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Frequently Asked Questions | |||
from Jim Powell, Producer | |||
t | Why did you produce "Children of the Storm?" | ||
t | The Production Story | ||
t | Did you touch any of the devastation or recreate any of the damage? | ||
t | In addition to your love for New Orleans and the Coast, is there anything else that makes you so passionate about these children? | ||
t | What is your contribution to the children's recovery? | ||
t | Who makes the profit from the DVD sales? | ||
t | Was this program balanced? | ||
t | We would like to have you screen the program to our group and talk to us. Could you do that? | ||
t | Is your footage available for purchase? | ||
t | We are a television broadcast station/network and would like to air the program. Would you consider this and how much would you charge? | ||
t | We are very interested in helping the children. What can we do besides direct donations? Fundraising? | ||
Why did you produce "Children of the Storm?" RETURN TO TOP | |||
As an experienced broadcaster and video producer/videographer plus with my wife's polished writing abilities, | |||
we set out to use our best to make people aware of a subject not being covered: | |||
"Hurricane Katrina's children survivor's problems." |
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Even then, those problems are immense. So what you see in "Children of the Storm" is only a small representation | |||
of the thousands of stories. | |||
The Production Story RETURN TO TOP | |||
On August 29, 2005, my wife and I sat in tears watching our beloved New Orleans and Gulf Coast become | |||
a disastrous whirling bowl of sludge, debris and death. Charlotte, having lived in New Orleans in the sixties, had | |||
fallen in love with the city then. When I came along in 1984, I grew to love it and the Gulf Coast as well. During | |||
our extensive times there, we made many long term friends. Most of our friends lost everything to Katrina. One | |||
died as the result of the storm. We wanted to do something to help. | |||
One of those long time friends, a respected retired New Orleans Policeman, Asa French, invited us to stay with | |||
him in January of 2006 at his home in Covington on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Although the winds and | |||
flood nearly took his life in a small boat, his house suffered only roof damage. With much experience in most every | |||
neighborhood of New Orleans, he wanted to guide us through the devastation. This started our journey. | |||
With camera in hand on January 6th, we traveled through Lakeview, Gentilly, Eastern New Orleans, | |||
down through St. Bernard Parish and through Chalmette, the lower 9th Ward, Bywater, Treme, Uptown, Midtown | |||
and more. On future trips, we traveled the full Gulf Coast through Mississippi and to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. | |||
On that first trip and from those horrifying scenes of death and destruction, we knew that a short documentary | |||
could not show the enormity of the condition. It was (and still is) massive. But how do you show all the problems | |||
and all the conditions in one program. You can't. All you can do is a small fraction of the subject. | |||
So, after 6 trips, 35 days on the road, over 30 hours of professional recording, 30 interviews and 100s of hours | |||
of editing, we present "Children of the Storm, Hurricane Katrina, Through the Eyes of Children Survivors." | |||
Did you touch any of the devastation or recreate any of the damage? RETURN TO TOP | |||
No! In the same reverence that a person would give to a cemetery, we did the same with the destruction. | |||
What you see is as how we found it. No changes. No "enhancements" to create more sensationalism. It is as it | |||
was when we found it. | |||
In addition to your love for New Orleans and the Coast, is there anything else that makes you | |||
so passionate about these children? RETURN TO TOP | |||
I identify directly with them. On July 3, 1970, a terrible storm demolished our mobile home on Old Hickory | |||
Lake just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. My former wife, small son and I were inside. Holding on to each other | |||
in the hallway, the winds lifted the trailer onto one side, onto it's top, onto the other side, back on it's wheels and | |||
blew apart, dropping our bodies onto the ground just beside where the commode had fallen with a live wire above | |||
our heads. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my 1 year old son. He appeared dead. After a | |||
moment, he started moving. I grabbed him and ran to a neighbors house, bleeding and in trauma. We lost everything | |||
and almost our lives. | |||
