Archive for category Land of Liberty
Spreading the Word
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on June 24, 2010
I feel tired. For the last several days I have been out in the field with the homeless. It’s so hot outside. More and more new people are joining the ranks of the least, the lost and the forgotten. So many good people have made donations of food, blankets, clothes and water. Unfortunately I am going through the supplies faster than I did in the winter. Read the rest of this entry »
New Land of Liberty Sample Tracks
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on June 1, 2010
We just posted a few more samples from the Land of Liberty Soundtrack. You can listen to them here.
We are in the process of finalizing the album and should have a release date shortly.
Listen to the tracks and let us know what you think.
Comment back on this thread or shoot us an email at info@oceangateentertainment.com.
“Homeless in the Land of Liberty”
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on May 29, 2010
We are now underway with our book: “Homeless in the Land of Liberty”. This project offers a DVD, CD, gallery show, and now a book. I want to thank our producer Ryan Hardy for his direction that the book is taking and Karin Romani of Author House for her constant help and advice. I do not consider myself an author. I am a scriptwriter and writing a book is a whole new ball game. I am taking the advice of Ryan and just telling the story of the homeless as I have seen it over the last two years. Read the rest of this entry »
Land of Liberty Trailer
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on May 17, 2010
The trailer to “Land of Liberty” is now on our web site and also on our Facebook page. This film has been a real struggle but we are going to finish it. It’s been hard shooting until we run out of money, then somehow, shooting some more. It’s been hard to watch all the suffering; it’s been hard to hear the comments of people that say: “that’s what they want” or “they deserve it.”
I have made many friends in the ranks of the homeless. I have made many enemies from representatives of the government and police departments. The fact is I have to tell the truth. That’s what you do when you make a documentary. The least, the lost, and the forgotten are truly all alone. They just don’t qualify for help.
This film will be finished on September 15, 2010. That date is the two-year anniversary of our first shoot date. Two years is a long time, but living and working with the homeless it seems like a lifetime.
There is still much to do. We have the edit in front of us. Many people have suffered on this film. Some of the homeless have been murdered, and we lost our composer Alan Mason. But we will stay the course – we will finish it. Then this film will live on past all of us – hopefully making a difference. Keep the Faith.
5.17.10
DJ McCoy
FAREWELL TO ALAN
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on May 3, 2010
I have worked with Alan Mason on three pictures plus a film essay over the last few years. I know how to set up the camera and light a scene. I know how to write a script. I know how to direct and I can understand a problem and, most of the time, find a solution quickly. Not so with music. I can’t read a note.
I took Alan to the set a couple of years ago. We were shooting on a train. I took him on the train and down the track several miles. I said “do you hear that?” and he answered “I got it.” “Good,” I said, “Because I need some music that fits that.” Now that is very broad. Most composers would have said “What? What do you want? Do you want it fast, slow? Do you want a single instrument? What?” Not Alan, he delivered a perfect score.
We worked well together and I had the highest respect for him. We have been busy the last couple of weeks scoring “Land of Liberty” and getting ready to record Gracie. He was always light years ahead of me and seemed to tolerate my constant re-cutting and re-writing and lack of musical understanding.
Last week when he didn’t return my calls I went to his house. I found the door unlocked and his truck window down. I got a very sick feeling. I left some paperwork in his door.
On Friday Cindy, his ex-wife called me and said “Jeff, there is no easy way to say this. Alan has died.” I was at such a loss.
On another film, I lost an editor. He died after I left his house on a Friday night. This business is full of free spirits. So much talent and sometimes not understood at all. I talked to Alan about this the very last time I saw him. We talked about being an artist and “seeing around the curve” and what made perfect sense to us wasn’t even understood by others sometimes.
When we reviewed the rough cut of “Promises” he jumped up out of his seat and said: “When I wrote this [music] that is what I saw in my head.” I said: “When I shot this that is the music I heard.”
