Sarah McLachlan took the $150,000 budget for her new video "World on Fire", spent $1730, and donated the rest of it to worthy causes instead.

http://www.worldonfire.ca/

The video is just her sitting on a chair singing and playing intercut with stock video of the worthy causes she donated to, what parts of the production she skipped to save money.

Win win. She gets the publicity, the causes get money

Nice video. Puts me in mind of the old saying "To whom much is given, much is expected..." Wish some corporations would follow suit.

Great video,without being preachy. I wonder if all the Hollywood unions are upset?

Cool, $15....maybe we can all get some work on this board? lol

What would be even greater? She should have challenged other artists to do the same at the end of the video. If everyone did that for 1 year...that would practically solve world hunger for a year. (billions of dollars would buy a lot of medicine and food)

Murph

Yeah, but like I said, the challenge should go to more than just other artists.

Imagine a CEO of a huge corporation, giving up even HALF of his year end bonus, and challenging others to do the same.

The video does have the unfortunate, and I assume unintended, implication that the workers in the industry are overpaid. A stronger message might have been "Instead of buying neat toy's, I sent the money to worthy causes" _ Because face it, not many people are going to have $150k in production fees to send somewhere else. If you want people to follow suit, you should couch it in more relevant terms. "Instead of buying the next great video game, your money could feed an orphan for a year... " that sort of thing. I am sure that's her intent, but not certain it is put forth in the best possible way.

All in all, still a powerfull message.

I get your point.

Maybe in another video, all of the people could be said to have 'donated' their fees themselves rather than the artist forego their valuable work.

<<What would be even greater? She should have challenged other artists to do the same at the end of the video. If everyone did that for 1 year...that would practically solve world hunger for a year. (billions of dollars would buy a lot of medicine and food)
<<

That would have turned the tone of the video from personal mission to self rightous fingerpointing (you know, like most animal rights activists). She was simply letting us know what she did and hopes to inspire, not condemn or ridicule. My only worry is others will user her video as an excuse to pont fingers, missing the entire point.

Come to think of it, this isn't very new..per say. Band Aid, Live Aid...all those things had videos on MTV too. Everything went to charity, and they were produced with slick productions. They were just single camera type stuff.

Murph

Right you are Joe. I really think its an admirable concept, well enough executed. I like the links to the organizations so you can do the same.

I think, just somehow... it came up a little bit short of perfect. Mostly for the reasons we've talked about that will leave it open for misinterpretation or abuse. Not quite sure how to prevent that in the long run anyway.

What was the $1730 spent on?

You know, that's a darn good question. Where the heck did the $1730 go? Maybe deluxe food for the crew catered by the vegan chef that accompanies her on the road? (Saw it on the Food Network).

--Edit--

I didn't mean that to sound sarcastic. I respect what she's doing - there's no room for cynicism in charity.

The 2D animation at the end was probably part of it.

Let's all give up our DV plaything and donate.
Big question is, do individual actions make any difference?
It's human nature that makes us keep what we have and makes us want more.
No solution. Not ever.

So philosophical.

I think what you can do is try and regulate what you *think* you need and reduce your choices to what is necessary.

The tides of change start one person at a time.

Remember when we all thought U2 (I think) was stupid for refusing to pack their CDs in those awful, wasteful boxes? The vendors hated it. A CD pack that's only as big as the CD, and not a whole foot long? Crazy! Now we all use 'em.

One person at a time. And likewise, cynicism spreads cynicism.

>>I think, just somehow... it came up a little bit short of perfect. Mostly for the reasons we've talked about that will leave it open for misinterpretation or abuse. Not quite sure how to prevent that in the long run anyway.
<<
It certainly wasn't perfect, but a great try. The issue is entertainers are rarely given the moral authority to speak for any thing. Considering the lavish pay checks and hedonistic lifestyles of so many of them, we tend to look at even the best efforts with a little cynicism. I'm not saying Ms McLachlan is that way. (The reactionaries will find something to gripe about no matter what).

She simply made a concious decision to give the production costs to charity. Wasn't asking anyone to sell all their belongings, give away the money and live a life of poverty.

She was pointing out that we have more than enough wealth to help others without putting ourselves out. I'm sure her next video will cost plenty.

But just wait, I'm sure there will be backlash. She probably inspired a future episode of South Park or yet another lame skit on SNL.

I just wish she'd kept the red hair. I love red heads. I think it's genetic. sigh

I think it is very admirable of her to do that.

Great video, but please don't criticize the "below the line" crew person. Yes, they may make $1350 a week, but the due to the nature of freelancing in LA, it may mean that person may not find work for another three weeks. $1350/3= $450 a week minus taxes, dues and health/pension/welfare. This is why unions were created, to keep the pay fair.
And it is very expensive to live in southern CA, too.
I know because I worked out there for 12 years.

Above the line people are another story, especially when they pull $7000 to $17,000 a day/week!

Thank you Keith for that link..
Very emotional..