Colouring Book Productions is committed to promoting stories that represent the full spectrum of societal diversity. To take our first documentary, also titled "Colouring Book," from our developmental pages to your screens, we need your help in the form of video production and editing equipment.
Colouring Book Productions is committed to promoting stories that represent the full spectrum of societal diversity. To take our first documentary, also titled "Colouring Book," from our developmental pages to your screens, we need your help in the form of video production and editing equipment.
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Story
About The Project
The one question that always had the worst crippling effect on my self-esteem as a grade school kid was: “What are you?”- as if I was not even a member of the human species. Every time my “race” was called into question I immediately feared the reaction to my answer. The confused faces and uncomfortable glances made me feel like an outsider everywhere. In the 1980s, it was pretty hard for me to socially adapt when I was the tallest child in every class, nervously shy, light-skinned with hazel eyes, had a curly bush of hair, and subconsciously tip-toed with big feet, a slim skeleton build and racially ambiguous facial features stemming from my mixed ethnicity: father (Afro-Trinidadian) and mother (Caucasian American). I never even felt like I resembled any of my own family members, and I definitely never looked like the white or black characters in my favorite Hollywood movies and television sitcoms.
Movie theaters became a soothing shelter from all of this awkward anxiety and social scrutiny. I was able to observe new worlds and root for other “underdogs” like E.T. and Edward Scissorhands without being judged, because obviously the people on screen can’t criticize the audience. But the lack of diversity and overabundance of stereotypes felt foreign to me, and outside of my colourful worldview. Steven Spielberg made me fall in love with movies and Spike Lee made me feel like, as a person of color, I could actually make movies too. Especially after getting Spike’s Do the Right Thingproduction journal book for Christmas, and briefly meeting him in person on his Malcolm X publicity tour. The viewfinder of my parents’ camcorder became the window into my imagination. Making movies became “the dream” – it felt like all of my artistic interests (writing, music, animation, fashion) all mixed into one. But in my neighbourhood, it remained just a dream, being that I was the only weird kid that actually knew the names of movie directors and wanted to read library books for fun about how Star Wars was made with “toy spaceships.”
I lived 3000 miles away from Hollywood and the only “entertainment stars” living in Rochester New York were the local news anchors. Unfortunately, my desires were never considered realistic and vanished during my young adulthood. Most of my friends were making music, and writing hip hop songs allowed us to immediately express the daily dilemmas we felt and provided an outlet to be heard. No expensive cameras, 16mm film and developing lab costs to consider – just a pad, a pen and studio time. But after years of working “reliable jobs,” I realised I would never feel true fulfillment by just living to work, instead of working to live.
The decision to go back to college later in life and complete my B.A. degree in Film Production after many years of practical employment was not overwhelming at all – it felt like “freedom.” I didn’t mind sacrificing my disposable income and submerging myself completely into visual storytelling. I had experienced a lifetime worth of stories that were boiling inside me, waiting to be expressed. Following college and industry internships, whatever way, shape or form that I was able to write for a living felt like a “win” to me. But as any creative writer knows first hand, supporting yourself through your way with words most often requires an employer or clients that want to use you to tell their stories. After years of being hired for copywriting, short film scripts, public service announcements and online articles, that relentless urge to tell my own stories crept back up into my soul, shaking me to “wake up” and become my authentic self.
I’m incredibly thankful for the rise of social media and the fall of prices for video production equipment. Now the tools exist to give my own stories the “green light” and fill the void with the underrepresented characters and concepts I longed for when I was growing up. I no longer feel alone or strange, because I have finally connected with a community of unique and talented cinema lovers like myself, inspiring and supporting each other. Working with a team to build Colouring Book Productions is literally the resurrection of a childhood dream that I have lived my entire life to pursue. Now when people ask me, “What Are You?” my answer will be STORYTELLER.
