Sundance 2011: Day 5, the YouTube Connection

January 24, 2011 / / 1 Comment

First, a couple clips, then some stories:

But I concede that — apart from Virginia being impossibly cute, adorable and brave — this teaser doesn’t say much about the “Life in a Day” feature. Let’s try one more:

As mentioned earlier, if you live in Ann Arbor, MI; Brookline, MA; Brooklyn; Chicago; Los Angeles; Madison, WI; Nashville; San Francisco or Seattle — you can attend a special local screening of a Sundance 2011 film.

For the rest of us, YouTube will make it possible to collectively share the world premier of the “Life in a Day” documentary as it’s screened in Park City, Utah.

All you need to do is go here, by 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 5pm PT on Thursday, Jan. 27: http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeinaday

Following the screening there will also be a live Q&A with the documentary’s director, Kevin MacDonald, along with a small group of specially-invited contributors to “Live in a Day”. (Impressive stats: this project drew more than 80,000 clips, and uses 1,125 of them. I’m sure the project probably shortened the lives of about 10 editors…)

Note, though, that the film WON’T be freely available on YouTube after that (it still has a theatrical run coming up this year), although you’ll be able to see a re-broadcast 7pm on Friday, January 28, in your local time zone.

But Sundance and YouTube have worked out something else that can keep you captivated through the rest of the long winter months.

Check out The YouTube Screening Room, which is showing a total of 12 shorts from Sundance 2011, plus four “career-starting” shorts from past festivals (!), and four shorts from the Sundance Directors Lab* (*no guarantee these won’t suck…). And they’ll add more on January 27 and February 3.

Meanwhile, here’s a loving tribute to 8-bit video game heros:

Want something a little more significant from your short films?

Okay, fine, check out skaters in Kabul!

Tomorrow, on the ground in Park City.

Pondering “The Philosopher Kings”

January 16, 2011 / / 1 Comment

First, the clip, then the story:

This is directed by Patrick Chen, produced by Chen and Greg Bennick.

If you work in higher education, you should take the time to watch “The Philosopher Kings” documentary. It’s available on iTunes and Netflix (streaming and DVD). Consider it a homework assignment, or a continuing-education requirement.

For those not in the sector, I’m somewhat torn about recommending this documentary, which focuses on the lives of janitors and custodians at a handful of prestigeous, well known universities — including Caltech, Cornell University, Duke University, Princeton University and U.C. Berkeley, to name most of them.

I was led to this doc by a friend who knew about the Duke University connection: one of the people profiled is Oscar Dantzler, who takes care of Duke Chapel itself.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s certainly well shot (in fact, some of the visuals are absolutely gorgeous), has a fantastic music score,  is well edited, and the people featured have interesting life stories (but of course; otherwise, they wouldn’t have made the final cut).

In my opinion, while “The Philosopher Kings” is a good documentary — it simply isn’t a GREAT documentary.

And that’s problematic.

“The Philosopher Kings” was initially pitched to me as a story about these custodians/janitors, who worked at these great colleges and universities — and described what THEY learned while at work.

The documentary barely touches on that theme before pulling back and showing the real story, which is the disconnect between these people who are seen every day by faculty, staff and students — but aren’t really seen by them at all.

Where this project falls short is its nearly complete lack of interviews with some of these same faculty, staff and students, to find out what they know, if anything, about the lives of those also in service to the institution, and whose daily efforts make the offices, restrooms, lecture halls and labs habitable and useable.

In fact, if it weren’t for a sound bite delivered by former President Bill Clinton, who spoke at Duke University about this exact subject — but as part of a speech a different focus — there may not have been such a concise summary of this theme of seen but not really seen.

The exploration of the lives of the subjects is astounding. Most all of them have heartbreak in their past, and seem to have conquered that as they sought out normal lives.

It also seemed readily apparent that few if any people at these universities knew anything about these personal struggles and triumphs. Maybe that’s appropriate to a point — work is work, personal is personal, right?

But a university, a college, a place of higher learning is supposed to be about sharing ideas and experiences, building on knowledge from the past and the present, and moving society into the future with this foundation.

In a way, though, I want to promote “The Philosopher Kings” because it actively (and perhaps unknowingly) demonstrates a theme that I’ve been promoting for years. (And yes, I’ve worked in the higher education sector for a number of years, so I’m not simply shouting from the bleachers here).

