| In-Kind Request
Heaven Sent Productions
cordially invites you to join us as a 501(c)
(3) sponsor of the historical documentary
film, “Keeping the Faith With Morrie”. The
subject of our film Morrie Turner was
recently bestowed the History Maker Award at
the 2004 Salute to the History Makers
ceremony held in Los Angeles, California.
We need external hardrives
for our documentary footage. In exchange for
your support you will receive a credit at
the end of the documentary and a tax
deductible credit.
Since the first American comic strip, The
Yellow Kid (1895), race has played an
integral part in the comics; often
reflecting America’s ambivalent attitudes
towards its growing multiculturalism. Recent
history books celebrating the centennial of
the American comic strip have surprisingly
omitted an abundance of minority comic strip
cartoonists. This lapse in account was
either attributed to the historians’
legitimate oversight due to their ignorance
or a blatant intent to slant history to the
exclusion of minority comic strip
cartoonists. In response to this disregard,
Heaven Sent Productions has stepped up to
the fore to imbue the gaps in America’s
rather fragmented history of the comic strip
with cartoonists of “color”.
Our documentary film “Keeping the Faith With
Morrie” celebrates the life and times of
African-American comic strip cartoonist,
Morrie Turner. In 1965, at the height of the
Civil Rights movement in America, Turner
intrepidly brought to bear the first comic
strip ever to show children of different
ethnic groups working together to solve
problems – Wee Pals. Turner’s interracial
Wee Pals comic strip bucked convention in
the comics and took the medium in a new
direction setting the pace for cartoonists
after him.
In an effort to recognize the
accomplishments of minority cartoonists, the
National Cartoonist Society (NCS) recently
awarded Morrie Turner with a Lifetime
Achievement Award at their annual 2002
Reuben Awards ceremony in San Francisco,
California. Mr. Turner is the first African
American cartoonist honored by the world’s
largest and most prestigious organization of
professional cartoonists. A milestone in
American history!
The NCS Lifetime Achievement Award is among
countless honorary awards and tokens of
appreciation garnered from Turner’s lifelong
philanthropy and artistic offerings. The
Brotherhood Award of the National Conference
of Christians and Jews, B’nai B’rith
Anti-Defamation League Humanitarian Award,
and Lifetime Achievement Award from the
California Chamber of Commerce are just a
few distinctive honors rendered him. Today
the benevolent octogenarian continues to
draw the Wee Pals comic strip for over 100
publications, remains an active fixture in
the advocacy for children’s education and
human rights, and mentors aspiring
cartoonists.
With Morrie Turner as the centerpiece of the
film, we will chronicle the untold history
of cartoonists of “color” (including Henry
Jackson Lewis (1800s political cartoonist),
George Herriman (Krazy Kat), E. Simms
Campbell (Esquire cartoonist), Aaron
McGruder (Boondocks), Lela Lee (Angry Little
Girls), Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha), Gus
Arriola (Gordo) etc.) and reveal their
cartoon art, professional triumphs in
regards to the proverbial racial barriers,
artistic influences, and other defining
information. Moreover, the film outlines the
parallels between racial struggles in
America and ethnic images in comic strips.
In tandem to our film project, we are
reviving and recreating the animated cartoon
series Kid Power. Kid Power was a derivative
of Turner’s Wee Pals comic strip in the
early 1970s. The cartoon series, produced by
Rankin-Bass Productions, consisted of 17
episodes and aired on ABC Network Television
stations as part its Saturday morning
program lineup. Doubly beset by dubious
management handling his business affairs and
inherent racism in the entertainment
industry, Turner was slighted from reaping
the commercial “benefits” of this offshoot.
Thus far, we have filmed interviews with
notables in the cartoon industry such as
comic strip cartoonist Aaron McGruder
(Boondocks), Jean Schulz (wife of PEANUTS
creator Charles Schulz), the Walker Bros.
(Beetle Bailey), Phil Ortiz (The Simpsons
comic book), Robb Armstrong (Jump Start),
Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha), Bill Keane
(Family Circus), Dwayne McDuffie
(animator/creator of Static X television
cartoon), Floyd Norman (first African
American cartoonist for Walt Disney
Studios), and Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo). A
host of other distinguished figures in the
cartooning industry and academia are
enthused about the project and have
volunteered to interview with us. With God
truly as our impetus, this is our year to
put this production in the can to release it
for the world to see in 2005. Finally, the
obscured history of minority cartoonists
will finally see its day in the sun!
In January 2002, the International
Documentary Association (IDA) agreed to
become the fiscal sponsor of “Keeping the
Faith With Morrie.”
All funds received in support of the
documentary project are tax-exempt under the
IDA’s nonprofit 501 (c)(3) status.
We would immensely appreciate your donation
or sponsorship to complete this film. Please
visit the
Donation Center to learn more about
how to select your method of patronage. You
can view our fundraiser trailer
here. The
trailer shows footage from the rough cut 30
minute format which received general acclaim
from audiences at local film festivals. The
public approval and praise affirmed the
film’s significance; thus, inspired the
Director/Producer Angel Harper to tell more
of Turner’s life story and share the
limelight by including the passel of unsung
cartoonists of “color” preceding and
consequential to Turner’s prominence.
I would love to hear from you. We encourage
you to contact us at
angelharper@earthlink.net express
your supportive comments and opinions.
Please join Heaven Sent Productions in
making this landmark film. Thank you for
your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Angel
Harper
Producer - Director
Heaven Sent Productions
www.heavensentproductions.org
(323) 467-7782 hm\office
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