Update Sam’s survival projects
Over the past months, Sam has filled me in on some of the projects that have allowed him to provide for his family without engaging in local employment. For the primary interest of supporters, let me share these insights into how Sam and family are managing to survive under current constraints in Bangkok.
[This page may be updated as I am able to add more details.]Some history of Sam’s media work
Sam has conducted media development work in Thailand under the name of EsterFilms (where Ester is the name of his oldest daughter). As I find time, I intend to fill out the larger story, but over recent months I’ve just learned a few things which I’ll summarize here.
I first learned of Sam’s involvement with movies when he described his relationship with a movie producer from the Philippines. Pre-Covid, she had conducted much business in Thailand from which Sam and EsterFilms profited. I learned that at one time consideration had been given to shooting a movie based on Sam’s story. Recently, I learned that this woman had been part of the initial contacts with Northern Lights Canada and had made the firsts test deposit to the Chuffed.org crowd-funding account in support of Sam. This was the start of raising the $35,500 now sitting in our Regina trust account awaiting the family’s arrival.
I’m currently not well-informed of how this media business has been conducted over the years, but Sam has worked with a number of companies generating advertising spots for products. (I may add more images here later showing some of Sam’s past work.)
A movie shoot in 2022
About a year ago, Sam secured movie parts for Nipa and children. They spent a week in a hotel, all expenses paid, to be conveniently available for shooting. Such opportunities have helped sustain the family. (I have images from this, too, which I’ll locate and post.) After this shoot, Sam raised the possibility of making personal contributions to his own refugee fund-raising project. Stephen Watt, however, made very clear to Sam that this is prohibited under Canadian guidelines.
Sam has told me of recent projects on which he has submitted bids without success. This type of income is far from being stable, but when successful, it may generate significant income.
Most recent project I am following
In just the last couple weeks, Sam has been active on another project. Screenshots I just received yesterday (January 22) are included below detailing some of the dialogue between him and the company he is working with.
EsterFilms as a key to survival
To better support these types of projects, Sam says he is working with old computer equipment that is only minimally functional for his needs. I’ve asked him to outline what he might need to upgrade or replace equipment so as to be better equipped. This might constitute some special appeal.
Postnote:
As of the end of January, Sam informed me this initiative has not achieved success. It is a major disappointment and simply underlines the precarious nature of income support problems for Sam and family.
For the fuller story of Sam, Nipa, and family:
First published: 2023/01/23
Latest update: 2023/02/18