Today we’d like to introduce you to Cami J. Kidder.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Cami. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I had been the Eastern Regional Marketing Director of the American Skiing Company for about 4 years when my job was abruptly eliminated. I was also had just starred in “Annie Get Your Gun” at the local community theatre and had been starting to wonder about acting prospects beyond Vermont for a while. After the shock wore off, I found I was relieved, even elated, about my job ending. I had been with the ski company for 11 years total beginning my career as a ski instructor. The disappointing fact was the higher I climbed in the organization, the unhappier I was becoming; and the more money I made, the more I seemed to need. I owned a house, had a company car, and was responsible for a 6-million-dollar marketing budget, and I was stressed – really, really stressed.
Perhaps, I had a premonition, but I actually bought a plane ticket to Los Angeles to soak up the vibe and see if I wanted to move out here. I was supposed to fly back home on September 12, 2001. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but I did get back home safely a few days later. Eating at our local diner, I met a man who lost his brother in the North Tower collapse. He took his picture out of his wallet, after hearing my uncertainty about my move, and said “Do it. Do it for my brother. And everyone who can’t.”
So, I did. I put my house on the market, signed a lease at one of the apartment complexes I checked out on my visit, and started packing. Within a year, I had signed with an agent, six months later I booked an Ace Hardware commercial and earned by SAG card. Once achieving these major goals, a professional acting career becomes a more of a waiting game than anything else. You can keep training, keep submitting yourself, keep communicating with your agent, you can keep acting for free in student films, but you can’t make anyone hire you. I felt that I had very little control – a feeling I do not enjoy.
I took a class based on the Julia Cameron book, The Artist’s Way. It was during these 9 weeks that I realized I could make my own work, create my own projects. The timing was perfect, this was the time when high quality, affordable camera equipment started coming on the pro-sumer market, so not only could I conceive of and create my own films, but I could also afford to make them happen.
The only unfortunate thing (for my acting career) was that I realized I was more drawn to other peoples’ stories, and I started working in documentary. That was 14 years ago – hard to believe! My first film STORE went from development to winning a few Best Documentary awards in 15 months. “Well, this is easy! I am so good at this.” I thought, arrogantly. However, my next film was a far more typical experience – years and years of shooting, redevelopment, more shooting, more processing, editing, editing and reediting all the while working on other projects for hire, getting my MFA in Film and completing an entirely different film. That’s the reality of an independent, self-employed documentary filmmaker, lots of thinking, passion, hard work, juggling, and patience
Timing is critical to success in life, and even though THROW LIKE A GIRL, my current film, has taken many twists and turns, it will be completed in the coming months at exactly the right time – for it and for me. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are changing our culture right now in similar ways to how I hope my film will change our society. This wouldn’t have aligned without all the left turns, stops and hard curves. I am also not the person I was when I began this project, my growth will also serve to make the film more focused and stronger than it would have been otherwise.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve always had difficulty knowing when to say when. By that I mean, when to accept something isn’t meant to be vs. dedicating yourself to making your dream/plan come to fruition. No one ever achieved anything by taking “No” for an answer, but I do believe there is a fine line between commitment and obsession. I don’t know where that line is for anyone – including myself, but I do know when something feels right. When I am “in spirit” or inspired, things just flow, they come together, they don’t need me to make them happen. In fact, sometimes the key is to know when to get out of the way and not try to manage or control everything.
I was sued over my first film, STORE. The whole story is bizarre and troubling, but essentially my primary investor apparently development some “romantic” feelings for me during production, and although I am certain I did nothing to encourage these affections, he accused me of “malicious promises” among other things and filed the very definition of a frivolous lawsuit against me. He also suffered from a lack of knowledge that apparently his lawyer shared regarding copyright law.
For reference, a copyright automatically attaches when an idea is made manifest – when words are written on paper, when a song is sung, when a camera rolls, when paint is brushed; intellectually property is created and copyright exists. However, filing for an official copyright is the only way to protect or defend your copyright if someone infringes upon it. The primary exception is if a person creates work while in the employ of someone else. This is work-for-hire, and in this case, the copyright does not belong to the creator. This is important because as an investor, this person was not my employer nor was I making a film about his idea. However, even though he had no claim, he sued me for my film claiming he is the copyright holder.
