Overwhelmed

So, a little confession: I was a little nervous to post the teaser for this film. I’d been talking about the project for a long time without going into any details, and at this point, it was getting hard to be vague about it while actively engaging participants. I knew I’d need to go public, and like a movie studio that wants to give an accurate taste of its product without giving away too much, I figured a teaser trailer was the way to go. Better that than another video of me talking to the camera.

So why was I nervous? I wasn’t worried about the quality of the teaser, nor the allure of the topic. It’s just … well, the subject matter covered in Parkway of Broken Dreams is one that’s near and dear to a very passionate, opinionated group of creative people, and I knew that it would provoke some strong responses, either good or bad. But I had to rip off the band-aid at some point, and so yesterday, I did.

Thankfully, that passionate group responded almost entirely positively–and the folks outside that group did so as well, intrigued by the glimpses into a long-gone (though not entirely, as we’ll learn) scene that they know little-to-nothing about. My notifications across YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and especially Facebook blew up. Even my email lit up. People actually clicked through to this website, signed up for the mailing list. They shared the teaser and, if nothing else, validated my ability to edit together a decent minute of material.

BUT … it completely took the wind out of me. Now, to be fair, I’ve been firing on all pistons the last several weeks, not just on this project, but also on another filmmaking project that’s not as sprawling but just as challenging. Plus, I’ve been traveling, buried in work at the day job, and quietly launched another side project. So I’m a bit exhausted, both physical and emotionally.

That said, I wanted to thank everyone who’s shown such enthusiastic support for Parkway of Broken Dreams (and especially those who have reached out to offer assistance). Like I mentioned earlier, the subject matter covered in this documentary is something that a lot of people feel ownership over, which means a lot of different opinions about what should and shouldn’t be in it. But, ultimately, there is a vision, an outline, a roadmap that I’m following, and I have to be just as confident in my own convictions as I am in my journalistic and storytelling skills.

In the coming days, I’ll be adding more information on this website about how people can contribute (raining Benjamins is a good start), including a “wish list” of archival footage or images that are needed for the film. And, of course, I’ll continue to post status updates here in this blog as the project progresses. Stay tuned!