Carbon Trace Productions
Spring 2021 Podcast

Episode 3 – April

Host: Katherine Saltkill
With guests: Taye Taye and Shannon Cay
Producer and Editor: Katherine Saltkill

In this episode, the third of Spring 2021, our host Katie Saltkill interviews directors and producers from Carbon Trace documentaries – both past and current. You will hear her speak with director Taye Abithi Taye from the documentary film “Souriyat,” followed by an interview with Carbon Trace Productions’ Executive Director, Shannon Cay. Katie and Shannon discuss the intricacies of running a nonprofit film company.

For more information on our documentary films visit carbontrace.org, and our Youtube channel for access to all our works.

*Transcript*

Katherine Saltkill  0:00  

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Carbon Trace Productions spring podcast. Once again, I’m your host, Katie. And if this is your first time tuning in to our podcast, this is kind of where you can find out more about our nonprofit mission. Some of the work that we do documentaries, humanitarian spotlights, old ones, new ones, everything in between. If you like this episode, and you’re interested in checking out some of our older ones, you can find those any time on our Spotify, or on our website, carbon trace.net. That’s also where you can find out more about: if you want to volunteer to work with us, donate, sign up for our newsletter, or anything like that. It’s all right there online at CarbonTrace.net. With all that being said, I’m really excited to just jump right in now. So let’s get started.

 

Souriyat Trailer  1:16  

“Every day, there is a miracle come true. Every day with every single detail. When you find out like someone comes through the store, he can’t he has been through a lot. And he when he walks out, he walks out walking on his feet. ” – Souriyat

 

Katherine Saltkill  1:48  

Okay, so what we just tried playing was a little snippet from the trailer Souriyat, which is a carbon trace short documentary that was released 2017 2018 and is about the Syria across borders, charity. And now I have the absolute pleasure of introducing my first guest, Taye Taye, and he is going to tell us a little bit about this area across borders, charity and what working on this project was like, Taye, it is so great to have you here. How are you doing? 

 

Taye Taye  2:22  

I’m doing good. Thanks for asking. Back in Kansas City at the moment, so it’s good to see friends and family, especially after the call quarantine for a full, full year. So I’m doing more than good. 

 

Katherine Saltkill  2:32  

That’s awesome. I have you here today to talk with me about “Souriyat Across The Border”. How did you first find out about that charity? 

 

Taye Taye  2:42  

Yeah, there we are caught wind of a medical mission connection between the crisis in Syria at the time, I think it was 2016 2017. And a resident medical professional at Missouri State or maybe he was just doing some talks at Missouri State. And through a decline and another Missouri State faculty member, we kind of orchestrated this documentary mission – with me Shane, Shannon for one of them, and Andy – to go over to Jordan, where there were displaced Syrians. I’m not sure if they were just Syrians; it was a lot of different ethnicities within Jordan. So many that there’s actually like a newly formed almost city in the northern part of Jordan called Edlin, which might go the way of another city in Jordan that was actually formed after Palestinians have been displaced to that degree in the past. But while we were there, there was a trip at SAMS, the Syrian American Medical Society, the group that had put together the whole medical mission. They took us on a trip to this place called Souriyat Across Borders, this rehab facility created by five Syrian women in Amman, Jordan. And I just, you know, that kind of stuff just fills your heart like and, you know, too, you gotta imagine, in like 2016-2017 be pretty disillusioned. And after the election, and… you know- just- you know, it’s easy to forget that there are more good guys than bad guys in the world. But that trip kind of had a counterintuitive effect on me. You know, being so close to trauma and all the effects of a lot of the bad stuff in the world actually, kind of filled me with a little bit of hope. It’s not just people just taking notice of bad things, it’s actually people who got up off their couch to make themselves actively uncomfortable for no financial gain. Just to help people. So, you know, I can’t really do much- I wouldn’t- you know, in times like those, I wish I was like a civil engineer or a medical professional. I can’t actually help, but I knew I could make good content. I was watching a lot of their promotional videos and I thought, like, this needs to meet the quality of the care and everything that’s- that’s there. So I just more than anything- it was going to be a promotional video or just some sort of material for them to use in the future. But I’m not sure if the idea came from one of them that maybe it could be a little bit of a short doc. And so I made them some content that they could use, and then kind of did my best to kind of put together something that can kind of capture the feeling of what it was like to be there and maybe tell the stories of some of the people there. So that’s how that came about. 

