April 5, 2014 (2014-04-05) (Sonoma International Film Festival)
Running time
82 minutes
Country
Canada
Language
English
Budget
$10,000
Taking My Parents to Burning Man is a 2014 Canadian documentary film directed by Joel Ashton McCarthy and Bryant H. Boesen that follows the latter's adventures with his 60-year-old parents at Burning Man.[1][2] It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation, journey and adventures at the "least-likely family vacation imaginable."[3]
Production
Boesen wanted to make a documentary about Burning Man to help define it for people who have never been.[4] According to Boesen, it was his parents' decision to attend Burning Man; as he was planning to shoot a documentary anyway and they were already attending, he asked if he could follow them on their first visit.[1]
Boesen approached McCarthy while the two were finishing film school to make the documentary.[5] In April 2012, after McCarthy maxed out two credit cards, the pair launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.[5][6] After successfully raising over $10,000, Kickstarter refused to deliver payment due to an "administrative glitch" and despite Boesen having proof of being a dual US/Canadian citizen.[5] The incident is incorporated into the feature.[7] In December 2012 they relaunched their campaign, this time using indiegogo and again reached their $10,000 goal.[8][9][10]
Their journey took them on a road-trip from Vancouver, British Columbia to northern Nevada in a 35-foot school bus.[1] About 40 hours of footage was shot, including on-location from August 27 to September 3, 2012, with the approval of Black Rock City, LLC.[11]
Peter Mehlman described it as, "Funny, oddly heart-warming and beautifully produced... portrays Burning Man honestly."[17] Fellow Vancouver filmmakers the Soska sisters called it, "the real spirit of Burning Man."[18] Chelsea Rush praised its depiction of the family bonding.[19] Tommy Cook, although liking it, mentions it becomes, "an exercise in creativity-shunned, where the only answer to rampant corporate greed and the monotony of the '9 to 5' is to regress back to a constant state of adolescence."[20]
