David Feherty stands in front of what he calls "Victor's Gallery" in his Dallas home. Artist Victor Juhasz’s work with Feherty has extended beyond magazine pages to collaborations involving Feherty-initiated charities including raising funds for wounded veterans and youth in need. (David Woo/Staff photographer)
Everyone loves David Feherty — The Broguish Voice of CBS Golf, Best Ticket Guest Ever, teller of difficult truths and, possibly, the world’s luckiest unluckiest cyclist. And, as our Barry Horn noted in May, there’s his work with the Troops First Foundation, which provides assistance to military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. So what have you done today?
Anyway. While browsing through the latest local Kickstarters today, I found this one with but a week left: Feherty’s plea for a small fortune ($635,000), which he needs for a film series aimed at documenting the lives of 10 soldiers. (Each film, he notes, will cost around $65,000; hence, the big ask.) The series will be called Portraits of War.
“Each feature-length film will tell the story of one soldier from his or her own account,” Feherty writes. “Filmed using a technique made famous by legendary filmmaker Errol Morris, the interviews with each soldier will make it feel like they are personally telling you their story one on one. The idea for this project came from hours and hours of listening to different soldiers tell stories from their time in combat or in training. The stories of their lives and what made them want to put their life on the line for this country are amazing, and every single one deserves to have their story captured. That’s obviously impossible, but we want to start with this series of ten and hopefully keep it going.”
The project was posted a few weeks ago and wraps a week from tomorrow. So far, he’s raised $16,250 — not even enough for one film, the first of which will about a Marine who “stepped on an IED in Afghanistan and suffered catastrophic wounds that only he can describe properly.” He’s hoping to get this done by the end of next year. But first, he’ll need your pocket change.
His pitch is below, along with an excerpt from the work-in-progress. The man makes a compelling case, because, after all, he’s David Feherty.