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highlysoughtaftermovie-blog · 10 years

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By Andrew Kenneth Gay, director of Highly Sought After.

Because I was a father by the time my first feature film (about a couple whose relationship is strained by pregnancy) was completed in 2011, people often ask me if it was autobiographical. It wasn't. I wrote and shot A Beautiful Belly long before Angelyn and I had made any decision to expand our family of two and had no idea at the time how closely parenthood loomed in our future. In fact, while I remain proud of the movie I made back then, I also recognize that it is very much the product of a director without children. My perspective has shifted so dramatically since the arrival of my oldest daughter, Calliope, that I could never make the same film today.

Likewise, had you asked me in 2009 on the set of my last film whether I'd ever direct a documentary about babywearing, I'd say, "What is babywearing?" I hadn't seen The Hangover yet, and believe it or not, that was more or less my introduction to the subject. Even as I became a father who carries, I can't say I gave much thought at first to wearing my kids. It was just a fun way to spend time with them. The first time I wore Calliope, I walked her around the grocery store in a hand-me-down BabyBjörn my brother-in-law gave me. She had just hit the weight requirement. At some point, Angelyn bought an Ergo and told me to use that instead, so I did. Eventually a Tula replaced the Ergo.

Babywearing Calliope was always a pleasure, but it wasn't a necessity. Calliope felt a strong attachment to me from the day she was born, so wearing her only enhanced what was already there. When Darwin was born, however, babywearing became essential. For whatever reason, Darwin was always far more a "momma's girl" than Calliope. She reached for and preferred her mother's touch and comfort over mine in almost all circumstances. In fact, the only time she ever seemed to respond to me in the early days was when I put her in the Tula. Eventually, that became our ritual, a treasured one, and now she'll regularly bring me the Tula and say, "Up, Daddy!" to announce it is time for us to shoot the shit, as my Mimi used to say. Babywearing built my relationship with Darwin.

Meanwhile, somewhere along the way, Angelyn became entangled in the world of woven wraps. I did not give much thought to this except to note that she seemed to have a larger stash than I thought she needed. Babywearing is functional, so why on earth do you need ten things that serve the same function? It was not until Angelyn started modeling for Pavo Textiles and asking me to help her with her photographs that I suddenly recognized what should have been obvious to me from the start: the incredible artistry evident within many of these carriers.

I actually found photographing wraps very problematic. I don't think wraps are particularly photogenic. They're much more cinematic. The way the fabric flutters in the breeze, the way the weave catches the light in this way or that, and the way each wrap moves with the wearer and child all seem particularly well suited to moving images. I'm really not a pro photographer, so I find capturing that essence in a single frame very frustrating. Why can't I just make movies instead???

Recently, our family life has been beset with uncertainty. For the last four years I've taught filmmaking at a university under a non-renewable contract, so what happens now that I'm unemployed has been anybody's guess. I'm a future-oriented, goal-driven person, so living in a state of extreme uncertainty is almost like living without oxygen for me. I've been moody, depressed, and anxious without a project to dream on, hold my attention, and give me hope.

In the midst of all of this, Angelyn asked me a question: why don't I make a babywearing documentary? Even better, my friend and fellow filmmaker Charles Sutter is also a babywearing father, so why don't I collaborate with him on a babywearing documentary? As it turns out, Charles's wife Rebecca was busy asking him the same question. At some point, Charles and I looked at one another and asked, why don't we make a babywearing documentary?

I've become interested in many aspects of babywearing, but as a filmmaker (and "artist" -- eye roll), I've become particularly interested in the carrier designers themselves. The designers behind many babywearing carriers have managed to turn their art into something that actually makes people's lives better while also cultivating an enormous following, which is pretty much the dream of every filmmaker. It is almost impossible to make a living doing something artistic that makes the world a better place, but somehow these women have pulled it off. How do they do what they do? How do they create these functional pieces of beautiful design, share them with the world, and spark a dedicated audience? How does their work change lives?

So I never thought I'd make a babywearing documentary, but now nothing could seem more obvious. The support and friendship we've received from literally thousands of diverse babywearers from nations all over the world has been incredibly fulfilling and inspiring. I can't see the future, anymore, but for now I'm excited to be doing this. Thank you for joining us in our adventure and being a part of our dream.

#highlysoughtafter #babywearing

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highlysoughtaftermovie-blog · 10 years

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Highly Sought After | Audience Survey Results

We've tallied the results of our first official audience survey, and we want to thank all of you who participated! Altogether, we had 889 respondents, which was a far larger sample size than we expected, and the information you shared with us was extremely helpful to our project.

Since our fans seem to love taking surveys, we thought you might also enjoy learning what we learned.

First of all, some demographic statistics.

Women, not surprisingly, were the primary participants. In fact, a total of only 5 men participated in the survey! While we offered an "other" category for those who do not self-identify as either male or female and participants could also choose to skip the question, nobody chose "other" or skipped the question.