Most colleges and universities are loaded with great stories, generated by their own people — faculty, staff, students, alumni and local residents.

And most colleges and universities do a poor job of identifying all but the most obvious stories (superstar faculty, high-achieving students, successful/famous alum) and getting these great stories out into the world.

Technological restrictions have fallen. True, budgetary constraints in this economy may be real factors.

But the limitations of imagination, the focus on how things have traditionally been done, and the will to move past categories, class and caste designations seem to be very real, if usually unspoken, barriers.

And it doesn’t require a philosopher king to realize that’s a shame.

“One True Thing” – the documentary starts

December 7, 2010 / / No Comments

First, the clip, then the story:

There are a lot of projects on my short list, but it’s the usual excuses of too long a list, and not enough money or time.

But excuses just don’t cut it anymore, so my plan to get this documentary project going is to just do it — and structure the plan in such a way that all the shooting can be done on incredibly flexible schedules, and the budget can remain miniscule (for now, at least).

So here’s “One True Thing”.  The idea is that our team sits down with someone at their preferred location, and once everything’s set up, all we do is ask for your first name, and to tell us one true thing.

It can be anything, from trivial to profound. So long as it’s true to you.

We also have some ground rules for ourselves/the project:

— First name only

— We won’t edit your response once you start on your true thing. That means once you being, we’ll run until you stop. So, no edits to make you look better, worse, or more concise.

— You can have more than one thing to say. We’ll just treat them separately.

— Don’t pressure yourself. We don’t expect Dalai Lama-league answers, so no worries. Something about your cat is acceptable…

What do WE get out of all this? Good question.

Expectations:

Sure, the first clip is three guys of various ages working in various levels of seriousness.

The real payoff should be when we reach a certain critical mass and broader themes emerge. Personally, I fully expect this to start focusing on religion, relationships and philosophy — but I could be completely wrong.

Maybe folks hone in on sports and cosmology, who knows?

If I were to point to an existing model for how I expect this to turn out, I’m going to reference one of my all-time favorite books and life guides: Directing the Film: Film Directors on Their Art, edited by Eric Sherman.

Yes, you’ll find a lot of practical advice on nearly every aspect of filmmaking by some of the greatest in the field — but that’s essentially a bonus.

What I find great is that within Sherman’s 352 pages of collected wisdom, you can read one absolutely sterling, profound and compelling piece of advice put forth by an absolute master of their craft — and on the next page, there’s another absolutely sterling, profound, and compelling piece of advice from yet ANOTHER master, completely and absolutely contradicting the first.

Example: Think about rehearsing your actors. There are a number of directors that weigh in on how their actors must be absolutely well rehearsed and prepared, so there’s no doubt about the lines, nuances or inflections before the cameras roll.

And there are a number of directors that talk about why anything beyond nominal rehearsal kills the energy and dampens the creative sparks from fresh discovery.

Who’s right? They all are. And that’s the point — the truths within this book are the truths that work for each person.

So that’s where I personally see “One True Thing”‘s potential. But we’ll see.

Technical Points:

As we add in clips, we’ll update the master video, and keep individual clips for easy reference.

We’re also COMPLETELY OPEN AND ENCOURAGING of outside submissions. So feel free to crank up your webcam or video recorder, work up a segment, and send it on.

Contact me at OneTrueThingDocumentary@gmail.com, or visit the project site at OneTrueThingDocumentary.com .

And of course, a special shout-out of thanks to my Creato Destructo compatriots, Jerry and Shay Stifelman. (Tracey, let’s get you taped!)

– James

Penland School of Crafts, Hoss Haley, Auctions and Sculptures

October 21, 2010 / / No Comments

First the video, then the story:

This was an absolute blast to produce and edit, for several reasons.

I’m an Asheville, NC native, so to (finally) be part of the historic Penland School of Crafts family has a lot of personal meaning. Penland dates back to the 1920s and Lucy Morgan’s efforts to both learn native Southern Appalachian crafts and help residents market their wares. It has since evolved into an internationally-recognized center for craft education, history, innnovation and experimentation across a wide range of styles and media. Plus, its location and campus are simply breathtaking.

