KICKSTARTER: Buffalo Hates You Too: A Love Story

You’ve been there before. You’re out of town for business or vacation, tell someone you’re from Buffalo, and you’re met with pity or an insult. Often, after being told what your own town is like by someone who has never been here, you’ll try to defend it and thus yourself because you choose to live here by listing off what’s great about the people, the summers, the affordability, the food, etc. That person will most likely walk away thinking you’re just crazy.It’s time we took a new attitude when met with a negative response to your hometown. How about flipping that jerk the bird and letting them know they should stay out because we don’t want any more people moving here and ruining the awesome thing we’ve got!

Buffalo filmmaker John Paget has put together some beautiful short pieces that promote Buffalo for all it has to offer. They’re viewed and shared widely within circles that are familiar with our town, and often dismissed as propaganda by those that are not as evidenced by the comments on YouTube, for example.

It has inspired John to cut the fluff and make something more real about our town. Buffalo Hates You Too: A Love Story (BHU2) will not be another 5-10 minute video. This will be a full-length feature film. Creating for global distribution, the team seeks to share the struggles and victories that occur when a Rust Belt city starts to turn the corner. There will be real stories, and also some humor mixed in that allows us to embrace our stereotypes in the same way that Portlandia has been able to do so well.

“I think it’s critical that Buffalo gets to tell its own story. Having lived here for 10 years, I’ve fallen in love with who Buffalo is and what it stands for. This film will give us a chance to challenge national perception about what Buffalo has to offer. With the support of our Kickstarter backers, we’ll be able to dive in to filming. We’re excited to invite Buffalo to be a part of this project,” says Paget.

John is teaming up with writer and producer Eric Porterfield in order to get this full-length feature film running. The project is in need of your support as they try to hit their goal on kickstarter this month. Please check out the page, make a donation, and share this post if you’d like to see a project like this succeed here in Buffalo. If, after watching, you would like to know more, meet the entire team this Thursday, July 9, at the Pop-In on Grant Street from 5-7P to chat film, Buffalo, and enjoy some food and drink.

WATCH KICKSTARTER VIDEO HERE. See you Thursday!