This kind of trauma stays with you. So, the children survivors of Katrina will have to deal with this experience | |||
for the rest of their lives. They are the future leaders, workers and creators of the future communities | |||
in which they live. How will Katrina's wrath affect them in their decisions? We would like to follow that story. | |||
What is your contribution to the children's recovery? RETURN TO TOP | |||
To make the American people as well as the World aware of the children survivor's problems both then and now. | |||
Documentary production and distribution helps us achieve that goal. | |||
Quite frankly, any child that suffers this type of trauma in any type of cataclysmic event, deserves his or her stories | |||
to be told and to be understood. It helps them cope and adjust. It also helps the viewer who has suffered similar | |||
problems to cope. A person to identify with. | |||
In addition, Charlotte and I are donating $5 of each on-line DVD purchase of "Children of the Storm" to the | |||
children's recovery including but not limited to classroom materials and supplies for those schools that helped us to | |||
produce this documentary. DETAILS | |||
Who makes the profit from the DVD sales? RETURN TO TOP | |||
The entire production and this web site are totally sponsored by us. There is no organization helping us. | |||
And we plan keeping in touch with the children who appear in the documentary providing video updates of their | |||
condition. Purchase of the DVD will help us tell the continuing stories. Plus the $5 donation mentioned above. | |||
Of course, we want as many people to know about the children's problems. That's why we have placed some of | |||
the program free on the Internet in WMV files. | |||
Was this program balanced? RETURN TO TOP | |||
Hurricane Katrina selected no individual type of person or community. It wreaked death and havoc on the poor, | |||
the rich, African-Americans, White, New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, the old and the young. If you were in it's way, it | |||
was going to hurt you. We strove to tell the story as it was and as accurate and fair as possible. | |||
In addition, we wanted to show how big this Hurricane was. Very few scenes were repeated in the entire | |||
53 minutes. Most scenes last from 5 to 10 seconds. That's a great deal of damage! | |||
Also, no political or rebuilding issue is discussed. We wanted the children to speak from their minds and their | |||
hearts which they did. | |||
We would like to have you screen the program to our group and talk to us. Could you do that? | |||
RETURN TO TOP | |||
Yes. It would be part of our continuing effort to make people aware of the children's condition. As you may | |||
imagine, the stories are endless. 1,000s of children went through this trauma. We talked to 25 from varied | |||
situations and backgrounds. | |||
In addition, I'm sure your audience would have questions that were not addressed in the program. | |||
Only a stipend to cover expenses would be required. | |||
For more information, please email. | |||
Is your footage available for purchase? RETURN TO TOP | |||
Yes. We have 10 to 15 second clips from 20 hours of tape from most areas of devastation. Some shots have | |||
never been seen on national television. Cost depends upon your use and the shot. | |||
All shots are professionally shot on digital video with the camera that I have used for national broadcast program | |||
interviews. Smooth movements and professionally controlled electronic levels have been applied on location. | |||
If you see a scene in the documentary that you would wish, please note it's location on the documentary, what is | |||
in the scene, and email your request. | |||
Non-profit organizations receive a discount; other purchases are quoted at competitive fees. | |||
For more information, please email. | |||
We are a television broadcast station/network and would like to air the program. Would you consider this | |||
and how much would you charge? RETURN TO TOP | |||
Yes. Cost depends upon the market. For more information, please email. | |||
We are very interested in helping the children. What can we do in addition to direct donations? | |||
Fundraising? | |||
The need is very great and every effort is appreciated. We invite you to become a sister/brother organization | |||
to a school or children's organization in the devastated areas. Soon, you will find more of those listed on our | |||
Donation's page. | |||
As a fundraiser, you may want to consider screening "Children of the Storm" in your community accepting donations plus selling the DVDs. Please email your request for a discounted price. The cost depends upon | |||
the number that you wish to buy. As mentioned above, I am also available to guest at your function for a travel | |||
stipend. | |||