Day 15: BARC & Ethan Clerc Films

Day 15. The halfway point. Thanks so much to everyone who has donated. We are far from our goal, but a good challenge is something I have always appreciated. Tell your rich friends, your uncle with the nice car, and your co-worker with the backyard pool to donate. Any amount helps and everyone who donates is a producer. Today's film story is about the partnership between Ethan Clerc Films and a non-profit organization in my hometown called BARC. BARC stands for Business, Arts, & Recreation Center. The BARC building is in the middle of my hometown, Windom and is actually the old high school building. They wanted to tear down the building in 2001, but a man bought the building for $1 and promised to make it a building that would benefit the community. If I could only say one thing about the BARC it would be how beneficial it has been to the community!

Our relationship with the BARC started back in 2012 when we filmed some of our earliest work there. The web series, FIVE, I talked about in yesterday's film story was the first actual work I did with the BARC. The building manager Greg Warner and I became friends and over the years he has became a mentor and great friend of mine. Greg has not only helped us make film after film, but guided us through our young lives. I cannot tell you the countless hours we have spent at the BARC building. We even had a studio on the 3rd floor for a year or so. We have built more movies sets in that building than on your average Hollywood sound stage.

You may be wondering why an old high school building means so much to me and the whole crew at Ethan Clerc Films. Well this school has been in all 3 of my feature films. My first feature, Mousetrap and my 2nd feature, Mousetrap 2 are based around the building. If you look at my YouTube channel you will see the BARC again and again and again. We not only utilized every space within the building, but did our best to help make it a better place. We have volunteered and continue to volunteer at the BARC as much as possible. We have painted, cleaned, repaired, and moved stuff around this building for hours and hours. BARC was also the venue for the premiere of my 3rd feature film, Sundog. The BARC has a huge 650 seat auditorium and we came close to filling it up for the premiere.

The BARC building is not just our own playground. There are dozens of businesses located in the building, countless clubs that use the building daily, concerts in the auditorium, and sporting events in the gym. The BARC also has a large book and audio library along with computer labs and office meeting space. I cannot imagine where my film career would be if I was not able to form the relationship I did with the BARC. I cannot thank Greg, Mike, and the whole BARC crew enough for making me a better film maker and person through constant support and encouragement. Check out the BARC's website and Facebook page to learn more.

What I learned: Building a positive relationship with your community is one of the most powerful things you can do.