New Equipment for Documentarian Filmmaker Deidra P
Donation protected
Yá'át' ééh (Hello),
My name is Deidra Peaches, a Diné from Northern Arizona. I started my filmmaking career in High School. Since the age of 15 years old ( I am 31), I have been enthralled in the world of filmmaking. I am creating this GoFundMe as a last resort to acquire New equipment to further my passion for documenting and creating videos. Currently, I am using a five-year-old Sony A7rii that has been a go-to camera despite its functioning flaws. For starters, the shutter tends to get stuck, which requires you to hit the body of the camera on a solid surface. Rendering the long-exposure function useless and nonresponsive. Also, the sensor has a tremendous amount of dead pixels, which forces me to try and mend it in post. Another flaw is the broken audio port that is unreliable at times and requires me to record audio on an external device.
As a one-person crew and need functioning equipment that enables me to get the footage I need. You may be wondering, "Wow, Deidra, why don't you just repair your current camera." My camera set up is dated and is inadequate for run and gun documentary filming. Also, at the level I am in my career, I need these tools to be on par with non-POC filmmakers that occasionally have access to what they need. I am asking for your help to continue my filmmaking journey.
To give you a better understanding of how I have gotten to this point, I will tell you a bit more about myself. In high school, at the time, I had suffered a knee injury that abruptly ended my Basketball career. Heartbroken and with limited mobility, I found solace in creating films with my childhood friends. My passion for film grew. In college, I studied to become a filmmaker, during my sophomore year, I decided to take out a student loan to purchase a JVC GY 110U from B&H photo. The camera at the time was just over $5,000. My reason for the purchase was to buy the camera so I wouldn't have to rely on the university or others for equipment. I remember the first day the camera arrived at my house; I had asked my friend Shelby if she would help me take some test footage. She agreed, So we drove my brother's '82 Toyota Corolla to an empty parking lot and proceeded to maneuver the vehicle in what most would describe as doing "donuts."
Following that year, I made a short film entitled, Imagine, which was curated by the Smithsonian Museum on American Indian in Washington DC. One of the characters in the movie was a young boy who launched a rocket ship. Imagine inspired the short film, The Rocket Boy, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. At 22 years old, my childhood friends and I became the youngest Native Filmmakers to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Following that year, we created the production company, Paper Rocket Productions LLC.
Together, we continued to create content on pressing issues impacting our community. At the time, there was an ongoing protest on the Navajo Reservation regarding water rights to the Colorado River. As we collectively dove deeper into knowing these pressing issues, our trio of filmmakers dwindled to a duo. My friend Jake Hoyungowa and I spent years afterward learning about the contamination brought on by extractive mining industries. With our own families being impacted and dying from cancerous alignments, we found it upon ourselves to continue to document. Eventually, this led to the 2013 release of our first feature-length documentary, Tó éí' iiná até (Water is Life).
During the production of Tó éí' iiná até, Hoyungowa and I worked as Janitors at Flagstaff High School, and we pitched in half-half to purchase a DSLR, a Canon T2i. With the capabilities to transfer without live-DV capturing, this was a game-changer. It was much faster to transfer data from an SD card than to capture a Mini-DV tape.
Shortly after, Tó éí' iiná até screened at the festival Ciné Alter' Natif in Paris, France. With little to no money and with aging technology, we agreed to pawn the JVC GY 110U in efforts to buy two expedient passports. That was the last time I saw my camera.
In 2014, along with Photographer Matika Wilbur, and Project 562, I traveled throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, and Alaska, capturing photos of empowering Natives doing positive work in their respective communities. While in Alaska, we embarked on a remarkable 10-day/156 mile canoe journey starting in Kake, Alaska, concluding in Juneau, Alaska, where participating canoe families performed in a celebratory event called, "Celebration," an event held once every four years. The experience resulted in an 18-minute short documentary entitled, Alaska, Journey to Celebration.
In 2015 Paper Rocket Productions hosted a series of 4-week long multimedia workshops in 4 different communities sprawled through the Navajo Reservation. We modeled these workshops after Youth media workshops Hoyungowa, and I attended through Longhouse Media in Seattle, Washington. The workshops were a success, and we had over 120 participants who produced 15 short films ranging from music videos, short narratives, short documentaries, animations, and a compilation of youth made music.
In 2016, Paper Rocket Productions and members from various Native communities traveled across the country to Philadelphia to voice environmental concerns of how the atrocities left by Corporate extractive industries continue to disproportionately impact Native American communities. Right now the final touches are being made for a soon to be released feature documentary called, Protect.
As I mentioned previously, I am a one-person crew. My friend, colleague, and co-founder Jake Hoyungowa walked on last year. I am still grappling with his departure from this world. In our combined efforts, we were able to create beautiful and meaningful work depicting our people's plight. Last year, a few weeks after his passing, while on a film shoot, I had half my equipment stolen and contemplated quitting it all. But I couldn't. I remembered the stories people have shared with me and what drove me to this point in my life. I can't stop doing what I am doing because it's a responsibility. I am responsible for myself, my culture, my family, and now to Jake to continue to tell our stories.
During the pandemic and with civil unrest, it became apparent that I have to uphold my duty. Even with inadequate equipment, I am honored to supply an Indigenous perspective on a national and worldwide stage by contributing to ManaNalu Water, Aljazeera, and the Grand Canyon Centennial Project. This past year, I pushed myself to be a better filmmaker. My experience as an Indigenous woman has given me great fortitude. Again, stoping is not an option. As an artist and part of different communities, I know the value of support and voicing a need. I invite you to sow into my art and the voice of Indigenous culture.
Ahéhee' (Thank you) for taking the time to get to know me and my journey. I am hopeful that my community will continue to support me. I am sending my love and strength.