This is a very big loss to me, to Oceangate Entertainment, and to the world. Life is fragile. I am so glad that I had that last conversation with Alan. I told him how talented he was. I told him we would work on bigger pictures as time went on. It seems sometimes we could just watch a scene and both know how we wanted it to be. I wish I would have done more. I wish I knew what was about to happen, maybe then Alan would still be with us. I will remember that laugh and I will remember Alan standing there smiling as I pulled out of his driveway. Take time to thank your friend for being a friend.
Alan thanks for taking my calls, saving my shaky camera shots, listening to my dreams, making me look good with our films, and most of all for being a friend. Edward Alan Mason 1960 – 2010.
5.3.10
DJ McCoy
The Fisherman
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on March 31, 2010
Steve had piercing blue eyes that shined bright through his salt and pepper hair. He was easy going and shared his exciting life with me as we drove to Hagerstown, Maryland. He was homeless because of a back injury that left him in a wheel chair. He wasn’t bitter, just a little confused by it all.
He had spent a lot of time at sea. As a commercial fisherman he had grown tough, an independent man’s man. As hard as that life was, it was quite simple then. You went to sea, you caught fish. You deducted your supplies and fuel then divided the rest.
When he was on shore he would work as a plumber and painter. He spoke with pride about the houses that he had painted, and the time he spent on board a fishing boat. He even laughed at some of the good times he had.
As I listened I wondered if I could have such a good attitude living in a wheelchair and being homeless. After we pulled into town I gave him a sleeping bag. First he told me he couldn’t afford it. I told him that some ladies at the church made these, and it was given to me to give away. He thanked me about a million times and said someday when he got on his feet, he would send some money for it. I told him not to worry about and put a few cans of food in a bag and left it with him.
For a man that makes his living by the strength of his back, the options are few with a life changing injury. Here is a man that worked hard, and played hard, and now he is sitting in the rain in a wheelchair – homeless. Something is wrong with that!
3.31.2010
DJ McCoy
Why We Do What We Do
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on March 16, 2010
Many people have come to me and said things like: “I couldn’t do what you do, it’s too dangerous,” or “That’s a lot of work. How do you carry supplies and camera gear out to the camps?” It is both physically and emotionally demanding. It’s cold, dirty, sometimes dark, and always heart breaking.
One day I found a man way out in the woods. He was cold and tired. I asked if he needed food or supplies and he told me to save them for someone who would really need them. I couldn’t imagine anyone that needed them more than him, so I left them on the ground beside him. He didn’t say thank you. He didn’t say much at all, but as I walked away about fifty yards, he shouted: “God bless you!” I turned and waved and walked on. When I was out of sight I heard him shout again “God bless you!” and the last thing I heard as I left the woods was “God bless you!”
On another day I took some children’s clothing that was donated to me and gave it to a man that was borderline homeless. I walked into his two-room apartment and put them on the floor. He just stared at them. He didn’t say thank you – just stared. I could see he was trying to hold back some tears. “I have been sending my daughter to school and rotating her clothes every other day,” he said. He gave me a hug.
One very cold and rainy day we opened the back of a van and put a tarp over the door. As I stood on the other end, holding the tarp up, I watched a homeless man shaking from the cold and hunger. His hands shook so bad I thought he was going to spill his hot food. “God bless you man. God bless you.” He kept saying it over and over.
A young man that I knew lived in a hole would never come up to see me. I would leave food and he would come out and eat it after I left, but never while I was there. I would come back and find empty food cans, and I would leave a new supply for him. One day as we were feeding about twenty people, a young and very dirty young man walked over to me. “Thank you for all the food you have left behind for me,” he said. For once, I was speechless.
Another young man that was homeless, but now is in a small home, stopped me a few weeks ago. “I want to help you. I want to feed the homeless. I know what is like out there. You helped me and now I want to pay back,” he told me.
That’s why we do what we do.
3.16.10
DJ McCoy
Greed Run Amok
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on March 12, 2010
A National Public Radio report stated: “A record 2.8 million households were threatened with foreclosure last year and the number is expected to rise to more than 3 million homes this year.”
