The Power of One (Pre-Production)

By Alex Valdez & Pablo De la Fuente
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This campaign has ended. It raised $25,074, reaching its minimum goal.
By helping us finance this documentary film, you will be joining our mission to inspire the world with the incredible achievement of an independent conservationist, who has brought an entire ecosystem and its endangered animal species back to life.
The Power of One (Pre-Production)
Film

Logline


Naturalist, Alex Valdez, and a team of young documentary filmmakers will take us on an adventure to discover an unknown ecological sanctuary deep in the jungles of Colombia, where an anonymous conservationist, who goes simply by the name Jorge, is replanting a rainforest from a deforested piece of land and creating a home for a variety of endangered animals. This film is the first step in our mission to showcase the hundreds of unknown conservationists around the globe and inspire a whole generation to believe in the power of one.

 

Why Us?

 

We are a group of young filmmakers hungry to tell an important story. Alex Valdez is the only person in the U.S. that knows where Jorge and Jaibazul are located and he is one of the only people in the world with the same passion for nature as the ecological conservationists we want to feature in our stories. 

 

Why This Film?

 

We are in a race against time when it comes to preserving the ecological areas that give life to our planet. For example, there are less than 6,000 cotton-top tamarin monkeys roaming the wild and a large portion of them are in Jaibazul. We have a long-term plan to showcase the people around the globe who are individually making a change as ecological conservationists in order to inspire and activate a whole generation to use their power of one in unison to preserve the ecological beauty of this planet.

 

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What Can We Achieve?


This film is meant to highlight what Jorge has done as well as bring awareness and support to Jaibazul in order to keep it alive. It also is meant to show the power of what an individual can achieve from nothing (a field). With the success of this documentary we can scale into a series, where Alex travels the world alongside his young film crew and showcases the hundreds of other inspiring independent conservationists around the globe.

 

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With the release of this documentary we can also kickstart several campaigns, supporting not only Jorge but other independent conservationists around the globe, as well as inspire a whole generation to believe in the power of one and take action on the causes they believe in.

 

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Funding


In order make this feature film and tell this story in the most stunning way possible we have budgeted $55k for the shooting of this project. This budget will allow us to work with a professional crew and high-quality cinema equipment with which we will capture the beauty of Jaibazul and its animals, as well as cover all the travel, transportation and supplies necessary for our trip to the sanctuary.

 

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We acknowledge that this number is a lot to ask for, which is why we are setting a minimum goal of $12,000, a main goal of $45,000 and a stretch goal of $55,000.

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If with your help we are able to reach $55k, we will be shooting a beautiful film that will have the production quality to be distributed with much more ease through festivals, as well as have the potential to be scaled into a series. This means that millions of people will see and be impacted by not only Jorge's story, but that of the hundreds of people on earth with a similar mission. 

 

 

About Jorge, Our Protagonist

 

Starting with a large deforested piece of land, Jorge has created an entire ecosystem and brought back Colombia’s critically endangered cotton-top tamarin monkey. Jorge began his mission after he inherited a large piece of barren land on the northern tip of Colombia. The land used to be covered in dense tropical jungle but was deforested for livestock. Jorge keeps his real name and face anonymous so no one will poach the new homes he continues to create for multiple endangered species of flora and fauna. Jorge is a modern-day version of the American legend Johnny Appleseed, as he has to date planted 10,000 trees despite the adversities surrounding the land, such as harsh weather and organized crime. Even though Jorge could retire with the money that comes from his project, he chooses to instead invest it in saving the forest and the wildlife as this has been his goal since he was a small boy. Ironically, Alex Valdez, the independent anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, has always had the same dream as Jorge. They are two peas in a pod.

 

 

The Journey to Jaibazul

 

To get to the remote area which Jorge has named Jaibazul, one must fly into Medellín, Colombia, then travel by car for several hours to a remote town called Necoclí. From Necoclí it is another 35 kilometers through dense jungle, and across mudslides and rivers on an ATV. During the rainy season the road to Jaibazul is unpassable. The filmmakers and their crew are prepared to embark on this unique adventures that will certainly be a story to remember.