 

Katherine Saltkill  5:19  

So personally, why do you feel like bringing awareness to this topic? And this charity is so important?

 

Taye Taye  5:28  

And it- it- it was- My understanding is, I think it was a nonprofit organization. They would definitely take donations and probably had steady income. But, um, why did I think it was important? 

 

Katherine Saltkill  5:44  

That’s the question I always ask. Sometimes it stumps people. 

 

Taye Taye  5:47  

Yeah, it’s a yes, stuff that just seems kind of self-evident, you don’t really think about it too much. You know, it’s just all the motivations, all the incentives, that’s probably a better word, all the incentives in media is to really follow the money. And that kind of leads you into places that I guess the language I like to use is the language from a book called “Finite and Infinite Games”, I think James Carse might be one of the authors of that book. But a lot of the normal incentives in America in the world kind of lead you down the finite role of just, you know, trying to chase status and money and all that kind of stuff, some of the stuff that I’m normally motivated by so like, it’s, I do my best to kind of pull myself out of that and kind of want to direct some of my skills into being more of an infinite player. So like a finite player is more interested in time-constrained, kind of like status type stuff. And an infinite player is more interested in making sure that other players get to play the game. And when I talk about the game, I’m talking about the game of life in a more fair and safe way. And being the infinite player usually doesn’t give you a lot of the tangible like material benefits and everything like that. But it just, you know, you just feel better about the time spent, I think, and I’m trying to put it in the most technical way possible. I don’t know. It just kind of helps me how my path like conquering my own ego, because like, I’m right now it’s, you know, just trying to navigate my career and all that kind of stuff. It’s definitely something that’s on my mind a lot. Yeah. It’s just a good idea to kind of as much as you can live for others. I definitely care about the opinion of my peers within media, like I definitely want to be held in high esteem and to do yeah, I mean, to the degree that it can be impactful. Like, that would be great. But you know, especially after like last year, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with just purely entertaining people. So, but yeah, just making sure that I do more for us then than me, and I’m rarely disappointed whenever I, you know, allocate my time in that way. 

 

Katherine Saltkill  7:34  

So you were the director for Souriyat- Is that right? What was that like? Were- Had you been a director on anything before? Was this your first time directing? I know, obviously, had to travel for it. So what was the experience like?

 

Taye Taye  7:51  

It’s, it was my first time. Yeah, directing a documentary, which is, because I had been an editor a lot longer before that. And it’s almost just like editing the whole way through, except you’re just actually editing when you’re editing. So like, in my mind, I’m just comfortable with maybe just letting cameras linger and just searching for something and not necessarily knowing this, that everything I’m shooting is going to be part of the thing. So. So that’s kind of how I thought about what I thought about it with the documentary, I had done some, just a little bit of narrative work and some music videos before that. But uh, the main mission of the whole thing was the medical mission and to cover that getting the material for that, and I was able to sneak away and get back to the facility because I think it was the second time that we actually returned, it was, it was the first time that we had gotten there in April that I was introduced to them, wasn’t able to make any time for it. And then we came back for a second time in June. And I made it a point to get over there. And they were actually switching facilities. And the Luckily, they had been introduced to me. And it made it way easier for them to kind of, you know, kind of, you have to kind of disappear a little bit with the camera to kind of get natural moments. So like it kind of made it easier for them to kind of just carry on after because you know, they get a lot of visitors but returning visitors, I just thought it was really cool to come back a second time and actually feel like you know, I was a friend.

 

Katherine Saltkill  9:09  

So there’s a lot of great experiences and memories that I’m sure you have, especially from going twice, but it’s only a five minute film and there’s only so much you can fit in that amount of time. So what would you say your favorite part of, of working on the film was? And is there anything that you wish maybe could have been mentioned more?

