Monday, January 2, 2012

12:15 sunday


Like an earlier kickstarter project I backed last year, this one has a focus on one man's life during the dark days of World War II. Also, like that earlier project, this one is a senior-year film for a student at SCAD.
Unlike the project last year, this one by Taylor Jenkins is based on facts from his grandfather's lips of his experiences after his plane was shot down in 1944.
I can so relate to that. My stepdad has very similar tales.
In fact, my stepdad was in a plane written about in "The Diary of Anne Frank". When he read the book, he was startled to find the description of his very flight on March 22, 1944. He talked of his crew being forced by the German captors to walk through the streets, parachute in hand, with people calling him a "baby killer" because their plane had crashed into a school - an empty school, as it turns out.
My stepdad and his crew-mates spent the rest of the war in various prison camps. He was only 22 years old when captured. His time in the prison camps is documented and on record at The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.
John Stone Jenkins, the bomber navigator who is the subject of the film, was more fortunate. After parachuting just seconds before the damaged B-17 blew up, he found a place to hide overnight, then made it back to safety. This film combines narration by the man himself with dramatic reenactments of the events.
Wow.
I know my stepdad would be most pleased that I am again thinking of him.
How did I find this project, you ask?
Sheer luck.
I was searching for projects in Georgia. I had already picked one up in Athens, a whimsical bus stop reinvention. Then I spotted this one, right here in my fair city.
Maybe I'll even get to see it on the big screen, if it makes its funding goal next month.
Here's hoping it will succeed!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

12:16 PM, February 12, 2012
Kickstarter wrote:

Congratulations!

Thanks to you and 31 other backers, 12:15 Sunday has been successfully funded.

Pledge Summary
Amount pledged: $35.00
Reward: Digital Screening!! If you contribute $25 or more, you will gain access to the digital download of finished film, before it's officially released!
Est. Delivery: Jun 2012

When your reward is ready, Taylor Jenkins will send you a survey via email to request any info needed to deliver your reward (mailing address, T-shirt size, etc

Anonymous said...

Update #2
Sunday, Feb 12, 2012
We Reached Our Goal!

Today, the project reached its targeted funding goal! We are very excited! Now, the film crew for this production will move forward to bring this story to life!

The crew will travel up soon to Canton, Ohio for the first weekend of shooting! We can't wait to get up there! We are going to shoot most of the exterior locations here, a landscape that will look very similar to where John landed in Europe. The crew will then return to Savannah to shoot the remaining scenes of the film.

I can't thank you enough for all your kindness and support for this film! I'm excited you all want to witness this story on screen! I will contact you about reward information once the shooting is done, which will be several weeks from now!

Thank you again for making this all possible!

Taylor