Undiscovered Country Productions: Who We Are and What We Do

Undiscovered Country Productions (UCP) is a not-for-profit multimedia entertainment group seeking 501(c)(3) status. Once incorporated, UCP aims to focus on the development of cinematic and theatrical productions that address a myriad of artistic, social, and political issues, utilizing the strengths of a collaborative ensemble, and community-based approach. In this respect, our mission is two-fold.

Undiscovered Country Productions seeks:

• To creatively combine the artistic mediums of theatre and film to create pieces that address social and artistic injustices, while positively encouraging change on local, national, and global community levels.
• To develop and deliver high-caliber artistic experiences to communities who may otherwise be unable to afford and/or participate in such experiences.

During the past three years, the company’s founders have collaborated extensively in theatrical and film productions. The relationships formed during those collaborations, along with a shared vision for creating new works with the power to enlighten as much as they entertain, led them to create UCP. The company is committed to undertaking a series of diverse projects for the stage and screen that investigate the effects of local and world events. Through this artistic analysis, we hope to identify how individual communities are both affected by these events and connected to a much large socioeconomic picture.

In order to accomplish this, we intend to travel to a cross section of communities in the United States and abroad to interview, document and collaborate with individuals from these communities to create site-specific works of art that call attention to unique issues facing each respective community (examples of current project proposals include documentaries that assess the presence/role of the performing arts in post-hurricane gulf-coast communities as well as the terminal state of the American Theatre in the face of today’s fiscal crisis). The needs uncovered by these community-based interactions will be the engine which shapes the new works UCP will ultimately go on to create.

Although the company’s primary focus will be the creation and distribution of said productions, we also have immense interest in community outreach/organization. We believe that by involving individuals from the communities we visit in the development of our projects, we can resuscitate interest in the arts where it has waned and plant new seeds of interest in the arts which will hopefully persist after we’ve left, fostering the creation of future artistic outlets within the communities where artistic expression may be an afterthought.

Because of the nature of our work, the sponsorship of corporations, philanthropic organizations, and individual donors will be crucial to Undiscovered Country Productions’ success. Our projected opening budget is currently $500,000.00—the bulk of which we intend to accrue by seeking tax-exempt donations from interested collaborative institutions. Currently, UCP is not funded by or affiliated with any corporations or outside organizations.

Although there are numerous not-for-profit theatre companies and film production teams working on various independent projects (Worldwide Documentaries of Bloomfield, New York; The NOLA Project in New Orleans, Louisiana; and The Empty Space Theatre in Bakersfield, CA are organizations from whom we draw inspiration), it is the dearth of companies working to integrate the strengths of both mediums that makes Undiscovered Country Productions a unique venture. We believe a seamless integration of two storytelling mediums (theatre and film) will allow us to effectively produce pieces while simultaneously serving the communities we’ll be working with. This approach, we believe, will enable us to confront individual community challenges while bringing together diverse peoples through our shared experience. This is of great importance to us because, ultimately, we are not only seeking to transform the way people view themselves, but to help them discover the impact their involvement in the theatrical and cinematic projects can have on their lives.

A long-term future goal of the organization is to eventually possess the capital needed to award grants to deserving artists and artistic organizations that also seek to become engines for change in society. Though we are committed to assisting other artists and organizations financially, we have no interest in political lobbying. Our mission is to bring art to people and call attention to societal issues, not to push any agenda on a legislative level.

Once launched, Undiscovered Country Productions promises to be a cutting edge, forward-thinking, multimedia production company that utilizes the most exciting elements of theatre and film to create new works which will focus on the social, political and cultural concerns of an ever-changing world while prompting forward-thinking and change-driven dialogues within communities.

-Justin Gordon, Artistic Director
-Corey Allen, Director of Theatrical Development
-Drew Shirley, Director of Film Development
-Ron Thomas, Director of Fundraising

For More Info:

justin@undiscoveredcountry.org

corey@undiscoveredcountry.org

ron@undiscoveredcountry.org

drew@undiscoveredcountry.org