 

Taye Taye  9:32  

I mean, there’s- there’s one experience where I finally been able to show them what I hoped they could use to be their new introductory material and kind of either show for orientations of new people or groups of people coming in or for outreach. And they they enjoyed the video. I just remember that being huddled around the phone and kind of laughing about each other’s shots and all that kind of stuff. So I thought that was that was great. But as far as content in the movie, or the short… um, I’m so removed from it, I was even watching it recently and it’s hard for me to remember some of the stuff that might have been cut out or some of the potential in it’s now that I’ve, like made a feature in Amman, like a another Documentary Feature, you kind of get better at noticing some value in places that maybe you didn’t in the past. So nothing, nothing comes to mind. But yeah, it’s, it’s, I mean, on some level, like, it’s just, you know, I feel like people might enjoy just  knowing that there’s some effort and care being put into the mission, the outcome, like, you know, five minute video or just a promotional video, it’s kind of like, you know, not going to not going to really do much or change much, but just I just remember walking in there a second time. And it was by myself! T he first time I had gone in there it was with a whole crew medical mission or whatever the people second time, it’s just me and I’m wondering, like, I don’t know what I’m gonna, you know, I can’t speak Arabic I can. There’s only one English speaker there, whatever, “whatever am I gonna do?” I just show up and everybody’s a fr iend. Everybody recognizes me, I recognize them. And I just, I was just- I mean, just that alone… I remember thinking that was that was pretty cool.

 

Katherine Saltkill  11:26  

That’s awesome! That’s so cool! 

 

Taye Taye  11:29  

Yeah. 

 

Katherine Saltkill  11:30  

So from what you can remember, you got to mention everything that you wanted to put in there? For the most part. Would you do a second one if you could?

 

Taye Taye  11:45  

I would. Yeah, I would do a second one on why it’s no longer in its current form. I don’t know if it’s transformed, it’s something else, or it just doesn’t exist anymore. But I would I would maybe do something on that, because I feel like that might, that could be actually a good I’m not sure what the word is. But just a good way to kind of get across that, that this very big traumatic thing has happened and 10 years on, it seems like it’s not really something that the global community is really aware of, or interested in. And I wonder whether or not they maybe their funding streams kind of fizzled out or, or, who knows, maybe they achieved their their mission to a degree that they felt like that it didn’t make sense maybe having it there anymore. And maybe SAMS found a different way to kind of incorporate it into some of the things that they’re doing in. And I think it’s Italy, but it could be a different city. But , uh, I know that I know that some of the people on I know are not necessarily in that project anymore.

 

Katherine Saltkill  12:49  

I know, since you directed Souriyat, you’ve kind of amiably parted ways, so to speak, with Carbon Trace to pursue your career out in San Francisco. So with that being said, I’m not sure how involved you are still with Carbon Trace. Do you mind telling us a little bit about what that journey has been like for you?

 

Taye Taye  13:16  

Yeah, it was actually Richmond, California! They’re- the Bay Area consists actually… Bay Area is kind of like Kansas City. It’s kind of hard to determine, like, what is and isn’t Kansas City. But the Bay Area is my understanding is it’s Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and I think Vallejo. But I was in Richmond, California, just on top in Berkeley. And it- for a lot of personal reasons. But mainly being that Carbon Trace was, like nice enough to kind of let me still be a part of a lot of what was going on, but maybe do it remotely if necessary. Which just makes me so happy. But, uh, because I really care about, I really care about some of those people. And I feel like there’s only going to be cooler stuff that we get into in the future. But the- if I said that- if I said I had a plan, I’d be lying. It was, you know, I had family and like, just one family member and a couch out there. And I kinda… This is all like, that whole time period is all in the shadow of Trump and that election and everything like that. It’s like, you know, I just, you know, it’s hard for me to put myself in that mindset anymore and figure out really what the hell I was even thinking just going out there but I really enjoyed myself and made some connections with some Missouri State Alumni out there. Kinda made some interesting work. Made what I think are some lifelong friends. I’m not sure if I, you know, necessarily put like push my career in any, you know, good meaningful directions, but as a person I feel like I grew a lot. And I still- I mean, it’s weird because documentaries were never on my map when I first went to Missouri State, but like, I’m about five years out from when I graduated. And the only thing I’ve added is music videos. Like, it’s I like documentaries that much to where like, I’m only doing music videos and documentaries at the moment. Documentaries, I feel like, are going to be a part of my life for the rest of the rest of my days.

