Every time you are driving, remember this: your actions have consequences. The size of your vehicle amplifies your actions and their resulting consequences. We all make choices, and sometimes we make mistakes, but we are all required to take responsibility for our actions.
My thoughts and prayers are with Sherry Anderson and her family during this difficult time.
Sherry Anderson possesses a deep inner strength and an outward grace that I hope to achieve and maintain in my own life. She has been a positive presence in my life and in this film, offering strength and wisdom while enabling me to continue work on the project.
I was introduced to Sherry Anderson through Jennifer Buntz, whom I met through the magical esoterica of the internets. Jennifer and her partner Steve Matthias founded the Duke City Wheelman Foundation and launched the first organized large scale ghost bikes project in Albuquerque. They have been tremendous supporters and participants in the film project. They are awesome people and I am grateful to have them in my life.
My friendship with Jennifer and Sherry affirms that the thing to do in the face of loss is to create something beautiful and meaningful.
Check out the teaser for Andressa Nozue’s documentary, Share the Road, which is a bilingual documentary about bicycling in Sao Paulo and New York.
Andressa is the Brasilian Unit Director for the Ghost Bikes Film Project.
A film is born in the head and then killed on paper. It is brought back to life by the actors and then killed in the camera. It is then resurrected into a third and final life in the editing room where the dismembered pieces are assembled into their finished form.”
principle photography is almost complete.
we’ve spent 2010 touring and filming in over a dozen cities… and principle photography is almost complete.
we’ll continue filming in the New York City area through the end of this year, and will of course continue to collect photography and video submitted by people in other cities. cities appearing in the film currently include: new york, san francisco, chicago, seattle, portland, philadelphia, pittsburgh, albuquerque, st louis, enid, boston, miami, london, and sao paulo.
thank you so, so, much to the many wonderful people helped us along the way. we are grateful and appreciative to those who opened their homes to us, opened their stories to us, and trusted us to share these experiences. we hope this film amplifies the intention of the ghost bikes themselves: to share these stories, to remind people to take care of one another on the road, and to prevent more ghost bikes from being necessary.
and so… the post production process has commenced.
all the interviews need to be transcribed, and then we have the tricky task of weaving a narrative out of the many voices we’ve collected. we’re taking a few weeks off from the ghost bikes film project to catch up on work, replenish the production fund, and to decompress after the non-stop filming that took place May through July. starting in September, we’ll be updating our backer’s blog over at Kickstarter with clips of video from the film as it evolves.
Kickstart a ghost bike documentary film project »
may 25, 2010: adam voiland of examiner.com plugged our fundraising efforts! thanks adam!
Filmmaker visits Portland and Vancouver to document ghost bikes »
our film production was featured on BikePortland.org last week! thanks Marcus!
These are some of the archival photos from the 2005 Seattle ghostcycle.org project, which was organized and executed by a group of about 50 anonymous Seattle cyclists who thought it was a good way to bring attention to 40 hazardous locations.
There are no ghost bikes currently up in Seattle; they tend to remain up for days or weeks, before being removed by either the city or local business owners.
moving from #bikeSEATTLE to #bikePDX
I was stuck behind a cyclist the other day, and I really wanted to honk at him. But then I thought of you, and your film, and I took a deep breath, and waited to pass him. I left a good size space between us.”
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paraphrased from a friend of mine who currently lives and drives in L.A., who called me up to report this experience as his reaction to watching the ghost bikes film project trailer. we’ve known each other since we were three years old, and i love him, but he has a history of being a bit of a masshole driver…
THIS FILM IS WINNING.
Documentary charts rise of Ghost Bike movement - and you can help fund it »
article on our film from UK based bike site road.cc
They stand, unnoticed by many, but for others a poignant reminder of the dangers cyclists face every day, in cities around the world, each commemorating a life cut short as a bike rider on his or her way to work, to go shopping, or simply hang out with friends paid the ultimate cost for simply wanting to ride on the road.
Now, a pair of film makers from New York City have embarked upon a documentary that seeks to chart the ghost bike movement, which commemorates fallen cyclists with a bike sprayed white at the point where they fell, and in the spirit of co-operation that has seen the phenomenon spread around the world, you can help finance the project for as little as $5 – not much more than the cost of a cappuccino.
The project, which aims to trace the origin of the movement “from San Francisco to St Louis to Pittsburgh to New York, and examining how it is manifesting in New York, Chicago, London, and Brazil” is the brainchild of a pair of New Yorkers, Meaghan Wilbur, who has spent a decade in film post-production and continues to ride her mothers old red Schwinn, and Thomas Perry, who recently completed New York University’s graduate film programme.
Wilbur and Perry are seeking to raise $2,500 in funding for the project, which will include a visit to London in June, and which will result in a feature length documentary, which “city by city… will reveal the stories behind ghost bikes and the people who make them.”
So far, $420, getting on for a fifth of the total needed, has been raised, and pledges for amounts including $5, which will get you an acknowledgement on the website and access to a behind-the scenes blog, $15, which will entitle you to a download of the completed film, or $500, which will see your name up in lights on IMDB as Associate Producer, can be made through the Ghost Bikes Film website.
Money pledged “will help cover the cost of equipment, crew, and travel expenses.” As the documentary makers point out, “independent films do not have the same freedom and ease as larger ventures with funding, and we’ve already made a lot of sacrifices to get this far along.