The average age of our survey participants was 30.87.

We were not shocked to learn that 100% of our respondents were parents who babywear their own children. However, 6% also reported babywearing other children, whether nieces and nephews, family friends, or others. It is lovely to hear that some babywearers are sharing the experience with their extended families and friends.

We asked participants to describe their relationship to babywearing by choosing from a list of statements those that best described their beliefs. Participants could choose as many answers as applied.

90% said that babywearing is functional and practical, a life-saver for the busy parent on the go.

61% agreed with the statement that safe babywearing is essential to the health of the developing child.

60% agreed that babywearing is a philosophy and a way of life. They described themselves as passionate about it.

44% believed that babywearing is creative and expressive. They agreed with the statement that each carrier they wore was also a fashion statement that expressed their personality and mood.

Only 10% said that babywearing worked for them but that they didn't think much about it.

5% also offered their own unique responses, and these were some of the most interesting answers in the whole survey. We can't list them all, but here's just a sampling of what people said:

"Babywearing not only helped my micropreemie in many physiological ways, it also gave me back valuable close time that I lost by having her so prematurely. It saved me in so many ways."

"Babywearing helped me stay sane with my very spirited baby/toddler. I'm convinced it also helped him gain such a good vocabulary early on and has helped him become a more interdependent toddler."

"I just love being close to my baby and knowing he can experience the world around him with me right by his side."

"Babywearing has helped make breastfeeding easier."

"I believe babywearing is a huge confidence booster and can help new moms make a smoother transition to parenthood."

"Babywearing makes me feel confident. I feel like a different person when I babywear."

"As a weaver, babywearing made my career."

"I wrap for the enjoyment of the physical act of wrapping."

"The BW community is filled with a bunch of amazing parents. I got into it for the practicality, but am now immersed in the wonderful community."

We were curious how many babywearers actively watch documentaries and also how they consume most of their media.

Good news for us: 78% of those surveyed said they watched documentaries somewhere between multiple times per month to multiple times per year.

10% even said they watched more than one documentary per week!

The most popular source of media was Netflix at 61%. Tied for second place was Youtube and DVDs at 50% each.

The next few questions asked babywearers to rate their level of agreement with a set of affirmative statements.

97% of those surveyed agreed (81% strongly) with the statement, "I wish more of the media I consumed prominently featured positive depictions of safe babywearing."

94% of those surveyed agreed (75% strongly) with the statement, "I wish the media I consumed featured a broader and more diverse range of babywearing carriers, slings, and wraps."

86% of those surveyed agreed (54% strongly) with the statement, "I wish to know more about the people who design and construct the carrier(s) I use."

90% of those surveyed agreed (62% strongly) with the statement, "I wish to learn more about how babywearing carriers are designed and woven/constructed."

94% of those surveyed agreed (74% strongly) with the statement, "I wish to hear stories that illustrate the positive impact babywearing has had on the lives of both parents and babies."

84% of those surveyed agreed (52% strongly) with the statement, "I wish to learn more about the culture of fan communities that have developed around many carrier-making companies. It would be interesting to find out how a particular designer cultivates a following and why her fans become so passionate about her work."

Not only did an overwhelming majority agree with all of these statements, a majority strongly agreed with each one as well.

Finally, we wanted to begin to take a measure of how much support we could expect when we launch our Kickstarter campaign in June to raise funds for the documentary.

Since the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, we asked participants whether or not they had ever contributed money to help fund a creative project they believed in, even though the final product did not yet exist. 42% said they had.

Next, we asked if participants were to consider contributing to a crowdfunding campaign in support of a babywearing documentary, which kinds of rewards might persuade them to increase their gift to a higher level.

42% said a download of the movie, making that the most popular reward.

Tied for next most popular were a themed tote bag or the contributor's babywearing photo featured in the movie, each with 41%.

A whopping 30% said they don't care about perks. They just support the projects that match their passions.

Perhaps the most important takeaway for us was that only 16% valued a Blu-Ray release, while 36% would want a DVD. This is significant because Blu-Rays are much more expensive to produce than DVDs, so we've decided to strike Blu-Ray discs from our reward list. People who really want Blu-Rays can always purchase one after the doc is released.

9% of participants offered their own reward suggestions. Probably the most popular of these was a "stalk-free pass" for high-level contributors. We're going to look into that to see if it would be possible to offer such a reward.

Finally, with absolutely no expectation, we asked if participants would like to be alerted about future opportunities to help realize the documentary, and more than 52% gave us their email addresses!

That's it for the results from our first audience survey. Our fans seemed to enjoy taking it, so we will probably make more of these in the future. The knowledge we gathered will help us shape every aspect of our project to better meet the needs and desires of our audience.

Thank you again to all who participated!

Sincerely,

Andrew Kenneth Gay

Co-Director, Highly Sought After

#highlysoughtafter #babywearing #babywearingsurvey #survey #survey results #audienceresearch

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