Wheels Down

We’re halfway there… I’m sitting in the Tokyo airport as I write this: on our way to Thailand for two weeks of pickup shots, story and organization structure. I’m excited for this trip because it’s my natural spirit to create a positive energy at the idea of getting on a plane for a new adventure. I’m anxious about the heartache I know I will feel over the next couple of weeks as we seek to tell a story that most people cant even stand to hear, let alone see.

So, the point of this trip? Last summer the first SOLD crew traveled to Thailand for three months to uncover the truth behind child prostitution. What they found broke their hearts, and inspired them to create a movement. Much has been accomplished in the last six months: pending for our non-profit status, establishing a wonderful Board of Directors, not to mention all the networking and help that has come our way, building up to a strategic plan for story: hence this trip being to fill in the gaps of the story.

We are ready to be broken, we are ready to continue unveiling the truth, and we are constantly, constantly, searching for hope.

Back to Brokenness

[photo by katie basbagill]

Arriving in Thailand… a bittersweet feeling sets in. A country that has stolen my heart due to its beauty and culture, yet a country that breaks my heart due to the extreme injustice that occurs here. Round two of filming begins in one short week and there is much to do to prepare for the crew to arrive. I have mixed emotions as I prepare to enter back into the world of child prostitution and exploitation. Am I ready to enter into a place of brokenness again? As I sit and ponder this question only one answer rings true… I must. I must not be afraid of having my eyes opened, my heart left broken, and my head spinning with questions. I must. I must return home with stories that will tell the truth of these children’s struggles and with answers to help end it. I must. I must remain hopeful.
I will be broken and I will be inspired. I know no other way…

Alana Downey: Hair Stylist

I had been searching for ways to use my skill to support organizations that I believe in: organizations that are making a difference in the world, and the idea of a cut-a-thon was perfect.

My name is Alana Downey and I’m a hairstylist in Danville, CA and I heard about Sold from my dear friend Rachel Goble. I had heard about other hairdressers and salons doing fundraisers called “Cut-A-Thon’s” so I thought ‘why not, I could do that’. I had been searching for ways to use my skill to support organizations that I believe in: organizations that are making a difference in the world, and the idea of a cut-a-thon was perfect. I would be able to do what I was good at, donate the money to SOLD, and at the same time educate my clients about the issue of child prostitution and create awareness for The SOLD Project.

On the day of the cut-a-thon we set up my kiosk to represent information about SOLD. I brought my computer and showed on repeat the Sold teaser and $14 for 14 Days video while people got their hair cut. People are genuinely interested in helping and now I think I’ve gotten a little momentum to do it again and possibly with another coworker!

There are so many ways that people can help even if it’s something small like a cut-a-thon. The opportunities are endless if I let go and let God. Thank you for letting me be a part! Love…always love.

Human Trafficking Becomes a Concern in Washington State

SPOKANE, Wash. — Human trafficking is a “considerable concern” in the Spokane area, contributing to teenage prostitution, forced labor and other ills, according to a new study. Prostitution accounts for the largest form of human trafficking in the region with an estimated 500 adult women and an unknown number of men and underage boys and girls providing sex for money through escort businesses, massage parlors, drug houses and on the streets, the study found.

One of those surveyed in the study said about a third of those selling sex in the Spokane area had been sold into prostitution by their mothers.

To read this article please visit seattlepi.

HOLLY: A Film About Child Sexual Exploitation in Cambodia

Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, HOLLY is a captivating, touching and emotional experience.

Patrick (Ron Livingston), an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been ‘comfortably numb’ in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village. The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute.

Holly’s virginity makes her a lucrative prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety. Harsh, yet poetic, this feature forms part of the ‘K-11′ Project, dedicated to raising awareness of the epidemic of child trafficking and the sex slavery trade through several film projects. The film’s producers endured substantial harships in order to be able to shoot in Cambodia and have also founded the RedLight Children Campaign, which is a worldwide grassroots initiative generating conscious concern and inspiring immediate action against child sexploitation.

Please visit our friends at Holly and learn about the wonderful work they are doing and to catch a showing when they come through your area.

Justin Dial: Filmmaker

This time I didn’t pick the issue: it picked me. Everyone involved in SOLD, including myself, wants more than just a finished film. We want the world to connect with the stories of trafficking. I can’t outrun this issue any longer and I hope others can’t either.

I still remember my first day of real paid documentary film work. My friend Nate was editing a documentary for a production company in Pasadena called Chronicle Project. Nate had hours and hours of interviews that he needed transcribed and he came to me for help. What happened next changed my life. I began to watch an interview of a young Indian girl forced into prostitution. In her interview she explained how she had been coerced by a boyfriend to move and work in a brothel. She went into great detail about her emotional sickness and told of the beatings she faced if she didn’t hand over all of the money she earned to her boyfriend, now turned pimp. I realized the importance of her story, but I managed to convince myself that I couldn’t really help this girl.

