This page is an appeal for financial support, and NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL. So if you’re not in a position to be at one of the major donor levels described in the video and on the page, make sure you scroll down to the “Friends of The Queer Media Preservation Project” section where donations are already coming in! Donations are NOT tax-deductible. If you would like to donate, and would like more information, contact Nicholas Snow at this link.
If you only get one message from this page, I hope it is this:
What I’ve been doing my during my entire adult life as a Multimedia Entertainment Activist is simply paying forward the Life Force infused within me by the heroic individuals who both gave and lost their lives in the early fight against HIV/AIDS. These brave souls who live on within all of us inspired me then, as they do now, to wield the power of my own voice, both relentlessly and courageously, every day on which I have the privilege of being on the planet.
I encourage you with all of my heart to…
“Honor and express the truth of your life to the people whom you influence, because silence does equal death, and action does equal life!”
…Nicholas Snow
AN AUSPICIOUS DAY
February 24th, 2019
Today is an auspicious day. I am grateful that, one day at a time, thanks to multiple 12-step programs, I celebrate 18 years of sobriety. Out of respect for the traditions of these programs, I don’t name them specifically at the level of public media.
I have deep gratitude for my Higher Power and for those with whom I share the road to Happy Destiny, and for you as well, as our humanity is connecting in this very moment.
I am also extremely grateful to be on the other side of a very scary six month-health crisis. Although it seems I have a new normal, my health is much better and quite stable, and I plan on being around for a long time…. but as I lay in my bed for months beginning late last August, sometimes feeling as if I were dying (I wasn’t near death but I felt like it), physically weakened to the point that I could barely walk – let alone climb the flight of stairs to my second-floor apartment – I began to reflect deeply on my life’s work. This campaign is the outcome of that reflection.
As I sit here under my loft bed surrounded by my video archives, I am in the low-income housing complex affiliated with Desert AIDS Project, the world-renown healthcare provider that is allowing me to live powerfully with HIV. In this and my former apartment in this complex as my headquarters during the last eight and a half years, between 2011 and today, I have created new media content that has reached a growing audience of at least 2,500,000 people around the world. I am both honored and proud to have become an important documentarian in my local community, with content that is celebrated by a worldwide audience.
Surrounding me now, there are about two hundred 3/4″ video tapes, the only copies of my historic television show, Tinseltown’s Queer! I described the show, for those old enough to get the reference, as “a Queen’s version of Larry King.” Tinseltown’s Queer aired throughout most of the 1990’s on multiple cable systems in the LA metro area, reaching over 600,000 households on a regular basis, including in my hometown at the time, West Hollywood.
Some of these video tapes are over 25 years old. I also have boxes of VHS copies of many episodes as a back up, but the time to digitize, restore and preserve this video archives is slipping away quickly. So…
THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
I’m excited and humbled to announce that today I officially launch The Queer Media Preservation Project to prepare and preserve the bulk of my life’s work for future generations.
Some highlights from my show which stand out in my memory are interviewing Congresswoman Maxine Waters while she rode in the LA Pride Parade; multiple interviews with historic activists such as Robin Tyler; meeting Melissa Etheridge at the Playboy Mansion at a fundraiser for AIDS Project Los Angeles; many Outfest Film Festivals and GLAAD Awards red carpets; and multiple Pride festivals throughout California.
I was also on the red carpet for the Hollywood premiere of Brokeback Mountain, and, amazing even to me, I have an archived interview with the late, great Quentin Crisp.
Over the years, I have worked with spectacular collaborators who will be recognized as part of this project. Thanks to them and perhaps, to you, we can harness the power of this body of work to inspire others.
PROJECT TIMELINE:
February 24th, 2019 – June 30th, 2019:
Secure funding through outreach to the philanthropic community (many of whom are my friends and/or their friends); procure equipment and finalize set up of adequate production capability; and, of course, inventory all source material such as 3/4″ video tapes, VHS video tapes, still photos, cassette and micro cassette tapes, DVD’s and mini DV’s, hard drives and more.
July 1st, 2019 – Mid December, 2019:
Begin the digitization, restoration, post-production and preservation process and, if necessary, expand fundraising efforts through the use of a crowdsourcing platform such as Indiegogo – although I don’t anticipate needing to do this given the community in which I live, and their awareness of the value of my work.
Fundraising will be closed in mid-to-late December, 2019, because the credit sequences will need to be locked in before the premiere of restored episodes in January of 2020.
