A Sitka filmmaker wants to create “Alaska’s largest viral video launch” on Wednesday, May 9.
Hannah Guggenheim produced a widely-viewed film about the Sheldon Jackson campus last year, after college trustees handed over the keys of the historic landmark to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.
Now, Guggenheim’s made another film, and she’s going to plug into Sitka’s social networks to distribute it.
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“What happens when a community comes together to make change? That is something that translates not just to Sitka, but it also is a national and worldwide story about giving back, making change, and making connections. I’m attracted to that human story about how to make a difference,” Guggenheim says.
The film is called “Save the Campus,” and it draws on some of the 23,000 hours volunteers have logged renovating the Sheldon Jackson quadrangle and its centerpiece, Allen Memorial Auditorium.
“What we’re doing here is taking a campus that was shut down for four years, and infusing it with art, infusing it with community spirit, and making it a really vibrant, useable space again.”
Cassi Olson coordinates development for the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. She hopes the rescue of Sheldon Jackson taps into a broader social consciousness, and saving the campus becomes a national campaign.
“We want to reach audiences outside of Sitka. That’s why we want the video to get shared with friends and contacts of our Sitka neighbors. This story might be really inspiring to someone who’s in Boston. They won’t be able to come here and volunteer, but they will be able to put their money toward the project and support it that way.”
Visit the “Save the Campus” Facebook page.
Guggenheim and Olson admit that there’s no way to ensure that a video goes viral on the internet. When she worked at a PR firm in San Francisco, Guggenheim says she occasionally produced films that generated millions of hits. The formula? Getting the video to kids.
The launch of “Saving the Campus” was scheduled for 2:30 PM Wednesday, May 9 from the Sitka High School computer lab. Fine Arts Camp board members were scheduled to visit Kettleson Library at the same time to explain the project to computer users there. Guggenheim hopes that around 1,000 Sitkans will like the “Save the Campus” Facebook page, watch the film, then share it with friends on their own social networks.
What happens after that is anyone’s guess. Guggenheim says it’s about letting go, and hoping the story resonates with people.
“I do think this is an American story about working hard, making a difference, and contributing. I hope, as a story-teller and filmmaker, that what strikes people as familiar is that We Can All Do This. This is a tool for people to say, This is one community, but what is your community? What are you doing? Because we can all contribute.”
And how many views will it take for Guggenheim to consider the video as “viral”? It’s not really a number at all.
“We’d like to get… who knows? Sky’s the limit. We’re open. We’d like to get on Jay Leno, basically.”
Who wouldn’t “like” that?
