HELP SUPPORT LEE HIRSCH'S LOCAL VOICES
Monday, October 27, 2008
LAist.com Interview: Alicia Dwyer, Filmmaker for Local Voices for Obama. Read More
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Arianna Huffington's Sunday Roundup. Read More
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Dana Snodgrass from Joplin, Missouri as seen in the Joplin Globe. Read More
Local Voices will be filmed in small communities in battleground states such as North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, and Ohio, where local voters who support Obama are asked to speak candidly to camera about the issues in this election they find most pertinent to their daily lives, and why Obama is their candidate. Central to the success of Local Voices is recognition—in these short real people ads, Americans in communities that are often overlooked will see their own towns and neighbors conceptualizing their support of Obama through the lens of that particular region’s struggles and identity. For example, in the aptly-named Pennsylvania town of Coaldale, where earlier this year a man plummeted 500 feet down one of the many strip mines decimating this area, we talk to a mine employee about his own battles with health insurance companies over a work-related injury, set against the backdrop of the school where he is dropping off his daughter before his shift begins. Though Local Voices brings us too many different towns, we see they all share high prices at gas pumps, boarded up homes and business and the yellow ribbons wrapped around trees showing that while these problems effect us all on a personal level, the challenges must be met by strong national leadership and unity.
Each segment of Local Voices will be shot over a two-day time period with a four-day total edit turnaround into powerful, documentary styled ad spots for local television in the communities where each respective segment is filmed. The content will aesthetically reflect the candid, unrehearsed, sometimes humorous nature of the interviews, and the honesty of the sentiments expressed therein. The feel of Local Voices promises to be authentic and almost user-generated, not slick but organic, honest and moving while delivering clear and on-point messaging.
Directed by Lee Hirsch a double Sundance- and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. Lee Hirsch's debut feature film, Amandla! a Revolution in Four Part Harmony, which chronicles the history of the South African anti-apartheid struggle through a celebration of its musical heroes, was released to acclaim, winning the Audience and Freedom of Expression Awards at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as one of the five Emmy awards it was nominated for, among many other honors.
Hirsch is also an established director of music videos, his most recent being a narrative shot on location in Zanzibar for John Legend was just nominated for an NAACP Image award. In 2007, Hirsch directed and produced the History Channel special, Act of Honor, an intimate portrait of a Mexican-American family dealing with the tragic death of their son, Rafael Peralta, which was applauded in reviews by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and other major papers. Currently, he is directing and producing on the Discovery Channel series Next World, airing primetime throughout the Fall of 2008.
TWO FORMER JOHN MCCAIN SUPPORTERS CREATE TELEVISION AD BLITZ TO SET THE "MAVERICK'S" RECORD STRAIGHT
IRVINE, Calif., Sept., 5, 2008 - Last night the GOP convention culminated in John McCain's acceptance of his party's nomination, ending a four-day effort to convince the American public that his Presidency is something other than a third Bush term and that he is still the maverick who ran for President in 2000, according to Eugene Hedlund and John K. Addis of TruthandHope.org PAC. Hedlund and Addis say Senator McCain is out of step with mainstream America, for while the nation has cried out for change voicing disapproval of the Bush administration in ever increasing numbers, McCain has instead supported President Bush to a greater degree each passing year.
TruthandHope.org PAC has created a media campaign that with eloquent simplicity brings to the forefront these simple truths. Making this effort possible is the union of two former McCain supporters who actively campaigned on his behalf in 2000, but have found little to no resemblance to the McCain "straight talking maverick" in the John McCain running for President today. This union of Hedlund, founder of TruthandHope.Org and Addis, graphic designer & creator of "The Public V John McCain" spot, lends a particular credibility to this effort.
TruthandHope.org PAC was founded in 2004 & aired independent grassroots television ads in support of Governor Dean & the Democratic Party's eventual nominee Senator John Kerry. It raised nearly $500,000 for these efforts, and was credited by Governor Dean for his primary victory in Vermont, as he had suspended his campaign weeks earlier.
The first ad in a series titled "The Public V McCain" became an instant internet sensation when released in concept form. Within 24 hours the ad has over 200,000 YouTube hits and hit the front page of Digg.com with nearly 5,000 "diggs" as well as the front page on many prominent blogs across the country. Andrew Sullivan of TheAtlantic.com posted this concept ad on August 14 calling it "the most inspired yet." With this groundswell of support it was evidently clear that this message must be taken beyond the internet and into the American public's homes. With this spot airing initially in Ohio and Virginia, early voting swing states the effort begins to set the McCain record straight.
About Hedlund and Addis
Eugene Hedlund is a mortgage broker in Irvine, California who formed TruthandHope.org PAC in 2004. A lifelong Republican, he knew the country needed a change in 2004 wished to do more than just cast a single vote and contribute monetarily. John K. Addis runs a web and graphic design studio in Lansing, Michigan, and has voted for the Republican Presidential candidate in every election. In recent years, however, Addis became increasingly disillusioned with the Republican party, discovering that Democrats were better at accomplishing fiscal responsibility, and showing competence with foreign affairs.