January 2020 – A World Premiere Screening Event
Some of the most compelling content will be featured in a world-premiere event in a movie theatre, and will simultaneously premiere online on video platforms for free viewing worldwide.
At this premiere event, I will officially announce the locked-in posthumous donation of the vast portion of my body of work to a prominent and celebrated, University-based LGBTQ archives.
Throughout 2020 and Beyond:
All salvageable episodes of Tinseltown’s Queer (and of the spin-off, The Nicholas Snow Show), will, in an ongoing fashion, be published online for free worldwide streaming. I will additionally pay this work forward by authorizing (and appearing at, when possible) ongoing fundraising screenings to benefit local charities in communities around the world.
FINAL RESULTS
I have described “hundreds of tapes” above. In many instances I have two 3/4″ copies of an episode with a VHS back-up. In some cases, I may have just one copy of a particular episode. I anticipate that the project will yield at least 100 approximate half-hour episodes, or 50 complete hours of historic multimedia entertainment activism. Some episodes may not be recoverable, but my team and I will do our best.
YOU’RE INVITED TO BE A PART OF THIS HISTORIC PROJECT
While each restored episode will include its original credits, toward the top (the beginning) of each show, there will be an opening credit bumper acknowledging The Queer Media Preservation Project along with the organizations and individuals or couples who made it possible (A couple counts as one name in the credit sequence, although both names may be used). A sample of this video bumper is included in the video at the top of this page.
The available donor levels are as follows.
OPENING CREDIT SEQUENCE
FRIENDS OF THE QUEER MEDIA PRESERVATION PROJECT
I know many people will want to participate who clearly aren’t in a position to be a major donor. Any contribution from $1.00 to $2,499 will be acknowledged in the closing credit sequence, ranked first by dollar amount, and secondly, alphabetically.
Here’s the list!
$100.00 – Kate Ullman (The very first contributor to the campaign)
$50.00 – Shirelle Alexander (The second contributor to the campaign)
Another way to participate is to simply purchase PromoHomo.TV merchandise at this link.
If you would like to donate, and would like more information, contact Nicholas Snow at this link.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AT ANY LEVEL
It may appear to some that I am raising a lot of money. However, given that the project will take at least two years, (it’s already begun), and will result in at least 50 hours of historic media content made available for worldwide consumption at no charge to viewers, and include a locked-in posthumous donation of all episodes to a prominent LGBTQ archives, the budget is very much on the low end of the spectrum.
The majority of my Multimedia Entertainment Activism across the decades as been self-financed, and I have volunteered. Imagine what we can accomplish together if I can make The Queer Media Preservation Project my primary focus over the next two years (I am visualizing this quite clearly).
The Queer Media Preservation Project is an undertaking of Nicholas Snow Productions, LLC, which is NOT a charity. Like many television and film producers, and other creative types, I am appealing to individuals who have the funds to spare, and who see the great benefit to humanity of empowering the preservation of this important body of work for future generations. Your contributions will NOT be tax deductible (that I know of, but you or your accountant may know better than I do).
NEXT STEPS
Please reach out to me using the Contact link at PromoHomo.TV if you have questions, if you are interested in more information, or if you know you want to support The Queer Media Preservation Project.
For those who come on board as donors, let me know at which level, and I will create an invoice from Nicholas Snow Productions LLC outlining what I’ve promised you, which you may pay at your convenience between now and June 30, 2019.
Everyone who contributes at least $100 gets a PromoHomo.TV t-shirt in the size of their choosing, and clearly, all major donors get four t-shirts in the sizes of their choosing.
If you are not in a position to give (I know what that’s like), I invite you to share this campaign with others. Every ounce of support helps!
If you haven’t done so, please watch the incredibly inspiring campaign launch video at the top of this page.
MY HEART IS FULL
My personal mission statement is: “To honor and express my Life Force in a way that makes a difference.”
The editorial foundation of my work is “Connecting the Circuitry of Humanity.”
This work continues, as the work is my life!
Simultaneous to The Queer Media Preservation Project, I will remain one of the foremost independent producers of globally reaching LGBTQ programing focused on making the world a better place for all humanity (that might sound grandiose if I didn’t have an increasing body of work to back it up).
I am deeply honored that my humanity has connected with yours, at the very least on this page, but perhaps also in the preservation of this important archives for generations to come.
With love and gratitude.
Nicholas Snow
