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Kickstarter Campaign, Featuring Mick Foley as Santa Claus, Meets Goal

'I Am Santa Claus' filmmaker forges ahead, now with the funds to finish the project.

Mick Foley's obsession with Christmas has led him on a quest to portray Santa Claus – and one filmmaker has captured him, along with five other such Santa Claus figures, in a new documentary called "I am Santa Claus."

Now, that documentary has wrapped up a Kickstarter campaign that raised $51,326 – more than its its initial $40,000 goal – to finish up the production process with animation, music, sound and other facets of production, and send the completed project to film festivals in 2014.

In his introduction to the project, filmmaker Tommy Avallone wrote: "We have documented an entire year in the lives of six real-bearded professional Santa Clauses to find out what the rest of the year is like for a man who perpetually looks like Jolly Saint Nick. In the process, they are shown for who they actually are: flawed, flesh and blood men who feel an overbearing responsibility to protect the integrity of the spotless, untarnished reputation of the 'Red Suit.'  'I Am Santa Claus' is a documentary that poses a question about a ubiquitous holiday figure that few parents ever ask themselves; 'Whose lap is my child sitting on?'"

Foley, an East Setauket resident, is best known for his career as a World Wrestling Entertainment heavyweight champion. But he has also penned Christmas books for children, has portrayed Santa for the WWE, and has Christmas decorations as a permanent fixture in his basement.

Click here to read more about the project and view a trailer.


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