Business As Usual
Providence, Rhode Island | Film Short
Documentary
As Trump aims to raise the military budget to $1.5 trillion and increase military aggression, we must ask who stands to profit. Our film investigates one such corporation, Textron, but we need your help. In order to publish safely, we need to raise finishing funds for legal fees and E&O insurance.
Business As Usual
Providence, Rhode Island | Film Short
Documentary
1 Campaigns |
44 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$2,520
Goal: $2,500 for post-production
As Trump aims to raise the military budget to $1.5 trillion and increase military aggression, we must ask who stands to profit. Our film investigates one such corporation, Textron, but we need your help. In order to publish safely, we need to raise finishing funds for legal fees and E&O insurance.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
THE STORY
In college, I lived and studied 5 minutes away from one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world. Textron Inc. is a fortune 500 company with a roughly 15 billion dollar market cap, and it happens to be headquartered in the small city of Providence, RI.
Having walked by the headquarters hundreds of times, I only found out what the company did through waves of anti-war protests at the building throughout my four years in college. After discovering this and getting involved in student anti-war activism myself, I went into deep research about the history and present actions of the corporation. Despite the relative lack of media coverage on Textron in comparison to larger weapons companies like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, what I uncovered convinced me that I needed to make a short documentary.
After graduating, and taking a hiatus to work with several pressing films (Israelism, The Encampments and many more!), the film is finally finishing post production.
THE EXPERTS
Through the process, I spoke with several academic experts and interviewed two for the film:
Christian Sorensen is one of the foremost experts in U.S. military contractors. He is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. Christian, a former U.S. Air Force Arabic linguist, served at a variety of stateside posts and a tour in Qatar. He holds an MSc in Arabic translation from the University of Edinburgh, an MA in International Relations from Salve Regina University, and a BA Public & Private Sector Organizations from Brown University. He is the author of Understanding the War Industry (Clarity Press, 2020).
Leslie-William Robinson is a lecturer in the History of Science Department at Harvard. A historian of the modern US, he works at the intersection of the history of medicine and the behavioral sciences, critical military studies, and the history of capitalism. His research centers the military as a social laboratory and his book project, Medicine and Morale: Modern War and the Management of the Masses, illuminates military medicine’s previously understated influence on modern labor management theory and practice in the early twentieth century.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Our last roadblock to getting this film out is legal fees. Virtually all documentaries go through entertainment lawyers before publishing, and this film in particular will need the review of legal counsel given the subject covered. Please consider supporting in order to bolster anti-militarist education and further organizing efforts in Rhode Island.
We are also taking part in the Seed & Spark & OTV "Beyond The Screen Rally"! If we can hit our goals for this fundraiser we will be eligible for a $5,000 grant as well as a OTV distribution deal. To qualify, we must raise at least $2,500 and gather at least 250 followers here on Seed & Spark. Everyone can help us out by following us for free, so please send this to at least 3 friends!
Please note, if we do not raise at least 80% of our goal on Seed & Spark, we won't receive any of our funding.
Also follow us on Instagram!
IMPACT GOALS
With your generous support, we would love to bring this film back to its home of Providence, RI and the Northeast region broadly. We envision using this film as a way to start conversations with community organizers and conscientious members of the public on how to resist militarization in their back yard. We aim to host several community screenings inviting activists to discuss their campaigns and how folks can get involved with their work.
Working as an impact producer with a number of Pro-Palestine, anti-war films, I am confident that we will be able to use this film as an opportunity to drive public discourse towards the military-industrial complex in our backyards. Some of the impact campaigns that I have worked on include:
Israelism, which sparked heated debate about campus protests featured in many publications and was named "The most important piece of free speech media of 2023" by MovieWeb. I am credited as "Outreach Coordinator" on the film.
The Encampments covered the pro-Palestine student protest movement with a particular emphasis on the Columbia University encampments. The film was executive produced by Macklemore and achieved one of the highest per-screen average openings for a documentary. I was proud to work on coordinating the non-theatrical screenings for this film.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Legal Support for Publishing
Costs $2,000
Virtually all documentaries must go through an entertainment lawyer and get E&O (errors and omissions) insurance prior to releasing.
Providence, RI Premiere
Costs $500
We would love to premiere the film in Providence, RI (where the film was shot)! Funds will go towards plane tickets and event fees.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Kaita Igarashi - Director, Producer, Videographer
Kaita Igarashi is a documentary filmmaker and impact producer focused on the topics of militarism, labor, and protest. He began his career as an impact producer for Israelism, a critically acclaimed film examining the American Jewish community’s shifting relationship to Israel/Palestine. Since then, Kaita has worked with leading voices in the space, including Tikkun Olam Productions, Seen.TV, and Watermelon Pictures. Notable films he has worked with as an impact producer include The Encampments, Ahmad Alive, and Coexistence My Ass.
