Category: Handiwork

So Long 2016

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holiday-2016

This year has been one of the most challenging I’ve had in a long time.  What is it about this year?  Almost everyone I talk to is happy to see the back of 2016 and are ready for a fresh start. I’m not sure about others but I know that for me it’s been an emotional rollercoaster and although it’s been a good ride I’m ready for things to calm down a bit.

Forget world events, natural disasters etc.  I’ve had one of those years where I’ve had work some months and then nothing, not at all unusual in the film business, but the intensity was what got me.  When I had work, I usually had several contracts all at once so I was working 20 hours a day for weeks on end and then nothing. Exhausting.  And then there were all the projects that we thought were going to happen and they fell through at the very last minute.

I make this year sounds like it was pure agony, but actually this year has been a really good one in many respects.

  1. I had more work than ever and several projects that I’ve been working on for three years or more now have finally made their way into the world. i.e. The Human Face of Big Data, CRAZYWISE and The Click Effect.  I even managed to fit in a few shorter films that I directed myself for PLU’s MediaLab and the PSESD.
  2. I’ve had more design projects than I’ve ever expected, especially considering I’m not a graphic designer.  Film proposals, websites (www.rockabillyrides.com), film promotional pieces (posters, invitations, infographics) and more in the works.
  3. I have a beautiful new niece that I can’t wait to see grow up – but not too quickly please!
  4. And the biggest drain on my emotions – I’ve decided to finally move to California (sometime in the Spring after several postponements) and fulfill my lifelong dream to become a surfer… well in actual fact it’s to find more consistent work and take on a new adventure.  The surfing will be a perk if I can ever stand up for more than 0.5 seconds.  Right now I’m really talented at sitting on my board.

And on that more upbeat note, I’m preparing to venture off to meet my family for the holidays.  It’s my favorite time of year because for a week or two, we are all together which is rare for us.  I guess we can’t expect much else when we all live in separate states and/or countries.

As I sign off for the rest of this year, I leave you with this wonderful little piece that makes me smile even if it does seem a little scary in places.  The world really is a big scary place but I can only hope that this next year brings more peace and joy than we’ve witnessed in the last 12 months.

Karni and Saul

Until next year…

Talking with Whales

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Have you seen “Finding Dori” yet?  If you haven’t, you’re missing out.  Yes, most of it is pretty fantastical and completely unrealistic but who said entertainment had to be resemble actuality?  After all, it’s a story about talking fish.

Even if you haven’t seen “Finding Dori” (or “Finding Nemo” *Gasp!*) you’ve probably heard someone try to speak whale just like Dori.  In Pixar’s world, speaking whale is something like “Weeeeeelllllcooooommmme tooooo theeee oooooccceeeaaaan!”  I’m sad to say that it’s not nearly as lyrical as we’d like to imagine but instead is more like a series of clicks.  You know, kind of like morse code.

No, I haven’t been taking whale lessons but in the last year I’ve learned a lot about whales (and virtual reality) for a relatively new project – “The Click Effect“.  I won’t try to explain the science or even how it whales communicate as I’m certainly not not a marine biologist but this little film explains it beautifully.

The Click Effect Poster

Here Be Dragons

Back in December, we embarked on the journey of creating a new virtual reality (VR) film about how marine researchers use freediving to research how whales communicate.  Besides the fact that I got to be a part of this project, the whole introduction to VR is quite amazing.

Unfortunately, VR is something that requires a separate headset (you can buy inexpensive versions from Google or you can go for the gusto and buy a high end headset from Samsung or Valve) but if you have the chance to experience it at the many new venues that this technology is popping up, I would highly recommend the experience.  It’s impossible to explain how cool it is without experiencing it first hand. To get some sort of an idea, check out this film that I shared a few months ago.

Of course, there are other ways to see “The Click Effect” if you’re interested.  Either visit Here Be Dragons or NYTVR and it will show you how to watch the film without a headset.