Penland has a benefit auction every year, with (mostly alum and faculty) artists donating pieces, and the proceeds going to help sustain the school’s mission. I basically showed up to this year’s auction (Penland’s 25th) with gear and recorded nearly everything and everyone I could. Okay, they knew I was coming, but this was a first-time experience for both of us.

The signature work — the art piece that was highlighted on all the promotional and marketing material, and the cover item for the auction book — was “Toric Knot”, a one-ton Cor-Ten  steel sculpture by alumnus Hoss Haley.  Early word was that Penland organizers and Haley himself would be delighted if the piece sold for its retail listing of $20,000.00.

You’ll have to watch (and listen) to the clip to find out what happens, but I believe the video captures a career-changing event in progress.

Haley sat down for an interview the day before the live auction, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He is a self-described taciturn Midwesterner, after all, and talking about himself isn’t on his Top 10 favorite things.

Still, he was a great interview subject — focused, insightful, honest and intelligent. The hardest part in editing his interview was simply cutting down and cutting out a lot of really good material — to let the truly great parts surface.

In terms of style, I also made a choice to reduce the level of polish. Most all of the transitions are simply cuts: direct and straightforward, just like Haley himself. There’s at least one dissolve, but it’s because the transition looked like a jump-cut on its own.

I also played with sweetening his audio, but the result was sterile. The interview itself took place next to a center of activity for the event, and I wanted to keep that energy and enthusiasm as a part of his discussion, even if it’s in the background.

As for the auction itself, it felt creatively “right” to stick to the opening, establishing scene and the closing/conclusion. The audio underneath the quotation cards also let viewers keep up with the progress, and build towards the final strike of the auctioneer’s gavel.

Ultimately, though, the piece is less about things — the sculpture, the selling price, the auction as event; and more about people — Haley, his wife, his real family and his Penland family.

And how on a magical weekend in August 2o1o in the mountains outside Asheville, NC, craft became art, and work became career.

That’s at least my opinion. What’s yours?

Video: Your Online Image Versus Your Resources

September 20, 2010 / / No Comments

First, the video:

Background, thoughts and observations:

I’m biased. I love “Garden & Gun” magazine, and have been a subscriber since their second issue. (And then, only because the first issue snuck past me and managed to sell out on newsstands). As a Southerner by birth and now by choice, I love how they blend a lot of different elements of Southern culture (high, low and all around) into an interesting mix, issue to issue.

The name’s also deceptive, since there’s usually incredibly little about gardening (breathes sign of relief), not so much about guns (awww…), but a lot about lifestyle — music, history, travel, food, drinking, etc. etc. etc.

The magazine also has a decent online presence, and the roots to really flourish from here.

This video is one example:  Justin Townes Earle is Steve Earle’s son, and he now lives in Brooklyn, NY. He hasn’t yet been profiled in G&G’s print version  (it’ll be the Dec/Jan issue), but this type of video profile is incredibly savvy for several reasons:

1. You can push content out far ahead of traditional print schedules. (Now, versus Dec/Jan issue delivery).

2. You can benefit from the work of other people (not just yourself or your staff). Earles obviously isn’t G&G’s in-house musician. And this piece was directed by Tim Sutton, who’s an art director in NYC — although he’s worked on a handful of G&G videos.

3. This external/different work (different aesthetics, different subjects and themes, etc) can bring in different, new, fresh audiences. You never want to be stagnant in terms of outreach, so a foray into music video can make great intuitive sense for a print publication — even though it may not make a great deal of short-term, direct-path business sense.

4. Your site needs a wide variety of content, period. Remember, your website is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It’s like 7/11, always open. And that being the case, you want to offer a variety of content for a variety of content consumers, in a range of media types.

5. Sometimes, you just need to connect with bourbon-drinkin’, chain-smokin’, tattooed Southern musicians. Trust me. (Although you should red-flag any thoughts about a Ryan Adams profile. Again, trust me on this.)

All this said, you should now be thinking about what kind of video profiles might liven up your website.

— If you’re a college or university MarComm rep, you’ve got a wealth of alumni,  donors, faculty, staff, students and community supporters out there. Why not go for some color?

— If you’re in the pop-culture/entertainment-media industry, you should be way ahead of this. If not, call me.

— Even for more traditional industries, there are a lot of great ideas that would be completely fun and help burnish your image while reaching into new demographics.