Nyrene Monforte - Editor
Nyrene is a video producer and editor interested in imagining visions of an equitable world. As a cultural worker, she practices solidarity journalism through covering social movements in the Washington, DC area. Her work has been featured in A More Perfect Union and The Washington Post.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
THE STORY
In college, I lived and studied 5 minutes away from one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world. Textron Inc. is a fortune 500 company with a roughly 15 billion dollar market cap, and it happens to be headquartered in the small city of Providence, RI.
Having walked by the headquarters hundreds of times, I only found out what the company did through waves of anti-war protests at the building throughout my four years in college. After discovering this and getting involved in student anti-war activism myself, I went into deep research about the history and present actions of the corporation. Despite the relative lack of media coverage on Textron in comparison to larger weapons companies like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, what I uncovered convinced me that I needed to make a short documentary.
After graduating, and taking a hiatus to work with several pressing films (Israelism, The Encampments and many more!), the film is finally finishing post production.
THE EXPERTS
Through the process, I spoke with several academic experts and interviewed two for the film:
Christian Sorensen is one of the foremost experts in U.S. military contractors. He is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. Christian, a former U.S. Air Force Arabic linguist, served at a variety of stateside posts and a tour in Qatar. He holds an MSc in Arabic translation from the University of Edinburgh, an MA in International Relations from Salve Regina University, and a BA Public & Private Sector Organizations from Brown University. He is the author of Understanding the War Industry (Clarity Press, 2020).
Leslie-William Robinson is a lecturer in the History of Science Department at Harvard. A historian of the modern US, he works at the intersection of the history of medicine and the behavioral sciences, critical military studies, and the history of capitalism. His research centers the military as a social laboratory and his book project, Medicine and Morale: Modern War and the Management of the Masses, illuminates military medicine’s previously understated influence on modern labor management theory and practice in the early twentieth century.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Our last roadblock to getting this film out is legal fees. Virtually all documentaries go through entertainment lawyers before publishing, and this film in particular will need the review of legal counsel given the subject covered. Please consider supporting in order to bolster anti-militarist education and further organizing efforts in Rhode Island.
We are also taking part in the Seed & Spark & OTV "Beyond The Screen Rally"! If we can hit our goals for this fundraiser we will be eligible for a $5,000 grant as well as a OTV distribution deal. To qualify, we must raise at least $2,500 and gather at least 250 followers here on Seed & Spark. Everyone can help us out by following us for free, so please send this to at least 3 friends!
Please note, if we do not raise at least 80% of our goal on Seed & Spark, we won't receive any of our funding.
Also follow us on Instagram!
IMPACT GOALS
With your generous support, we would love to bring this film back to its home of Providence, RI and the Northeast region broadly. We envision using this film as a way to start conversations with community organizers and conscientious members of the public on how to resist militarization in their back yard. We aim to host several community screenings inviting activists to discuss their campaigns and how folks can get involved with their work.
Working as an impact producer with a number of Pro-Palestine, anti-war films, I am confident that we will be able to use this film as an opportunity to drive public discourse towards the military-industrial complex in our backyards. Some of the impact campaigns that I have worked on include:
Israelism, which sparked heated debate about campus protests featured in many publications and was named "The most important piece of free speech media of 2023" by MovieWeb. I am credited as "Outreach Coordinator" on the film.
The Encampments covered the pro-Palestine student protest movement with a particular emphasis on the Columbia University encampments. The film was executive produced by Macklemore and achieved one of the highest per-screen average openings for a documentary. I was proud to work on coordinating the non-theatrical screenings for this film.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Legal Support for Publishing
Costs $2,000
Virtually all documentaries must go through an entertainment lawyer and get E&O (errors and omissions) insurance prior to releasing.
Providence, RI Premiere
Costs $500
We would love to premiere the film in Providence, RI (where the film was shot)! Funds will go towards plane tickets and event fees.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Kaita Igarashi - Director, Producer, Videographer
Kaita Igarashi is a documentary filmmaker and impact producer focused on the topics of militarism, labor, and protest. He began his career as an impact producer for Israelism, a critically acclaimed film examining the American Jewish community’s shifting relationship to Israel/Palestine. Since then, Kaita has worked with leading voices in the space, including Tikkun Olam Productions, Seen.TV, and Watermelon Pictures. Notable films he has worked with as an impact producer include The Encampments, Ahmad Alive, and Coexistence My Ass.
Nyrene Monforte - Editor
Nyrene is a video producer and editor interested in imagining visions of an equitable world. As a cultural worker, she practices solidarity journalism through covering social movements in the Washington, DC area. Her work has been featured in A More Perfect Union and The Washington Post.