Incentives
$10
ALL COLOURS:
The name of each and every contributor will be added in alphabetical order to our official website: ColouringBook.info as a Day 1 supporter on a special community member page. We will also follow you on Twitter and Instagram., as well as send you a personal Twitter thank you message. PLUS: You can choose to have your Twitter handle added to a Twitter List we will create for this campaign to stay in touch with our supportive community members.$25
GRAPHIC DESIGN COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Director Jason Cuthbert will have some Photoshop fun and create a customized digital e-card to personally thank you. Give us your name & photo (Family Friendly).
We will share each and every one of these e-cards on our website and on social media to make sure your name remains a part of the origin story of the Colouring Book production company.
$50
VIDEO COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You are now going to be added into the Colouring Book web series by sending us a video (15 second or less) stating your name, why you supported Colouring Book & why diversity matters (No Offensive Language).
$75
COLOURING BOOK COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Get featured in a real Colouring Book colouring book that will be printed and shipped to you. Supply us a “Family-Friendly” photo and we will make it look like a colouring book cartoon and dedicate an entire page of this family-friendly story to you.
$100
ADVERTISEMENT COLOURS. You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You are now the Official Sponsor of a Colouring Book web commercial that answers the statement: “#DiversityWINS when…” These 60-second web commercials will be part of an ongoing campaign to promote diversity in all industries.
$250
DOCUMENTARY COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Your name will also be in the movie credits for the first feature length documentary produced by Colouring Book and directed by Colouring Book creator Jason Cuthbert, about how the mixed race experience has changed since the Civil Rights Movement ended.
$500
SKYPE COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Jason Cuthbert, Colouring Book creator, will Skype with you about your own diversity project for an entire hour. Jason will take his Telly Award-winning scriptwriting experience, read your short script (up to 25 pages) before the Skype conversation, then make suggestions or help you brainstorm. We can also talk about crowd-funding, social media marketing, indie moviemaking or even sit and check out your previously created works of art.
$1,000
PRODUCER COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You will be listed as an Executive Producer in the credits of the very first Colouring Book-produced feature length documentary about the post-Civil Rights movement mixed race experience.
Your Executive Producer movie credit will appear in the documentary’s opening title credits and closing credits, on the movie’s IMDB.com page, on the website under cast & crew and on printed marketing materials passed around at film festivals and screening events.
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
ALL COLOURS:
The name of each and every contributor will be added in alphabetical order to our official website: ColouringBook.info as a Day 1 supporter on a special community member page. We will also follow you on Twitter and Instagram., as well as send you a personal Twitter thank you message. PLUS: You can choose to have your Twitter handle added to a Twitter List we will create for this campaign to stay in touch with our supportive community members.$25
GRAPHIC DESIGN COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Director Jason Cuthbert will have some Photoshop fun and create a customized digital e-card to personally thank you. Give us your name & photo (Family Friendly).
We will share each and every one of these e-cards on our website and on social media to make sure your name remains a part of the origin story of the Colouring Book production company.
$50
VIDEO COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You are now going to be added into the Colouring Book web series by sending us a video (15 second or less) stating your name, why you supported Colouring Book & why diversity matters (No Offensive Language).
$75
COLOURING BOOK COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Get featured in a real Colouring Book colouring book that will be printed and shipped to you. Supply us a “Family-Friendly” photo and we will make it look like a colouring book cartoon and dedicate an entire page of this family-friendly story to you.
$100
ADVERTISEMENT COLOURS. You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You are now the Official Sponsor of a Colouring Book web commercial that answers the statement: “#DiversityWINS when…” These 60-second web commercials will be part of an ongoing campaign to promote diversity in all industries.
$250
DOCUMENTARY COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Your name will also be in the movie credits for the first feature length documentary produced by Colouring Book and directed by Colouring Book creator Jason Cuthbert, about how the mixed race experience has changed since the Civil Rights Movement ended.
$500
SKYPE COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: Jason Cuthbert, Colouring Book creator, will Skype with you about your own diversity project for an entire hour. Jason will take his Telly Award-winning scriptwriting experience, read your short script (up to 25 pages) before the Skype conversation, then make suggestions or help you brainstorm. We can also talk about crowd-funding, social media marketing, indie moviemaking or even sit and check out your previously created works of art.
