The pre-production process for  B Y P A S S E D began in 2015 with six months of community research and relationship building. I joined the planning committee for the city’s Centennial Celebration, allowing me to network with community leaders and stakeholders. This led to collaborations with various nonprofit organizations, most significantly with Arts Holding Hands and Hearts (AHHAH).

As a 4th generation Coatesville resident then living outside city limits, I entered pre-production with my own narrative arc and wanted to test this against the dominant themes that would surface from current community members. In collaboration with AHHAH, I hosted multiple storytelling workshops, to hear residents share their experiences and to establish a planned direction for the project. Once key points of alignment emerged between my vision and the perspectives shared by participants, I began the film’s public awareness campaign.

I independently designed the project’s visual identity and asset guidelines in Adobe, including the logo, color palette, and image-editing profile. The palette favors cool tones, reflecting the film’s post-industrial steel town while foregrounding the vitality of its storytellers. The approach acknowledges the surrounding architectural blight without centering it.

I was awarded an Art for Change grant from the Leeway Foundation, which was used to finance our launch campaign and the production of our first trailer length video. I commissioned local spoken word artist Aadil Malik to author the project’s eponymous theme. Harnessing the power of social media, primarily Facebook, I put out an open call for a Day of 100 Faces campaign, to recruit featured residents for the trailer.

My initial cinematography crew was selected for their documentary film experience, however there was a misalignment between my vision for how the community would be portrayed, and their approach which felt ‘othering’ at moments and then hyper glossified/commercial at others. I relied on a long time friend, Eliza Taylor, to lead the camera work for this initial day of filming, and she recruited our lighting tech and gaffer, Tom Fanelle.

This video was essential to the success of our crowdfunding campaign, which exceeded my fundraising goal and brought in $26k with 410 backers. I chose Indiegogo based on their terms and developed the reward tiers, though I admit they did not all get fulfilled. By the time we could host a premiere party, for example, we were under COVID-19 pandemic conditions and could not host the promised roller skating party.