well as several more stories.
I currently have over 90 hours of footage and thousands of pictures on Theater Performances, Activism in the Community, Troupe Member Interviews, Interviews with Anthropologists, Media Experts, and even Noam Chomsky. But I need your help to make this film the absolute best it can be. Hundreds of hours of hard work have already gone into collecting footage and hundreds more are needed to complete the film.
What your contribution will pay for:
- Several Key interviews and events around the state of Colorado that still need to be captured to complete the story
- Professional Video Editing of over 90 hours of footage done by someone with a decade of professional media experience in Documentary Film Making and News Rooms
- Mastering of the Audio
- Securing rights to some talented and amazing musicians who are interested in contributing to this film but need to get permission from a record label
- A professional composer arranging music for the film
- Securing any necessary historical or stock video footage needed to make this film the best it can be. This is by far the most expensive part of the project with some historical footage costing hundreds of dollars for permission to use.
- The design of graphics, text, or animations that will be included in the footage
- The production of the first 100 Dvds
- Any additional equipment (hard drives, microphone, equipment rental) that might be needed to complete the film
Thank you in advance for anything you might contribute to this project, even if it is just spreading the world about the Romero Theater Troupe. There story needs to be told and I am doing everything in my power to tell it.
