A prominent documentary filmmaking team has hit a funding wall in their efforts to get a movie about the Boston Marathon made. Producers of Boston, which was shot largely over the course of the 2014 race, are hoping to raise the remaining $1.4 million of their $2 million budget.
"As much as it's a film about the Boston Marathon, it's really a film about the marathon generally and running as a participatory sport," said Jon Dunham, producer and director.
Dunham produced Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years and Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years II, which were released in 2008 and 2013, respectively. He and fellow Boston producer Megan Williams started talking with the Spirit of the Marathon II about making a movie about the Boston Marathon in 2013. After the bombings, discussions were put on hold, and they didn't get the green light until January 2014.
"We hustled just to get ready to film the [2014] race," Williams said. They quickly raised $600,000 from private investors, many of whom are family and friends of the production team.
They used 56 different cameras to capture the race. They also filmed the weekend's events and those that took place on the one-year anniversary of the bombing.
The filmmakers have already recorded interviews with key figures in the race’s history, including race director Dave McGillivray; Kathrine Switzer, who was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967; Boston champions Morio Shigematsu (1965), Kenji Kimihara (1966), Runner’s World’s Amby Burfoot (1968); and Bill Rodgers (1975, 1978–80).
The remaining $1.4 million would cover filming the remaining interviews with people who are important to the Boston Marathon story, Dunham said. The funds will also cover travel, editing, marketing, and post-production. They also plan on hiring Jeff Beal, who scored the two Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years Controversy Over Bostons 6-Hour Results Cutoff House of Cards A Part of Hearst Digital Media.
Williams said she was a bit surprised that they've faced challenges with fundraising so far, but "this is kind of how documentaries go," she said.
Issues with fundraising are not uncommon for documentaries, said Amy Halpin, director of filmmaker services for the International Documentary Association.
"It's extremely challenging to fund an independent documentary, and that's true for very experienced filmmakers, and it's true for novice filmmakers," she said. "I've yet to meet anyone who's said it's easy. That's Oscar winners straight on down to first-timers."
Boston'Nutrition - Weight Loss Crowdrise website with fundraising incentives. They’re also looking for sponsors.
The first sponsor to sign on with Boston is RunSignUp, a race registration website. The company created the documentary's website, and it’s giving race directors who use their site the option of tacking on 25 cents to race registrations that would then go to the documentary.
Runners can also check a box to add $5 to their registration to go directly to the film. RunSignUp will be matching those donations up to $100,000.
If they meet their fundraising goals, Dunham expects the documentary to be released sometime in 2016.
"It's the grandfather of all marathons,” he said. “We very much intend to make a film about the history of the sport and the legacy of the Boston Marathon.”
