This is an update for the Tiyeni Documentary. It’s been an interesting but slow road so far. The minute you start to connect with larger entities and money becomes a factor, everything slows down. Capitalism does not move at the pace of human suffering. It sets the pace and decides the outcome for much of the documentary. The good news is… Things are happening. Here’s a rundown of where we are at
Faith Mussa and UMG
We’re still waiting for the official response from Universal Music Group about the terms of use for the song, “Waiting” (SONDR remix). The artist, Faith Mussa is eager to work with Tiyeni and help promote their work. The label that owns the rights has been slowly moving towards an agreement. Our contact with them is, Beating Heart Music another label that also has a stake in the song.
Above: Cover art for, “Waiting (SONDR Remix)
We have no idea what UMG will come back with. They may ask for a large amount of money. If so, we’ll be forced to make some decisions. Even if we can’t afford to use the song, we could still work with Beating Heart Music and content they have that isn’t tied to UMG. We started this effort to work with Faith more than 3 months ago. Hopefully it will have resolution soon.
Above: The Services page on the New Moon website.
New Moon Films
We recently connected with New Moon Films to help us with fundraising, publicity, and distribution for the documentary. We’ve got lots of experience with production, very little with fundraising or distribution outside of social media. Publicity and distribution activities like entering film festivals require an experienced and connected specialist like New Moon. The organization is also very much inline with our mission to elevate voices for a sustainable future.
We know there are supporters, funding, and festivals where we can reach more people, produce extraordinary results, and have a huge impact on Tiyeni’s ability to expand operations throughout Africa. In the end, this is always the goal. It’s not just about producing a great documentary, it’s about ending food poverty. That we have to fundraise to accomplish this is a sad aspect of living in a capitalist world. But with partners like New Moon, we have a better chance of success.
At this point, we’ve only captured the planting season and DBF construction. We need to show the end result and BBC may be able to help us by capturing footage in April.
Above: Screenshot of BBC’s, “People Fixing The World” web page.
Exciting possibilities
Tiyeni has attracted the attention of BBC news who is interested in doing a story on Tiyeni as part of their, “People Fixing the World” series.
This would not only help us withfundraising and awareness, but may also help us acquire footage of Deep Bed Farming during the harvest season. At this point, we’ve only captured the planting season and DBF construction. We need to show the end result and BBC may be able to help us by capturing footage in April. This would not eliminate the need for Ash to return, just increase the amount of footage we have and be able to tag the clips with a BBC credit. This boosts credibility, which boosts funding. It’s all part of the waiting game. If BBC stays interested we’ll see how the story develops.
Onward
Tiyeni and The Chophouse are determined to complete this documentary and produce extraordinary results. The goal is to raise awareness and funding for Tiyeni to expand operations. Ending Food Poverty will always be the mission. Hopefully, with a little help from some new friends we will be successful.