I know this might seem a little traitorous asking people to fund a documentary about a player who currently plays for one of our bitter Cascadian rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps, but if there's a single American soccer player out there who deserves to have his story told it's Jay DeMerit. And, if it helps you feel any better, just tell yourself you're supporting his U.S. Men's National Team career rather than his new MLS career.
Anyway, the documentary is called Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story and its creators have launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking some funds to help get the movie released. In fact, they're actually seeking a lot of funds, to the tune of $215,000. That might seem like an exorbitant amount until you see just how much the per minute of soccer footage costs that need to be shown in the documentary. Still, the good part is you don't have to fund it entirely yourself, you just need to contribute small amounts.
Those unfamiliar with Kickstarter might seem a bit perplexed by the idea. So here's a rough explanation. When you click the link below you'll notice there'll be a video, a description and a bunch of "perks" which grant you certain items (like a collectible DVD, or some such thing) should you contribute that amount. The idea is that enough people will fund the movie to reach the amount. Once you've selected the amount your payment will be processed through Amazon ensuring a trusted source is handling your precious monies. Should the project not reach it's amount, no money is taken from your digital wallet (so to say).
Anyway, the trailer looks amazing and I'm a huge admirer of his based on how much he has accomplished. At the very least I urge you to check out the project, even if you can't contribute anything awareness still counts for something.
[Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story]
Trailer after the jump.