The Harvest

The following artists have been successfully identified for the production team for The Harvest:

Producer / Production Manager Rena Bouchard
Producer / Script Supervisor: Regina Zapata
Director of Photography/Lead Editor: Adam Torres
Assistant Camera & Sound Support: Chris Espericueta/Isaiah Gatica/Aladdin Bankhead/Gilbert Hernandez
Set Photographer / Production Coordinator: Monique Arguelles
Talent Liaison & Script/Continuity: Roxanne Zapata

The list currently exceeds our initial intent of 5 artists due to the group's commitment to inclusiveness and the need to balance work schedules, health management, and family needs within the group. A first set of contracts have been signed and payments issued and the group has been meeting formerly since July 1, 2022.

The group has established a weekly meeting meeting activity in which production roles were defined, and core subject matter and storyline has been developing. The group is in the final stages of identifying key content providers and have begun brainstorming b roll.

In April, the core camera production team began training in drone operation, Sony FX6 camera operation, audio recording, and core documentary technical training (lighting, sound, composition, and stylistic approach).

Due to lack of local resources in media production tools, additional effort has been needed on the training of production crew - their lead trainers to date being Kristine Sorensen and Alexander Aman.

The Harvest has thus successfully made progress towards its first goal as follows:

Original Outcome: 5 filmmakers will demonstrate the ability to produce professional quality media works.
Actual Outcome: 8 regionally based filmmakers of Latinx heritage have been identified, and are currently in script development for their documentary.

Technical Skill and experience prior to planning sessions in July was extremely low with all filmmakers only having minimal training in the art form. Between April and August, 2022 technical mentorship has been offered as well. As of August 2022, lead Adam Torres has developed intermediate level production skills in the use of professional filmmaking tools, with the the rest of the team progressing as support technical skill. Chris Espericueta, Gilbert Hernandez and Aladdin Bankhead - will continue to train under Adam's guidance through production.

The crew still has 8 weeks of pre-production planning, and one more week of technical training that will take place in September before actual production is scheduled to begin as of October 1, 2022. The crew is currently monitoring beet harvest hiring protocols and scheduling implications.

In early September we plan to conduct a series of zoom workshops with documentary filmmaker Bienvenida Matias to build foundational knowledge on documentary construction, with artist Xavier Tavera modeling interviewing techniques during October production.

The project is on track and there are no significant changes to the initial proposal at this time. ; OUTCOME 01: Five filmmakers will demonstrate the ability to produce professional quality media works.
The project was highly successful in attracting and retaining Latinx participation from the Crookston and East Grand Forks areas. Artists came to the project with only limited experience in digital creation and had no experience in working as a film crew. They chose to participate primarily because they saw the opportunity to tell a story that would be conceived and delivered by them, and would feature persons that represented their own history

The team received extensive training and mentorship from experienced professionals Xavier Tavera, Bienvenida Matias, Kristine Sorensen, Sai Thao and Kazua Melissa Vang. Each mentor provided core instruction in the art of documentary film creation with specific focus on story development, production planning, technical and aesthetic production techniques and post production.

Achieved Outcomes:
* 6 Latinx filmmakers successfully completed a documentary short (revision in final film length was reported in interim report) about the beet harvest.
* 100% of participating filmmakers utilized a professional cinematic camera and professional audio tools to ensure broadcast quality production.
* 100% developed intermediate level skills in production planning with 20% developing advanced producing skills; 65% developed intermediate aesthetic and technical professional cinematic skills and audio recording skills, with one participating developing an advanced set of overall production skills; and 33% developed intermediate level post-production skills (based on pre and post assessment).

OUTCOME 02: The Harvest will result in a documentary video that is produced and distributed by Latinx filmmakers.
The Harvest represented the first professional documentary film produced in northwestern Minnesota for and by Latinx artists. Until this time, there had been many youth produced works focused on reaching local audiences. The Harvest however, provided an immersive mentorship experience for pre-emerging filmmakers that carried stories, but lacked the access and high level mentorship required to produced professional quality film.

The film makes powerful statements about what it means to be a migrant workerfrom a point of view that puts family, education and life-long commitment excellence at the forefront of the story. It is powerful in its respect for its content providers and its intimate understanding of the importance of the contribution of seasonal workers to the annual beet harvest.

Given all this, there were several hurdles faced in producing The Harvest. Only one of the 6 filmmakers had access to reliable transportation. The entire crew also had families to tend to and jobs to work. Given the beet harvest took place during a 4 week period in the fall of 2022 - primarily overnights - this put the pressure on the film crew to coordinate their demanding schedules, carve in production time and more. The crew also faced initial resistance from families regarding the sharing of their stories due to the unusual nature of the request, and the demanding schedules they have when working the Harvest. This worked itself out over many conversations and the crew was able to collect both the stories and visuals for the film.

Achieved Outcomes

* 100% of all decision-making regarding production and distribution was determined by the Latinx film crew.
* Film credits indicated that The Harvest, was led by 6 Latinx filmmakers and featured 100% Latinx families within the content delivered through the film.
OUTCOME 03: The Harvest will reach a live audience of 3000
Timing is everything, and the struggle between film completion and screenings was challenging. As it became clear that the film would take longer to produce than originally anticipated, the producers began screening works in progress to the community. This allowed for the filmmakers to receive feedback, hold important conversations about the evolution of the story and incorporate important feedback into the telling of the story. Though this outcome has been partially met, In Progress and the film producers will continue to seek screening opportunities to fully meet this goal.

Achieved Outcomes
* The Harvest reached a live audience of 1650, reaching 55% of its proposed outcome of 3000 as evidenced through collected audience tallies of the following:
* The Harvest was presented at Studio 110 in Crookston at varying stages of production to a cumulative audience of 190.
* The Harvest was screened locally in Crookston, through the local theater, at the local high school, and as part of an outdoor event during a local festival, reaching a cumulative audience of 1235;
* The Harvest was screened at two regional venues in East Grand Forks reaching an additional 225.
OUTCOME 04: The Harvest will reach an online audience of 10,000.
Again, due to the late nature of project completion (August 2023) this measurement has not been fully met. In Progress and the film producers will continue to seek screening opportunities to fully meet this goal.

Achieved Outcomes
* The Harvest has reached 25% of expected 10,000 online reach, through social media postings, online link sharing, and selected national previews of the film.
* This outcome is still in progress with an estimated 2500 reached to date through online postings presented since August 2023.
* Though this outcome has not been met, distribution is ongoing with an expectation that outcome will be fully met by 12/31/23.