Movies in the Morning: 'Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie' - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

Movies in the Morning: 'Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie'

Filmmakers Bobbie Lanahan and Nat Winthrop are working on "Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie." It chronicles Vermont's history as advocates and how the state contributes to the global discourse on grassroots democracy.

The film is in five feature-length parts, which they want to debut in spring and take it on barnstorming theatrical tour to all 14 counties.

More than 30 local filmmakers have contributed to the film -- and the editing alone has been going on for more than three years.

Spearheaded by Norwich filmmaker Nora Jacobson, this multi-part documentary spans Vermont's history, examining its contributions to the global discourse on grassroots democracy. It's an ambitious project, and after 6+ years in the making, they are close to the final cut of the series and expect to premiere in the spring.

For more information about the campaign and to donate to The Vermont Movie project, visit www.usaprojects.org/project/freedom_unity_the_vermont_movie.

For the past six years, many of Vermont's filmmakers have put aside their personal cinematic endeavors to collaborate on Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie. Due to premiere in the spring of 2013, this multi-part documentary series explores a variety of themes, ranging from Vermont's tradition of grassroots democracy and groundbreaking environmental laws, to the enduring presence of its Abenaki population.  With the end in sight, the filmmaking team kicked off their final fundraising campaign to offset the high costs of post-production.

Spearheaded by Norwich filmmaker Nora Jacobson, the project uses Vermont's state motto as its title, and also as a reflection of the filmmakers' working process. For the past three years, she has been weaving together the individual contributions of Vermont filmmakers including: Jay Craven, Dorothy Tod, Andy Reichsman, Louise Michaels, Alan Dater, Bill Stetson, Rob Koier, Sam Mayfield and Robin Lloyd.

With the goal of raising $55,000, The Vermont Movie collaborative has teamed up with USA Projects, a micro-philanthropy site dedicated to accomplished artists, for a crowd-funding campaign. Similar to the popular Internet fundraising platform Kickstarter, USA Projects provides a secure website for donations to the project in exchange for perks. In addition, USA Projects provides "matching funds" to encourage the donor community to reach the fundraising goal.  If $55,000 is not reached, The Vermont Movie crew won't collect a dime of their pledges.

The Vermont Movie's Board of Advisors includes historians Howard Coffin, Michael Sherman, Cindy Bittinger, Dona Brown, Paul Searls, Kevin Dann, and Lyn Blackwell, former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, author Greg Guma and political scientist Frank Bryan.