Right now, I’m making the "final" additions and corrections to my 2019 business plan to present on Monday and it couldn’t be better timing, I feel like all my life has been training for telling this story! It's very much as if this location chose me, rather than me deciding I would film it. There is a deeper connection that is difficult to put into words, it's is as if the Dry Tortugas has brought out of me, what I am capable of, I believe in it (this project) and it feels like it believes in me but really… it’s you (if you’re reading this) and all the people who have helped me along the way.
There was one night I was staying in Marathon, which is an hour away from Key West and at 3 am I woke up and realized I had to get out there, I had already been several times and at that time was living in the Key but always was just making enough to sustain myself, never any extra time or cash and even though they typically will comp me on the Ferry, I still like to tip the crew and the Captain so I would only go if I had the extra money.
Well that night at 3 AM, I had only 3 dollars and a quarter tank of gas, my inner voice kept pulling at me to just “GO!” so after an hour of internal debate, I wrote my friend a note that I would be back and asked if they could please watch my dog. With My tent, my camera, and a blanket I packed up and drove to Key West.
I made it to the dock and no one was on the ferry, it was empty at 7:00 and usually boarding by then. I finally found someone and asked why the ferry was empty and they said because it was they day of the maiden voyage of the NEW ferry that had just been built and I had been waiting to get shots of it! So I ran to the other side of the marina and there it was, the Yankee Freedom III and luckily I knew the captain and he said hop on and away I went!
Some people say that the story of the making of is more fascinating than the film itself but I disagree, I love this place, everything about it speaks to me and I am a water baby, I love History and a huge goal of mine is to raise people's awareness about Reef Conservation and how we all can very easily play our part. In putting this film together, it is also a healing art for me, I feel like as I put this story together, I am building my own solid foundation.
This work, this project, means the world to me and is a great lead in to the next project I wrote, it's a underwater ballet inspired by my experiences I had living in Hawaii the last 5 years, it artistically communicates hows water connects us all and is our life source. The Ocean and our Earth takes care of us so we should do everything in our power to care for it!
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