 

Katherine Saltkill  15:23  

That’s awesome! So you are still involved with carbon trace, even with the distance?

 

Taye Taye  15:29  

I am, I’m part of the creative board. There, once I get settled down, I’m sure there’ll be some editing work that I can definitely help out with editing. I mean, that’s one of the few good things that have come out of the quarantine is the development of remote work and kind of the infrastructure behind that. So like, it’s, it’s I doubt I even need to be in the country to really get tapped in and kind of help out with anything on the editing side. But uh, yeah, but once you’re in there, you’re never out.

 

Katherine Saltkill  15:59  

I hate to cut us short, but- before I let you go, is there anything else that you want to talk about? You want to mention, be it about Souriyat, or Carbon Trace, or current projects or anything else you want to mention?

 

Taye Taye  16:18  

I want to mention, just you know, the there’s- there’s this saying that “the sword that doesn’t bend, breaks.” And I kind of I remember being in film school and kind of saying people who are kind of like stuck and rigid into what they intended to be and wanted to do when I first got into film school. And documentaries definitely were like, was not on my map. I don’t know why I just thought it was… I’m not gonna say I had negative connotations about it in my head, I- there was nothing! Like I just wasn’t even on my map! And Andy, who I consider like the media Bill Nye, like, he’s just like- it’s impossible to listen to him for more than five minutes without being inspired to do something that you had no intention of doing before. But like it turned into, like, you know… I love food. I love traveling. I love helping people. I love camera work. And it’s just a perfect confluence of all the things that I love about the world. Except for money, no! I’m just joking, no. (laughs) But uh, but yeah, like, it’s, it’s it turned out I mean, it’s just incredible. So definitely be open to opportunities. And, and it can only help I think in the end some of the stuff that you want to do, which I think it has so. So be a little bit more flexible and open opportunities, and you’ll be surprised what happens.

 

Katherine Saltkill  17:33  

Well, it’s been absolutely wonderful getting to speak with you. And I’m so excited that I’ve had this opportunity to, to learn a little bit more about the background of Souriyat, and meet you, and see what your journey has been like. It’s been a real pleasure getting to talk with you.

 

Taye Taye  17:51  

I appreciate you.

 

Katherine Saltkill  17:58  

I want to take just a moment now to give a special thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon. What we do here at Carbon Trace wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the support, and the help, and the love from viewers like you guys. So if you want to join us on our journey- get, like, access to sneak peeks and merchandise and maybe some tickets to some of our films, things like that. You can become a member of our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. That’s patreon.com/carbon trace.


Katherine Saltkill 18:43

Now I’m really happy to have the opportunity to talk to Shannon Kay of Carbon Trace Productions. She is the executive director. I’m really happy that you’re here! How are you doing? What’s been going on?  

 

Shannon Cay  18:55  

I’m just happy to be here with you, Katie. I’m just really proud of the work that you’ve done so far. And so now I’m like, really excited to hear what this podcast is going to be all about.

 

Katherine Saltkill  19:05  

Oh, that makes me so happy. That makes me really happy to hear. But that’s like enough about me. We we have you here. You’re the guest. I want to hear from you. So what you’re the executive director at Carbon Trace. So can you tell me a little bit about what that job is?

 

Shannon Cay  19:22  

Yeah, so I mean, jokingly we say that I am the lead cat herder. So I am the one who is just making sure everybody’s like go into the right places and where they are where they need to be. But really the job and executive director is a whole lot more than that. Not only am I taking on like all the administrative work to keep Carbon Trace afloat. Financials, I’m meeting with the board members- I’m really trying to do everything possible, so that way Carbon Trace can be like the best team we can be. I am like the person who makes the function flow for the company.

 

Katherine Saltkill  20:00  

Okay, how long have you been in that position?

 

Shannon Cay  20:04  

I have been in this position now for about two years. However, I’ve been like with Carbon Trace as an employee for almost three years. But Carbon Trace, as a whole, we’ve been working together as a team for six, almost seven, years now.

 

Katherine Saltkill  20:18  

Okay, so how did you guys, if you have all been working together for that long, how did you come together and make Carbon Trace? What’s the origin story?