Another AP report stated 79,000 homes were repossessed last month. How are so many losing their homes? What is different today over one or two generations ago?
The high cost of living and the growing gap between the rich and the poor may be contributing to this problem. Everything is taking a bite out of the average family’s budget today. Take bank fees for example. In years past the bank returned checks that were written on non-sufficient funds (NSF). Today the banks make more money on the $35.00 fee than some of their other loan and normal business incomes. These are the same banks that lined up for money in Washington. In 1999 the banks charged over $15 billion to customers that overdrew their checking account. This year, according to Moebs Services in Lake Bluff, Illinois, the fees will be $38.5 billion.
The Washington Post has been covering this story and the action that congress is considering to curb the fees that banks are taking from account holders in their districts and nationwide.
Exxon continues to post all time records for earnings. Reported earnings in just one three-month period in 2009 were $3.95 billion. While families are struggling to pay the mortgage and bank fees, they are also shelling out precious dollars for gas to get to work. Meanwhile Exxon is making more money per year than any company in the history of the USA.
According to the US Census Bureau 39.8 million people were in poverty in 2008. 19% of children in the U.S. live in poverty. Families are making less and facing rising costs.
The gap continues to grow. The list of American billionaires grew by over ten percent to 403. The average family is making less while working more, and the rich are truly “getting richer”. Some on the “Billionaire List” have invested heavily in banks and insurance companies.
Add to this the cost of health care (or the lack of health care) plus the high cost of housing, and the struggling family begins to lose hope. Unlike other minorities of the past, the family heading into homelessness thinks they are the only ones.
Companies in the past hired someone for life. People worked, lived, and died in the same community a couple of generations ago. Today the drive for the almighty dollar and just plain greed has overcome common sense and compassion.
3.11.09
DJ McCoy
Tent Cities, America’s Alternative Affordable Housing
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on March 8, 2010
Tent cities have long been an answer for our nation’s lack of affordable housing. The ongoing recession has brought to life new tent cities that can be found in both urban and rural settings. Men, women, and children are being forced into this alternative housing because waiting lists are too long, rent is too high, and in some cases affordable housing simply isn’t available. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, “about 200,000 rental housing units are destroyed annually.”
These tent cities often serve as a safer alternative than attempting survival in isolation, although their location is an important factor in determining the level of safety. Most rural camps will be established out of the line of sight. A remote location is essential to stay hidden from local authorities. A better alternative to this rogue lifestyle can be found in cities like Seattle, Portland, and Sacramento, among others; where an encampment is recognized by the local city and the inhabitants aren’t constantly harassed and run off. A recent study conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless highlighted some of these Pacific Coast tent cities. I would encourage all of our readers to take a look at their report.
Some of the tent cities covered in the Coalition’s report have existed for quite some time and are located in areas you would expect; however, rural camps across the US, which logistically couldn’t receive the same coverage, are multiplying. The notion of tent cities in Martinsburg, WV, was a shock to many local residents. Contrary to what some might think, diminishing the visibility of the homeless camps does not help to resolve this issue. It is essential to acknowledge that homelessness is a problem in said town before the problem can be addressed. If no one knows of the homeless existence, then undoubtedly, nothing will be done. For this reason, we must bring attention to this issue. There are homeless individuals and families living all around us. If you open your eyes to this situation, your heart will most certainly follow.
In closing, I will leave you with a quote from Neil Donovan, Executive Director for the National Coalition for the Homeless:
“Tent Cities are American’s de facto waiting room for affordable and
accessible housing. The idea of someone living in a tent (or other
encampment) in this country says little about the decisions made by
those who dwell within and so much more about our nation’s inability
to adequately respond to those in need.”
3.8.10
R. Hardy
Land of Liberty Facebook Page
Posted by Administrator in Land of Liberty on March 4, 2010
Visit the Land of Liberty Facebook page and become a fan. We need your help to spread the word about this film. We plan on posting some exclusive photos on the Facebook page, as well as some video clips in the very near future.
3.4.10
R. Hardy
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