Albert Lecoanet

(NOTE REGARDING THE VIDEOS : you can either watch the 3 minute teaser by clicking on the photo above and/or watch the 10 minute trailer by clicking on the blue link at the bottom of this text. Pour les vidéos en FRANCAIS, voir lien plus bas)
Almost two years ago, my wife Liz was asked by Creativity Australia/With One Voice (Creativity Australia site) if she would direct a new type of choir that was being set up in the centre of Sydney and backed up by the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation (VFFF Link)

Rather than having a choir made up of 'just' homeless people, or 'just' employees or 'just' school boys', this choir, Sydney Sings, mixes them all up. So you have homeless people, CEOs, students, lawyers, refugees, people with varying disabilities, non English speaking people, backpackers, retirees, eccentric artists, families, old people, young people etc.

Not only that, but it's actually open to anybody. No audition required. Just bring your enthusiasm and your love of music...even if it simply comes from humming along to the radio in the shower!...You don't even need to be able to sing or to read music.

And Liz added a simple but fantastic idea to the mix : the Wish List. People just write down on a piece of paper "what they need, what they want or what they are grateful for" and put it in a green pouch ("I need a new CD player", "I'm looking for a job in the banking world", "I would love to see whales", "I'm grateful for my family and friends", etc.). Every week those messages are read out loud by Liz during rehearsal. And every week these messages bring laughter, tears, conversations and interactions.

Add to that the food and drinks kindly given by Oz Harvest and you have a party!

And a party it is! every week. Before, during and after the rehearsal in the Pitt Street Uniting Church. You come out of it full of energy and with a bounce in your step...forgetting that "you are homeless and I am a lawyer" and, rather, saying "you're my friend and if you need anything, I'll see what I can do to help".

Basically, this choir bridges the social gaps. And it's surprising to see that it's not necessarily the homeless who need more help. Actually, the homeless are very resourceful and can teach us a thing or two!

Right from the moment Liz was offered the job, I thought that it could be a great documentary. So, thinking that if I ever would get commissioned to do the film, I would need to have the choir's first rehearsal in the can; I started filming.

I never looked back...and was never commissioned. Or rather, I never tried to be commissioned.

You see, after 20 years of working for others and being told to format my films to conform with the latest 'market research result' and attract the biggest ratings (and you would be surprised to know that it's not just in commercial channels), I thought that for just this one time, I could go it alone because this one is really personal.

My wife is directly involved. I am directly involved (I still come to choir every week even though I've stopped filming now). It's family.

And this choir has so much love, such a great spirit, such an infectious universal message of positiveness, that I wanted to transmit all this to the world; unaltered, unsullied. Raw and authentic. Because their beautiful adventure can inspire anyone on this Planet. And for that to happen the world needs to be told about it.

That's the whole point of this film.

The price to pay for not being commissioned is to go it alone financially.

I have been alone up until this point (for the scouting, the filming, the sound recording, the interviewing, the logging and transcription of more than 50 hours of rushes, the cutting of a 10 minute trailer, the rough cut of the whole 52 minute film, the logistics of it all...), but I need an editor to cut the film with me. And for that I need money.

That's where you can help. Even with a few dollars. Or simply by spreading the word.

ABC Radio, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Sun Herald, Australian Geographic and even a sequence on the ABC's Australian Stories have all done a story on the choir. Surely that must mean it's a great story to tell 'in depth'. At this point it really is up to you for this to happen.

I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for any help you can give to this project.

And I wish you, the best day ever!

IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE THAN JUST THE TEASER, HAVE A LOOK AT THE 10 MINUTE TRAILER HERE (simply click on the link) :
Sydney Sings Trailer

SI VOUS VOULEZ VOIR LA BANDE ANNONCE DE 10' ET LE TEASER DE 3' EN VOST, CLIQUEZ ICI :
Bande annonce et teaser en Français

About Creativity Australia

It's simple : the funds will be entirely used to pay for a professional editor and the rest of the postproduction (authoring, DVD creation and printing and maybe color grading and sound mixing).

My intention is to cut a 52 minute film out of the 50 hours of footage I have.

The industry rate is on average A$140 per minute edited so exactly A$7280 just for the editing part.

Usually the director (me) who works with the editor, is also paid (since it's a full time job). It will probably take one and a half months to two months of work...but in this case, I'm happy not to be paid at all, nor to accept other work in this time.

That's how much I want this film done.

The sheer amount of funds needed is the main obstacle but there's no way around it.

The editing is the last 'hurdle' before this film is released to the world (I put it between inverted commas because editing is actually really exciting and thrilling. It's not an obstacle per say. Rather, it's when you put all the ingredients you bought at the market together and make a great meal out of it!).

It's a necessary and unavoidable hurdle. Without a professional editor the film won't be worth watching. As simple as that.