FACILITATING THE BUTTERBIRD CHRISTMAS PROJECT

Since the start for 2014, Almost Fairytales has been helping Family Folklore Foundation, Inc. launch their latest multimedia project, “Butterbird Christmas.” Our efforts started from helping their founder, Dr. MegG. DeMakas, edit a short story into an hour-long radio play that featured local talent.

 

Based in the Miller Beach community in Gary, Indiana, Family Folklore Foundation’s mission is to offer educational opportunities to intergenerational community members using arts, literacy and problem-solving strategies to make the world a better place. We at AFF try to help promote arts and education whenever possible, so we were very happy to facilitate the pre and post production on this project.

 

 

 

 

“Butterbird Christmas,” is a hilarious, inter-faith holiday romp for the whole family. Inspired by the era of classic broadcasting, the cast and crew banded together to create a timeless piece about growing up in Chicagoland.  

Usually radio plays are performed with an ensemble of actors in unison. Each actor gets his/her own microphone and it is done in a slick studio, but since Family Folklore Foundation, Inc.  was working on a non-for-profit budget, their funding just didn’t allow for this. So, we worked with what they had.

They recorded everyone individually. Then Almost Fairytales’ co-owner, Jessica Renslow, went in and sorted them together like a giant jigsaw puzzle! Next she created sound effects. This is called foley. She also used some royalty free ones from archive.org, which is a GREAT resource, especially for any production working on a tight budget. Finally she laid in music also harvested from open access sites and a couple of local musicians who gave her permission to use their recordings. After all the tracks were laid she mixed the project into its final state. It was featured on Morning Edition in December 2014 and will air in its entirety on NPR for the 2015 holiday season!

This all-volunteer run production also premiered live in time for the 2014 holiday season at The Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts in Gary, Indiana. Over the course of the project, the Family Folklore Players enjoyed communicating and communing with the wide range of volunteers and supporters. They had the privilege of sharing in many special holiday moments with the cast and crew, and especially liked knowing all the goodwill this project has spread across their community. One hundred people braved the fierce Chicagoland winter weather to watch the radio play live. All proceeds from the event went to a multitude of projects dedicated to promoting literacy & arts education in Northwest Indiana. (Click here to watch this performance.)

Almost Fairytales is currently editing a documentary about the making of this project that will be submitted to film festivals and hopefully air on Lakeshore Public Media. Stay tuned for more updates on this project!