La Joie de Vivre : Documentary about roller (Interview)

What is the documentary « La Joie de Vivre » about ?
La Joie de Vivre will be a full-length documentary about the roller skating lifestyle. It will feature the joy, adrenaline, skills and passion associated with this sport and the young and old who practice it.
We imagine the story in the film to unfold during the course of 24 hours in Paris. During this time the lives of our personalities and their narratives will intertwine to create an attractive, watchable movie. Our idea is that at the end of the movie, the viewer will have the feeling that the entire city of Paris moves on skates. We believe that everyone who sees the film will become a fan of roller skating even if they have not done it before and will appreciate the talent, skills, determination and the fun time of the people who practice the sport.

Where does this idea come from?
A few years ago a friend of ours, who is also an excellent skater, suggested that it will be cool to make a movie about roller skating. However it was last summer (in July 2014) that we spontaneously decided to develop the idea into a project.

Short or feature movie?
This is definitely going to be a full-length documentary. In this project we will focus on the participants, who will be professional skaters, veterans, as well as enthusiasts and beginners. In the film we will show different skating styles and techniques, and we plan to historical materials about the sport gathered from specialised museums’ records. Also, we are working with original recording artists for the soundtrack of the movie. So far we used track “Don’t Call Me DJ” from the album “Trapp’d In Music” by Digital Nottich. It is such a cool tune and the author Taffo Velikoff has been very kind to let us use it.

Why rollerblading as principal subject ?
We believe that the roller skating, as a wider social phenomenon, is a sport that could offer plausible green alternative to commuting in cities, helps maintaining one’s fitness and good mood, it is a very social sport and promotes healthy competition behaviour, it is beautiful to watch…

Why paris ?
Paris is a stunning city and its elegance reflects the ambiance which we would like to capture in the movie. The movie will be full of adventure, love and smiles … It will radiate positivity and it will be a reality-show in various situations … the backdrop has to be one of the most beautiful settings in the world.
In addition roller skating is very popular in Paris amongst people of different age and diverse background. For example, the attendance of the Friday night Pari Roller event can reach up to 35,000 participants, which is impressive to say the least. The personalities we have approached for participation are talented, skilled and have wonderful personal stories, which will ignite the imagination of our audience.

Who are the characters in the movie and how did you pick them up ?
We have approached for participation a dozen well-known, versatile skaters and dancers, men and women of different ages. Some of them we knew from before, others we selected by looking through Facebook pages and some were suggested to us by those who we had already contacted.
You can learn about the documentary’s personalities by joining La Joie de Vivre’s Facebook page – each of them has a folder and we post photos, stories, videos so that our audience gets to know the personalities. https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Joie-de-Vivre/733846210062717?sk=photos_stream&tab=photos_albums

Were there selection criteria such of these characters ? Age, gender…
The key prerequisites for our personalities were: to be accomplished skaters representing specific skating or artistic style, to have irresistible passion about the sport and last but not least, to have strong interest in and be excited about our project.

What message do you want to convey ?
The message we would like to convey is that roller skating is good for you. It is one of the joys of life – it keeps you fit, it builds your character, it is a social and fun activity, the skaters are cool people, plus it is really enjoyable to watch.

How is it funded ?
We have decided to fund the project through crowd-funding platforms. The reason for this choice is that we would like to maintain our creative independence, furthermore, this approach afford us a direct dialogue with the audience that will watch the movie when it is ready. The crowd-funding platforms are innovative approach for gathering financial contributions, which became popular in 2009. They are used by independent creators as well as established artists.
The success of the project very much depends on the number of people reached before the call for financial contribution is made, hence we have been using Facebook to organically popularise our idea and spread the word about the project. We have deployed the principle of word-of-mouth, (albeit the Facebook version of it) and at the moment we are reaching the first and the second degrees (see below). We are just about starting to penetrate what is called the “3rd degree”, which is the broader reach of audience.

Which challenges did you face ?
There are numerous challenges in realising a project of this size and using such an innovative approach to funding. However we are taking the challenges in our stride and we move on fast from setbacks. Teaming with the right people who have similar intrinsic values has been crucial for getting the idea off the ground. We are a small, talented and professionally agile team and we keep in contact daily. The technology really helps. We have over 100 years of combined professional experience amongst us and it is rewarding to create projects together. Every member of the team believes that this documentary and the other projects of Earl & Damsel Media will be success and we do our very best to realise them.

A word for EARL & DAMSEL MEDIA LIMITED
Earl & Damsel Media is a visual arts production company, based in London. The projects of the company are funded mainly through crowd-funding. We have a few movies in the pipeline, but right now, besides La Joie de Vivre, we are working with a renowned British actress and voice coach, Irene Bradshaw, on a project called The 7 Bridges to Voice Power. We are about to launch it for crowd-funding in April so it is busy… As a company our mission is to produce visual art that have the ability to inspire and connect, transform perceptions, and help bring about social change. Working with Irene is a privilege and it feels like will are making history. It is truly exciting.

Is there an official release date?
We are working towards release date for La Joie de Vivre in 2016 and we will keep everyone informed through social media.

Anything to add?
We are delighted that Cultures Urbaines got in touch to feature our endeavour. You and your readers have a chance to actively participate in creating La Joie de Vivre, by being interested, supportive and encouraging. Thank you!