ENONGO - The Sammus Documentary

Tue Nov 5 '19 Announcement
over 6 years ago – Tue, Nov 05, 2019 at 03:57:12 PM

Hey, everyone!

As always, welcome to our new backers!  We're so glad and honored to have your support on this passion project.

We have SO MANY exciting updates from our fourth week of fundraising for you that we don't know if Indiegogo's character count will let them all into one update!  But, here it goes!

First, ask you can see above, we got our fourth publication: Black Nerd Problems wrote a fantastic and enthusiastic article about our film, giving shout-outs to every single one of our talented animators!  You can read the article here: https://blacknerdproblems.com/rapper-sammus-film-enongo-bringing-black-women-animators-to-the-mic/

Second, Cassie Solliday, who produces the terrific podcast, Ink & Paint Girls –– devoted to celebrating women in animation –– is releasing not one, not two, but SIX ENTIRE EPISODES DEDICATED TO THE ANIMATION TEAM BEHIND OUR MOVIE!!!  The first two episodes have already been released, and you can check them out below:

The first episode is with Enongo associate producer / animator / storyboard artist, Shammah McVay!  "Shammah discusses the animation process for the documentary, her longing to see herself represented in the media when she was growing up and how it fuels what she creates today, as well as how she learned to be kinder to herself because she is not an art-making machine!"

Listen to Shammah here: https://inkandpaintgirls.podbean.com/e/ipg-080-shammah-mcvay-storyboard-artist-animator-and-associate-producer/

The second episode is with Enongo animator / animation artist, Brooklyn Lee!  "Brooklyn discusses how she made a sketchbook her safe haven to be herself and explore her feelings, how she left retail to find a day job that allowed her mind space to create, and how she creates with her little sister in mind!"

Listen to Brooklyn here: https://inkandpaintgirls.podbean.com/e/ipg-081-brooklyn-lee/

More episodes coming soon, with a new one each day this week!

Our third big news is WE FINALLY MADE 50% OF OUR MINIMUM GOAL!!  Thanks to some very generous folks, we reached this vital milestone on Halloween night!  As of this Indiegogo update, we have $11,230 contributed, or about 56% of our minimum goal!  This is a fantastic achievement, and we can't thank you all enough!

Zero donations so far today... unless you help us out!!

However, we can't get too complacent.  While we're over the halfway mark in our minimum goal, in two days, we will also be at the halfway mark of our Indiegogo campaign.  This means the race is tight and the stakes are high.

Furthermore, the number of donations is starting to dwindle.  In the last few days, we have only received about one donation per day, and haven't received any contributions today.  If we are going to make our goal, we need to receive at least $275 per day for the rest of the campaign. 

This means that outreach from our supporters is more important than ever before.  Don't let this project die –– help get the word out and encourage people to donate!  No contribution is too small to make a difference!!: 

Thu Oct 31 '19 Announcement
over 6 years ago – Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 05:41:57 AM

Tue Oct 29 '19 Announcement
over 6 years ago – Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 11:19:51 AM

Dan Haskett & Christa Carr at Warner Bros. studios (photo credit: Christa Carr)

 

Hey, everyone!

First, welcome to all of our new backers so far!  We can't thank you enough for supporting the Enongo Animation Fund!

Yesterday was International Animation Day!  Fittingly, two of our artists — legendary Dan Haskett (our senior character designer) and Christa Carr (animator/storyboard artist) — had a chance to meet up and talk animation at the Warner Bros. studio yesterday!

In addition to working hard on their own amazing animation sequences for our documentary, we also asked some of our team members to tell us their personal recommendations: animated films, TV shows, cartoons, and works of art that inspire them and that they would recommend to someone to convince you that animation is awesome.

 

Christa Carr's favorites include The Princess and the Frog, Akira, and Kiki's Delivery Service.

 

 

Leah Coleman is inspired by includes films like Spirited Away, Paprika, The Rabbi's Cat, TV shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Spongebob Squarepants, and the art of James Baxter, Glen Keane, Satoshi Kon, and Hayao Miyakazi.  

 

 

Brooklyn Lee identifies The Proud Family, The Incredibles, and Cats Don’t Dance among her favorites.

 

 

Shammah McVay lists Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and the works of Hayao Miyazaki, and also the art of Akiel Guzman, Grace Liu, and Weilin Zhang.

 

 

 

And Ariel Paxton mentions Cats Don't Dance, We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story, Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Disney's Treasure Planet.  Some of her favorite visual artists in animation are Mary Blair and Carole Holliday.

 

 

Also, here's a recap of Week 3 of our Indiegogo campaign for the Enongo Animation Fund:

 

 

We made a couple of great milestones in our past week!: We reached over $9,000 and have the support of 100 backers!  

 

 

 

Last week's fundraising was a marginal improvement over the previous week.  We made $1,160 total (an average of $166 per day).  The biggest takeaways are:

• We had the most success when we were just about to make $9,000, meaning that people were eager to help us make a big milestone.

 

• Progress was extremely slow unless a big milestone was about to be reached and surpassed.

• Most people who donated heard about the project from a friend or someone in their social circles.

 

At our current rate, we need to make at least $275 each day for the rest of the campaign to make our minimum goal of $20,000.  We are so close to the halfway mark, but progress is slowing down.  This means that it's absolutely vital to get the word out and encourage people to donate!  No contribution is too small!!: 

Indiegogo Fundraiser: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/enongo-animation-fund

Vimeo Campaign Trailer: https://vimeo.com/365043886

Official Website: www.EnongoMovie.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/EnongoMovie
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/EnongoMovie
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/EnongoMovie

#Enongo

@EnongoMovie

 

Let's keep this project alive and make some beautiful art!  Thank you for your wonderful support so far, everyone!  In the meantime, let's make a movie!

