THE ENDING WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR.
We hope that you, like us, had a productive 2012. This month we are preparing for our last production trip to Ecuador, set to happen this coming month upon sudden turn of events: Anibal, our youngest player, is making Ecuador’s National Team! This is BIG as he is one of the best  players in the country—only 18 are selected. We have been following updates from his coach, his mom, and just learned of the news. So as you can imagine, lots to plan for.

FULL OF GRATITUDE!
We have lots to be thankful for this year on our steadfast progress made with the support of an awesome team and organizations that believe in our story that will inspire every person to keep striving for their dreams no matter what the odds or the obstacles! Have a look:

1. We had an in-depth story consultation, made possible by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Our consultation with re-known “Story Doctor,” Fernanda Rossi has brought clarity and solutions to our story preparing us to seize our upcoming shoot.
2. We have continued to expand our team of players taking this documentary to the finish line:

• Giovana Aguilar joined the producing team. She has been constant in her progress since she joined our team, making a trip to Ecuador to capture key story beats and progress from our players.
• Sebastian Hoskins, our awesome lawyer, and most recent addition to our team, is on-board representing the best interests of DreamTown and keeping us in “legal” line.
• Jorge Torres, our production associate and outreach coordinator, is in Ecuador right now, planting the seeds for a powerful community engagement plan with FundeCruz, Ulises De La Cruz Foundation, working on community projects to re-build El Chota.
• Through out the year, we’ve worked with a local production company in Ecuador, Terra Vision, to capture key story beats essential to the continuity of our story.

We are staying steadfast in our race to the finish line and have big goals to accomplish in 2013. We count on your support to continue key funding and outreach for DreamTown.

CHEERS TO A WONDERFUL 2013 FILLED WITH ABUNDANCE, JOY, AND LAUGHTER!! 

Julia Lull is a junior at Villanova University majoring in Communications and Spanish with a minor in Peace and Justice Education.  She is the General Manager of Villanova Television and a Future Broadcast Pioneer of Philadelphia Scholar.  

This young woman is a powerhouse!  In addition to Julia’s experience in communications, she also has film production skills. In fact, her first documentary “Beyond These Walls” premiered in Philadelphia in March! She is fluent in Spanish and coaches youth soccer back home in Rochester, NY!

The more interns the merrier…and the faster we can reach the finish line and share this film with the WORLD!  Please share our call for outreach and communications interns with your networks. Here are 3 ways you can support DreamTown today:

• Become a fan of DreamTown on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and share our film trailer with your network.

• Tell us about organizations and associations to which you belong that would be interested in the DreamTown story.  Contact Lauren Townsend at lauren@voicesofdreamtown.com with your ideas and connections!  

• Make a personal contribution to help us get a start on this next round of fundraising.  You can make a tax-deductible contribution to DreamTown through Women Make Movies (see below).

DreamTown has partnered with Women Make Movies (WMM), a non-profit media arts organization that facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films by and about women. WMM is DreamTown’s fiscal sponsor and acts as a non-profit tax-exempt umbrella organization for the project. One of the major hurdles for any film and video project is fundraising. The fiscal sponsorship program enables public and private institutions, and individual donors to make tax-deductible donations.

To give a tax-deductable donation:

1) Go to Women Make Movies  

2) Find the DREAMTOWN TAB and put in the amount of your donation.

OR, you can mail a check to:

Woman Make Movies

 462 Broadway, Suite 500WS 

New York, NY 10013 

*** Be sure to write “DreamTown” on the memo line and make it payable to Woman Make Movies. 
Thanks for your support!

DreamTown is the inspiring story of three young soccer players chasing success in the face of extraordinary challenges. Entwined with their athletic dreams are the hopes of all Afro-Ecuadorians, for whom soccer is more than a sport but the means to recognition and respect they have long been denied.

LOOKING FOR: Outreach and Communications Interns!

Interns will learn how to do research, outreach, fundraising support, and audience engagement for a documentary film project. Bilingual candidates (English/Spanish), and individuals who are knowledgeable about soccer/futbol are encouraged to apply. While living in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut is a plus, interested applicants who live elsewhere are welcome to apply.

The DreamTown team will discuss the time commitment qualified candidates are able to give the film; ideally, we would like outreach and communications interns to work 10 – 15 hours a week. We will gladly work with students and their schools to make this experience comply with college/university internship programs for credit, and will provide letters of recommendation as needed.

Please send a cover letter and resume to:

Lauren Townsend, Associate Producer, DreamTown – lauren@voicesofdreamtown.com

Deadline: April 15, 2012

Our story continues to evolve.

Our characters lives are in flux, holding both promise and uncertainty. Anibal continues to rise against all odds; he is now playing for El Nacional’s sub-18. At age 15 he has been offered a 3-year contract to stay on the team. This promises to bring long-awaited financial stability to his family. Meanwhile he continues to try out for the Ecuadorian National Team as they prepare for the Sudamericano Sub-17 Tournament in Argentina on March 2013. Anibal’s chances are strong as he pursues his soccer dreams.

Anibal's family, Dreamtown's youngest rising soccer talent.

Carlos, on the other hand, is preparing for fatherhood. At the end of this month, he will have new baby boy named Jean Carlos! We have sent him a flip camera to document this transition and have local crew ready to capture this life-changing event. We are really happy for him and wish him and his partner a safe delivery.

The DreamTown Team is growing!
The spring brings new members to our production staff.

Welcome aboard, Maria Agui Carter, Marco Antonio Varona, Tupac Galarza and Lauren Townsend! We are honored and lucky to have our first Executive Producer, Maria Agui Carter, a fellow Ecuadorian Director, writer and chair of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Maria has been delivering long-form documentary films for national public television for over two decades. She will review scripts, production plans, give edit notes, help connect Director Betty to resources, and help create strategic plans around funding, production, post production, distribution and outreach.