I’m also willing to hear the counter-argument, from those who might want to play it safer or more traditionally. So let’s hear what you have to say…

“Glengarry Glen Waterloo” presented by the C of A Players

August 9, 2010 / / No Comments

Who doesn’t love them some David Mamet? No one, that’s whom.

This famous “Coffee is for closers” scene from “Glengarry Glen Ross” has been a hit at least three times I know of: when the film version first came out; when the film version came out on DVD, and when the scene made it onto YouTube.

Note that I didn’t say anything about the buzz when the play first premiered.

That’s because the scene doesn’t exist in the original play script — it was written specifically for the movie version, and Alec Freaking Baldwin absolutely nails it.

So, why not take those words, strip them of cultural, historical, and social context, screw with the time period and setting, and see if it holds up? Why not indeed…

Ladies and gentlemen, the Confederacy of Awesome Players present their homage to David Mamet’s most famous scene:

Oracle’s Ellison Pledges Billions

August 5, 2010 / / No Comments

Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle, has pledged to give away “at least 95%” of his $28 billion fortune to charity.

Oh, and in the same announcement, George Lucas said he’d do the same. But few people ever doubted that Lucas’ heart was in the right place. With Ellison, it was less certain.

During the 1990’s tech boom, I worked for a nonprofit that doubled as both a (free, open) news and information service, and as a service provider to nonprofits — we went around the country teaching 501(c)3 groups of all stripes how to use tech to further their missions (and that covered a lot of ground).

It was a great job — even after 60-hour weeks living in hotels far across the country from my own bed, I always felt my work had helped people in specific, quantifiable ways.

It was also an exciting time to be reporting in that sector, because fortunes were being made overnight. (Looking back, we now know most of these fortunes were only on paper, but still, it was exciting.)

And it was particularly exciting because many of these tech entrepreneurs were giving away big chunks of their new fortunes in very public ways. The attitude at the time was that the people drawn to the tech/start-up culture were more in touch with their core values through their work, more in tune with how social networks can bring real benefits to society, and that the type of people working in that field were driven primarily by the thrill of innovation and discovery; not simply greed and profit.

I believe a lot of these (positive) stereotypes were true, although it would have been interesting to see how these newly rich folks would have held on to their values if the tech crash hadn’t removed most of their fortunes.

But I digress.

I was reminded of that time by Ellison’s announcement. He apparently was motivated by the VERY public appeal by Bill & Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett, as part of their “The Giving Pledge” effort.

And during the time of the tech boom, the three biggest tech bazillionaires that HADN’T publicly pledged much of their personal fortunes (as opposed to corporate gifts and donations) were Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs.

Melinda Gates and Bill Gates Sr. went first, announcing plans were underway to create a massive foundation that would funnel the trio’s fortunes into specific areas of global health initiatives, global development (economic aid to the poor), and tech/access and education initiatives in the U.S.

They got off to a roaring start in 1999, and have grown the Foundation’s outreach ever since.

Ellison, not so much. At the time, he was fairly closed-mouth.

It turns out he has been giving away millions, but in a quieter, far less public way. Okay, there was that little dust-up with Harvard University, where he rescinded a $115 million gift because of their ousting of Lawrence Summers. (But Ellison also stated he’d increase his other giving to medical research.)

The reason he’s coming forward and signing this pledge now is that his example may lead other wealthy folks to give and/or make other commitments to the social good.

“Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be ‘setting an example’ and ‘influencing others’ to give.  I hope he’s right,” he stated in his pledge.

Maybe one measure will be when (rather than if) Steve Jobs announces plans for HIS vast fortune, and how exactly he plans to give it away. That should be fascinating.

Work examples: Producer, 1

July 13, 2010 / / No Comments

All the heavy lifting and hard work was done by Kenyon College honors film students, Jean Mougin and Martha Gregory, and their incredibly supporttive professor, Jonathan Tazewell. But sometimes, a producer can help…

Client: Kenyon College

Work examples: Directing and Editing, 3

July 13, 2010 / / No Comments

This is particularly relevant today, July 13, 2010, now that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has passed away.

A compelling narrative by Yankees President Randy Levin on his path from Hofstra Law School to NYC’s Labor Commissioner, to Major League Baseball, and the lessons he’s learned about working with people in all walks of life.

Client: Hofstra University School of Law