$1,000
PRODUCER COLOURS: You Will Get All of the Above…
PLUS: You will be listed as an Executive Producer in the credits of the very first Colouring Book-produced feature length documentary about the post-Civil Rights movement mixed race experience.
Your Executive Producer movie credit will appear in the documentary’s opening title credits and closing credits, on the movie’s IMDB.com page, on the website under cast & crew and on printed marketing materials passed around at film festivals and screening events.
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
Jason Cuthbert: Co-founder, Writer and Director for Colouring Book Productions
Jason is an American copywriter, screenwriter and independent filmmaker with a B.A in Film Studies from Hunter College at The City University of New York. Jason has worked as an intern in the television production division of WXXI, a PBS affiliate TV station, and was also selected by The American Pavilion to engage in an internship at the 2005 internationally renown Cannes Film Festival.
During his time with RCTV Channel 15 (Rochester, New York) as a scriptwriter and assistant teacher to high school students in the Summer of Opportunities TV production program, Jason was awarded with both the prestigious Telly Award and the ACM Hometown Media Award for his short teen drama script “Pink Triangle” (2012). Jason has also worked as a freelance scriptwriter for Baden Street Settlement, successfully delivering PSA scripts that were produced and launched in market. As a professional writer, Jason continues to work as a copywriter, researcher and proofreader to Launchmark, independent clients, as well as a frequent blog contributor to the online film community of GoIntoTheStory.com.
Francesca D’Amico: Co-founder, Producer and Researcher for Colouring Book Productions
Francesca is a Canadian historian, researcher, educator, grant writer and arts curator currently researching popular culture, race and social justice movements. A published academic, Francesca is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in history, and is a research assistant at the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples where she recently completed her tenure as the producer of Performing Diaspora, a 2012 initiative intended to work with pioneering musicians to document in video and text the history of urban music in Canada.
Francesca brings to the Colouring Book team a wealth of grant writing and sponsorship request experience, and has successfully been awarded monies by the state level Canadian government, universities, and private investors. Francesca is also a frequently invited public history speaker and writer who has contributed extensively to Canadian college radio, ActiveHistory.ca, Manifesto Community Projects, and her ongoing project Learning Through Hip Hop, an arts-based curriculum workshop for youth.
James Cuthbert: Marketing Specialist for Colouring Book Productions
James is an American brand manager at The Coca Cola Company where he oversees the development of the Sprite brand. With an MBA in brand management and entrepreneurship from the University of Rochester (William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration) and a B.S in business management from Penn State University, James has previous experience first as an associate marketing manager at General Mills, where among his many other duties, he oversaw the multicultural marketing of food products, followed by his time at the Kellogg Company as associate brand manager.
James has also done significant work in the area of growth, strategy and education through his employment with KIPP Philadelphia Schools. A Consortium Fellowship recipient, James brings a wealth of business knowledge in the areas of marketing strategy, multi-media platform advertising, product innovation and development, brand management and architecture, forecasting and cross-functional team leadership.
Jessica Molina-Cuthbert: Lead Researcher for Colouring Book Productions
Jessica is an American sociologist, researcher and educator currently studying the intersection of racial and ethnic discrimination and American penal system practices. The recipient of the prestigious Bill Gates and Melinda Gates Millennium scholarship, Jessica is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in sociology (with a minor in policy analysis) at the University of Minnesota and has a B.A in Criminology from the University of Miami.
Jessica has served as research assistant for a series of research projects at the University of Minnesota, particularly in the areas of race, gender, youth, discrimination and social justice. Jessica has extensive college-level teaching and mentoring experience as a former Ronald E. McNair program advisor. Jessica is also skilled in quantitative research methods. She brings extensive knowledge in the areas of social justice and discrimination, youth, education and mentorship, and human behavior, and possesses research skills in hierarchical linear models, data coding expertise, and survey and oral interview collecting.
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