Project organizers for "Yoani the Film" managed to surpass a goal of raising $108,000 through Kickstarter to make a film on the life of the Cuban blogger and author of Generation Y.
The producer Kesia Elwin and Open View Productions announced that they raised a total of $ 110,079, thanks to the contributions of 199 people who donated between $1 and $ 10,000.
"It's amazing, humbling and we are grateful. We want to thank Ed Castaneda from HavanaNewYork.com and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York for their support and to all who helped carry the campaign forward and make it a success," said Elwin and the representatives of Open View Productions.
Producers said they were deeply committed to Sanchez’s cause: "We have joined forces to create social awareness and a message of support for Yoani Sánchez, for human rights and the freedom of expression in Cuba. (...) Yoani's inspirational story needs to be told not only for Cubans but for the citizens of the world."
The campaign, promoted within different social networks in English, Spanish and Italian, reached its deadline on June 28. The creative team encouraged the public to monitor the project through their Facebook page Yoani: The Film, and their Twitter accounts @YoaniTheFilm, @kesiaelwin and @openviewfilms.
The project was conceived by Elwin, who is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer and producer. She started the project two and half years ago. When reading an Italian newspaper one morning, she read the news about a Cuban blogger who had been kidnapped and beaten because of what she wrote in her blog.
Yoani: The Film will be ready by December 2015.
Major contributors will receive credit in the film, and may participate in the shoot, whether on location in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, United States or Europe. They may even have a cameo appearance.
According to the film’s Kickstarter page, the money raised will be used to complete the script, make the movie trailer, film, edit, and to a make a second trip to Cuba to continue development and script writing.
The producer Kesia Elwin and Open View Productions announced that they raised a total of $ 110,079, thanks to the contributions of 199 people who donated between $1 and $ 10,000.
"It's amazing, humbling and we are grateful. We want to thank Ed Castaneda from HavanaNewYork.com and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York for their support and to all who helped carry the campaign forward and make it a success," said Elwin and the representatives of Open View Productions.
Producers said they were deeply committed to Sanchez’s cause: "We have joined forces to create social awareness and a message of support for Yoani Sánchez, for human rights and the freedom of expression in Cuba. (...) Yoani's inspirational story needs to be told not only for Cubans but for the citizens of the world."
The campaign, promoted within different social networks in English, Spanish and Italian, reached its deadline on June 28. The creative team encouraged the public to monitor the project through their Facebook page Yoani: The Film, and their Twitter accounts @YoaniTheFilm, @kesiaelwin and @openviewfilms.
The project was conceived by Elwin, who is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer and producer. She started the project two and half years ago. When reading an Italian newspaper one morning, she read the news about a Cuban blogger who had been kidnapped and beaten because of what she wrote in her blog.
Yoani: The Film will be ready by December 2015.
Major contributors will receive credit in the film, and may participate in the shoot, whether on location in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, United States or Europe. They may even have a cameo appearance.
According to the film’s Kickstarter page, the money raised will be used to complete the script, make the movie trailer, film, edit, and to a make a second trip to Cuba to continue development and script writing.
