Best Promotion Ever

In the middle of June I moved to Berlin.

Two weeks ago I signed up to boom operate a little web series called "Blink." Things were going fine - I was really more interested in meeting film people than boom operating.

Four days ago, the original director dropped out ("creative differences"), and the AD called me at 2am to ask if I wanted to direct the remaining episodes, as well as re-shoot some that the crew and actors were unhappy with.

I said - but of course.

I imagine that's the first and last time I'll be promoted from boom op to director during a shoot.

The "slate"

Rehearsing

Production meeting

All photos courtesy the talented and handsome Dan Safier.

"Blink" is about a Canadian fellow living in Berlin who discovers he can teleport, and his various misadventures. Every episode runs just a few minutes long, and is currently in post-production.

Velo'v'n It

Our 30-second spot for Lyon's Velo'v public bike system is finally finished and up on the filmmaking page! 'Course you can just watch it up there.

Here is a link to an earlier post about how we made it - the silly vest and all. On location in Lyon, France!

Boa Simon shot it, Jenny Hou produced it, Brian Andrews scored it, and Billy Peake edited it. Yours truly wrote and directed.

Ink + Water vs. the art world

Our pseudo-music video visual experiment Ink + Water will be showcased on May 19th at the Carney Logan Burke architect office in Jackson Hole, Wyoming as part of an exhibition that meditates on the meaning of art and the importance of perspective in its consumption.

This showcase gallery is curated by Stella Cabot-Wilson.

"Ink + Water" Plays in New York, Coke spot up, Filmmaking page redux

Our 2011 music video / experimental short, Ink & Water, played recently at a meetup of composers in New York City. Our own Brian Andrews, composer of that and many other short films and commercials, was there to present the film and field questions.

Brian introducing the film

The audience watching, I assume quietly and appreciatively

Brian answers interesting and thoughtful questions

In other interesting news, our Coca-Cola spot "Spontaneous Travel" is up on my Filmmaking page, along with a redesign of that page in general.

But since I'm so generous, you don't even HAVE to go all the way over there to see it:

The spot was shot in Paris and Lyon, France, with Jenny Hou producing, Boa Simon photographing, Billy Peake editing, and of course Brian Andrews composing. 

We're all really happy with how it turned out - especially considering that, well, it was made up as we went along! Dirty secret.

Fill Those Bags - "Contentment" Interview in France

Back in December I showed Contentment at the Villeurbanne Short Film Festival in Lyon, France. Buzzing around the festival with a camera and microphone, like a couple of MTV imps, were Ricky Gambas and Marcus Crumble of Remplir des Sacs (means "fill those bags" in French. I'm probably missing an innuendo).

Alors, their comic stylings and video interviews are finally here!

(Video will skip ahead to my interview. Well, that's why you're watching it, right?)

Tip of my hat to you guys, Ricky and Marcus!

"La Nina" on Comcast free VOD

Thanks to a partnership with SeeFlik, an online contest in which La Nina del Desierto placed in the top 20 judges' picks, our little short film will be available for free on Comcast's video-on-demand service!

Go check it out!

Comcast has been good to us - in August of 2010 they broadcast our ad spots for the Albuquerque Film Festival throughout the southwest. I was in a local restaurant with DP Boa Simon and producer Jenny Hou when we saw the ad play on a TV on the wall - we were giddy, like hearing your band's song on the radio for the first time!

Overseas Collaboration

I'm currently in Europe, and most of my film contacts are back Stateside in Los Angeles. And we're also wrapping up production on two commercials which were shot here in Europe, and are being edited, scored, and colored Stateside.

And the whole time, as the director, I'm working all but side-by-side with the producer, the talent, the colorist, and the editor, even if they're many time zones away.

Here's an example. Just this evening we had to re-record the voiceover for a spot we shot in Paris. The original VO was lost on a wiped card. If this were footage, it would have been a disaster. And since the talent flew back stateside with the producer and DP late last year, it could easily have been a disaster five years ago.

The Parisian shoot in question

But not today! We set up a miniature recording studio in the actress' kitchen, and over Skype, I coached her as she recorded the lines.

DP (and now sound recordist!) Boa Simon set up a poor man's sound booth:

Not a beat was missed. Once it was recorded, it was sent to me to QC, and then sent straight to the editor. I might as well have been in the same room.

Directors and producers of the new generation would do well to consider the potential of our newfound instant connectivity. It's not as necessary as it once was to actually physically move to LA in order to get projects done. Collaboration can now instantly cover thousands of miles, and the previous hubs of production could well disappear.

The future of production is coming! Or it might be here. Grab it!