18th Annual Pro Video Show
February 14, 2008
The 18th Annual Pro Video Show (hosted by the Camera Company with the participation of the Boston FCP User Group, SMPTE/NE, and NPVA/NE) will be held Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, 2008 at Stonehill College (Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex) in Easton, Massachusetts. This popular annual event provides two days of informative workshops, seminars, and equipment demonstrations, with lots of opportunities to check out the latest gear. I will be presenting three seminars at the show you might be interested in attending:
- Web Video 2.0: Delivering Your Video Online (Friday, March 07, 1:00PM - 3:00PM, $25.00)
- Art of the Interview: Strategies and Techniques for Better Video Interviews (Saturday, March 08, 9:00AM - 11:00AM, $25.00)
- Interview Lighting: Professional Results On A Tight Budget (Saturday, March 08, 1:00PM - 3:00PM, $25.00
Doing Your Doc: NALIP Seminar comes to Boston Jan 11-13, 2008
January 5, 2008
Kick-Start Your Documentary at DOING YOUR DOC: DIVERSE VISIONS, REGIONAL VOICES, a Weekend Seminar presented by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) that takes place on January 11 - 13, 2008 in the Bartos Theatre at the MIT Media Lab (20 Ames Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts). This intensive 3-day workshop will provide an opportunity for documentary filmmakers to work with story consultant Fernanda Rossi, author of the book “Trailer Mechanics,” plus receive project mentoring on your proposal, trailer or documentary idea. Whether you are just starting out, have already shot footage on a documentary project, or are seeking finishing funds, this seminar designed especially for media makers in the diverse communities of New England, will prepare you to receive production funding and apply to national professional programs while developing your unique stories and views. For more information visit www.nalip.org/nalip/NALIP-Programs-DYD.html This seminar will also be held on January 25-28, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia if you can’t make it to Boston and want to attend.
Kaltura: Wiki meets YouTube by way of Yochai Benkler
December 11, 2007
One of the most interesting presentations at the Web Video Summit today was Shay David, Chief Technology Officer of Kaltura, talking about their business, which they summarize in one phrase as “Wiki meets YouTube.”
Their site provide a set of tools that allows groups of users to collaborate online in the creation and remixing of rich media. They are capturing the synergy between two macro trends, peer production and video sharing. Kaltura offers an SDK and is engaging partners to build collaborative video authoring capabilities into their sites. Among their goals is to build the largest network of remixable materials. I think this would be of interest to video journalists, documentary filmmakers, and mission based organizations. I also find it very interesting that Shay is inspired by the ideas of shared cultural production which have been eloquently articulated by Yochai Benkler.
Trade is more important than aid
October 29, 2007
One of the greatest things that developed nations can do to help developing nations is engage in fair trade, and given that coffee is the most valuable commodity we trade worldwide after oil, it represents an industry that for many poor farmers represents their only way out of poverty. But while we in the developed nations continue to pay outrageous prices for fancy Starbucks coffee, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields. How can this be? This paradox is most evident in Ethiopia, which, ironically, is the birthplace of coffee. In the documentary Black Gold, we follow the story of Tadesse Meskela, a man on a mission to save his tens of thousands of struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. The film follows Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the centers of power in the multinational coffee industry that is controlled by multinational corporations, commodity traders, coffee exchanges, and trade ministers. The film reveal the many challenges that Tadesse and his farmers face in their quest for a humane and lasting solution for the coffee farmers. For Meskela, “Trade is more important than aid.” Wake up and smell the coffee industry. It’s time for a change.
New Media and a Smile in New Hampshire
October 4, 2007
Join me and fellow panelists Kevin Anderton and Steve Garfield at the New Hampshire Film Festival on October 12th from 1:30 to 3:30pm for a panel titled “Future Now: New Media and the Modern Filmmaker” at the Portsmouth Public Library. The session, to be moderated by John Herman, will explore the creative and cultural intersection of filmmaking and new media. Bring your ideas and questions to share.
Later the same day at 4:15pm my new short, Smile Boston Project, screens at the Music Hall along with Front Wards, Back Wards. Hope to see you there!
A Conversation with Les Blank
October 3, 2007
While I was at the Woods Hole Film Festival this summer I had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with documentary filmmaker Les Blank. We spoke about his new film All In This Tea, his experiences with Werner Herzog, why he self distributes, and which of his films he considers his favorite. The interview, titled A Conversation with Les Blank, appears in the newly re-launched Independent (the publication formerly known as The Independent Film & Video Monthly, which ceased publication with the demise of the AIVF).
The hidden truth of photographs (or all images, for that matter)
September 26, 2007
Errol Morris gets philosophical in his post titled “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?” on the New York Times web site. He begins the post with a T.S. Eliot quote from “The Hidden Men,”
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow…
very interesting reading on the truthfulness of images.
Comparison of Camera vs. Boom Microphone
September 8, 2007
Here’s a quick comparison I did of recording dialog with an MKH60 Shotgun Microphone mounted on a camera vs. mounted on a boom.
Les Blank comes to Boston to show two classics and a work-in-progress
August 5, 2007
If you live in the Boston area and love documentary, you will not want to miss An Evening with Les Blank on Wednesday, August 8, 2007 from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. in the Bartos Theater at the MIT Media Laboratory (directions). Les Blank is one of America’s most important documentary filmmakers and we’re very lucky that he’ll be in Boston to screen two of his classic films, “The Blues According to Lightnin’ Hopkins” and “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe,” as well as a sneak-preview of his work in progress, “A Portrait of Richard Leacock,” in which Les Blank turns his lens onto a fellow documentary filmmaking legend. Blank will also discuss his years as a documentary filmmaker. You will not want to miss this rare opportunity to meet Les Blank. Advanced tickets are strongly recommended for this event.
The Smile Boston Project (Trailer)
June 30, 2007
The Smile Boston Project is a 20 minute documentary that I recently completed. The film will premiere at the 16th Woods Hole Film Festival on Saturday, August 4th at 5:00 P.M. (screens with Justice Louis D. Brandeis: The People’s Attorney). The film follows artist Bren Bataclan through the first three years of his Smile Boston Project in which he leaves paintings in public places for people to find with a note that says, 'this painting is yours to keep if you promise to smile at random people more often.'