 

Shannon Cay  20:25  

Yeah, so carbon trace productions started- Really, it kind of started in 2013, when Andy came to Shane Franklin, our creative director and I, and said, instead of writing a book for this academic thing, I want to make a movie instead. And we said, okay, well, we can probably help you because we have some broadcast experience. So we work together with a couple other students who had some film experience. And we created this film called “Downtown.” And we really love “Downtown.” It’s not- it’s our first movie. So, you know, cut us some slack if you do end up watching it out there. But it was exciting because it took a lot of like really nitty gritty detail oriented information and turned it into something that was much more palatable. Essentially, the film was about, like, how you can create a city to where people, like, are forced to interact with each other. And that’s something that everybody here at Carbon Trace really believes. It’s like, now, part of our core values, really. We believe that, like, if more people can learn the stories of other people, then they would definitely feel more sympathetic and empathetic. And they would be able to relate to problems that are going on in our world better.

 

Katherine Saltkill  21:40  

I completely agree. And I think- I think that’s really good point that you brought up about, like, being sympathetic and empathetic of others. And I think a lot of times like in today’s world, people confuse those two things for being like the same. And they’re not. So I think that’s really cool. So where- If anybody wanted to see that film, Where could they watch it?

 

Shannon Cay  22:03  

you can always go to carbon trace.org. We have all of our like links and information there. And that’s going to be the best place to find all the information about carbon trace.

 

Katherine Saltkill  22:14  

Okay, cool. What kind of other projects have you worked on since then?

 

Shannon Cay  22:19  

Well, I mean, we have done a lot of different things. Since we first started that film. We have done smaller works that really, I don’t know if we would call them short films, because they’re only like two or three minutes. But you know, we worked for several years, just kind of building up our chops. Eventually, we built up our chops to where we were hired on to go to Amman, Jordan. And what we were doing is we were trying to make promotional content for the Syrian American Medical Society. It’s the first time I’ve ever traveled internationally, so-

 

Katherine Saltkill  22:58  

And it’s funny you bring that up, too, because the first half of this podcast, I actually interviewed Taye about that project.

 

Shannon Cay  23:04  

Taye Taye is very near and dear to my heart! So I hope that was a good, and I’m sure it was a good!

 

Katherine Saltkill  23:10  

Yeah, he’s he’s such a sweet kid.

 

Shannon Cay  23:12  

And so- So anyway, that was a very big bonding, like, experience for Taye, Shane, Andrew, and myself. So we did this promotional work for the Syrian American Medical Society, and we came back and not only were we able to do that work for them, but then we were also able to make a short film Souriyat, which is I’m sure what you talked about with Taye. And that’s what really like lit the fire to be like Carbon Trace can exist as a company! We really can band together and make this our careers. And it’s, I don’t know if other people out there know, but it is pretty hard to like have a media career in the Midwest. So we felt like that was a good goal to reach. And then by 2017, we incorporated as like a company, we got not for profit status from the state in that regard. And then in 2019, we became a 501 c three federally, and that’s when I started working full time for Carbon Trace.

 

Katherine Saltkill  24:21  

Okay, cool. So how much has- How much would you say your team has grown since then? Because it sounds like you started out just like, the core like you, Shane, Andy, and-

 

Shannon Cay  24:32  

And Taye! Yeah, it was really us four for a long, long time. However, we’ve always had volunteers who have really cared about the cause for a long time. And we’re relying on our volunteers. I mean, that’s one of the main reasons we are a not for profit is because part of our main job is like taking students and teaching them the art of documentary film. Like, that’s another one of our pillars. So what we’ve been able to Do is like, we used to have just one or two volunteers. But now we have upwards of 15 volunteers at any point in time that we can, like, call or rely on. And while we may not have all of them working directly on a project, they all check back in and ask how they can help and lend a hand. And I don’t know, that feels really gratifying, because it makes me feel like we’re actually doing something that’s worthwhile.

 

Katherine Saltkill  25:22  

Yeah. And it’s more than just like, you’re working together on a job, I feel like, at least from my experience being here, you start to build friendships.

 

Shannon Cay  25:31  

Well, and you kind of have to, um, with documentary film, like… you are together! Your personalities really have to mesh because you’re spending a lot of time together. Making a film is not just when you’re there on set, there is a lot more involved in the beginning and in the aftermath. So you need to be comfortable with your team members. And frankly, you need to be able to really trust your team members. And that’s what this time and all these tribulations like, that’s why we’re so close. Because we trust each other.