We have also partnered up with a local production company in Ecuador called TerraVision. Director Marco Antonio Barona and Director of Photography Tupac Galarza are delighted to work on completing DreamTown and bring local and professional knowledge to our production. We are glad to have someone in the field, ready to film new footage as crucial story developments take place.

Lauren Townsend joins the DreamTown Team as an Associate Producer bringing breath of experience, enthusiasm and energy to our fundraising, communications and outreach efforts. We are thrilled to have Lauren and her campaign management and organizing skills on the DreamTown team.

Fundraising and more fundraising!
We sent off the Tribecca Gucci Grant for $50,000 this week. Please join us in keeping fingers crossed for a DreamTown winning proposal!

We are taking this moment to send our BEST WISHES to you and yours during the holiday season and the start of a New Year. Here are some highlights from 2011:

• Dreamtown’s Website up and running thanks to our talented team member, Armand Emamdjomeh!
• We reached $40,000 on Kickstarter with more than 3,000 people’s support and contributions making possible a production trip back to Ecuador and advancing our story along tremendously. A list of special thanks to everyone that contributed can be found here.
• Georgina’s eyesight (Carlos’s mom) was saved from going blind thanks to Do Gooder contributions from Dahlia Philips and Ruth Ayala-Quezada. She is healing right now.
• We managed to screen DreamTown’s work-in-progress in 12 venues including Museo del Barrio, Upper 90 Soccer store, La Peña’s Cultural Center, Jacob Burns Film Center, NYU’s Afro-Latin Film Series, and many more.
• Our community of fans is growing strong and we partnered up with JUVE, NALIP, ULP, United Latinos en Accion, and Young Ecuadorian American Professionals.
• We were nominated for and awarded a year round mentorship from NALIP’s LAMP program!

2011 was an amazing year thanks to each of you!! We still have a lot of work in 2012 and want to make sure we finish the film next year. If you can, please consider an End of Year Gift to DreamTown. You can make a tax-deductable donation through Woman Make Movies on our behalf and know you are supporting Latino independent film, EL Chota Valley, and cooperative economics ☺

Click here to donate.

May 2012 bless each of us with abundance in health, love, prosperity, peace & happiness.

SALUD!! CHEERS TO ALL!!

Help Anibal and other children learn more about their AFRO-ECUADORIAN heritage and have a deeper understanding of their own Identity…AND WIN A PRIZE!

WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION:
… … When were slaves officially freed in the country of Ecuador?
A. 1492
B. 1982
C. 1851
D. 1821
— FIRST 5 PEOPLE to Answer correctly get entered to WIN a Special Prize Announced tomorrow morning!
SUBMIT ANSWERS IN COMMENTS SECTION HERE:
www.indiegogo.com/dreamtown

Blog Video #1 – - Tragedy and Triumph

After 2 years young and talented Anibal’s life changed forever… a huge tragic loss in his family was followed by a huge opportunity in his soccer career! With these dramatic highs and lows we are in awe of his continued humility and strength, now more than ever he is stepping up as his whole family puts their hopes for a better future in his pursuit of a dream.

“What Soccer teaches me is the importance of a team in being there for each other, respecting each other and staying united… It made me so happy to know that my team is there for me in good times and in bad times.”– Anibal Chala, 15, speaking of the support he received from his teammates when his father passed away.

This New Video kicks off our NEW CAMPAIGN – Phase II! Our goal is to EXPAND and GROW our number of supporters and raise $35,000 to fund the LAST film shoot in Ecuador to capture the Final Chapter of DreamTown’s compelling stories!
So we ask that you PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD of our NEW campaign and support this inspiring story in the making here: www.indiegogo.com/Dreamtown

Our goal is to attract NEW backers happy to support an underdog story of unity and hope through the power of soccer with 10% of all proceeds going to help the people of El Chota Valley!

Tenemos mucho que reportar y estamos muy agradecidos por tener un verano lleno de metas, retos, y sacrificios que se ha podido alcanzar y sobresalir. Primeramente, nuestra meta en Kickstarter se la alcanzo con el apoyo de una comunidad de 415 personas que contribuyeron hacia un sueño que se hizo realidad. Estos fondos hicieron possible un viaje al Ecuador, el cual avanso a la historia y la ha llevado a un nuevo nivel.

Chequen el video para escuchar nuestras ultimas noticias directamente de la Directora Betty Bastidas, conozcan al equipo de 8 que se integraron al equipo, enterensen sobre la historia y vean fotos del rodaje.

Si desean encontrar maneras de ayudarnos, o quieren estar involucrados en este proyecto, o no mas quieren saludar, pueden comunicarse con nosotros por medio de voicesofdreamtown@gmail.com .
De antemano, muchisimas gracias por tomar su tiempo y leer este mensanje.
Un Abrazo,
Betty Bastidas

Here are Screenings/Events coming up that are confirmed:
August 3, Jacob Burns and Media Arts Lab in Pleasentville, NY @7pm – www.burnsfilmcenter.org/

August 8, Upper90 Soccer Store (Stay tuned for time) – http://www.u90soccer.com/

And also, August 7, DreamTown will be part in the Ecuadorian Parade in Queens!!!

We would love to have everyone come out and see the work-in-progress and show your support!! We have two weeks left in our campaign, but we have nothing but faith that with amazing supporters like those who have already pledged, we’ll hit our goal!! Tell a friend to tell a friend to share this link: http://kck.st/dreamtowndoc!!
Peace and Love,
- The Dream Team