Face 2 Face (2012 American film)

In an interview given to Daily Brink during the Newport Beach Film Festival, Brooks explains how the idea for the project was born. Brooks said:

I was recovering from surgery and went into a very deep depression. I wasn't happy with my career or my personal life and I wanted a change. I had literally felt as though I had hit a brick wall and was ready to give up on life. That was when I was staring at my Facebook page in tears and looking at how many friends I had, yet I felt so alone and disconnected from the world. It was in that moment I really had an intense awakening that if I was at a point in my life where I was ready to throw in the towel, I might as well do something that scared me ... to connect with people face 2 face. And so I grabbed my flip camera in that moment and typed a status update that said the first 50 people that say YES I am coming to your town with my camera and spending a day with you. I had no idea how I was going to make it happen, I just felt an inner guidance that it was what I needed to do. Within 15 minutes I had my 50 people and it kept going and going. People were pleading for me to come to their town and I felt I wasn't the only one who craved a little human connection.[4]

After receiving responses from more than 150 friends, the first 50 people were randomly chosen and then video journals about who is part of the project and which cities she was to travel were posted on Facebook and Twitter. The next step was to raise enough money to make the project more adventurous, exciting, and successful.

Handing out Rewards for the Donations, 2011

The Kickstarter campaign lasted for over a month. From the generous donations and contributions by Brooks's friends, family, and sponsors, a total of more than $80,000 was funded successfully. The moment the campaigning began, the project raised more than $10,000 in just a week. During the campaigning, various kinds of rewards were announced and these rewards were chosen by the contributors according to the amount given. Rewards included a shout-out video, signed NOH8 photo-shoot pictures, spending a day with Brooks or a co-producer credit in the film. Also, text and video journals were posted to keep all the members updated on the progression and changes in the project.[1]

Within three weeks of the campaigning, the project was successfully funded to its target goal of $50,000. But the contributions kept going on until the last hour of the period given. During this time, different forms of planning on how the film will be shot were declared. Some included hosting a first-ever 24 hours live documentary show, traveling around the country in an RV with the Face 2 Face designs on it, beanie hats with tiny cameras fitted inside, and so on. These proposals were posted as video journals by Katherine Brooks. But these were abandoned due to the staggering expense.[5]

One of the Interviews given in a radio talk show, 2011

Ever since the idea for Face 2 Face was born, there were press releases and publicity for the project, starting during the pre-production stage. Brooks gave various interviews to newspapers and journals, such as USA Today, Examiner.com, The Saratogian, and Daily Brink. Apart from these online blogs, articles about the movie appeared in The Salem News, SheWired, and so on. Brooks also appeared on radio talk shows, where she talked about the journey of Face 2 Face and the importance of it to her life and the "Kat Pack". Shows include LA Talk Radio, CBS Sky Radio with Zoe Moon, Wakin' Up with the Wolf, and Talk Radio Europe.

In an interview given to The Saratogian, a local newspaper in Saratoga Springs, New York, Brooks described her feelings and experiences after a week of traveling around the east coast. This interview was given during her visit to one of the Facebook Friends. In the article, she says there are different types of friendships one makes in their lifetime. There are friends whom you will spend time to just have a coffee, some you keep in touch through the various social networking sites, and others you add in your speed dial. Through this journey, Brooks recounts, she had added every friend she has met in her speed dial.[7]

In another interview, Brooks explained her feelings for today's vast technological changes and her feelings on how it impacts our lives. She states:

Because you can't feel emotion through a machine. We spend more time with technology than we do with one another and I believe it's a major cause of isolation and depression. At least it was for me. I used my computer to hide from the world because I was scared of getting hurt. I'm not scared anymore and I want to inspire other people to step away from their keyboards and go connect with others.[8]

In every interview given by Brooks, she clearly states that the purpose of the movie is to show people how important it really is to take some time off from the virtual world and instead, spending time with the people that matter to us the most in life. Friendships and relationships created online can not be fully trusted as you can be vulnerable to various faults and can cause harm to oneself and to others too. Also, the human body is like a machine that desires to be touched once in a while to experience the feeling of being loved.