Shameless

Writing for nothing, a concept I'm exploring with this new blog, is not something to consider lightly. Being a freelancer, if I don't get commissioned, I don't earn any money, so writing for nothing potentially removes precious minutes, even hours away from my usual bacon hunting activities.

It also takes time away from my family as writing for nothing doesn't magically add a couple of hours to my days.


So how to make this endeavour worthwhile? Obviously, I don't have the answer, as if I did, I wouldn't consider that I'm writing for nothing!

I thought about putting Google adds on this blog and even registered to have my application considered. However, since I did this just when Blogger went kablooee, the little Google robots that were used to check on my site's content couldn't access it. I was therefore turned down and I've failed to find a re-apply button.

Ignoring the irony that one Google department didn't know that another had gone into meltdown, maybe it was a blessing in disguise: I don't tend to like ads myself (although I reserve the right to add them should I get desperate!).

So having removed the possibility of earning pennies by selling my soul to an advertiser, I looked around and realised that I do have something to sell: it just so happens that two of my products have only now been approved by amazon.com and are now available on their digital shelves.

Which products are these? Films.

My wife and I are independent filmmakers, having founded Amazon Films (no relation) back in 2000. We mostly do our own work, and we have various channels on YouTube to organise and categorise our projects.

For instance, if you're looking for news reports, check out these short films.

Or if you're interested to see our community-driven videos, have a look here.

If you know a little about New Zealand politics, you'll love our satirical show Beehave.

All of the above are short films, ranging from one to ten minutes in length. But the ones I mentioned earlier are not shorts. One's an hour-long documentary and the other a feature-length comedy.

First, we have "YAM - Anything that just grows by itself shouldn't be illegal", a film about a woman, fearful of HRT, taking her health into her own hands and getting into a heap of trouble as a result.

And for a no-budget independent film, it's gotten some pretty good reviews:

“Very funny”

“Very impressive... well acted”

“A timely parable for our nanny state”

“A funny Ealing-style comedy”

“A wonderful film”

“An amazing achievement”

“The funniest and most bizarre film I’ve seen in years and years”

“Yam could very well lead people into flushing their meds down the toilet in order to take up more organic remedies for what ails them”

“You’ll certainly never look at a humble, common or garden root vegetable in the same way ever again”

You can check out our two trailers below:

Next we have "birth-trust - is it possible for the holistic and medical models of birth to join", covering the first conference of the Holistic Birth Trust Foundation and featuring Ina May Gaskin, author of 'Spiritual Midwifery', and founder member of The Farm, a long-standing community in which birth practises were allowed to re-evolve, with amazing results, and Yehudi Gordon, well-known Obstetrician and advocate of natural birth.

“Stimulating, heartening and moving by turns”

“Skilfully filmed so that you feel as if you are part of the proceedings”

“A rare opportunity to share the insight, experience, and vision of birth practitioners and mothers”

“Honest, engaging and inspiring”

Here's a trailer for that one:

I've therefore added two links, to the right of every page, just beneath "Rent or Buy". Click on them and you'll be taken to amazon.com where you'll be about to rent a digital copy for only US$1.99, or even better, buy one for just US$9.99.

Let's see if shamelessly advertising one's own products in order to earn an honest living will work in the digital age!