Long Haulers
New York City, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, Experimental
Providing a window into the life of a female trucker, Long Haulers takes you on a journey where you'll never look at the open road in the same way. In a world that tries to ignore, criticize, and harass women in male-dominated jobs, supporting Long Haulers ensures women truckers are seen and heard!
Long Haulers
New York City, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, Experimental
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Providing a window into the life of a female trucker, Long Haulers takes you on a journey where you'll never look at the open road in the same way. In a world that tries to ignore, criticize, and harass women in male-dominated jobs, supporting Long Haulers ensures women truckers are seen and heard!
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
About Long Haulers
Long Haulers is an experimental feature-length documentary that gives agency, voice, and perspective into the world of a female trucker. Weaving together the stories of three truckers, Sandi, Lori, and Tracy, Long Haulers shares how each woman started trucking and what keeps them trucking. Moving between the intimate stories of their lives in tandem with the working conditions of being a trucker, Long Haulers aims to provoke audiences to question stereotypes, sexism, and gender roles not only in trucking, but in the larger workforce of blue collar positions.
Mapping the personal paths of Sandi, Lori, and Tracy in relation to the trucking industry, the film illustrates the reported 5.1%[1] of female drivers that continues to expand due to the retirement of male drivers and an increase in industry growth. Long Haulers gestures towards topics including: trucking’s role in the distribution of goods in a neo-liberal economy, sexual assault in and out of the field, and the foreboding automation of driverless trucks. From Lori’s time in prison, to Sandi’s wisdom as an owner-operator and 77-year old trucker, to Tracy’s hobby breeding guinea pigs, the viewer becomes a passenger, slowly getting to know these women as they navigate across the country.
About Amy's shoots with Sandi, Lori, and Tracy
Going on two-weeklong shoots with each woman, I shared their sleeping bunks and meals; shadowing their time at the truck stops, distribution centers, and factories that they go to on a daily basis. Long Haulers combines 16mm and video, direct-cinema and staged performances. Prompting Sandi, Lori, and Tracy to act from the perspective of the truck through monologues, gestures, and movements, the film aims to make connections between woman and truck, and the interdependency each has for the other. Bringing into question the stereotype of the female caretaker, the film circumvents these notions through the uncanny relationship between a woman and an 18-wheeler. Intermixing digital footage of diners and depots along with impressionistic 16mm material of the American highway, Long Haulers moves in and out of documentary interrogation and poetic subjectivities.
What's going to happen next with Long Haulers
Currently, Long Haulers is completed in shooting and editing, and now awaiting post-production work including sound mixing and color correction before applying to festivals. Festivals and series include but are not exclusive to the Rotterdam Film Festival, CPH: DOX, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Art of the Real at Lincoln Center. Lastly, I hope to engage with a distributor such as Women Make Movies after Long Haulers completes its initial festival run.
Additionally, I want Long Haulers to be viewed by the trucking industry to allow for the majority of male drivers, trucking companies, and corporations to engage with the underrepresented female population of drivers. In order to do this, I hope to have screenings at truck stops and at annual trucking conventions held in the U.S. I hope this not only brings awareness to the men in the industry, but also allow women drivers to know that there are other women in the field.
[1] Tiffany Hsu, “Numbers of Female Truckers Slides as Women Face Industry Hurdles.” Trucks.com. September 28, 2016. https://www.trucks.com/2016/09/28/female-truckers-face-industry-hurdles/.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Digital Cinema Package
Costs $800
A DCP is the preferred format for film festivals to screen your film. Long Haulers will need a DCP!
Film Festival costs
Costs $500
Festival submission fees add up! This portion will go towards international and national festivals.
Web Design
Costs $500
This money will go towards the design and completion of a Long Haulers website for publicity.
Sound Mixing
Costs $2,800
This will ensure the rich sounds, from each woman's stories to the truck engines are.
Color Correction
Costs $1,200
Color correction will bring the images of Long Haulers to life that much richer, bold, and vibrant.
Share this update!
About This Team
Amy Reid / Director, Camera, & Editor
Amy Reid is a filmmaker whose work examines the intersections between gender, national identities, and labor. By exploring observational approaches and expanding upon formal cinematic notions of time, structure, and narrative, her work questions how labor is constructed in the filmic form. She has participated in selected screenings nationally and internationally and has been a film programmer for the Brooklyn-based series caleld Las Chicas presents since 2012. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union before graduating with an MFA in Visual Arts from UC San Diego and recently completed the Whitney Independent Study program in New York, where she has continued to refine her research interests in relation to her filmmaking practice. Amy will be returning back to California at the end of this summer to begin a doctoral program in Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she has been awarded a multi-year fellowship through the Feminist Media Histories Initiative.
Sindhu Thirumalaisamy / Sound Mixer
Sindhu Thirumalaisamy is an artist working with sonic and spatial narratives. Sindhu's sound design process embraces improvisation and a curiosity for the unique sonic palette that each filming environment holds. As a recordist, composer and mixer, Sindhu has worked on experimental films, documentaries, audio-essays and installations. Most recently, she mixed Monkia Uchiyama's film "A New Use" which premiered at the Art of The Real screening series in 2019. For a full list of projects, see www.sinth.in/collaborations
Kenji Bennett / Colorist
Kenji Bennett is a cinematographer and colorist. With his work, Bennett focuses on creating visually distinct and emotive pieces that tell stories in a personal, honest manner. He is interested in how the image can best serve a story through its particular details and style. Graduating with a BFA in a concentration in film, Bennett completed with honors from the University of California, San Diego (2019). Arts Organizations and commercial companies in San Diego who Bennett has worked in both cinematography and coloring include Wonderspaces, Ship in the Woods, and Good Gaff Productions among others. Additionally, his experience extends into the realms of journalism and TV production as the multi-media editor for the UCSD Guardian and as station manager for Triton Television at UCSD.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
About Long Haulers
Long Haulers is an experimental feature-length documentary that gives agency, voice, and perspective into the world of a female trucker. Weaving together the stories of three truckers, Sandi, Lori, and Tracy, Long Haulers shares how each woman started trucking and what keeps them trucking. Moving between the intimate stories of their lives in tandem with the working conditions of being a trucker, Long Haulers aims to provoke audiences to question stereotypes, sexism, and gender roles not only in trucking, but in the larger workforce of blue collar positions.
Mapping the personal paths of Sandi, Lori, and Tracy in relation to the trucking industry, the film illustrates the reported 5.1%[1] of female drivers that continues to expand due to the retirement of male drivers and an increase in industry growth. Long Haulers gestures towards topics including: trucking’s role in the distribution of goods in a neo-liberal economy, sexual assault in and out of the field, and the foreboding automation of driverless trucks. From Lori’s time in prison, to Sandi’s wisdom as an owner-operator and 77-year old trucker, to Tracy’s hobby breeding guinea pigs, the viewer becomes a passenger, slowly getting to know these women as they navigate across the country.
About Amy's shoots with Sandi, Lori, and Tracy
Going on two-weeklong shoots with each woman, I shared their sleeping bunks and meals; shadowing their time at the truck stops, distribution centers, and factories that they go to on a daily basis. Long Haulers combines 16mm and video, direct-cinema and staged performances. Prompting Sandi, Lori, and Tracy to act from the perspective of the truck through monologues, gestures, and movements, the film aims to make connections between woman and truck, and the interdependency each has for the other. Bringing into question the stereotype of the female caretaker, the film circumvents these notions through the uncanny relationship between a woman and an 18-wheeler. Intermixing digital footage of diners and depots along with impressionistic 16mm material of the American highway, Long Haulers moves in and out of documentary interrogation and poetic subjectivities.
What's going to happen next with Long Haulers
Currently, Long Haulers is completed in shooting and editing, and now awaiting post-production work including sound mixing and color correction before applying to festivals. Festivals and series include but are not exclusive to the Rotterdam Film Festival, CPH: DOX, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Art of the Real at Lincoln Center. Lastly, I hope to engage with a distributor such as Women Make Movies after Long Haulers completes its initial festival run.
Additionally, I want Long Haulers to be viewed by the trucking industry to allow for the majority of male drivers, trucking companies, and corporations to engage with the underrepresented female population of drivers. In order to do this, I hope to have screenings at truck stops and at annual trucking conventions held in the U.S. I hope this not only brings awareness to the men in the industry, but also allow women drivers to know that there are other women in the field.
[1] Tiffany Hsu, “Numbers of Female Truckers Slides as Women Face Industry Hurdles.” Trucks.com. September 28, 2016. https://www.trucks.com/2016/09/28/female-truckers-face-industry-hurdles/.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Digital Cinema Package
Costs $800
A DCP is the preferred format for film festivals to screen your film. Long Haulers will need a DCP!
Film Festival costs
Costs $500
Festival submission fees add up! This portion will go towards international and national festivals.
Web Design
Costs $500
This money will go towards the design and completion of a Long Haulers website for publicity.
Sound Mixing
Costs $2,800
This will ensure the rich sounds, from each woman's stories to the truck engines are.
Color Correction
Costs $1,200
Color correction will bring the images of Long Haulers to life that much richer, bold, and vibrant.
Share this update!
About This Team
Amy Reid / Director, Camera, & Editor
Amy Reid is a filmmaker whose work examines the intersections between gender, national identities, and labor. By exploring observational approaches and expanding upon formal cinematic notions of time, structure, and narrative, her work questions how labor is constructed in the filmic form. She has participated in selected screenings nationally and internationally and has been a film programmer for the Brooklyn-based series caleld Las Chicas presents since 2012. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union before graduating with an MFA in Visual Arts from UC San Diego and recently completed the Whitney Independent Study program in New York, where she has continued to refine her research interests in relation to her filmmaking practice. Amy will be returning back to California at the end of this summer to begin a doctoral program in Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she has been awarded a multi-year fellowship through the Feminist Media Histories Initiative.
Sindhu Thirumalaisamy / Sound Mixer
Sindhu Thirumalaisamy is an artist working with sonic and spatial narratives. Sindhu's sound design process embraces improvisation and a curiosity for the unique sonic palette that each filming environment holds. As a recordist, composer and mixer, Sindhu has worked on experimental films, documentaries, audio-essays and installations. Most recently, she mixed Monkia Uchiyama's film "A New Use" which premiered at the Art of The Real screening series in 2019. For a full list of projects, see www.sinth.in/collaborations
Kenji Bennett / Colorist
Kenji Bennett is a cinematographer and colorist. With his work, Bennett focuses on creating visually distinct and emotive pieces that tell stories in a personal, honest manner. He is interested in how the image can best serve a story through its particular details and style. Graduating with a BFA in a concentration in film, Bennett completed with honors from the University of California, San Diego (2019). Arts Organizations and commercial companies in San Diego who Bennett has worked in both cinematography and coloring include Wonderspaces, Ship in the Woods, and Good Gaff Productions among others. Additionally, his experience extends into the realms of journalism and TV production as the multi-media editor for the UCSD Guardian and as station manager for Triton Television at UCSD.