News Authored By John McDonald

We’re off to Bishop, CA this week for a sneak-peek screening of CALL ME MULE at the Bishop Twin Theatre during the 2023 Bishop Mule Days Celebration.

Long ears have become movie stars with this year’s Oscar nominations of “EO” and “Banshees of Inisherin!” Maybe Little Girl, Lady and Pepper will follow in their hoof steps when my CALL ME MULE is released? See today’s LA Times story. (link below)

Link to story HERE

Designer:  Michael Ries
Photoshop Artist:  Nina Schwanse
Photographers:  JC Diil and Peter Murray

Fifty years ago today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screened my documentary, Cotton Eyed Joe, along with the other short-listed films in both the Documentary (Short Subject) and Short Subject (Live Action) Oscar categories. There was not a Student Academy Awards at the time; that would start the next year in 1973. Here’s the from the screening:  tinyurl.com/nb56ts2r

I made Cotton Eyed Joe in 1971 during my senior year at the USC School of Cinema. It had a reenacted sequence which was based on an actual event in the main character’s life. Because of the reenactment, USC’s faculty thought the Academy would not accept it as an entry in the documentary category, and so it was entered into the live action category.

For the 1972 Oscars, the Academy decided to limit the live action short category to three nominations instead of the usual five. The documentary short category remained at five nominations.

Cotton Eyed Joe did not receive a nomination. The winner of the Best Documentary Short Subject was Sentinels of Silence. The winner of the Best Narrative Short Subject was Sentinels of Silence. Yes, you read that correctly! This was the only time a short film won Oscars in two categories. Afterwards, the Academy changed its rules to prevent documentaries from competing against narrative films in the Best Short Subject category.

You can find Sentinels of Silence online if you want to look at how different this film is from the documentaries of today.  Also, if you’ve never seen Cotton Eyed Joe, you can view it on my website.

SEE CLIP

Hope you’re staying healthy and safe. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area where the COVID-19 virus has not reared its ugly head or live with lots of acreage and open space, you are indeed blessed.

I want to take this opportunity to briefly update you on the progress of Call Me Mule. You may recall, back in 2018, editing had begun with a brilliant editor, Stephanie Mechura. She was making some great headway on the film, but unfortunately, I could not afford to keep her on board. Several filmmakers who had their funding secured were knocking at her door, and she is now working 24/7 to complete a couple of high profile documentaries.

Nearly a year passed as I continued applying for the elusive foundation grants and reaching out for donations. I began editing, on my own, a series of short videos, ending up with 140 “snippets” that look back at each day I traveled with The Mules from my filmmaker’s perspective. If you have missed them, they are posted at 3MulesMovie.com/snippets

A new editor came on board last fall. Nina Schwanse is doing a phenomenal job in pulling together the best material from the 300 hours of footage. She has completed a three and a half hour “rough cut,” and even though there is a lot of trimming and restructuring that is needed, the story is beginning to take shape. I am hopeful that we will have a final cut in six more months. Then we will move on to music scoring, color correction, sound design, and the myriad other details to get us across the finish line

In these uncertain times when there are so many people in need, it does not seem appropriate to be seeking donations for Call Me Mule. My fiscal sponsor, the International Documentary Association (IDA) is currently holding a total of $8,108.50 in my project account, which I will use for future expenses. In the meantime, I am paying for editing out of my own pocket.

How important is this project for me? Well, let’s just say I’ve put my money where my mouth is and have spent $41,007 of my personal funds during the course of production and post production.

As I’ve always stated, anyone can request the full financial data for my project from the IDA. Amy Halpin,* the Deputy Director there, recently provided the following information:

•  IDA has collected a total of $24,441.20 in donations in support of the documentary project. We’ve disbursed a total of $14,300 to Mr. McDonald’s production company to date and are currently holding a total of $8,108.50, which is reserved for future project expenses.
• McDonald is current on all project reporting that is due to IDA, having submitted his most recent financial and progress report covering 2019, on January 31, 2020.
• Our most recent reporting from Mr. McDonald indicates he’s making steady progress on the project. His 2019 cost report shows that 100% of the funds he received in the last reporting period (January 1, 2019-December 31, 2019) were used to pay an editor.
• To date, Mr. McDonald has accounted for all funds withdrawn from the sponsored account. All funds have been used to pay approved production expenses, and no funds have been used to pay Mr. McDonald a salary for the project.

Donations through the IDA are tax-deductible, but some donors have chosen to make direct donations to me, which have totaled $2,840. I trust that this information has answered any questions regarding the film’s finances.

While my “normal” routines have come to a halt, I am keeping busy with chores at home, rediscovering old hobbies, working to complete Call Me Mule, and feeling very fortunate that I am able to do so.

Take care and stay safe.

*You can contact Amy Halpin at amy@documentary.org

This is the first draft of Mule’s (John Sears) “Declaration of Emergency” that he wrote on December 27, 2013. He delivered a clean copy to the office of Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, on January 3, 2014. He went on to deliver a similar hand-written document to nearly every city and town in California. See the video clip at http://3mulesmovie.com/snippets/

This photo shows the provisions The Mules packed into the Los Padres Wilderness for three weeks on November 25, 2013. I shopped for most of the items from a list John (“Mule”) gave me. He always insisted on reimbursing me for anything I bought for him. See video snippet of this day at http://3mulesmovie.com/snippets