Thirsty Elephants

We are planning the Botswana, Kalahari stage of this project over the next two weeks for The High Cost Of Cheap Gas project. We have to balance our need to maintain our breaking news story with the need to share with our backers and possible backers the very shocking nature of this news angle. We will breaking open a story that has not been covered by any mainstream media at all, one that will affect the lives of the San Bushmen people, the farmers of Botswana and the wild animals of the Kalahari Desert.

This is the most news-based environmental story our team has ever worked on, and we are taking this responsibility very seriously. Known as the first people, the Kalahari San people and the animals they depend upon for their survival will bear the brunt of this vast development that will change the face of this unspoilt place forever.

Elephants like these ones in the Tuli Block of Botswana are completely dependent on wells for their water, wells that may run dry from de-watering of Coal Seam Gas developments and fracking.

Great Partnerships

On the road in the Karoo with cameraman Graham Abbot and grip Carlos Quiroga.

Dear Backers and Friends,
I am happy to announce that we have indeed received 75% of the funding for this film from the Open Society Foundation.  It would not have happened had we not put up the Kickstarter campaign, and it could not happen without all of you.  That 66 people from around the world gave their time and energy and cash to the project was one of the factors that helped us get the funding.  Thank you all for your help. 
Now we have a way forward and a new crowd-funding campaign to raise the rest of the money.  It would be fantastic if you all gave again to the film, and most importantly spread the message out to your networks that we are going ahead with it and need more people on board. 
The link to the new film project on Indiegogo is here: http://igg.me/at/high-cost-of-cheap-gas/x/2920799

We are off into the Karoo Desert in the next few days to interview farmers, scientists and communities.  We will be camping out under the stars, taking pictures and making this film.  We will keep you all up to date from the Indiegogo campaign page and this blog.

You can also follow us on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/TheHighCostofCheapGas

Thanks Again and We Hope You All Join Us!

Director Jeffrey Barbee and Producer Mira Dutschke

The High Cost Of Cheap Gas - The Path Forward

Dear Friends and Backers,

First of all a huge “Thank You” for supporting our project, “The High Cost of Cheap Gas”. 

The 30 day crowd-sourcing campaign led to many great things: South Africa's most watched current-affairs show is interested to run this story in the format we envisioned.  We received funding separately from the kickstarter campaign to bridge the time between now and the time we get further funding.  A foundation has indicated interest to fund about 80% of the entire budget.

Often the only thing that separates success from failure is whether we quit, well that won't be happening.

This has been a great learning experience for us and helped us decide to start a similar campaign on a different website. If you, as one of our 66 backers still want to support this project, you can transfer your backing to our new page on Indiegogo that we will send out to you this week.

Since the kickstarter campaign has ended your pledges are returned to your bank accounts this week. The 3,600 USD we raised here would go a long way in helping us to create a powerful and compelling story, especially when combined with the other funding and partnerships we have secured.

We have put a 10K USD budget together for the new proposal on Indiegogo on a flexible funding model, meaning we get to use the all of the donations you make. This allows all of you to still be personally part of this project and makes sure that the story continues.  If you would like to make a direct contribution please let us know through email or phone.

We would like to thank each one of you for believing in us and supporting this important work, without you it would not be possible. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, and please sign up to our Facebook page.

Warm Regards
Jeffrey and Mira