Westsail The World Documentary Launches on Indiegogo from Two Music/Film Industry Veterans
WESTSAIL THE WORLD DOCUMENTARY SEEKS FUNDING VIA INDIEGOGO
Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker Michael Toubassi and Offshore Sailor Randy Leasure Launch New Documentary Film About Classic Sailboat
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015) – Independent filmmaker Michael Toubassi (http://www.upstairsfilm.com) and long distance ocean sailor Captain Randy Leasure (www.facebook.com/westsailtheworld) are leveraging the crowd funding platform INDIEGOGO (www.indiegogo.com) to raise funds for their first collaboration: Westsail the World, a feature length documentary about the legacy of Westsail boats.
Born out of the free sprit of the late 1960s, the Westsail (http://westsail.org) sparked a movement, giving aspiring adventurers on a budget the promise of sailing off into the sunset to see the world from the deck of their very own sailboat. Due to an explosion of fiberglass sailboat production in Southern California in the early 1970s, Westsail was one of the preeminent boat builders of its time, producing over 1100 boats, with the majority of the boats still sailing the world today. The Westsail was also made famous as the boat that survived ‘The Perfect Storm’ documented in Sebastian Junger’s book and the Wolfgang Petersen movie of the same name.
Westsail The World will capture the history of these classic vessels, through interviews and stories from the various luminaries within the Westsail community that were involved in the creation and sailing of these magnificent boats.
“I’ve been an avid sailor for 25 years and owned my Westsail 32 named Tortuga for 17 years,” said Captain and documentarian Randy Leasure. “In that time, I have learned so much about sailing and met so many wonderful people that are associated with these boats in a variety of ways that I want to share that joy and fascination with everyone. I’ve always felt that the Westsail is a boat that has helped ignite the sailing dream for so many.”
“IndieGoGo is an excellent platform for giving fans the opportunity to be part of a film,” said Documentarian Michael Toubassi, who has previously used the platform for his recent short film. “The community of Westsail owners is unlike any other group of sailors whose passion and love for the boats is amazing. The amount of support comradery within the owners association is one of a kind. We think Westsail the World will be a film that all boat or ocean lovers will enjoy, and we hope they will support our endeavor to bring the Westsail story to the big screen.”
Within the guidelines of INDIEGOGO, there is a limited number of days to raise the funds and this project is going to fund for a window of 60 days and began on August 16, to allow as much exposure as possible with the goal of reaching at least $30,000. See the fundraising campaign at http://igg.me/at/westsail-the-world-movie/
About Michael Toubassi:
Filmmaker Michael Toubassi is a graduate of the University of Arizona, and has to his credit a number of documentaries, behind-the-scenes feaurettes, red carpet shows, short films and music videos. His award winning feature High And Dry, is a documentary about the history of the Tucson music scene. He recently directed his 10th short film Team Work, which had its world premiere at the Napa Valley Film Festival and just screened at the Maui Film Festival in Hawaii. Michael lives in North Hollywood and is the co-owner of Upstairs Film, an independent production company with released projects at Sony Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios and Universal Pictures. He is also the founder and festival director of the Tucson Film & Music Festival. His other films have screened at numerous festivals including SXSW, Palm Springs Intl, Arizona Intl, NXNE, Noise Pop, Santa Fe Film Festival, HollyShorts to name a few. www.upstairsfilm.com
About Randy Leasure:
Randy is a United States Coast Guard licensed captain, avid offshore sailor and Westsail aficionado based in San Francisco. He has been sailing for over 25 years and has sailed his Westsail 32 Tortuga singlehanded to Hawaii in the infamous Transpac race. When not sailing, Randy is involved in the digital music industry and currently works for PonoMusic.
Contact:
Randy Leasure: captleasure@gmail.com
