Episode 10: Serendipity Films

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A transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, follows.

Show Guests: Lucie Faulknor and Dawn Logsdon the Cofounders of Serendipity Films

Voices of the Community Introduction: Welcome to voices of the community which explores critical issues facing Northern California communities. We introduce you to the voices of community thought leaders and change makers who are working on solutions that face our fellow individual community members neighborhoods cities and our region. This is George Koster your host. 

Series Introduction: This episode is part of a series of interviews we conducted through our participation in the Bay Area Video Coalition’s TV Show titled San Francisco Nonprofits Spotlight. The interviews were conducted via Zoom from April to June 2020 during the height of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Shelter in Place requirements. The goal of the series is to shine a spotlight on the nonprofits and their staff who are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on their operations, services and sustainability. The series of interviews we conducted features voices from a cross section of organizations that make up the fabric of our community.  Each of them brings a unique perspective on how they and we are dealing with the issues facing our community during the pandemic.  

Show Guest Dawn: In the course of researching this film, I've become really aware of how important it is to have public funding, for our public services, like libraries and schools. But also, for our artists, you know, philanthropists are not going to save us all the time.  If we really want to have a thriving arts community, and if we really want to have thriving social services, we need public funding for them. And I think people are starting to realize that a little bit during this period. So that's what I hope for more city funding, more state funding, more national funding for the arts.  

Episode Intro - Show Host George: In this episode we feature the voices of Lucie Faulknor and Dawn Logsdon the Cofounders of Serendipity Films. I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Dawn and Lucie back in 2012 as an intern on their films Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans and Free For All: Inside the Public Library. What immediately struck me in working with Lucie and Dawn is their passion for telling untold stories of people and places that our society has under explored or just plain ignored. They are always working to bring together all the elements of a wonderful story and sharing it to audiences in hopes of opening minds and dialogues that can inspire action to make the needed changes to our community such as supporting our Libraries and Librarians. 

Show Host George: I'm joined remotely via zoom from our mutual self-quarantine by Lucy Faulkner and Dawn Logsdon the cofounders of Serendipity films. Thanks for being here, Dawn and Lucy.  

Show Guest Lucie: Thanks for having us.  

George: I'd like to have each of you to share why you created Serendipity Films and then what are some of the titles that you've either produced or worked on? 

Lucie: We started the film company because when I first met Dawn, she was working on, our other film "Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans" and it was going through her own personal bank account, as a DBA. So, once you get a bunch of funders, you need to keep  for the financial reporting, you need to have everything, you know, very clear and concise and so, that's why we started Serendipity Films because we needed a new bank account and, in order, to report to them. So, this very mundane, but that's why we started it. Dawn will tell you the type of films that we like to make. 

Dawn: In case you can't tell she's the one who handles the business and thank God for that.   So, we made a film about New Orleans, which is about a historic African American neighborhood there that I made with a friend of mine from high school and Wynton Marsalis was the Executive Producer, who's also somebody that I went to high school within New Orleans. It's my hometown.  And then I, prior to that time, had a long career as an editor. And so in between that film and "Free for All" I've been editing films as part of the Serendipity Projects.  

So, I did a piece last year for American Masters about the chef Jacques Pe'pin, and I worked on an experimental film called the "Royal Road", which is certainly very timely again, because part of what it's about is, Junipero Serra and his legacy of, well, I don't want to say destruction, but yeah, his, mixed blessing legacy, to say the very least and how much, children growing up in California were taught one side of the mission story, the story of the Spanish and the mission narrative, a period of that history. And that film was made by Jenny Olson and it went to Sundance.  So, most of what we do is work that's for PBS, occasionally, BBC or, HBO, but mostly PBS.  

George: Then you both created "Free for All". And, please walk the audience through why "Free for All"? It's a wonderful film and, probably a very large project for what you guys have done in the past. 

Dawn: It was her idea. It's all her fault. (laughter) 

Lucie: Yeah, it's been a huge, huge project.  It started when we were working on, uh, the New Orleans film, I was spending a lot of times in archives and libraries and, I just fell in love with librarians because they would have all the answers to anything you needed. 

If they didn't have the answer, they would look it up. And by the time I got back to my office and the answer would be in my inbox. And so, I told Dawn, I said, you know, we should make a movie about public libraries. And she's like, I'm sure it's already been done. And so, we of course, you know, googled it and it hadn't been done. So, we started thinking about that. We found out who the best ah historian was on the subject and we called him up and we got him on board. And then, Hurricane Katrina hit. So, we didn't get, to start it right away. We had to go back into production for the, “Faubourg Treme" film and here we are 10 years later.  