My name is Deidra Peaches, a Diné from Northern Arizona. I started my filmmaking career in High School. Since the age of 15 years old ( I am 31), I have been enthralled in the world of filmmaking. I am creating this GoFundMe as a last resort to acquire New equipment to further my passion for documenting and creating videos. Currently, I am using a five-year-old Sony A7rii that has been a go-to camera despite its functioning flaws. For starters, the shutter tends to get stuck, which requires you to hit the body of the camera on a solid surface. Rendering the long-exposure function useless and nonresponsive. Also, the sensor has a tremendous amount of dead pixels, which forces me to try and mend it in post. Another flaw is the broken audio port that is unreliable at times and requires me to record audio on an external device.
As a one-person crew and need functioning equipment that enables me to get the footage I need. You may be wondering, "Wow, Deidra, why don't you just repair your current camera." My camera set up is dated and is inadequate for run and gun documentary filming. Also, at the level I am in my career, I need these tools to be on par with non-POC filmmakers that occasionally have access to what they need. I am asking for your help to continue my filmmaking journey.
To give you a better understanding of how I have gotten to this point, I will tell you a bit more about myself. In high school, at the time, I had suffered a knee injury that abruptly ended my Basketball career. Heartbroken and with limited mobility, I found solace in creating films with my childhood friends. My passion for film grew. In college, I studied to become a filmmaker, during my sophomore year, I decided to take out a student loan to purchase a JVC GY 110U from B&H photo. The camera at the time was just over $5,000. My reason for the purchase was to buy the camera so I wouldn't have to rely on the university or others for equipment. I remember the first day the camera arrived at my house; I had asked my friend Shelby if she would help me take some test footage. She agreed, So we drove my brother's '82 Toyota Corolla to an empty parking lot and proceeded to maneuver the vehicle in what most would describe as doing "donuts."
Following that year, I made a short film entitled, Imagine, which was curated by the Smithsonian Museum on American Indian in Washington DC. One of the characters in the movie was a young boy who launched a rocket ship. Imagine inspired the short film, The Rocket Boy, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. At 22 years old, my childhood friends and I became the youngest Native Filmmakers to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Following that year, we created the production company, Paper Rocket Productions LLC.
Together, we continued to create content on pressing issues impacting our community. At the time, there was an ongoing protest on the Navajo Reservation regarding water rights to the Colorado River. As we collectively dove deeper into knowing these pressing issues, our trio of filmmakers dwindled to a duo. My friend Jake Hoyungowa and I spent years afterward learning about the contamination brought on by extractive mining industries. With our own families being impacted and dying from cancerous alignments, we found it upon ourselves to continue to document. Eventually, this led to the 2013 release of our first feature-length documentary, Tó éí' iiná até (Water is Life).
During the production of Tó éí' iiná até, Hoyungowa and I worked as Janitors at Flagstaff High School, and we pitched in half-half to purchase a DSLR, a Canon T2i. With the capabilities to transfer without live-DV capturing, this was a game-changer. It was much faster to transfer data from an SD card than to capture a Mini-DV tape.
Shortly after, Tó éí' iiná até screened at the festival Ciné Alter' Natif in Paris, France. With little to no money and with aging technology, we agreed to pawn the JVC GY 110U in efforts to buy two expedient passports. That was the last time I saw my camera.
In 2014, along with Photographer Matika Wilbur, and Project 562, I traveled throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, and Alaska, capturing photos of empowering Natives doing positive work in their respective communities. While in Alaska, we embarked on a remarkable 10-day/156 mile canoe journey starting in Kake, Alaska, concluding in Juneau, Alaska, where participating canoe families performed in a celebratory event called, "Celebration," an event held once every four years. The experience resulted in an 18-minute short documentary entitled, Alaska, Journey to Celebration.
In 2015 Paper Rocket Productions hosted a series of 4-week long multimedia workshops in 4 different communities sprawled through the Navajo Reservation. We modeled these workshops after Youth media workshops Hoyungowa, and I attended through Longhouse Media in Seattle, Washington. The workshops were a success, and we had over 120 participants who produced 15 short films ranging from music videos, short narratives, short documentaries, animations, and a compilation of youth made music.
In 2016, Paper Rocket Productions and members from various Native communities traveled across the country to Philadelphia to voice environmental concerns of how the atrocities left by Corporate extractive industries continue to disproportionately impact Native American communities. Right now the final touches are being made for a soon to be released feature documentary called, Protect.
As I mentioned previously, I am a one-person crew. My friend, colleague, and co-founder Jake Hoyungowa walked on last year. I am still grappling with his departure from this world. In our combined efforts, we were able to create beautiful and meaningful work depicting our people's plight. Last year, a few weeks after his passing, while on a film shoot, I had half my equipment stolen and contemplated quitting it all. But I couldn't. I remembered the stories people have shared with me and what drove me to this point in my life. I can't stop doing what I am doing because it's a responsibility. I am responsible for myself, my culture, my family, and now to Jake to continue to tell our stories.
During the pandemic and with civil unrest, it became apparent that I have to uphold my duty. Even with inadequate equipment, I am honored to supply an Indigenous perspective on a national and worldwide stage by contributing to ManaNalu Water, Aljazeera, and the Grand Canyon Centennial Project. This past year, I pushed myself to be a better filmmaker. My experience as an Indigenous woman has given me great fortitude. Again, stoping is not an option. As an artist and part of different communities, I know the value of support and voicing a need. I invite you to sow into my art and the voice of Indigenous culture.
Ahéhee' (Thank you) for taking the time to get to know me and my journey. I am hopeful that my community will continue to support me. I am sending my love and strength.
Organizer
Deidra Peaches
Organizer
Flagstaff, AZ
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