From the Director’s Chair
At the hands of governments everywhere – local, state, and federal – we’ve been losing our freedoms for decades. The Free State Project is the best chance we have for Liberty in Our Lifetime (the slogan of the FSP). This film, about the many awesome qualities of New Hampshire, has the potential to inspire thousands of pro-liberty activists to sign up for the FSP. After the goal of 20,000 signers is achieved, we’ll have triggered the signers to make the move to New Hampshire within five years.
I found out about the FSP in 2007 while watching a video of Ron Paul speaking at the FSP’s annual NH Liberty Forum. After doing some research to find out what the FSP was, I thought, “well, that sounds like a great idea, but there’s no way I’m moving to New Hampshire.” Three years later, I made the move from sunny Southwest Florida… with no job and no place to live. Now, I’ve never been happier and I’ve never been more financially secure.
Over those three years, I watched YouTube videos of these inspiring, brave people in NH who were doing things that I’d never dare do: engage in peaceful civil disobedience. Pete Eyre and Jason Talley (based out of NH) drove around the country with Motorhome Diaries; citizen journalist Dave Ridley filmed and interviewed cops, bureaucrats and legislators; and William Kostric defiantly open-carried at an Obama rally, then calmly nailed a live interview on MSNBC with a furious Chris Matthews who was practically foaming at the mouth – a video that would make any libertarian smile!
I’d also heard of pro-liberty legislative victories and how much easier it was to get elected in NH than it was in Florida (or any other state, for that matter). I’d much rather support candidates that I like if I know they actually have a chance of winning. One of the stories I remember was about a guy who made a sign, stood on a busy street corner for a month or two, and won a seat as a State Representative.
Perhaps most of all, I was inspired by this incredibly simple, concise, well written list of awesome facts: the 101 Reasons to Move to New Hampshire. Reading it over and over again helped convince me to join the FSP. After I made the move, I was lucky enough to help check, update and modify the list with two new friends who’d also just made the move (Joe from Maryland and Kyle from Arizona). We weren’t the first to modify it and we weren’t the last either (other people have updated it since our version was submitted).
My love for the FSP is matched by my love for documentary films. I’ve probably watched a hundred documentaries on YouTube, Netflix, and DVD. When my thirst for knowledge is combined with the Great American past time – watching television – you get why I naturally fell in love with documentaries.
Then, in November of 2013, I saw a Free Stater post on Facebook about documentary films. I replied, “If anybody knows anybody who’s great with video, I’d love to make a documentary film about the FSP.” Within minutes, another Free Stater replied by tagging Free Stater film maker, Beau Davis. And the rest is history.
Now, combine my love for the FSP with my love for documentary films and you can see why I’m so excited to start this film with Beau and make it available for people to watch online for free.
Together, you and I will make history with this film. I really believe that. I believe that you and I, along with Beau and many others who will help along the way, can make a film that will help earn the FSP thousands of signers for years and years to come. And when that number 20,000 is hit, it will trigger a movement that will change the world forever. New Hampshire will be, even more than it is today, a beacon of liberty that all of the world will look to for guidance.