ABOUT THE PROJECT
Please Ask for It is a 20-minute documentary film centered around Aikei Pro’s Record Shop in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The shop’s proprietor, David “Fox” Caldwell, has played a critical role in spreading Black music across the region. Established in 1960 and located on “Blues Alley”, the shop has been featured in many blues magazines all over the world inspiring numerous collectors and enthusiasts to venture to Holly Springs to get a look inside and meet Mr. Caldwell.
Being inside the shop is like traveling back in time with posters, photographs, and thousands of records preserved to almost museum quality. Caldwell has managed to keep this record shop open for 63 years; surviving Jim Crow, integration, and local efforts to gentrify and “clean up” the Alley where the shop is located.
Over the years, the shop has become a safe haven for the local community to gather, visit, and pass time making it a community hub. This has enabled Caldwell to have direct contact with his community and extend a hand to those in need. He has mentored countless young people helping them make it through college or join the military. He shares his wisdom of 96 years with as many people as possible in hopes of helping others live full and happy lives.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
The filmmakers began this project back in 2015. Stephen Sutton had been familiar with the shop for many years, often stopping by to dig through the collection and find cassettes, records, and posters to sell online as part of his small business. He pitched the shop as a subject to Allison and Kira and over two years, they led a small skeleton crew on trips to Holly Springs getting to know the history, culture, and values of this small town in Mississippi.
The filmmakers feel incredibly passionate about bringing this relatively unknown story to the world. They believe that this film showcases an important cultural touchstone of African American history and reveals the remarkable resilience and perseverance that this community has had to embody to survive. They see Mr. Caldwell as a person with an incredible history and can imagine he will be an inspiration to so many people. They feel strongly he deserves this recognition now more than ever, four years away from reaching 100 years old.
Allison Waid (Director/ Producer) is an independent filmmaker, writer, and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. She was raised in Nashville, TN where she studied jazz drumming and went on to form the post-punk band, Feral Beat. She attended Fordham University in NYC and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. She was awarded a Fulbright research grant to Wuhan, China where she studied rural-to-urban migration. With a passion for the underrepresented, her work seeks to uplift and shine a light on people whose stories could otherwise be untold.
Kira Simon-Kennedy (Producer) is the co-founder & co-director of 爻 Yáo Collaborative, a multifaceted arts nonprofit supporting hundreds of different international creative exchanges since its inception in 2013. Kira is also an Academy Award-nominated documentary film producer (Ascension 登楼叹, 2021) & co-curator of the exhibition Meme Tactics. She is currently producing films by multiple artists as well as studying for a master's degree in environmental transitions in Paris. Through all of her work, she committed to redistributing resources and mentoring the next generation of artists, cultural workers & organizers.
Stephen Sutton (Co-director) is a record distributor, producer, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with some of the most influential, pioneering artists in Southern hip-hop history to archive, reissue, and distribute thousands of long out-of-print recordings to a worldwide audience. His efforts have helped revive the careers of numerous regional artists whose music had languished in obscurity and never been available outside of the South.
BUDGET
The filmmakers are currently raising money to support the distribution of the film. Below is a budget breakdown outlining how this money will be used.
Music licensing $16,250
Festival Tour $10,000
Legal $3,750
Marketing and promotion $2,000
= $32,000
REWARDS
$100 - $249 Limited Edition Poster
$250 - $499 Limited Edition Poster *signed by Mr. Caldwell*
$500 - $1,999 Name included in Thank You section in credits
$2,000 -$4,999 “This film was possible with the support of…” in credits + named on IMDB
$5,000 - $7,999 Co-executive Producer credit in film and IMDb
$8,000+ Executive Producer credit in film and IMDb
*Please email pleaseaskforitfilm@gmail.com to claim your reward
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
7/10/24 Maine International Film Festival
5/8/24 Philadelphia Independant Film Festival
5/15/24 Orlando International Film Festival
4/24/24 Indy Film Festival
3/29/24 Ethnografilm Paris
3/24/24 Oxford Film Festival, Winner, Best Documentary Short; Winner, Best Made in Mississippi Documentary Short
3/23/24 Fargo Film Festival
2/20/24 Oceanside Film Festival - Winner, Best Editing in a Short Film
2/16/24 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
2/9/24 Spokane Int’l Film Festival
1/24/24 Cinema on the Bayou
12/9/23 Community Screening at Rust College, Holly Springs
12/8/23 Vail Film Festival
11/8/23 Wondros Screening LA
11/4/23 Tucson Film Festival
10/28/23 Indie Memphis - Winner, Audience Award for Best National Documentary Short
10/21/23 Topanga Film Festival - Winner, First Place for Best International Short
10/6/23 Louisville International Film Festival
8/19/23 Defy Film Festival, Nashville
8/6/23 Chain NYC Film Festival
FAQs
Won’t you make this money with distribution to streamers?
We are actively looking for sources of revenue and opportunities to distribute the documentary in the best way possible.
How can we be sure our money goes directly to this project?
Allison Waid will share regular updates on festivals and awards, showing exactly how the money is utilized.
Do the festivals pay you to screen your film?
Most festivals can pay a small fee ($75) and may cover two nights in a hotel room. While this is helpful, flights are costly this year and they add up quickly.
Is it important that you go to festivals?
It is incredibly important that we attend as many festivals as possible. We get to participate in Q&As which enable us to give more context to the film and connect with our audience. We are also able to network with filmmakers and distributors and acquire more followers of the film.