“We are committed to making this film,” they continue, “even if it means sleeping on couches and eating PBJ sandwiches when we travel… but even DIY won’t make a movie for absolutely nothing. Your support is needed and greatly appreciated. We’ve scheduled a lot of travel in order to complete the film, and are taking a leap of faith that it will all work out well in the end.”
Certainly if the clips of the work to date linked above are anything to go by, the end result is likely to be a reflective and thought-provoking film that pays tribute to those among us who never returned home from that ride.
chicago: thank you
ghost bike film’s six day chicago ride would not have been successful without the love and support of all the following wonderful people:
dusty folwarczny for the comfy couch and the positive energies, kim nishimoto for the love and pancakes, keiko miceli for the stories and the smiles, kathy schubert and suzy schnauzer for the riding tour of the city and the guidance of a seasoned film editor, martin from bobby’s bikes, margo o’hara from ActiveTrans, elizabeth adamczyk from Chicago Ride of Silence, kat ramsland from Lillstreet Art Center, mickey the messenger, matthew churney on the ride of silence, pine on the street corner, jeff from the video store, karen walking past, that cool kid wearing the same tigers as me during the RoS, and everyone who smiled at me with my dorky looking helmet cam.
Halfway to our fundraising goal! »
amazing! after just two weeks, we are halfway to our $2500 fundraising goal!
thank you for kickstarting our production: cecilia granata, kim cummings, dahlia pena, brad farkas, lewis winter, james keegan, kenton hoppas, Duke City Wheelmen, martin ballantine, jon mackinnon, zoe nolan, adam voiland, matt fenby taylor, edd hames, ben brown, james grieve, allan patrick, wolfgang harry loscher filho, david hurley, bruno canesi morino, arlindo pereira jr., billy savage, marília moschkovich, charlotte
PRODUCTION UPDATES
meaghan is currently prepping to take off for Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and London, UK, in june. if we make out fundraising goal by july 4th (meaghan’s birthday!) then she’ll be off to Albuquerque, NM, and St Louis, MO, during the latter half of July. proper funding is going to help us tell more stories from more people in more places.
if you are in Seattle June 2-8 or Portland June 10-15 and want to share your stories and experiences with us, drop us a line at ghostbikesfilm [at] gmail [dot] com
CHICAGO, SAN FRANCISCO, and SAO PAULO…
these three cities are “in the can” and waiting to be edited. everything is logged (reviewed and labeled), a bit of assembly has been done (stuff put in the right order to make a story), and everything looks great (it looks great!). the bulk of the editing won’t begin in earnest until after we finish filming. that will be in August. until then, we’ll be putting together small video packages to give you an idea of what the finished film will be like.
we’ll be posting video of the Chicago Ride of Silence to our Kickstarter blog this weekend. If you’re backing us on Kickstarter, you have access to those Backers Only posts. It’s only $1 donation to view the blog and the video updates.
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Documentário sobre Ghost Bikes »
article about our film production from Brasilian bike blog + VÁ DE BIKE! +
Ghost Bikes são bicicletas brancas instaladas em locais de acidentes fatais com ciclistas, como um memorial em homenagem a quem perdeu a vida para a pressa de alguém. Também têm o objetivo de lembrar o que aconteceu ali para que a morte não caia no esquecimento e não seja considerada apenas um inconveniente temporário ao trânsito de uma tarde qualquer.
As Ghost Bikes servem como um alerta aos donos de veículos automotores, para que tomem mais cuidado com as vidas que pedalam bicicletas pelas ruas. A ação é realizada em várias cidades de todo o mundo e também no Brasil. Aqui em São Paulo, já foram instaladas quatro Ghost Bikes (veja quadro no final da página). Pude participar da instalação de três delas, uma das quais em homenagem a uma amiga, a Márcia Prado.
Com esse mesmo espírito, uma equipe de Nova Iorque está preparandoum documentário sobre as Bicicletas Brancas ao redor do mundo, para sensibilizar sobre a consequência da falta de infraestrutura e de apoio ao uso da bicicleta nas grandes cidades. A equipe já passou esse ano por São Paulo e pedalou com a Bicicletada daqui. Também coletarão imagens de San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Portland e Londres. Assista ao trailer.
Apoio
Produções independentes como essa, feitas com a cara e a coragem de quem tem um ideal de mundo melhor, costumam ter dificuldade em captar recursos. Por isso, os autores criaram uma página na internetpara arrecadar fundos para pagar os custos com equipamento, equipe e gastos de viagem.
Qualquer pessoa pode colaborar, com um valor mínimo de UM DÓLAR. Basta ter um cartão de crédito internacional. A transação é segura, garantida pela Amazon. Claro que se você doar mais de um dólar eles não vão reclamar. Pelo contrário: doando US$ 5 você tem acesso a uma área restrita do site para acompanhar a produção de perto e ver trechos dos vídeos que serão editados. Com US$15 você recebe uma cópia do documentário por download quando estiver pronto, com US$25 um DVD e, dependendo do valor da doação, pode até aparecer nos créditos do filme. Mas a maior recompensa é, sem dúvida, ter ajudado a divulgar essa mensagem pelo mundo afora.