Thu Oct 24 '19 Announcement
over 6 years ago – Thu, Oct 24, 2019 at 07:30:36 PM

Hey everyone,

First, welcome to our newest backers!  Thank you for your amazing support!

Now, a couple of interesting updates.

Sammus was one of the first of now hundreds of musicians who are leading the charge in #NoMusicForICE.  She and numerous other musical artists and performers have banded together to boycott Amazon music festivals until they completely sever their relationship with ICE.  Below are Sammus' own words on the decree:

"The powers that be at Amazon have been relentless in their pursuit to make this company indispensable to the ways many of us live — and even with an understanding of Amazon’s complicity and centrality in reinforcing various structures of oppression, it often may feel too difficult to evade their reach. This is one way that we can and must push back. As creatives we have to recognize the power we possess in effecting change and sending a message not just through the art we produce but also the channels through which we share it. We have to draw lines and this is one I am choosing to draw because nobody should ever have to live under the kind terrorism that ICE has inflicted upon countless immigrant communities."

          – Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, a.k.a, Sammus

Read More: 150+ musicians pledge to boycott Amazon festivals with “No Music for ICE” open letter | http://www.brooklynvegan.com/150-musicians-pledge-to-boycott-amazon-festivals-with-no-music-for-ice-open-letter/?trackback=tsmclip

You can follow and support the #NoMusicForICE movement on Twitter at @NoMusicForICE.  We salute these hardworking artists and support them in our efforts.

We also want to celebrate other hardworking artists!  For example, we have a new chance for your to learn more about our incredible team of animators –– Enongo associate producer, animator, and storyboard artist Shammah McVay shot a brief video offering a quick behind-the-scenes look at her working on the film and encouraging people to donate to our Indiegogo campaign.  You can watch the video at the following links.  Give it a watch, a like, and a share!:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enongomovie/videos/2451082195127029/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B37B_ZhllM3/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnongoMovie/status/1186637225074872326/video/1

We're working hard to keep this project afloat!  We're currently at 43% of our minimum goal, just shy of 45% / $9,000.  We're hoping to get to this big milestone as soon as possible!

However, that won't be possible without YOUR HELP!  Keep spreading the word and tell your friends to help us out on social media!:

Indiegogo Fundraiser: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/enongo-animation-fund

Vimeo Campaign Trailer: https://vimeo.com/365043886

Official Website: www.EnongoMovie.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/EnongoMovie
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/EnongoMovie
Tumblr: EnongoMovie.tumblr.com
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/EnongoMovie

#Enongo

@EnongoMovie

We're just in the midst of our third week of our Enongo Animation Fund campaign, with more exciting developments coming up!  Stay tuned, keep resharing and telling your friends, and in the meantime, let's make a movie!

Tue Oct 22 '19 Announcement
over 6 years ago – Tue, Oct 22, 2019 at 05:56:18 AM

Hey, everyone!

Here's our recap of the second week of fundraising for the Enongo Animation Fund!:

First, welcome to our amazing new backers!  We're honored and humbled by your generosity and enthusiasm.

Second, we had our biggest article yet: Animation Magazine –– one of the most significant publications on animation industry news –– wrote a fantastic piece about our project, and even gave a shout-out to every single one of our animation crew members!  Check it out here:

https://www.animationmagazine.net/features/enongo-doc-crowdfunds-for-animation-by-team-of-black-women-artists/

Also, for you Sammus fans, the rapper/producer extraordinaire herself will be the keynote speaker at the 2020 North American Conference on Video Game Music!  The event will take place at Ithaca College in Upstate New York, April 4-5.  Applications are still being accepted until December 15th, so if video game music is your thing, check it out!:

https://vgmconference.weebly.com/2020-call-for-papers.html

Also, we reached 40% of our minimum goal last week!  Thank you to all who have contributed so far!  This is a huge milestone, and shows the world that this project is feasible and wanted.  

However, we can't get too complacent just yet.  Number of donations and online traffic to our project has dwindled.  Last week, we averaged two contributions per day (rounding up) and averaged $71.43 received per day.  Yesterday was also our first day without a single contribution.  Even with 46 days left, this pace won't get us to the finish line.  At this rate, we would barely make it past the halfway mark.

We were extremely lucky to have such a generous bump so early on.  Now the REAL WORK begins... This means spreading the word and tell your friends to help us out on social media!:

Indiegogo Fundraiser: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/enongo-animation-fund

Vimeo Campaign Trailer: https://vimeo.com/365043886

Official Website: www.EnongoMovie.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/EnongoMovie
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/EnongoMovie
Tumblr: EnongoMovie.tumblr.com
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/EnongoMovie

#Enongo

@EnongoMovie

No donation is too small, as each contribution gets us closer and closer to each exciting new threshold and, therefore, to our minimum goal.  Social media posts, shares, likes, retweets, and more are absolutely invaluable.  We can't accomplish this without you!

Thank you again to our outstanding supporters so far!  Enongo is a film that means so much to us all, and it is incredibly validating to see that others want to see it happen, too.  We are immensely grateful for your kindness and enthusiasm, and we want to reward you all with making the best possible film we can –– with some fantastic animation!  More exciting news are coming.  In the meantime, let's make a movie!