A Greater Emphas.is

After years of documenting a community of people living in the North Cemetery in Manila—many of whom we now consider friends—James and I are ready to finalize production of a 30-minute documentary that will expand on the initial multimedia story, released in 2008, for which we were presented an Every Human Has Rights Media Award. This longer-form documentary will explore issues affecting Metro Manila, such as dense population and intense poverty, from the perspective of residents of the North Cemetery. We are thrilled to announce that emphas.is, a curated crowd funding site for visual journalism, has chosen to feature and promote this project for funding. For the first time in the four years we've been working on this film and photography project, we'd like to ask you to be a part of it by either helping us fund it or by simply spreading the word.

Our funding goal, which will cover only hard costs of travel and production, is $5,050.  We will not receive any funding or pledges unless we reach our goal. In addition, funding at the most basic level ($10) admits each backer into the “making-of-zone,” where we will share the ups and downs, challenges and insights we gain as we complete filming in the cemetery throughout post-production.  Higher levels of backing earn this, plus rewards such as original postcards and prints from the project, all the way up to a personal multimedia workshop from James and myself.

Living with the Dead: The Backdrop

Manila, Philippines is the most densely populated city in the world. Danica May Comacho was born here on October 31^st, 2011. The UN symbolically named her the “seven-billionth” human to join our current world population.

Filipinos from rural provinces often migrate to the city in search of a better life. In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning, stating that: “continued population growth in Metro Manila will have ‘damaging consequences for human health,’ particularly for the poor as it increases poverty, diseases and natural disasters.”  The WHO estimates that over 20% of Metro Manila's population is either under or near the poverty line, with 35% living in urban slums.

In the center of this complex and intense capital lies the sprawling North Cemetery, where many past presidents, actors and actresses are buried. In contrast to intense traffic and noise just outside the cemetery walls, the North Cemetery is quiet and peaceful. Here, a community of around 2,000 people live, work, raise children and sleep, participating in the unique economy that accompanies the up to 80 Catholic burials which take place here each day.

Residents here tell us they prefer the cemetery to the streets, and indeed, some residents prosper greatly in the cemetery economy, earning enough money to send their children to private school.

Anticipated Outcome and Goals

Our documentary will look at current issues facing our planet from the perspective of three families living inside the cemetery, such as population growth, poverty, human rights, access to family planning, affordable housing and education.

Our goal is to educate and engage a broad audience with these larger issues, through the eyes, lives and hopes of the children and families who call the North Cemetery home.

We deeply appreciate your consideration to help us fund this project! Many, many thanks to those of you that already have.

Support the project, here: Living with the Dead (via emphas.is)

Jessica Chance

Re-Introducing Chance Multimedia: Our Story

Watching the sunrise in Cascas, Peru. Photo by Dr. Bruce McArthur.

We arrived in Denver on January 3, 2009 with a moving truck, two laptops, some multimedia equipment and an Every Human Has Rights Media Award. The award, our first together as a company, had come with a free trip to Paris along with 28 other winners from around the world. We spent the trip talking, debating and dreaming about media, journalism, communication, and what Chance Multimedia would become (once we really got started).

During the previous year, we worked out of backpacks together in the Philippines, Cambodia, Guatemala and Thailand, building our ability to produce work together in tiny rooms. James with his cameras and me with my computer. Crafting interviews, shot lists, and sequences, writing, and working it all out as we went. Visiting people living in mausoleums, in monasteries, and on the street. Gathering stories. Oftentimes, breaking my own heart in the process.

Before deciding to leave Ohio and begin Chance Multimedia, we worked on a national foster care project with young people who had been raised in the foster care system. Between our international stories and our national advocacy work, we began to shape our vision and balance how our strengths might work,  together.

So when we arrived in Denver in 2009, we were on our way to establishing a multimedia storytelling company that we knew would be different. Our partnership would focus on telling real stories, authentically captured and woven with beautiful visuals, from a transparent point of view. Stories that would invigorate audiences — as well as the staff of the organizations we would work for — because they were told from a grassroots level, outside of the conference room.

We wanted to produce stories that would touch hearts, because they were true.

We just needed that first project.

After hundreds of cold calls, several networking events, and a lot of projects that fell through, it came. And then another, and another. Slowly, with gratitude to the clients who took a chance with a small, new kind of video team, we began to grow. At some point in 2010, we stopped making calls and networking. We were too busy, and the word-of-mouth recommendations kept it that way. It was happening.

Nearly half way through 2012, I'm very pleased to say that we haven't slowed down a bit. In fact, we're still gaining momentum and expanding faster than we even expected, not only in our work, but in our staff, our brand, and our space. (But more on that in an upcoming post..)

Soon, we hope to travel back to Manila to finish a 30-minute documentary that we started in the Philippines on that epic trip in 2008, about a community of people living in the North Cemetery. It's the same project that won the Every Human Has Rights Media Award. We're eager now to bring our enhanced skills, knowledge and attention to the varied perspectives of the people living there who have generously shared their lives, thoughts and dreams with us over the years, and weave them together into a long-form documentary.

As we look forward to all of the new happenings in our work this year, I want to emphasize the values that we bring to our work every single day:

We believe that authentic, true stories are the best way to cut through the communication clutter, and it's what we do best.

We believe that strong, clean visuals honor the stories we produce by making even difficult and sad stories beautiful.

We believe our stories honor the storyteller's truth and experience. We listen, and we respect the courage it takes to share one person's truth with another (and the dynamics of telling that story in front of a lens).

Finally, we regard each of our clients as a partnership that grows and becomes more valuable over time.

We are so grateful to the many client partners who have enabled us to come to this place in our own story.

We'll be publishing a series of blogs during the next few months, introducing new team members, going behind the scenes on some of the stories we've produced, and looking back at some of the most valuable mistakes we've made over the years.

Thanks for reading,

Jessica Chance.