 

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Risks of the Project

 

We will need to be extremely careful in not giving out the exact location of the sanctuary or revealing Jorge’s identity. If word would get out of the location of Jaibazul, poachers would seek to steal the endangered monkeys that now inhabit this area. We plan on mitigating this risk by never revealing the exact location of Jaibazul, and not showing Jorge’s face during interviews or b-roll. Revealing the location of Jaibazul would also affect the people living in the town near the sanctuary, who live in marginalized economic conditions, as the poaching of the endangered monkeys would set back their work by several years and prevent them from continuing to grow Jaibazul as an ecological safe zone. 

 

 

Thank you

 

We cannot wait to embark on this adventure with you and this documentary is only the beginning of a movement in which we all can partake to shine a light to all the people in the world taking ecological and humanitarian initiatives to change it for the better.


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Team-member photo
Alex Valdez
Director & Co-Producer

Alex Valdez is an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. Being raised in proximity to the industry, film has always been a large part of his life. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he has translated his love of nature to dedicating the last two years to raising awareness, creating academic publications, and pursuing a documentary related to the Jaibazul sanctuary. Alex is also working on his Ph.D. in primatology. As a proud Mexican American, he has not only a linguistic, but a cultural connection to Latin America, leading him to visit and initially scout out the Colombian nature reserve on nothing more than an email conversation with its host and founder, Jorge.

Team-member photo
Pablo De la Fuente
Co-Producer

Pablo De la Fuente is a producer and filmmaker from Mexico City based in Los Angeles, California. After being raised in Mexico, his love for filmmaking led him to study in Chicago, IL, to later move to LA to work as an Associate Producer in various projects, from the hit series The Garcias to the critically acclaimed HA Festival. Due to a fascination with impactful storytelling and humanitarian causes, Pablo has found great synchronicity with Alex’s mission to tell the story of Jaibazul, in which they both see a great potential of inspiring a whole generation across the globe.

Thank you, all! Gracias a todos!
Thu. May 11, 9:00 AM PDT

Gracias a todos! Thank you all! We have reached the end of the campaign with $25k contributed and 149 supporters, which is truly amazing!

 

This is just the beginning, as now we get to start shooting very soon and we will keep you all posted on any developments! Below is the link to our brand new website, where you can also register to our mailing list at the bottom to get constant updates on the status of the film's development!

 

Official Website Link: https://www.powerofonefilm.com/

 

We really appreciate your support and are immensely grateful for all you did to get us to this point!

Last Day to Contribute!
Wed. May 10, 7:05 AM PDT

Today is the last day of our crowdfunding campaign for our film and we would be incredibly appreciative of any last contributions! Any amount would be incredibly valuable, as it would make the process of funding the rest of our budget less difficult, which would give us more time to focus on the script and the logistics to create the best film possible! Spreading the word today to two friends or family would also help a lot!

 

We are incredibly excited to take you on this journey with us and we are also immensely thankful to have you as a supporter who activated their power of one!

 

There are many updates coming up soon regarding an official website, interviews and overall production, so we will keep you fully posted!

 

Thank you and have an amazing day!

 

Alex & Pablo

 

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The Final 2 Days of Our Campaign
Tue. May 9, 7:57 AM PDT

We are in the last stretch of our crowdfunding campaign for our film “The Power of One” and we wanted to thank all of you for contributing and making this campaign so successful! 

 

After the campaign is over we will transition into working to get funding via grants from organizations, which is a more uncertain process to complete, so we would really appreciate any additional donations in these last 2 days in order to help us ensure that we get to our funding goal in order to create the best film possible, which would lead to an optimal impact to help Jorge and other conservationists continue their projects!

 

Join our adventure to discover the power of one and thank you so much!

5 Days Left to Use Your Power of One!
Sat. May 6, 9:44 AM PDT

We have 5 days left on our campaign to fund our film “The Power of One” in order to achieve our goal of flying to the jungles of Colombia and revealing the story and the impact of an independent conservationist who has managed to save an entire  ecosystem including the endangered cotton-top tamarin. 

 

This film is just the beginning of a project in which we seek to help conservationists throughout the globe but we cannot do this without YOUR help! Any contribution of any amount will be incredibly helpful, so please consider contributing and spread the word to friends and family to activate all of our powers of one! 

 

Thank you, and we look forward to embark on this adventure with you!

The fruits of your efforts are (literally) showing!!
Thu. May 4, 3:55 PM PDT

Seeds for Guava, Niguito and Banana trees have been planted and their sprouts are growing thanks to all the contributors who bought our incentives that resulted in us planting and naming a tree in Jaibazul to strengthen its ecosystem!

