MycoRant

I recently learned about a new mycology-themed film called Now, Forager produced by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin. Jason is the newsletter editor for the New York Mycological Society. Cortlund and Halperin are experienced filmmakers and judging by the trailer (see below) this looks to be a quality project.

The story follows a husband and wife who earn a meager living by hunting wild mushrooms. During the warm months, Lucien and Regina gather a diverse bounty of edible fungi from area woodlands and then go door-to-door selling them to upscale restaurants. When winter comes, and mushrooms go into dormancy, the couple must find temporary work as kitchen laborers to make ends meet. They constantly struggle to get by, dependent on variables of rainfall and temperature–living without the protection of any safety net.

Jason grew up foraging with his family on the West Coast—Oregon and Northern California. Mushrooming is something he’s passionate about. And, because it really hasn’t been shown before in a fiction film, Cortland decided to make foraging the central action of his latest project.

How to Fund a Mushroom Foraging Film

The producers drummed up some initial funding for the project on Kickstarter, and that helped them finish the initial production phase last Fall.  Now, to put on the final touches, the film is up for a final round of funding on United States Artists. I asked Jason how they got their funding, and why they decided to go with United States Artists.

“We decided to work with United States Artists (USA) this time for a few reasons. First, because USA is a non-profit organization, all donations to our film are tax deductible. That’s something we wanted to offer our donors. Second, because USA is somewhat selective about who they accept, the association helps raise the pedigree of the project to some degree. That can help attract other grants and festival invitations. Third, and most important, because we’re former recipients of grants from the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, we qualified for a matching grant from The Austin Film Fund. For the first $3000 we raise, donors effectively double their donations. It’s a sweet deal and we’re very appreciative of the support.”

People can donate to the cause at the film’s USA web page.

“United States Artists accepts artists who have previously won a grant, residency, or fellowship—so the lineup is somewhat curated based on having an established track record in an artistic discipline,” Jason continues. “That’s the main qualifier—once they vet you, it’s very easy to get a project up and running. They even offer an online training session and one-to-one support to help artists learn about developing their fundraising strategies for both their immediate needs and their long-term career. So it’s a pretty cool organization.”

The film has been selected for  the  “Gotham in Progress” European film market in November, in Poland. Jason and Julia will both be going to Poland. They will spend a week or so meeting European sales agents and distributors who might be interested in the film.

Now, Forager is almost done—but not quite. According to Jason, there is still some work to do.

“We’re at the “fine cut” stage—which means that we’re still making small adjustments to scenes, but the overall structure is in place. We’ll lock picture in the next few weeks, and then all the technical finishing work begins to prepare the film for distribution—adding an original score that Chris Brokaw is composing, editing and mixing sound,  color correcting all the footage, and creating an HD master.  So, creatively, we’re very close to being finished—but we have a couple months of technical work left to do to make sure the film looks and sounds right when it’s projected for an audience. This is, of course, a very precise and costly part of the filmmaking process.”

When Julia and Jason moved to New York to start developing the project, he joined the New York Mycological Society (NYMS) to learn about the regional species of edible mushrooms. “The core members of the NYMS really took me into their inner-fold and I soon was drawn into the deeper study of mycology,” he explains. “Learning about taxonomy, using keys, microscopy, taking workshops and attending large forays to learn from mycologists like Tom Volk, Tim Baroni, Kathie Hodge, and Rod Tulloss; that experience didn’t just change the script, it’s really permanently changed what I think about and do with my free time. I’m a mushroom geek for life.”

According to Jason, “It’s a unique and beautiful world that was begging for a proper cinematic exploration.”

Check out the trailer for Now, Forager:

More on Now, Forager

Keep an eye on the Now, Forager Blog.

There Will Be Mushrooms: New Film Explores the Emotional Hazards of Foraging

Interview with Jason Cortlund at Mushroom Palace

Tags: Foraging, mushroom films, Now Forager