Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Laura Beachy Somerset Co. Flight 93



A local filmmaker’s documentary about the impact of the crash of Flight 93 was successfully funded this weekend.
Dingman Township native, 23-year-old Ryan Balton, is co-producing the film “We Were Quiet Once.” The feature-length documentary shows how the crash of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001 affected the people of Somerset County who witnessed it from the ground.
Laura Beachy, the film’s executive producer, grew up in Somerset and was in sixth grade several miles from the field where the plane went down in 2001.
The film’s fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com raised $6,682 from 121 backers. Kickstarter is a crowd-sourced funding platform for creative projects, with an all or nothing approach. The goal was to raise $6,000 in 45 days, a goal which was exceeded by 11 percent on Saturday night.
“We’re so thankful to have such a supportive community behind us,” Balton said. “The contributions from my friends and neighbors in and around Pike County will allow us to take this film and share it on a much bigger stage.”
During the Kickstarter campaign, the project also received donations totaling over $2,085 in the mail. Many of the donors have been from northeast Pennsylvania, and involving the local community is something important to Balton. Donors will be thanked in the credits of the film, and will receive advance copies once the film is complete.
The money will pay for editing, finishing and distribution. This includes entering the film in festivals and holding screening events in northeast Pennsylvania, such as the recently passed Black Bear Film Festival, which has featured Balton and Beachy’s work before. Click for the article in The Abington Journal.