Well, I now officially have two documentaries in the work: the one about Salt Creek Artworks, tentatively titled Finale, and one about homeless in Pinellas County, titled Another Day in Paradise.

I’ve worked ‘way too long on Finale.  For a while, I didn’t have access to my videocamera, and had to try piecing together what I had already filmed.  However, I knew I needed more film, preferably around St. Petersburg (Fla.).  I figure that I should have enough film within the next couple of weeks to be able to finish the project.

I started filming the second one (Another Day in Paradise) over the weekend.  It’ll deal with homelessness in one specific Florida county (Pinellas) and the fact that while there are homeless who have problems with alcohol and other drugs and/or mental health issues to almost justify the stereotypes, there are too many who are homeless for other reasons.  These reasons are:

  • low paying (minimum wage) jobs;
  • high housing costs (even for efficiencies and smaller houses or apartments);
  • domestic violence;
  • loss of a job;
  • and other extenuating circumstances.

Saturday’s filming involved someone who is homeless (Disclaimer: the person is someone I know personally, who moved to Florida for his health).  He was very eloquent, well-spoken, and not what one would necessarily think of when thinking “homeless.”  I also plan to film one or two more individuals and/or families (yes, there are homeless families), as well as different agencies that work with the homeless.

I would be remiss if I didn’t add that I was able to get some help with locating one or two people who work with the homeless by PM-ing a local city official; more on that later.

And now…on to work.