Dawn: Yeah,

Lucie: We had to evacuate New Orleans, ended up in Baton Rouge with just our, three days’ worth of clothes thinking we'd be right back home and, discovered that we wouldn't be able to go back home, and we didn't have our computers or anything.

Nobody we knew where we were or what we were doing. And so, we went to the library to get, on the computer to tell people where we were, and we were okay because my family is in California here in San Francisco. And once we got to the library, we realized librarians are first responders because they were there signing people in to get on the computers so they can get in and, check, the loved ones lists,  Uh, you know, if there was lost pets. They had FEMA forms, they had Red Cross, help there. 

It was amazing. and just, you know, somebody to listen to you too.  You know, if you lost everything the librarians are there, like talk to you and help you with your insurance forms or whatever. So, that sort of solidified it. And then we had to finish the other film and finally, we got back into it, even though we said we weren't going to make another film. We did, and here we are.  

Dawn: And we've actually been filming a lot of disasters over the years, as we're traveling around working on this project. Starting with Hurricane Katrina and going all the way through the COVID pandemic.

George: What would you like to see is the biggest impact, of "Free for All", for the importance of public libraries, what are some of the major goals, you know, in the outcome of that wonderful film?  

Dawn: You know, until we started this film, it was something we really took for granted, where the fact that we had a public library, every place we've ever lived, and it was free, and it was open to everybody.   

Lucie: And every place we ever traveled, there's ah (laughter) public library 

Dawn: In the United States. Yeah. And most countries now its other places too. But I don't think we can take our public spaces for granted forever. And if we do were really in danger of losing them, and I think this moment is super acute for us being aware of that, now that they're all closed, it's like as a society. How do we want to bring them back? Do we want to commit to bringing them back and paying for them? Cause it means taxes. And not just our public libraries, but our public schools our universities, all those things. 

Lucie: We're already hearing about all these, counties because they're losing so much tax revenue with, you know, all the stores closed and nobody paying, property taxes. They're just going to be completely and utterly strapped. And so already they're cutting out public library funding around the country.  

Dawn: And it should be said that this film is at least half history, if not more than half. And in this moment, especially what I hope, is that the history can kind of help inspire us and guide us because it's really ah remarkable and beautiful and very inspiring story about how Americans of all different stripes came together and created this library system and made it more and more inclusive, over like a century long journey really. And that it was women at the forefront.  So even though we're a little distressed about how long it took us to finish this, it's really appropriate that it's coming out in 2020, which is the year that women ah century ago got the right to vote.  And those two, struggles were very closely intertwined, the fight to build our library system and the fight for women to get the right to vote. 

George: How has COVID, 19 and the whole epidemic impacted your completion of the film?  

Lucie: Well,

Dawn: laughter,  

Lucie: laughter, 

Dawn: How, has it not!  

Lucie: We were almost done again; we were like gearing up to get everything done so we could premiere this summer. So, um, the composer couldn't record with his musicians in the recording studio anymore, all the archives closed and so we can't get the rights to all the footage, you know? Because like you said, it's historical. So, a lot of, footage and photos that need rights too.  we can't get them out of anywhere nobody's working and, the houses to transfer them are closed.   

Dawn: The festival it's been accepted at we had to, you know, they either got canceled or we had to decline because we couldn't deliver a finished film until we get our archival material. We had to give up our broadcast on PBS that was supposed to be happening, in a few months.  Oh, and then I made the big decision that we needed to go in and make a few, what I thought would be very minor changes to the film, to have it be reflective of the new reality that it would be coming out into. And that's proven to be a little more daunting than I thought it would be.  

Lucie: And in addition, in our office, we have, a large suite in a really great building and to help offset car rent because we all know San Francisco rents are crazy. We sublet part of our space out to people. And, two of the people that were in here, they left and so we have empty offices and one person works, in the printing industry for a lot of nonprofits, like the opera and the ballet  Everybody just like stopped and she's got no work coming in at all. So, it's affected us that way as well.  

Dawn: I'd say on the positive side, we have a lot more time to focus. On things, you know, it does make you realize, like you've been running around and doing a million things and Lucy, in addition to working on this project had two other jobs at theaters in town, and those are both gone for now. So, she has a lot more time to work on the project and just a lot fewer distractions.  

Lucie: I feel like we are so lucky compared to a lot of people because we're still able to work. You know, we aren't getting any money, but we have the space, that's just a couple blocks from our house. So even though we're not essential workers, so we can still like try and figure out what's going to happen, you know?  

Dawn: We're also very, very lucky that we weren't in the midst of fundraising. I really feel for all of these organizations and artists and the nonprofits and social service organizations that are trying to stay afloat right now. That'll be a challenge for us down the road, but at least right now, we're not trying to fund the film.  

