Reaching Out to Historians and Mayanist Scholars

In this post, I’m discussing the process of reaching out to historians and Mayanist scholars, and the importance of this practice to our developing graduate film concept. To achieve a level of accuracy and respect in our animated depiction of the ancient Maya, we decided it would be crucial to reach out to a series of historians and Mayanists. Through these emails, we would be contacting individuals with expert knowledge and understanding of the ancient Maya, and those with a strong connection to the culture. We felt that this was important to complete early on in the narrative development stages, and open a discussion with professionals with more information and an established perspective. As mentioned before, the ancient Maya have faced countless distorted depictions in Western media, painting grim pictures of religious savagery, sacrifice, and societal primitivism, echoing the false scripture written by early Conquistadors. With this newfound understanding, we wanted to reach out to several Mayanist scholars, academics, and individuals passionate about ancient Maya culture and life. 

With this, we began developing and writing up an email template that could be adapted to each individual - discussing their achievements before introducing ourselves and the project. Over the last two years, Jack and I have written countless emails and messages - and as such, we felt a level of confidence in our abilities to contact industry professionals with maturity, respect, and clarity. In the message, it was necessary to mention why we were reaching out to them specifically and their potential role on the project. Working simultaneously through a gathered set of names, we contacted 18 individuals specializing in different aspects of ancient Maya culture and myth. 

With the email, we made sure to discuss our initial direction for the project, exploring the story of the ’Hero Twins’ and mention that this is simply a potential direction, not a concrete narrative. While we both feel there is a real potential to our concept, perhaps the most exciting and impactful response this process could have is a historian discussing an alternative story to tell. We both agreed it was essential to remain open at this early stage of the project and ultimately listen to any perspective and idea these scholars and voices suggest. With the clear understanding that this is an important and culturally-significant project, listening to those who better understand the culture and history will be an integral part of the research and development process.

The ultimate goal of reaching out to these individuals would be to set up a series of video calls, in which we can have a continuous conversation about the project. If we receive any responses, we will plan to develop a series of questions about their careers and the most critical aspects they feel should be focused on and presented in a short animated film depicting the ancient Maya. Beyond these initial interviews, we both recognize the appeal of having continuous contact with a historian and Maya voice. With this, we would want to have a consistent source of feedback on our ideas throughout to the project timeline - potentially involving them on a larger scale, operating as a research supervisor, and reflecting on our own potential biases as two Western creators.  Working on the film without this guidance would ultimately feel disrespectful, and we hope to work with these individuals in order to develop the project.