For some reason I flashed back to the interview with the Indian girl and I thought, “Sex trafficking is a crazy thing, but what can I do to stop it?”

Several months later, after I had transcribed my life away, I found myself in the Chronicle Project office. This time I wasn’t there to transcribe, I was there to create short documentary content on social issues. The approach for these documentaries was to show practical ways that people could get involved in social issues. For some reason I flashed back to the interview with the Indian girl and I thought, “Sex trafficking is a crazy thing, but what can I do to stop it.” I went on to create a short piece highlighting groups and organizations fighting to stop sex trafficking. What ended up happening was once I finished the piece, I let my newfound passion fizzle away with the busyness of everyday life.

Cut to about a month ago. I was back in the Chronicle Project office editing for the guys when some people walked into the office and identified themselves as The SOLD Project. They were looking to finish their film about child sex trafficking and I was out of work. Before I knew it I had an offer from The SOLD Project to come on and edit the film. It seemed very odd that once again the issue was presenting itself and this time I couldn’t say no. In two weeks I leave for Thailand to help with shooting and when I return I begin editing the film.

I guess “us” filmmakers like to think that we have a lot of control over what issues are going to move us and how then our filmmaking abilities are going to reach out to audiences. This time I didn’t pick the issue: it picked me. Everyone involved in SOLD, including myself, wants more than just a finished film. We want the world to connect with the stories of trafficking. I can’t outrun this issue any longer and I hope others can’t either.

The Power of Story

[photo by katie basbagill]

There is power in our stories. A face, raw emotion, personal experience. A story can’t be argued with – a person’s journey is their truth. It is what the world has presented to them, brought them through, and it is the eyes in which they have chosen to perceive the experiences of that which we call life. A story has the power to break the hardest of hearts, and to bring humanity to a situation that maybe once had been part of a different realm than that which you and I live in.

I believe in the power of stories. I believe that change begins by telling our stories. I believe that behind our stories lies a common ground in which we are all eager to meet one another. A place of discovery, of identity, and of belonging. We learn from each other’s stories, we are inspired by each other’s stories, and we are introduced to new worlds and ways of thinking through the power of story.

Read more

Good For Art : Artists for SOLD

Artists Shannon and Erik Newby share with SOLD their passion for the visual arts and how they are using their art to fight for justice…

I used to cry sometimes at night when I was a kid, just from watching the news. I would lie in bed and pray that God would make the newscasters tell only good stories, and that God would take all the “bad guys” away. Over the years, I’ve changed those prayers. Now I ask God to show me the ugly stories, and to show me how I can be a part of turning them into beautiful ones.

These prayers have led me to step into full time Christian mission work, where I am using my paintbrush as my megaphone. As an artist, I believe in the power of images, the power of media, and the power of art. After all, it was vivid imagery through a television that brought me to my knees as a child. What power a film or a painting can have also!

Visit The SOLD Project’s Etsy Store to purchase art from artists wanting to make a difference… all proceeds go to benefit The SOLD Project.

My husband and I just recently moved to Atlanta, and were quick to discover that sadly, Atlanta is the no. 1 city in the US for sex trafficking, largely due to our international airport. We began to ask God how we could use our skills as a painter and a photographer/ graphic designer to fight this social injustice. We have talked to friends, family, and church groups. We have begun an artists group (www.goodforart.etsy.com), and are constantly infusing the good, the bad and the ugly into our art to communicate to the world around us that sex trafficking has to stop.

I’m excited to endorse a group that’s willing to fight to make a difference. I believe in the Sold Project Film and the message of hope: that we can be part of the solution.

Conversation Starter #1

Last week we launched our first web promo. We wanted to accomplish a couple of things with it, they are as follows:
1. Let people know about the launch of the all NEW website.
2. Put a tool in the hands of the masses that would allow you to have a conversation with someone about child exploitation and sex trafficking of minors worldwide.
Read more

THE SOLD PROJECT DRAWS AWARENESS TO THE HARSH REALITIES OF CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING THROUGH DOCUMENTARY AND IMPASSIONED INDIVIDUALS STRIVING TO MAKE A CHANGE

GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL’S CHRISTOPHER WILLITS LENDS VOICE TO CAUSE

(Los Angeles, CA) April 30, 2008–Human Trafficking is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is the second largest criminal industry in the world today, just behind drug smuggling and has recently risen above arms smuggling.

These staggering facts prompted an effort to draw awareness and educate others regarding the dark world of human trafficking. The SOLD Project is a documentary and multi-media grassroots movement designed to educate people about the haunting reality of the child sex trade in Southeast Asia and the world, and to give them the tools to halt these atrocities. Read more

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