The Busking Project goes global

30 countries, 10 months, 1 goal: The first documentary about buskers. "There´s a fine line between stupidity and bravery“, Chris Smith shows his british humor talking about The Busking Project. Months later, I meet him and Belle Crawford in Bogotá: Months of living-working together and collecting terabytes of footage. Nick Broad is the one to blame: After working on the local site Undercover New York, the idea occurred in May 2010: Why don´t we go international? They came up with 40 cities for their 300-days-long-tour. One part was to be able to do as much as possible without flying. A plan, which „started off well, but is deteriorating“, admits Chris, “we still prefer to travel overland unless it´s bad for the documentary.“ With donations and their own money, the three got the budget for the expedition. The team is mostly couchsurfing with locals. But there is a price to it: “Sometimes you stay with students who love to party“, explains Belle, „and you just want to pass out on the couch.“ The artists seem to pay off all the efforts: A family in San Francisco with their clan history of street performers. Or the „Birds man“ in Rome. He was singing with his trolls voice, wearing his costume of a hat, a peak and curly white hair. „I think the variety has hit me“, adds Chris, „ the range is from begging with an instrument to being the most amazing performer who wants to be on street.“ 2012 it´s time for post-production. "It is going to be a nightmare", so Chris, "Nick is naive and thinks it takes five months, we think it takes three years. There is enough material for a narrative film, TV-series and the website, which is planned as a platform for buskers. „Maybe we should have made a documentary of cows and sheep first”, Chris takes stock of The Busking Project. If they would have had as much fun might be doubted. Maybe next time!? „Next time, we make it in a 3 years period and take breaks“, says Belle, „but now we are looking forward to simple things like a kitchen.“