UPDATED DECEMBER 31, 2020: Thanks to 69 donors, we raised $8,727 (total goal - $18,500), which will go a long way towards paying musicians and other artists involved in producing a full-length documentary.
from our GoFundMe crowdfunder (Nov. 19, 2020)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/common-good-atlanta-documentary
Hi there… My name is Hal Jacobs and I wanted to tell you about our new documentary project on Common Good Atlanta.
It’s a program that connects incarcerated students with liberal arts professors in the Atlanta area.
Sarah Higinbotham founded it 12 years ago in 2008. Two years after that she was joined by local indie musician phenom Bill Taft, while they were both students (PhD & MFA, respectively) at Georgia State University.
It started with a simple idea. Bring books into the prison and teach the same kind of class you would teach at Georgia State, Georgia Tech, UGA, or Emory. Don’t hold anything back. Bring in writing tutors. Bring in students from area colleges to discuss books and ideas with the incarcerated students. Write poetry. Read primary sources. Discuss critically. Write. Write. Write some more.
The program has grown to over 100 faculty from area universities with a waiting list. Hundreds of students have participated in classes. A growing number of these alumni are back in their communities seeing the world through different eyes, spreading the word.
One of the alumni, Janine Solursh, is a co-writer with me on her first documentary project.
We want to tell the story of this innovative program because it deserves a wider audience.
Here we have two very different communities — the academics connecting with the incarcerated — listening to each other and learning from each other — creating a stronger community together.
Of course, it's also hard work. Sarah and Bill go hard at it every day. It’s hard for these students in prison. It’s still hard after they get released.
Last year Common Good Atlanta received the Governor’s Award in Georgia. And they were finalists in the Civvies, a national contest recognizing social-justice community groups.
Last year my son and I produced and directed the documentary on Lillian Smith, “Breaking the Silence.” In our crowdfunding, a lot of people helped us with contributions, large and small, and without them we couldn’t have made the kind of film we wanted.
That film has won several festival awards, it’s being shown in a lot of classrooms, libraries and social-justice groups.
We think this new film project has the same potential. And we’re asking for support to cover some of the help that’s needed (see below), while we volunteer our time and equipment to do everything else.
I hope you’ll check out the rough cut of our trailer to learn more. We’d love to recognize your contribution in the film’s credits — and look forward to sharing the final film with you in fall 2021.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Your contribution helps with:
-- Co-writing
-- Soundtrack by area musicians
-- Final editing
-- Final color & audio correction
-- Graphics
-- Festivals
See trailer: https://vimeo.com/481336885