I spend a lot of time on social media. It’s part of being a blogger, but it’s also because I genuinely enjoy it. A lot of people think social media is a waste of time, or that it’s a little silly, and I guess it can be sometimes, but it can also be used to spread amazing messages of hope and kindness, and the spread stories about the things that can be accomplished when people come together to help someone.
On November 15, 2013, San Francisco magically transformed into Gotham City for a 5-year-old boy, and for the millions of people who followed the Batkid story in person and on social media sites. Miles Scott fought leukemia and won. Miles had a special wish: to be Batman. Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area (which grants more than 300 wishes annually to children battling life-threatening illnesses), and thousands of volunteers, made it happen.
Miles – Batkid – accompanied Batman in the Batmobile to rescue a damsel in distress by diffusing a bomb, stop The Riddler from robbing a bank, and chasing and capturing The Penguin. At each stop along the way, Batkid was met by adoring fans chanting, “Batkid! Batkid!” Twitter and Instagram exploded with tweets of #BatKid and #SFBatKid, including posts from President Obama and astronauts on the International Space Station! In all, over the #BatKid and #SFBatKid hashtags reached more 1.84 BILLION people on Twitter and Facebook.
Independent filmmaker Dana Nachman is telling the story of Batkid in an exciting new documentary, Batkid Begins. Batkid Begins will tell about Miles Scott’s wish and why it resonated with people around the world, why so many people volunteered to help make the wish happen, and how Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area pulled it off. All the proceeds from the documentary will benefit San Francisco charities.
KTF Films is creating Batkid Begins for $100,000, teaming up with big-name musicians, animators, and visual effects professionals (all working at reduced rates). To raise money for the documentary, there is an IndieGogo campaign running through August 10, 2014 at 11:50 pm. PT (1:50 am on August 11 CST). IndieGogo rewards for the ultimate Batkid fan include your name in the film credits, HD digital copy of the film, Batkid swag (capes, mugs, t-shirts and more!), an original print of one of Batkid’s artistic drawings, tickets to the San Francisco screening of the film with cast & crew, or even a private home screening for you and 20 friends!
Can’t get enough of Batkid? Lend your support and learn more about the exciting new Batkid Begins documentary here.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
