Ukraine Thanks “Team Whitney”

Update: January 2023
After Whitney Tilson sent an email to his Ukraine email list, we received dozens of donations in his name to buy generators for my friends in the theater and film community who are now fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine. With nearly $40,000 in tax deductible donations, we were able to buy more than a dozen portable generators and get them immediately to Bakhmut, where most of my friends are fighting. A few took time out to say thanks and show how important these portable generators are in the short video below. Thank you Whitney and to everyone who pitched in! (If you’d like to get involved, email me at chad@graciafilms.com or see below for options to donate.)

Whitney Tilson, Supporting Ukraine Since 2013

I first met Whitney in the mid 2000s, when he invited me on ski trip to Utah. I was immediately impressed with his energy and enthusiasm — it was a grand weekend. A few years later, I returned to Park City to receive the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, a film that was completed in no small part due to Whitney’s generosity. My cinematographer Artem Ryzhykov, second from right and in the video, was shot by a sniper during filming, and Whitney was among a few (including Bill Ackman’s foundation) who paid for the surgery that allowed him to eventually return to his great passion, cinematography. He went on to win Cinematographer of the Year from the International Documentary Association. Artem donated the trophy to his university, where it stands today at the entryway of the Karpenko Kari University of Cinema Studies in Kyiv. He is not only my closest collaborator, but my best friend.

Unfortunately, the film community we built in the Ukrainian countryside (including a 99 seat theater, guest houses, and a vineyard that Artem himself planted) was all destroyed when the Russians invaded. Artem, a vegan pacifist, decided to enroll in the army to protect his new family and his homeland. I’ve been trying to keep him and the rest of my staff alive during the year.

We are all burnt-out, overwhelmed, and fed up with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, if you would like to help, my team and I would be enormously grateful. Billions are being sent to Ukraine, but in many cases the help is too late or not appropriate. If you want to have a direct impact providing non-lethal aid (and make a friend in the bargain who will welcome you to Ukraine after we win the war), let me know and I’ll find someone in the country who would be a perfect match. (Alternatively, you can just make a donation here.)

Since I lived in Kyiv for six years and know a hundred defenders, you can be sure that your help will not only be 100% passed to those who need it, but that your generosity will play a role in determining whether Ukraine’s democratic experiment will succeed or fail. Some of my staff are in the video below. Thank you, Chad

Two ways to donate:
1. https://fundly.com/power-to-ukraine (small donations, faster delivery, no tax exemption).

2. For any donations over $1000, you can do so through our not-for-profit 501(c)3 sponsor Rattapallax (their mission is to promote artists, filmmakers, poets and filmmakers globally, with a focus now on Ukraine, the link below shows their tax returns since 2004 and notes that the staff takes no salaries). Since my team are all Ukrainian artists, they agreed to be our umbrella sponsor and are handling tax deduction forms, waiving fees, etc.).

You can donate with a credit card here (and see their tax forms):
https://www.guidestar.org/profile/13-4035109

If you prefer to send a check, here are details:

Mr. Ram Devineni
Attn: Whitney Tilson for Ukraine
330 3rd Ave Suite 14d
New York, NY 10010 USA

Thank you,

Chad Gracia - chad@graciafilms.com
Kyiv - Lisbon -Boston
Broker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadgracia/
Sundance-Prize Winning Filmmaker: http://www.russianwoodpecker.com/reviews