New Smooth Feather Summer HQ

Hello all,

This spring was full of music composing/editing and "Dakota 38" is finally complete which is very exciting. Now we're working to make sure the final DVD meets all the technical specs. We'll be updating the site soon with some screening locations of the film this coming fall.

This summer I've been up in my hometown of Porter, Maine working to renovate an old theater that will serve as the new headquarters for Smooth Feather in the summer time. The purchase happened a month ago and it has been an amazing journey to explore a theater that has been closed for nearly 40 years. Our friend Joe Viger came by and took some amazing photos should you be interested to check them out.

http://www.joeviger.com/Clients/Kezar-Falls-Theater/17850975_BZvJXg#1365142921_XT6nHk2

We've had some friends stop by over the past couple weeks and begin lending a hand with some renovations. If we can get everything put together we might even try to have a screening of "Dakota 38" here this fall. The seats need some work as you'll see in the photos :)

Hopefully you enjoy checking out some of these pictures.

All the best from sunny skies in Maine,

Silas

Dakota 38 on Minnesota Public Radio

Listen here to a story that Minnesota Public Radio aired on December 23rd, 2010.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/22/dakota-conflict/

Honoring a great friend. Don Williams 1979-2010.

Don passed away this past weekend in Australia from a traffic accident on the eve his 31st Birthday. He will be missed by many. While on a run yesterday I had an idea to honor Don through the above video. -Silas

WE MADE IT!

A letter from our Smooth Feather brother Adam Mastrelli,

“Si, Amazing! So just to review what happened. 30 days ago we put a project online in the hopes of sharing it and raising $20,000. 182 different backers came together and it happened. Thanks for helping me to continue to see what's possible.”

First off, to the 182 people who contributed, we’re all so humbled & honored to have you a part of the “Dakota 38” family.

In the midst of the final hours of the kickstarter campaign on November 18th, I was working with both Jay McKay and Jay Parrotta on the latest soundtrack for Dakota 38. Working with these two musicians has led to some of the most inspiring times of my life on planet earth :) And because of all the amazing generosity through the kickstarter campaign we've been able to take the score to the next level. For instance, a few weeks back we purchased some instrument samples for the music editing program we use called Logic Pro. The samples (Symphobia & True Strike) are actual recordings of string instruments and orchestral drums which Logic then triggers through the keyboard. Essentially you get an orchestral sound without getting 75 musicians in the room. And this software is normally out of our budget yet with the support over the past 30 days we’ve been able to order that software and as a result taken the soundtrack to a whole new level.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours putting together some videos from those recording sessions.

Also we did an interview with Jay Parrotta who just recently signed on to Co-Compose “Dakota 38” with Jay McKay. How Parrotta got involved is an amazing story which he talks about in the second video below.

“Dakota 38” tells the story of the original ride from Crow Creek, SD to Mankato Minnesota in 2008. Since then, the ride continues to happen annually. Tomorrow, December 10^th, the riders will be gathering once again to embark on the 330 mile ceremony. Our thoughts and prayers are with this year’s riders. For more information about this year’s ride you can visit the following websites,

http://dakota-38.ning.com/

http://dakota382008.com/dakota38.htm

"DAKOTA 38" on kickstarter homepage

"Dakota 38" is currently featured on the homepage of kickstarter.com. I just got an email from indiewire.com who wants to do a story about the film as well. Exciting momentum is building. Thanks again to all those who have helped out so far. Talk soon, -Silas

Just came across this video

Thought i'd share this video that was recently passed on to me. Very powerful.

"Dakota 38" on Kickstarter.com

Hello,

A couple months back my buddy Seth Herman sent me an email regarding a friend of his who was putting together a film about street musicians in NYC. He told me to watch a trailer at a website called kickstarter.com. I checked it out, and loved the movie idea as well as the concept behind kickstarter. I ended up deciding to "back the project" with a donation. I liked the all or nothing approach of kickstarter as well, if the project reaches it's funding goal it's funded, otherwise it isn't.

After backing the project through kickstarter i found myself much more invested in the outcome of the film and felt great about my contribution to making this vision a stronger reality.

Over the past few years I've had some mixed feelings surrounding fundraising. And in fact, for a couple years one of Smooth Feather's main principles was that we didn't fundraise. Yet all of sudden, I was taking part in fundraising for a film and the energy surrounding it was great. Often times one is exposed to fundraising which has a desperate tone to it, a tone which can make you feel guilty, i.e. "for the price of your coffee you SHOULD be helping save the wild penguins of the north." And don't get me wrong, I love penguins and I imagine the organization is doing great work, yet often times this forced approach feels out of alignment. The kickstarter model felt different, if you're inspired to get involved you're welcome to and if not that's great too.

And so when I found kickstarter, it felt like a great way for people to take a powerful role in helping to finish "Dakota 38". Currently we're working on recording an original soundtrack for the film, as well as sound effects, visual effects and also looking to finance a debut road trip tour of "Dakota 38" in our Smooth Feather Winnebago. Despite the fact that everyone is donating their time, there are numerous costs associated with bringing the pieces together which totals around $20,000.

So we've got 30 days and $20,000, lets see what happens. Right now it's at $360, Peter, Tirza, Sean, Adam, Ainsley, Josie, Caroline and Valentina, you guys rock :)

Let the games begin,

Silas