 

We have 1 week left for our crowdfunding campaign so please consider contributing and help us get to 50% of our goal, which would help us immensely in making this film! As you can see, some incentives can even help you build the Jaibazul forest!

 

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Matching Donor Challenge!!
Wed. April 26, 12:05 PM PDT

Double your contributions by donating between today and tomorrow and get your contributions matched by our anonymous donor, who has volunteered to match up to $3,000!! Thank you, everyone, and join the adventure to discover our power of one!

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Help Us Reach 100 Supporters!
Fri. April 21, 11:55 AM PDT

Today we got the feeling that we can reach 100 supporters with all of your help! 

 

We are at 80 right now so we just need a few more to reach this milestone!

Join the adventure to make this film and discover the power of one! 

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We are going LIVE today!
Wed. April 19, 11:24 AM PDT

Join us today at 5:00pm (PT) on Facebook Live through the link below and get ready for exclusive LIVE updates and unique crowdfunding rewards! uploaded imageuploaded image

 

https://fb.me/e/OAUUODGi

 

Join Director, Alex Valdez, and Co-Producer, Pablo de la Fuente, on a live conversation where they will talk about this week's progress on the journey to making the documentary film "The Power of One."

Beyond the Minimum!
Mon. April 17, 4:04 PM PDT

Today has been a day with some really incredible updates. We crossed our minimal goal which means that we can get however many funds we end up getting disbursed. This is a huge accomplishment as this translates to “we are making this film!”

 

Another update is that today we got a notification from Jorge, our protagonist, informing us that the tree seeds for all the people who chose the reward of planting a specific tree are on their way! We will keep everyone posted on when they are planted and as they grow!

 

Thank you, all, and this is only the beginning! Let's keep our efforts going!

10K!!
Thu. April 13, 6:50 PM PDT

We just crossed the $10k mark, guys! We are steadily getting there and thanks to all of you who believe in this project and have contributed! 

We are LIVE!!
Wed. April 12, 11:17 AM PDT

Yesterday we launched the official crowdfunding campaign for The Power of One, and wow! The support we got on launch day was several times more than we expected but with the support from our circle of friends and family, and the coaching from the Support Our Story team we managed to pull off a great start!

 

That being said, we are still a long way from the finish line with 14% of our main goal completed, so we want encourage you to please donate and help us begin a journey that can branch out into several campaigns to support ecological conservationists around the globe and more documentary films exploring inspiring stories like this one!

 

A BIG thank you to all our supporters and we cannot wait to take you with us in this adventure!

Incentives
($1+)
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Only 1 left!
Exclusive Wildlife Footage Cut from Documentary ($1+)
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Get access to uncut footage of the animals and landscapes of Jaibazul for you to experience the sanctuary and its wildlife in the rawest of ways.
Unlimited supply.
Social Media Shoutout ($25+)
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Get your name displayed on a weekly post on our Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok accounts where we list all of our contributors!
Unlimited supply.
Virtual Q&A with Filmmakers ($30+)
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Meet with producers Alex Valdez and Pablo De la Fuente during their trip to the jungle and ask them anything you want about their experience!
Unlimited supply.
Final Film Credits Shoutout ($50+)
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Get your name listed on the end credits of the film!
Unlimited supply.
Plant & Name a Forest Floor Tree ($60+)
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A Guava, Banana, Manga or Niguito Tree will be planted on your behalf, which will feed wild animals for decades!
Only 25 left!
Plant & Name a Mahogany Tree ($70+)
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A Mahogany Tree will be planted on your behalf. The Mahogany Tree is an endangered tree used to make guitars. We will send updates of its growth!
Only 29 left!
Plant & Name a Ceiba Tree ($80+)
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A Ceiba Tree will be planted on your behalf. This is a giant keystone tree, so you will basically be adopting an ent!
Only 26 left!
Plant & Name a Grove in Jaibazul ($90+)
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Our Forest Floor Trees, a Mahogany Tree and a Ceiba Tree will be planted on your behalf! We will give you recurring updates on their growth!
Sold out!
Associate Producer Credit ($1000+)
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Get an Associate Producer credit on the documentary film "The Power of One."
Unlimited supply.
Executive Producer Credit ($10000+)
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Get an Executive Producer Credit on the documentary film "The Power of One."
Unlimited supply.
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