 

Katherine Saltkill  26:07  

If you had to pick like, I’m sure you’ve worked with, like so many people on so many projects over the years. If you had to pick like a favorite experience or project that you’ve gotten to work on with Carbon Trace, what- what do you think that would be?

 

Shannon Cay  26:27  

You know, recently, we had “Songs From the Street” come out last year. And it was a world that I just really had not been tapped into before. Seeing how many folks that are unsheltered here in Springfield, we have all we’ve talked before about folks being chronically homeless. But we’ve never really talked more in depth about just being unsheltered as a whole. Folks who are living in their cars, folks who are couchsurfing, you know, you’re still unsheltered. And it’s just really hard to find a balance and find your footing. And I think that songs from the street was a really great representation of having these individual like personal stories, like really show an issue and such a personal frame. I don’t know, there was just really something about that story that touched- touched something in me. And it was amazing, because we use that film as a rallying cry so that way The Connecting Grounds was then able to like promote their issues, and they were able to really make a difference in the community. And that’s because of the hard work that they do. But we were happy to be a catalyst of promoting the work that they do. 

 

Katherine Saltkill  27:46  

Yeah, I remember watching that one. And it really like, hit me right. In my heart. It was really good.

 

Shannon Cay  27:54  

And that was done by students!

 

Katherine Saltkill  27:56  

Yeah! 

 

Shannon Cay  27:56  

And that’s another thing is, like- Yes, like, that was done by Carbon Trace and definitely the students had to have a guiding hand of us. But you know, that was really their work. Well, and there’s something about like telling them like, and like you can talk to like, I mean, every single person you meet in your life is going to have an amazing story. If you talk to them long enough, I promise you. However, it’s different, like, when you just talk to somebody and then you have a personal story that reflects some sort of like a larger issue. I know that I personally get kind of overwhelmed by all of the news and all the stories and all of these, like, big ideas that I’m supposed to get. So documentary film, like, it really helps me because they’re able to, like, tell these like- one story all along to illustrate a one idea, and it becomes not so overwhelming to grasp. And so that’s another reason why documentary film, I just, it really is like a beautiful way to tell a story. And really, it’s a beautiful form of journalism.

 

Katherine Saltkill  29:09  

Yeah, I agree with that. So for like, commercial work and like taking jobs rather than just coming up- coming up with your own projects and doing them… How can people reach out to you if they wanted to hire you for work?

 

Shannon Cay  29:23  

Yeah, at Carbon trace.org we have a ‘contact us’. And from there, it’ll take you to all the information that you need. We typically ask for a little information from you, so that we can get our head around the project. And then we’ll make sure to contact you from there.

 

Katherine Saltkill  29:40  

Do you think it’s easier to work on projects that you guys have come up with yourself? Or is it easier to work on projects that you know you’re doing for someone else?

 

Shannon Cay  29:54  

It is- it’s hard because sometimes the story comes really easy and you’re “Like, yes, that’s it, that’s what we need to be following. That’s what we need to be doing.” Other times, it’s really just not that simple. We can follow, like up to 10 different people. And we know that at the end of the day, only two of those people are going to make the cut. So that’s, that’s really hard. As opposed to, like, you know, with a commercial job, you know, you know what your client wants. And so you do what your client wants and your clients happy, and you’re paid. As opposed to with the filmmaking again, you’re on your own. So you have that freedom. And, you know, we want that freedom to be able to tell the best story possible. But it’s definitely not easier. Um, I think that my favorite part of the job is, at the end of the day, when people feel like they need to have an action at the end of our film. Like, that’s how all of our films, I want people to feel like they need to take action and do something, or call someone, or go somewhere or sign a petition, or start something we want people to feel at the end of our films. And so when people like walk out of the theater, and they’re like, “man, I gotta call my council member,” that’s my favorite part of the job. It’s because I know that it landed. And that means that all that hard work we put up to that point has made it and it’s made a difference. And that person will continue thinking about our film or about the issue for days on end. And hopefully, it maybe could make some positive change in the future.

 

Katherine Saltkill  31:42  

Kind of the best of both worlds, you get to do what you love doing, and you get to help people in the process.

