Flex For Foster Kids Fundraiser Showcases Video & Photography Talent From Platt College Alumni
In December of last year we shared the news with our followers that several of our Platt College Alumni were helping an amazing foundation called Linderkids. They are a local San Diego Crossfit Gym that has a goal to help foster kids through fitness. Our alumni first became involved with the foundation by volunteering their time and talents to filming and documenting their journey to break the Guinness Book world record for most pull-ups within 24 hours.
At around the 16 hour mark Ashley Hope Linder and Josh Klein, founders of the Linderkids Foundation, were unable to finish the record. However, Ashley completed just over 1500 pull ups and Josh completed approximately 2500 pull ups in 16 hours. Which if you’re like me and can barely do 1 pull up, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment! Because of their efforts they were able to raise awareness for Foster kids and provide quality crossfit training to a number of foster children in the San Diego area through the money raised.
Now our alumni Justin Edelman, David Peng Li and Joe Tamez have partnered up for yet another amazing fundraiser with the Linderkids called Flex For Foster Kids. This fundraiser is a professional photo shoot using a temperature controlled rain machine in a gym setting where you can expose your inner beast.
In preparation for the event we had the opportunity to interview Platt Alumni Justin Edelman about the test photo shoot and how his partnership with the Linderkids Foundation has evolved into such an inspiring story. To find out more on how you can get involved be sure to visit the official fundraiser website!
shootinvite from footprintfilm on Vimeo.
Natasha: You’ve been working closely with the Linderkids Foundation over the past couple months. Tell us a little bit about your partnership with them.
Justin: All through school and even today I have always felt strongly about using my skills as a filmmaker to help Non-profit organizations. They typically don’t have a budget for filming so I try to give back and help by giving them videos, photos and sometimes a website. I really like the idea of Linder Kids, I work out at a crossfit gym and understand the community and relationships that are formed in that environment. I feel that kind of community is exactly what foster children could use. I also really like the founder, Ashley, she has a very genuine heart and I believe in her vision. Its fun to be able to see how my skills can transform and improve a non-profit.
Natasha: How did you first come about working with them? Were they people you already knew, or did they seek you out?
Justin: Ashley is a coach at the gym I work out at. She asked me to consult with her on how to film for a Guinness world records attempt and I offered to help with a video strategy. Which led into me working with her on building their website. Which then led to me helping with the photography for the website. It was somewhat of a domino effect.
Natasha: Your recent photo shoot with the Linderkids team was just a test shoot, but the photos were too epic not to share. What was your inspiration for this first shoot?
Justin: After seeing Ashley’s grueling attempt to break a world record for pull ups in 24 hours to raise money for foster children I was inspired to help her with a future fundraiser. I had seen this post on petapixel and instantly I thought this would be perfect for helping to raise money for Linder Kids. I contacted Ben Von Wong and got his good grace to use his shoot idea for the fundraiser. I also was inspired by the Noh8campaign, which I partook in when they were running it. I thought we could use a similar concept for LinderKids. Then I contacted Alumni Joe Tamez who is very talented at strobe photography to see if he was interested in collaborating, which of course he was.
Natasha: What were some of the challenges you encountered with the photoshoot?
Justin: There is a lot of water involved and requires a major set up to make this kind of shoot happen. Normally something like this would cost thousands of dollars but we have a lot of the gear and are using low cost items from home improvement stores.
Natasha: You collaborate pretty closely with several other Platt College students and alumni, who are they and what do they help out with on shoots like this one?
Justin: I love working with some of the alumni from Platt College. David Downes and I have worked on a lot of projects over the years, he is a major player in many of the projects that I have done. David Peng Li and I actually work together on a daily basis, he edits for me full time. Joe Tamez and I took many of the same video production classes at Platt and we also both have a passion for photography. The caliber of student from Platt is incredible. Our education really shaped us into becoming extremely versatile media artists.
Natasha: What type of gear is a ‘must have’ for this type of photo shoot?
Justin: I made a DIY rainmaker which is temperature controlled! As for the rest of the gear, a strobe set, cameras, work station etc. We are really looking forward to this project and can’t wait to give everyday people the opportunity to get an epic photo taken of them all for a good cause.
