Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Home Video Studio Presents Major Motion Picture


"...movies tell us so much about ourselves- not just what we did, but what we thought, what we felt, what we imagined, what we aspired to..." - Independent Lens

Digitally transferring your precious home movies is more than a "job" at Home Video Studio. We have always considered it a mission to preserve a part of the story of America as "written" through the lens of parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and children who lived in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s and documented their life and times with a home movie camera.

As far back as the early 1990s, when Robert Hanley (our Founder and President) started transferring these home movies to video tape, he began to see a unique story emerge from the cameras of these everyday Americans. It's a story from a sweeping era of great change that began with our "marching home" from WWII and ended with Watergate. It's a story from an era that brought us Rock 'n Roll, the Civil Rights Movement, Viet Nam, Woodstock, Watergate and home computers. It's a story that, although born amidst the aftershock of a terrible war, brought theretofore unparalleled stability, leisure, mobility and discretionary income. Best of all it's a story written, heart and soul, by those who lived it: It's a story of you! This is the cinematic canvas for a mission that started over twenty years ago: To present the Golden Age of Home Movies on a silver platter on the big screen.

On October 19th, in conjunction with International Home Movie Day, Home Video Studio took a big step in this ongoing mission. The Great American Home Movie, a feature-length documentary produced and directed by Robert Hanley, commenced its finishing stages. After gathering thousands of hours and tens of millions of feet of home movies from people just like you (if you contributed your film, by the way, thank you!) we now begin the process of distilling it all into a ninety minute portrait of this time in America.

Besides a custom musical score by three-time Grammy and five-time Emmy-nominated composer Steve Dorff this movie will feature interviews with storytellers who lived in these times. This process of choosing the final interviewees for The Great American Home Movie also began on October 19th by way of open casting calls. These took place in twenty-five cities across the United States. If you missed the October 19th date don't worry! We are still auditioning our storytellers so please call us to see how you can participate.

As you can imagine this is where the fun really starts! The Great American Home Movie has been a grassroots project from its inception. (the subtitle of this movie is "America in Red, White and YOU") Please watch our short video on why we think this movie is important to America. If you want to help Kickstarter.com page. You'll find much more information about The Great American Home Movie Project. Please follow this link: bit.ly/gahmp2013 to watch the video and to see our Kickstarter Page. For those of you who don't know about Kickstarter, it's a pretty cool website dedicated to helping creative projects get made. Third, on our Kickstarter pages, there are links to Facebook and Twitter. Please share our project with your friends. That will really help us get the word out. We feel that this movie is pretty important to all Americans right now.
there are three ways you can show your support. First, please share this newsletter with a friend - easy to do - just click the link at the bottom of the page. Second, if you would like to support this project please go to our

You don't have to look far to see that America has been divided lately in our heartfelt beliefs on important issues. With that said, maybe there's never been a better time for The Great American Home Movie to come along. As the images of an earlier America roll by and as the stories of our elders began to be told it quickly reminds us that we've always been of different stripes and we've always been outspoken as individuals - but we've always come together around the things in this country that we love. Nowhere is that more aptly portrayed than in The Great American Home Movie.

At Home Video Studio those 8mm, Super 8mm and 16mm reels you bring in are more than just film. And it's more than a project. Together we are teaming up to preserve something precious for you and culturally significant to our country. Why would you look anywhere else? Whether you have film that needs our TLC, or whether you want to become involved in The Great American Home Movie, or both - call us today!

Home Video Studio - Visalia
559-732-3050

Share this Kickstarter video on Facebook, Twitter or embedded video! Click here

No comments: