PRESSURE GRADIENT
Rochester, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, Experimental
PRESSURE GRADIENT explores the shades between Love, Rage, & Rebellion. Witness a new world born in the soul of everyone who chose to show up for their neighbor. PRESSURE GRADIENT has the potential to serve as a beacon to re-establish Rochester's legacy in mutual-aid and abolition.
PRESSURE GRADIENT
Rochester, New York | Film Feature
Documentary, Experimental
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $26,421 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
204 supporters | followers
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PRESSURE GRADIENT explores the shades between Love, Rage, & Rebellion. Witness a new world born in the soul of everyone who chose to show up for their neighbor. PRESSURE GRADIENT has the potential to serve as a beacon to re-establish Rochester's legacy in mutual-aid and abolition.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
*Thanks to your tremendous support we've reached our initial goal of $20k! With 3 weeks until our deadline, we're confident that with your continued support, we can raise our final goal of $30k and fully fund PRESSURE GRADIENT.*
Please continue to tell as many people about our critical story.
KEEP GOING Cheers! My name is Martin Hawk, and I'm a storyteller. I'd love to tell you the story of Pressure Gradient.
With my team, I'm working tirelessly to finish a love letter to my community, and bring this film to the world. I know it will be one of the greatest stories I will tell. Now, I need your help to finish it.
How this project began
photo credit: Narada J. Riley
When the George Floyd uprising began in May of 2020, I left my house to document a nation in mourning. Under the moniker 'midnight' I'd spent the previous six years building a career as a Platinum-selling recording artist and producer, but that day I turned toward a camera. As I found myself in a crowd being fired on by an army of police, for the first time I switched the setting on my camera from still to video...and didn't stop shooting for the next 18 months. In the street I grew close to the leaders and members of Rochester's resistance community, capturing in real time an uprising that would forever change the fabric of our city. Soon, my first short film A Litany for Survival was born from a demonstration held outside the Mayor's house, providing a glimpse onto the film Pressure Gradient would come to be. But that summer, none of us could have known what September would bring.
photo credit: Narada J. Riley
photo credit: Zach D. Roberts
The news of the police murder of Daniel Prude, and the subsequent 6-month cover-up by Rochester City Government, turned our community upside down. Pressure Gradient tells the story of that upheaval, and the people and ideas that led to a community reclaiming it's mission of Abolition and promise of Liberation.
Why now?
Four years on, the world-changing events of that Fall, and the brutal state repression faced by the people of Rochester, remain largely unaddressed. Police budgets continue to swell while police violence persists unabated. As our political leaders and media outlets urge us to forget the lessons of 2020, Pressure Gradient strives to serve both as a document of what was, and a portrait of what might yet be possible.
from Pressure Gradient
from Pressure Gradient: Tesseract
I need your support.
In order to bring Pressure Gradient to life, our team needs these funds to finish our Assembly, Editing, Color Grading, Original Score Composing & Soundtrack Producing, Mixing, & Formatting. Our initial goal of $20,000 gets us 75% of the way there, with our stretch goal of $30,000 seeing us reach the finish line required for this film to reach it's full potential.
We have arrived at the final stage, please contribute what you can and share this campaign.
Together we can immortalize the story of our community for generations to come.
from Pressure Gradient: Tesseract
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Original Soundtrack
Costs $5,000
We're collaborating with the amazing musical artists Hawk worked with as a musician before devolving into a filmmaker.
Graphic Design
Costs $3,500
We'll be hiring a graphic designer for all logos, fonts, and additional assets in the film.
Post-Production
Costs $11,500
This includes everything required to finish 75% of the film: Assembly, Editing, Colorist, Mixing, Formatting, Accessibility Processing
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Martin Hawk [Director]: Hawk is an Abolitionist based in Rochester, New York. Through filmmaking he bases his work around capturing the beauty and dignity of oppressed people. Telling their story with his production company 7th Films, Our Local History, Free The People ROC, and his debut feature-film Pressure Gradient, set for release in the Summer 2025
Casey AJ [Producer]: Since 2014 he has worked with Ramallah-based Idioms Film, a pioneering independent production company in Palestine's film scene. His recent production credits include Ibrahim: A Fate to Define (2019), which made its North American premiere at TIFF 2019, R21 AKA Restoring Solidarity (2022), which premiered at documenta fifteen.
Andrew M [Producer]: Based in Los Angeles, California, following his collaboration on "A Litany for Survival," Andrew has focused on logistics, fundraising, and networking for Pressure Gradient. In Andrew's view, working alongside the director has been a privilege, helping to amplify a story that is both locally significant and globally resonant.
Caitlin P [Producer]: Caitlin was a producer on "A Litany for Survival" and has been able to translate her empathy-centered experience as a Social Worker in Refugee Foster Care, to her work as a producer specializing in establishing and maintaining ethical shooting environments and developing grassroots connections to launch the film within the Rochester community and beyond.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
*Thanks to your tremendous support we've reached our initial goal of $20k! With 3 weeks until our deadline, we're confident that with your continued support, we can raise our final goal of $30k and fully fund PRESSURE GRADIENT.*
Please continue to tell as many people about our critical story.
KEEP GOING Cheers! My name is Martin Hawk, and I'm a storyteller. I'd love to tell you the story of Pressure Gradient.
With my team, I'm working tirelessly to finish a love letter to my community, and bring this film to the world. I know it will be one of the greatest stories I will tell. Now, I need your help to finish it.
How this project began
photo credit: Narada J. Riley
When the George Floyd uprising began in May of 2020, I left my house to document a nation in mourning. Under the moniker 'midnight' I'd spent the previous six years building a career as a Platinum-selling recording artist and producer, but that day I turned toward a camera. As I found myself in a crowd being fired on by an army of police, for the first time I switched the setting on my camera from still to video...and didn't stop shooting for the next 18 months. In the street I grew close to the leaders and members of Rochester's resistance community, capturing in real time an uprising that would forever change the fabric of our city. Soon, my first short film A Litany for Survival was born from a demonstration held outside the Mayor's house, providing a glimpse onto the film Pressure Gradient would come to be. But that summer, none of us could have known what September would bring.
photo credit: Narada J. Riley
photo credit: Zach D. Roberts
The news of the police murder of Daniel Prude, and the subsequent 6-month cover-up by Rochester City Government, turned our community upside down. Pressure Gradient tells the story of that upheaval, and the people and ideas that led to a community reclaiming it's mission of Abolition and promise of Liberation.
Why now?
Four years on, the world-changing events of that Fall, and the brutal state repression faced by the people of Rochester, remain largely unaddressed. Police budgets continue to swell while police violence persists unabated. As our political leaders and media outlets urge us to forget the lessons of 2020, Pressure Gradient strives to serve both as a document of what was, and a portrait of what might yet be possible.
from Pressure Gradient
from Pressure Gradient: Tesseract
I need your support.
In order to bring Pressure Gradient to life, our team needs these funds to finish our Assembly, Editing, Color Grading, Original Score Composing & Soundtrack Producing, Mixing, & Formatting. Our initial goal of $20,000 gets us 75% of the way there, with our stretch goal of $30,000 seeing us reach the finish line required for this film to reach it's full potential.
We have arrived at the final stage, please contribute what you can and share this campaign.
Together we can immortalize the story of our community for generations to come.
from Pressure Gradient: Tesseract
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Original Soundtrack
Costs $5,000
We're collaborating with the amazing musical artists Hawk worked with as a musician before devolving into a filmmaker.
Graphic Design
Costs $3,500
We'll be hiring a graphic designer for all logos, fonts, and additional assets in the film.
Post-Production
Costs $11,500
This includes everything required to finish 75% of the film: Assembly, Editing, Colorist, Mixing, Formatting, Accessibility Processing
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Martin Hawk [Director]: Hawk is an Abolitionist based in Rochester, New York. Through filmmaking he bases his work around capturing the beauty and dignity of oppressed people. Telling their story with his production company 7th Films, Our Local History, Free The People ROC, and his debut feature-film Pressure Gradient, set for release in the Summer 2025
Casey AJ [Producer]: Since 2014 he has worked with Ramallah-based Idioms Film, a pioneering independent production company in Palestine's film scene. His recent production credits include Ibrahim: A Fate to Define (2019), which made its North American premiere at TIFF 2019, R21 AKA Restoring Solidarity (2022), which premiered at documenta fifteen.
Andrew M [Producer]: Based in Los Angeles, California, following his collaboration on "A Litany for Survival," Andrew has focused on logistics, fundraising, and networking for Pressure Gradient. In Andrew's view, working alongside the director has been a privilege, helping to amplify a story that is both locally significant and globally resonant.
Caitlin P [Producer]: Caitlin was a producer on "A Litany for Survival" and has been able to translate her empathy-centered experience as a Social Worker in Refugee Foster Care, to her work as a producer specializing in establishing and maintaining ethical shooting environments and developing grassroots connections to launch the film within the Rochester community and beyond.