This is our story.
Please help us get it finished.
They entered the 7th grade of an all-male, military school for the sons of Los Angeles elite in the cultural watershed year of 1968 - their lives, friendships, and personal challenges provide a remarkable lens through which to explore 60 years of culture, seismic social change, and the evolution of masculinity.
Fortunate Sons
A documentary feature
We've been planning, shooting, and editing for over four years. We need your help to finish it and get it out to the world.
Join us - make a tax-deductible donation today - and please share this page with your family and friends.
Every gift helps - whether it's $100, $500, or $5,000, we are grateful for whatever you're able to give. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law, with certification from our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, the International Documentary Association (IDA).
Watch the Trailer
The Story
In 1968 – while The Beatles rocked a generation, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy shocked the nation – seventy-two 12 year-old boys entered 7th grade at the elite, all-male, military Harvard School in Los Angeles - the young men of the baby boom generation being groomed to lead American society.
These are the real-life stories of American men who grew up together and now, as they prepare to celebrate their 50th high school reunion, lean into the truths of their journeys with humor and vulnerability.
Fortunate Sons explores the challenges that all Americans have confronted as the world around them changed more rapidly and in more ways than anyone expected.
Love and loss.
Harmony and dysfunction.
Challenges and successes.
Pain and healing.
Project History
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentarian Peter Jones and producer John Manulis, together with filmmaker classmates David Rosemont and Scott Shepherd, launched this project after our high school class began connecting on Zoom in the early, lonely days of the pandemic.
Additional classmates stepped up to support the project and with early "angel" funding for production, archival research, and the editing of a rough cut.
Acclaimed film professionals, editor David Jakubovic, composer Earl Rose, and publicist Amy Grey, committed themselves to the project.
And now, after almost 4 years of class Zooms, dozens of individual interviews, deep dives into archival and historical material, and a year and a half of editing and post-production, we have a fine cut of the entire movie - and it's clear that the story resonates across generations and demographics.
We Need Your Help
Fortunate Sons is the story of our class. But, it's very much a universal story of humanity and healing.
Your support is essential to bring this movie to life and share its message with the world.
Our goal for this crowdfunding campaign is $100,000, supplementing the amount we're raising from formal investment sources, and enabling us to complete the film for festival presentation and commercial release.
Please join us and make a tax-deductible contribution today! We are incredibly grateful for whatever you're able to give!
Every gift helps, truly...your support will be a huge boost!
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$100 - enables us to digitize a classmate's classic Super 8 home movie or VHS tape.
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$250 - covers the cost of applying to one film festival.
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$500 - adds the visual energy of a cool motion graphic.
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$1,000 - will license thirty seconds of great archival footage, illuminating the journey of our lives.
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$2,500 - gets us one hour of a high-quality sound mix, uplifting the words and music of our world.
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$5,000 - enables us to add the emotional punch of an iconic song to the soundtrack.
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$10,000 - commissions a musical score to make the story soar.
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$15,000 - provides the high-end video color correction needed for primetime distribution.
Together, we can finish this remarkable film and bring it to the world!
Click to donate by credit card or check
Click to donate by credit card or check
All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law, with certification from our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, the International Documentary Association (IDA).
Prefer to INVEST and share in the upside?
Investors receive a pro-rata share of recoupment from Gross Profits and of the Investors Share of Producer Profits. Minimum investment is $5,000. If you'd prefer to make an equity investment in the film, contact us at FortunateSonsMovie@gmail.com. - we'll answer any questions and send you a digital Investment Agreement to review and sign, which includes payment instructions.
Onscreen credit*
Minimum $50 - "Additional Support From" credit, or the applicable credit below.
Minimum $5K - Credit as "Made Possible With The Support Of"
Minimum $25K - Credit as a Contributing Producer
Over $50K - Credit as an Executive Producer, main titles
* Subject to the specific terms and conditions of the production-approved Investor Agreement
Reactions
As part of our process, we solicit creative and strategic feedback and advice from select individuals inside and outside the industry, along the way.
It's clear that Fortunate Sons is universal stuff - emotional, dramatic, funny, and inspiring - a thought-provoking and sociologically resonant film.
TINA S
Business School Lecturer
My heart is so full and inspired by that rough cut....there is just so much humanity in there.
RICHARD B
Composer, Songwriter
It's a fascinating story - emotional, dramatic and totally universal. A wonderful film.
RICHELLE P
Ecommerce Executive
One of the great things to come out of the pandemic....The honesty was remarkable.
Our Team
Collectively, the producers and key creative team behind Fortunate Sons have over - well, let's just say a lot! - of experience producing, writing, and directing award-winning, Hollywood feature films, television movies, and series. (Peter Jones alone, our director, has won two Primetime Emmy Awards - nominated five times - and a prestigious Peabody Award.) More details on The Team page.