In all honesty, this was an extremely upsetting, at times terrifying, ordeal. But, I did learn a tremendous amount about the law and what I was capable of. I am a fighter, a believer in justice, and a righter of wrongs. It took me 18 months and all of my savings, but I did succeed in getting this lawsuit dismissed. Unfortunately, the distributor, who was going to put my film out into the world, canceled our deal anyway. Sadly, our society is so litigious that they believe the angry investor might turn around and sue them if they partnered with me. So, the number of people who have seen STORE, or probably will ever see it, is limited to the thousand or so who were in the audience at one of the film festivals we played.
My lawyer did tell me, “You are nobody in this town until someone sues you.” So, I guess I’ve arrived!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The tagline for Document Your Life Productions is “What is YOUR story?” because we really want to know. What is important to you? What do you care about? What makes you do what you do?
Although we do produce, film and/or create some music videos, short films, non-fiction television shows and industrial use videos on a work-for-hire basis, our primary focus is telling stories through documentary film.
The Fear of the Other is very much part of our society, leftover from early days when tribalism was akin to survival. It is as outdated and unnecessary as it is ingrained and resistant, but we believe understanding, appreciation, and acceptance is the key to moving passed it. The best way I know to achieve that is to facilitate one’s ability to take that proverbial walk in another’s shoes. That is the power of documentary film.
Our film strives to shine a light on things that most people don’t think much about:
Why aren’t American women welcome to play our National Pastime?
Why do people pay thousands of dollars to keep material items that they don’t want in their homes?
How would your life be different if you didn’t know how to read?
Are soulmates real?
What’s the best that can happen when a storied group of puppeteers from Vermont travel to Russia to teach their brand of performance to a troupe of street kids learning circus skills?
By exploring topics like these and finding the personal human stories in them, we can invite people to step outside of their own world view, perhaps challenge their biases and make them rethink their previous snap judgments. We are also able to bring attention to societal issues that need addressing and to the everyday heroes who seek better from their lives and for the world at large.
A new area we are developing is Life Histories or Legacy videos. We think everyone has an important story that is worthy of telling, preserving and sharing. Although not everyone can or will have a documentary made about their life, anyone can take a few hours and tell their story to which we can add photos or another video clips, if available. The idea came from the process of making a film about my father, BOTTOM OF THE 9TH. I learned so much about my Dad I never knew, and most likely never would have known if I didn’t train my camera on him and start asking questions. I found this process incredibly valuable and rather stunning at a time. My Dad is currently 77 and his youngest grandchild is 4. Hopefully, we’ll all have my Dad for another 15 or 20 years, but the reality is, we may not. At least we will always have some of him preserved for all time.
What were you like growing up?
I think I was a typical middle child. My parents had 4 daughters and I’m #2 of 4. I played every sport that was offered, was in the drama club and the local theatre companies worked hard in school and always seemed to have a job. In short, I enjoyed attention and like to be self-sufficient/independent as possible. I was the youngest person in my district to have a paper route. I remember the manager coming to my house to essentially interview me and my parents to make sure I was up to the task of a daily route. I was in the 3rd Grade.
My hometown, Lancaster New Hampshire, is a few hours from the Canadian border. It had about 3000 residents when I was growing up, and it still has about 3000 residents and no stop lights. It was a terrific place to grow up, we would ride our bikes all over town, stay out until the street lights came on, catch lightning bugs and play kickball with all the kids in the neighborhood.
My Dad ran the local ski hill, I learned to ski at such a young age, I don’t remember learning. I broke my leg in the 4th grade, spent 3 months in a cast and couldn’t wait for next winter to get back out there. I raced Giant Slalom and Super G all through school, dreamed of Olympic glory and pursued a Bachelors in Theatre Arts.
One of the best things I ever did was to take my Junior Year abroad in Ireland – pre-Facebook, pre-email, pre-cell phones. The only way to get in touch with anyone back home was to make a collect call from the payphone up on the corner. I’m not saying it was perfect and that I didn’t get lonely sometimes, but this experience was the first time I was ever – just me. I was separated from all the voices and influences that we all have told us who we are from Day One. While the innovations of the Internet to make some things better and easier, I pine for those simple days sometimes. I am concerned for the younger generations who might never have the opportunity to quiet all the noise and discover who they really are.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1819 Greenfield Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90025 - Website: www.documentyourlifeproductions.com
- Phone: 424-262-9842
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: tlagmovie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DocumentYurLife/
- Twitter: @DocumentYurLife
- Other: www.throwlikeagirlmovie.com
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
