Milwaukee native turned New York resident David Gerlach has an idea inspired by cassette tapes. Remember those? Gerlach’s nonprofit multimedia startup Blank on Blank is working to collect old, recorded interviews. The mission is simple, he says. The goal is to transform interviews recorded by journalists to write stories into new multimedia such as podcasts, audio stories and animated shorts.
Gerlach launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 and collect 30 interviews in 30 days. “The money is nice,” he says. But what Gerlach is really after are the 30 videos. The campaign is at about 75 percent on the money front and more than 80 percent on the interview front with 25 interviews. Gerlach has received recorded interviews from people such as Mohammed Ali and Maurice Sendak.
Although the Kickstarter campaign ends on Monday, Gerlach says this is just the beginning. He hopes to launch localized versions of the product to create a “family album of a city.” This is especially valuable in cities where newspapers have cut staff, he says. (Cough, cough, Milwaukee?)
Gerlach brings with him several years of media experience, including stints at MSNBC and ABC News working with Rachel Maddow, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos.
Watch a sample video below:
