The crowd funding trend has taken the internet by storm of late, as indie producers from all mediums and genres have garnered financial support from the public on a wide variety of subjects. One such talent tapping into a particular niche that might be of interest to PWP readers is Priya Sharma, who is looking to fund an insightful new documentary on the rise in popularity of women’s wrestling. We caught up with Priya to find out more about the project.
PWP: So, in a nut shell, what is ‘Breathe It’ all about?
Priya: ‘Breathe It’ is a feature documentary charting the rise of female wrestling and the trials and tribulations that go with it. It is about portraying women in the industry on an equal footing with their male counterparts and the complex problems that they face. It is about proving that great wrestling knows no gender.
How long have you been a wrestling fan? Is there any reason you thought now would be a great time to start the project?
I was a WWF fan growing up, but then sadly wrestling fell to the wayside as I got older. But being so involved with the European wrestling scene now is pretty amazing. I’m approaching the project from a much more political standpoint – trying to get to the core of some of these wrestlers and their reasons for doing what they do, because it’s a really brave decision to make and one where you will probably have to fight harder to prove that you are a good wrestler because you are a woman. Starting the project now has only been possible because I actually have more time and freedom to dedicate to it! I also think I’ve (accidentally!) timed it well because I could have ended up not meeting Alpha Female and a host of other amazing wrestlers in a fast-growing scene.
You’re using IndieGoGo as a source of crowd funding – for those not in the know, how does it work? What are you asking for?
IndieGoGo is an online crowd funding platform that allows people the chance to donate money to projects of their choice in return for a gift, (known as a ‘perk’). The greater the amount donated, the better the ‘perk’. We currently have our campaign on the IndieGoGo site and we’re asking for £15,000.
What will the funds go towards?
This will allow us to pay for everything, from production costs such as travel and equipment to post-production costs such as editing and film festival entry. Being such a small film crew means that this amount will go really far in helping us create something that is of high artistic quality, sincere and interesting.
So, what have you done so far?
So far, we have managed to film in various locations around the UK and were lucky enough to just make it over to Hungary (after much begging and borrowing!) but there is still so much more to be done and this means taking the project overseas.
There was a couple of familiar faces in the video you put out for the IndieGoGo campaign – who has contributed interviews thus far?
We’ve been able to interview Alpha Female, Nikki Storm, Amazon Ayesha Ray, Rhia O’Reilly, Alex Shane and some amazing wrestling fans. We’ve met so many people who have been really welcoming and enthusiastic. Such support makes me even more determined to make sure that we do the best job we can with this documentary.
Tell us a little bit more about yourself; have you film making experience?
As a filmmaker, I’m fairly new to the game. I’ve spent the last three years of my life running an art gallery so have made some bits of video art here and there. As a film fan coming from a contemporary arts background, I’d like to think that I’m pretty clued up and definitely have a vision for this documentary. I’ve learnt a lot from my previous job role (that has translated into this current director role) and as one half of a two-woman team running a fairly big art gallery, it was sometimes assumed that we worked under a male manager when the reality was that we were the ones who ultimately had the final say. This didn’t happen all the time, but it’s still crazy that in this day and age, I still had to prove myself because I was a woman, so speaking to some female wrestlers who also expressed the same sentiment in their line of work really struck a chord with me. There are a lot of men out there who are really supportive of women in wrestling, so the idea isn’t to undermine men at all, it is about presenting womens wrestling on an equal footing to mens wrestling and saying ‘you know what? These women are athletes and they go through the exact same highs and lows and they deserve the same respect.’
Have you taken any inspiration from other documentaries? Wrestling or otherwise?
A LOT of people have recommended a host of wrestling documentaries for me to watch, but I’ve decided against that so if there are any similarities, they will be purely coincidental. I’ve got a pretty clear idea of what I want to create and I’ve taken influences from all over; European art house flicks, action films and amazing documentaries such as ‘The Imposter’, which really did turn documentary film making on its head.
Producing a film is a daunting task – Is this a solo project or are others helping you out?
It is a daunting task to take on, but I’m lucky in that I’ve got a great network of talented people who are happy to help me out. I just always think to myself ‘if it’s scary, then it’s worth doing’.
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If you want to support the project, the best way is to contribute whatever you can to the IndieGoGo page, which features more information and a preview video. Check the page out by clicking here.
You can also like the project on Facebook, and follow on twitter for more updates.
[Photo credit: Tony Knox] [Follow me on twitter]