CLICK ABOVE TO LEARN ABOUT THE FINISHED VIDEO: CHASING THE SUN

Read this article to see how it got started. Then click on the happy folks at the left and learn more about Chasing the Sun, the completed video from the Naturist Education Foundation!

The Naturist Education Foundation is in Production with a New Video

OCTOBER 2002

     Long time Naturist Education Foundation supporter Lloyd Olson has urged NEF for years to produce a short video introducing naturism to business leaders, legislators, and those in charge of public lands. Funding for the project was proving to be a major hurdle, but when Olson himself made a sizable donation to finance the effort, NEF was able to begin the process of bringing together just the right team of people to make the idea a reality.

BENEFACTOR LLOYD OLSON

The Naturist Society (TNS) has produced many fine videos directed at naturists seeking travel information or targeting others who might consider naturist recreation for the first time. However, the new NEF video, entitled Introduction to Naturism, does not try to persuade viewers to enjoy skinny-dipping themselves, nor does it focus attention on specific naturist sites. Its unique three-part goal is to explain who naturists are, to articulate the values naturists place on family-friendly social nudity, and to convince viewers that a nearby clothing-optional site can be an asset to their community.

NEF board member Mark Storey contacted acclaimed filmmaker Edin Vélez and found him delighted to take on a naturist video project. Vélez had made the world's first commercial naturist videos beginning in 1980 after TNS founder Lee Baxandall encouraged him to direct his film-making expertise toward the international naturist experience. Vélez went on to direct nearly a dozen videos in his Skinny-Dipper series.

[Editor's note: For online information about Vélez, his non-naturist films, and his awards, see www.evelez.net.]

Storey has been working with Vélez on the script of the video and the general outline, but NEF is giving Vélez and his assistant director, Kelly Anderson, artistic latitude in crafting a persuasive and visually stunning product. Like Vélez Anderson is a university film professor and film director. Where Vélez has approached his non-naturist films as an artist, AndersonŐs documentaries often explore troubling social issues. Participants at the 2002 Eastern Naturist Gathering had the chance to meet Vélez and Anderson as they taped interviews and scenes of naturist activities.

NEF plans to make Introduction to Naturism available at a relatively low price so that naturist activists across North America may readily use it to good effect. Vélez has accepted the task of creating a fast-paced video in tune with the high-tech expectations of a TV and Hollywood- savvy audience.

Even with Olson's generous help, NEF's budget for the project is admittedly small compared with those of major studio documentaries. Nevertheless, Vélez's skill, his commitment to naturism, and his respect for Baxandall and TNS give NEF confidence that naturists will receive a valuable tool for promoting clothing-optional beaches and naturist parks.

VIDEOGRAPHER EDIN VELEZ AT WORK

Look for announcements in upcoming issues of N magazine and The Newsletter for information on how to obtain a VHS copy of this new video (DVD format to follow). Introduction to Naturism is due out late this winter.

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THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT IN THE OCTOBER, 2002, ISSUE OF The Newsletter. COPYRIGHT 2002, NATURIST EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

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