George: Speaking of which, how can people help?  

Lucie: So, because theaters are closed and festivals are closed, we really feel the need to get the film once it's done out into the community. And I don't think theaters or festivals are going to open for a long, long time in closed places.  

So our new brilliant idea if I do say so myself is, we're going to get an RV and we've been donated a screen and we have a projector that we could use, to tell people, bring BYO chair and popcorn and come to the parking lot of the library  or on the lawn or whatever. And we will, broadcast the film and we'll be there available for a Q and A afterwards for people and they can be outside socially distant, and we can still have that sense of community with them at that point. 

Dawn: And we were hoping to do a few of those as tests this fall. But, given the situation right now, I don't think that's going to be happening until the spring of 2021, but we're laying the groundwork for it and people should sign up so that they know when we're coming to their town.

George: And where can they sign up? 

Lucie: They can sign up on our website Serendipity Films dot org   

George: Are you looking to get someone to help underwrite provide, an RV help underwrite the tour.  

Lucie: Yes! Laughter,  

Dawn: Laughter, yes  

George: That would be a Yes,  

Lucie: Yes, to all of the above 

Dawn: We have some funding to get it started, but, you know, it’s going to be expensive as we're looking into it more, it's going to be a lot more expensive than we thought. At first, we were like, oh, well this will be actually the economical tour as opposed to flying all around and staying in the hotels. But it’s going to be really, expensive.  

Lucie: Yeah. Just to rent an RV for a couple of weeks it is like, twelve thousand dollars or something. It's ridiculous. So that's why we were thinking of buying one or getting one donated. But we were looking at buying them you know? We don't want a big one, but they're expensive and there's anywhere from $60 to $120 thousand dollars. 

Dawn: We also want to try and give the film away for free  since it is about free public libraries and the name of the film is "Free for All". And we know that libraries are going to be really hurting right now. So, we're hoping to find people and foundations and funders who can help us underwrite, making it available, to every library in the country with a kit, um, a tool kit that makes it accessible. So that librarians can use it for their own screenings, but also if they need to use it for, you know, making the argument for funding for like, just, helping their communities in whatever ways they need to use the film.   

George: So out of the COVID-19 meltdown, what do you think are some of the positive things that could come out of it to help our local filmmakers such as yourself here in the Bay area? 

Dawn: In the course of researching this film, I've become really aware of how important it is to have public funding, for our public services, like libraries and schools. But also, for our artists, you know, philanthropists are not going to save us all the time.  If we really want to have a thriving arts community, and if we really want to have thriving social services, we need public funding for them. I think people are starting to realize that a little bit during this period. So that's what I hope for more city funding, more state funding, more national funding for the arts.  

Lucie: And tax people, you know, all across the board, you know, that's  

Dawn: more equitable taxation. 

Lucie: That would help that would help a lot.  

George: Well, thank you both for sharing your story today and we'll make sure that everyone who's watching this and listening to it has all of the contact information, your social media, and you have a wonderful trailer on Free For All as I recall on your website about the film?  

Lucie: We have to update that too (laughter)  

George: And you both collected lots and lots of stories. So, it’s a really wonderful project. And, I hope that you can bring it to fruition this year, or at least, you know, the beginning of next year.  

Dawn: Thanks for having us, and thanks for everything that you've done to support the project over the years.   

Episode Outro - Show Host George: That’s it for this episode of voices of the community. You have been listening to the voices of Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor the Cofounders of Serendipity Films discuss the release of their documentary film on the importance of public libraries. With the shutdown of libraries, theaters, movie theaters and film festivals, independent filmmakers are struggling to distribute their films to the public. As Lucie and Dawn mentioned they are working on a plan to bring their latest film Free for All: Inside the Public Library to the public through free screenings. To find out more about the film, their team, partners, how to get involved and to watch the trailer please go to www.freeforallfilms.org 

Series Outro: We hope that you have enjoyed the insights, points of view and personal stories from the voices of change makers and their nonprofits featured in the series. To find out more and get engaged with the nonprofit and staff members, featured in this episode please go to my web site georgekoster.com and click on Voices of the Community to find links to this episode. Please consider a donation and volunteering to provide a hand up to your fellow community members. 

Series Credits: I want to thank my associate producer Eric Estrada as well as the wonderful team at Bay Area Video Coalition. Go to www.bavc.org to find out more about Bay Area Video Coalition’s services. To listen to our next episode in this series and to our archived past shows which feature community voices working on solutions to critical issues facing Northern California communities, please go to georgekoster.com. While you are on our website please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows like this. Please rate us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and share this story with your friends. Follow us on twitter @georgekoster and please email us at george@georgekoster.com. I'm George Koster in San Francisco and thank you for listening. 

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