Introducing 'Wake The Folk Up': A Common Sense Documentary Film
And our Substack, where you can receive updates about its progress, learn about the filmmakers, see all the great supplemental content and full interviews, and more!
Believe it or not, our film, Wake The Folk Up1, our film was inspired by something London Breed said at the 2023 Black History Month Kickoff celebration gala.2
Pre-screener quotes:
“What… is this real? I never knew this was going on!”
“Dang. How do you sleep at night?”
“Wow, that is a lot of f*#kery...”
“Amazing, really great! You've built this like a court case.”
“You & Neshma are tireless in your efforts.”
“Basically provides the solution without forcing it down your throat.”
“I think people who watch this will understand what the essential problem is.”
“I don't get it.”
“I feel moved. My mind is still trying to harmonize all of it.”
“People need to see this.”
“The audience who needs to see this won’t.”
“You put in a lot of work. Huge accomplishment!”
“Thank you, very much.”
Why are we making this film?
The purpose of our film is to ignite a movement of the people to repair our governments, so that we can continue to turn the paper proclamations bequeathed to us by our founders into new discoveries, breakthroughs, and ways of life. As you may now recognize, the anti-human agenda described in the opening of the 1774 Articles of Association “evidently calculated for enslaving [humanity]” is still at work. We need something akin to Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which woke the folk up to that agenda at that time, getting many ordinary people on board with the idea of Liberty; sovereignty on par with The Crown.2
Current status
After three test screenings, we realized we had to make major structural changes and add two more scenes to the film so that certain important concepts clearly transmit to first-time viewers.
If you pre-screened, thank you. Your feedback was immensely helpful.
We’re looking at a Q3 2024 release date.
This is our first trailer
It’s been fun to make trailers. We’re calling this first one The Um Trailer3:
We are raising funds
First, we'd like you to know that donating to our fundraiser will not determine whether this first film will be completed or not. However, we could use your help to make the film better and be completed faster. Both of us have worked on this project in the time we have outside of our regular commitments, on our own dime, and at our own opportunity cost (Neshma is a freelancer).
While filming the street interviews, many people assumed we were with an organization, given that most people working to “change” government usually are. Verily, all of the time, money, and energy to bring this project to life has been our own, founding fathers style. Interestingly, people seemed to be more open to being interviewed when they learned it was just the two of us.
A lot of interesting content did not make the final cut. One segment on 9/11 (100+ hours to make) we decided to cut out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But we can post it here, so all good.4
Thousands of hours have gone into making this film. It is a high priority because we strongly believe Waking The Folk Up is a crucial part of a long-term peaceful solution.
Does it seem peaceful now?
What your donations will be used for
It’s both of our first times making a full length film so we made up a monetary goal based on the fact that most documentaries start at, on average, $1,000 per minute5 and the finished film is looking to be around 95 minutes. An earlier iteration was 2 hours long.
We’ll finish the film whether we raise $0 or $90,000. We’re already working on other projects so we can get content out. For example, we’ll be posting the WTFU docuseries here to further engage with the ideas. All the material is supplemental.
Perks for your support
Why not? Merch6 is fun.
And can be the beginning of something great. All perks give you the ability to be included in and contribute to our ambitious projects. Supporting also increases fun!7
Check out this guy, he’s having a ton of fun and looks cool to boot:
$49 WTF (Waking The Folk)
Your name in the “Thank You” section of the credits (if your contribution is received before the film is finalized).
WTFU Merch: A Mug (because you are clearly not one!)
$99 PCR (Properly Coordinated Rendezvous)
All the perks above this level plus:
Priority invitations to WTFU and other private events.
$499 PPE (Project Pitch Event)
All the perks above this level plus:
At PPEs you can present a proposal for a project you want done.
Even more WTFU Merch: Choose between a Hoodie or a Sweatshirt.
$4,999 CDC (Creative Direction Contribution)
All the perks above this level plus:
You will be invited to join the CDC, the approval body for project proposals. This allows you to know exactly how money is being spent and increases the impact of the project.
We’ll call you an “Executive Producer” in the credits.
Lifetime paid subscription to this here WTFU Substack.
All the WTFU Merch… twice! That's two of everything in our store, one for you and one for a friend!
$99,999 OMG (Oh My God)
All the perks above this level plus:
Oh my goodness, we feel extremely blessed! We are so flabbergasted, we don’t know what to gift you — maybe Neshma will write a song for you? — we know for sure that we are being mightily supported.
No contribution is too small or too large
Obviously, any contribution below $49 and above $99,999 is most welcome.
Becoming a free or paid subscriber to the WTFU Substack is extremely helpful.
And purchasing our merch as gifts for your friends and family, would be super too since they are excellent conversation starters.
Please do help us out if you can, but don't even think about it if you're struggling financially through these times.
We thank you from our hearts!
Other ways to support
Even if you cannot support financially at this time, sharing this Substack, or our YouTube channel and our fundraiser with your friends and family — awake or not — is extremely helpful. As is “liking” and commenting on our posts and all our YouTube content.
Do make sure you are signed up to attend a screening!
We will discuss other ways you can help at screenings. There is a lot to do, and many hands make light work.
Thank you,
Arjun & Neshma
Neshma (aka
) is keen for you to know that the “L” in Folk is silent — like yolk — and requests that Americans “pronounce it properly” so that her wordplay is effective.A post on that coming very soon!
Apparently some people were confused to see this first trailer without all the accompanying text in this post or in our GSG campaign.
It’s not a zero sum game.
“Industry estimates peg the average cost per finished minute of a professionally produced documentary generally between $1,500 to $4,500.” —IMAFF Awards
“Baseline estimates for a single minute of finished video content tend to run in the range of about $1,000 to $10,000 or more depending on so many factors.” —Beverly Boy Productions
“For documentary film-making at the lowest-budget level, ‘$1,000 per finished minute’ is the cheapest starting point for costing. We recommend using $2,000 – $4,000 per finished minute as a beginning point or ball park.”—Wind & Sky Productions
We have to include some corporate speak.