 

Shannon Cay  31:49  

And that’s why, you know, Carbon Trace, we are a scrappy group. You know, we are, we have very small staff. It’s really only two of us, we have a lot of dedicated volunteers. We have three fantastic interns this semester. So we have a lot of support, but it is fundraising season coming up. So I do want folks to know that carbon cruise productions is going to be hosting events all throughout the summer, as a fundraiser. And if people are interested in hosting a fundraiser at their house, we have information for them to do that. And I would encourage folks to reach out to me and talk to me because we always love to have new people come and talk to us about what we do at Carbon Trace.

 

Katherine Saltkill  32:38  

So for people that wanted to kind of like help out with donating or fundraising or contact to you to like to work with Carbon Trace or anything, you said you have lots of information about that. But where where can they find that? And how can they contact you directly? 

 

Shannon Cay  32:54  

Yeah, so my email is shannoncay@carbontrace.net. That’s s-h-a-n-n-o-n-c-a-y at carbontrace.net, you can always feel free to shoot me an email at any point in time. And like I said earlier at carbontrace.org we do have a ‘Contact Us’ form on the website and you can always reach us through there because that just goes directly in my email.

 

Katherine Saltkill  33:21  

We’ve had a very enthusiastic- Is that the right word to use? A very riveting conversation. It’s been so great to talk to you. You’re such a sweetheart. And and I’m so happy- I’m so happy with Carbon Trace. 

 

Shannon Cay  33:36  

Katie, you are so sweet. Thank you so much for having me on. Again, I just like talking about Carbon Trace Productions, because we do a lot of cool work. And so I just want everyone else to be able to see all the wonderful work we’re accomplishing here.

 

Katherine Saltkill  33:49  

Yeah, for sure. So just one more time for our listeners, where, where can they find out more? Where can they contact you? 

 

Shannon Cay  33:58  

Yeah, you just want to log online to carbon trace dot o-r-g.

 

Katherine Saltkill  34:03  

Okay! Well thank you, Shannon. It’s been so great to talk to you. I think that’s all we’ve got for today. So-

 

Shannon Cay  34:09  

Thank you for having me, Katie. I really appreciate it being here hanging out with your day.

 

Katherine Saltkill  34:24  

Okay, as we wrap up, I want to thank everyone for listening to today’s carbon trace podcast episode with me, Katherine Saltkill. Today’s episode was produced and edited by me, also. And of course another special thanks to our guests Taye Taye and Shannon Cay. If you want to find out more about Taye Taye and his work so you can check out his website tayesquared.net, that’s t-a-y-e-s-q-u-a-r-e-d dot net. And as a reminder again, if you want to contact Shannon about opportunities here at Carbon Trace, you can email her shannoncay@carbontrace.net. That’s s-h-a-n-n-o-n-c-a-y at carbontrace dot net. And if you enjoyed this episode and want to listen again, check out some older episodes, find out more about our works and services at Carbon Trace, you can visit our website directly at carbontrace.net. Other ways you can stay up to date with us is by following carbon trace productions on all social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, we’re on Vimeo, we’ve got Spotify, and of course Patreon. And you can add us on our new Snapchat carbon_trace (carbon underscore trace). And just one more time, I want to say thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon, you guys are the reason we’re able to do what we do. And if you’re not already on Patreon with us, you can become a supporter of Carbon Trace on Patreon for as little as $5 a month. And that’ll give you access to like exclusive merchandise and behind the scenes and pay per view tickets for some of our films. Just a whole bunch of fun stuff. So definitely check it out. And just thank you guys so much. Yeah, that’s all I really have for today. So, again, thanks for tuning in. And I’ll talk to you guys later.

Support Nonprofit Documentary Filmmaking:

Carbon Trace can provide significant guidance in developing, funding, producing, and distributing a documentary film. For high school students wishing to learn more about documentary filmmaking, Missouri State University offers degrees in digital filmmaking, media production, journalism, and other associated areas.

To participate in the documentary education provided through the Carbon Trace Team, we encourage you to apply for a filmmaking internship, submit a documentary idea, or apply to become a volunteer using the forms below.

Join Carbon Trace as a student volunteer

Apply for an internship

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