Sunday, April 04, 2010

One Stamp & One Step At A Time

It wasn't until standing at the counter of the U.S. Postal Service last week that it dawned on me just how large the "Mister Rogers & Me" neighborhood has become.

It took Abbi and my imminent move from Hell's Kitchen to the Upper East Side to finally get all of those Kickstarter envelopes out the door. And it took me three trips to the Radio City Postal Station to get it right. But there I was, finally, placing each of the fiftysomething hand-packed,written and seeled envelopes on the scale one at a time, reading all the labels and ticking off cities like a FedEx commercial: Asheville, NC; Jupiter, FL; Littleton, CO; Little Elm, TX; Seattle, WA; Berkeley, CA... the list goes on and on.

I love the idea of all of those photos and cds and thank you notes making their way to the edges of this great country, and I love the idea that -- as Fred showed me -- "There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

That small collection of addresses is nothing, of course. Mister Rogers' legacy lives in the hearts of thousands upon thousands of friends of neighbors. I hope we can activate just 1% of them to spread his message to 1% of their friends and neighbors. That's how a legacy grows, one story at a time.

Work continues on our story, of course. Here are a few random updates:

We're still making tweaks to the film, including one, major segment move, additional voice overs, and ...

We've commissioned local pianist Chris LoPresto to add some incidental music.

We're working with our friends at Conure Studios to relaunch this site (as you can see in the associated image).

Finally we're doing everything in our power to premiere at the Nantucket Film Festival in June, including (but not limited to) crossing our fingers and toes (which makes it tough to type and walk). Meanwhile, the film remains in consideration for Seattle and Toronto, and we'll be submitting to SilverDocs, Kansas, Hot Springs, Heartland, Hamptons, Santa Fe, Chicago and more in the coming weeks.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love what you are doing... Mr Roger's taught me how to love myself and accept myself as I am. I've gone through some traumatic experiences as a child which altered the way I felt about myself. But Mr. Rogers always seemed to change that in me... I grew up with those same morals, love and understanding. I learned to accept that I can't change everything in life but I can grow to become better person and achieve greater things. there is not one TV show today that can spread that message as simple, humble, and innocently as Mr. Roger's did. I honestly Pray that your film finds a home very soon. I can't wait to see it!

Benjamin said...

Thanks, Katina! I can't wait for you to see it either! :)

atleast said...

Benjamin,

Got your package this weekend. The photo is stunning. Thanks so much!

Elyse