Now that this project is done and out in the world – it was at Sundance International Film Festival in January and released online in March, we’re on to other projects.  Many, are underwater and will premiere in a VR format but that’s all I can tell you for now.

Until next time, just keep swimming!

A Magical 3D World

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Somehow we’re already well into March and this is my first post for the year.  Yet again, I say oops!  and then follow it with “but I have a really good excuse!”  We’ll see what you think…

Since last November, I’ve been inundated with paperwork and graphic design projects getting The Human Face of Big Data ready for it’s debut into the TV world on PBS.  When I started this process I thought that it would going to take me a week or two to get everything together.  Oh how wrong I was!  I’ve been glued to my computer so much that I began thinking it was an appendage and not an external tool that I can leave for a little while and come back to.  It really wasn’t an option with so many deadlines, but now that the broadcast is over, I can finally start to feel like a real person again and enter into reality.

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I have to apologize that I never actually announced anything on here but that’s how busy I was.  For those of you with any interest in seeing the film, you can see it here:

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Anyway, to move away from Big Data for a little while, there are several other projects on the books that are ‘pending’ and of course I have no idea when they are going to start but I know that when they do, watch out!  So for now, I’m taking a chance to breath and trying to catch up on boring stuff like cleaning my home and catching up with friends that I have shamefully neglected since before Thanksgiving. Ok, so seeing friends is far from boring but I revel in the thought that I’m a real person again and not a working machine.  Did I mention that I’ve been working a lot?

I’m kind of glad that I haven’t had time to write here because I found this video ages ago but wasn’t quite sure it was the right time to share it. Now I feel like it’s time. In many ways, it has a lot to do with upcoming projects, I just can’t tell you which elements it has in common:

Future of storytelling

I found this particularly fascinating for many reasons:

  1. My grandparents used to save their favorite Family Circus comics for us to read when we came over and when we moved away, they would mail them to us in letters.
  2. I grew up watching all of these characters on the big screen – how cool would it have been to have experienced them in 3D?  Admittedly it would have been even more terrifying than I already found them – especially the wolves in Beauty and the Beast.
  3. How is this going to influence art in the future? Only time will tell…

If there is one thing that I can say about the last few months is that the blood, sweat and tears that go into projects are well worth the toil if you really love what you’re doing.  I got a lot out of the last few months and even though there are many things that I’ve loved about them, I’m ready to move on and get my creative juices moving in a different way.  Most of all, I’m looking forward to living in the real world again, and not the digital world of my computer screen or my cell phone.

Until next time – and let’s hope it doesn’t take me so long, right?

I’ve been working on…

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There are several difficulties with keeping up with a blog:

  1. There is finding content and the time to post the content.
  2. The perfect timing to share what you’ve been working on yourself and
  3. Actually getting the nerve up to share your recent work, or at least in my case there’s a lot of getting up nerve.

I know, point number three seems completely ridiculous as the reason for all of this is to share my portfolio and to share what inspires me but somehow sharing other people’s work seems to so much safer.  I’ve always been someone that prefers to work behind the scenes, never wanting to draw attention to myself.  I rather like being a kind of ghost in the creative process – have some exciting role, but then when it’s time for recognition I get cold feet.

I’m trying to be better at putting my work out there – otherwise it’s rather useless actually producing it in the first place, right?

So this is what I’ve been up to:

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www.humanfaceofbigdatafilm.com

  • Yes, admittedly I’ve been working on The Human Face of Big Data for a while, but the new part is that after several weeks, there is now an official website with the trailer, official screening dates and bios of all the major contributors!  Check it out for details on upcoming screenings – yes, this film could finally be coming to a theater near you in the next few months… This is a  very long awaited release of the film and I hope to announce the official dates soon.
  • You may have also noticed that this site has a slightly different look and format in the last month or so.  I’ve finally had a chance to do the major overhaul that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.

    What do you think?  Comments? Anything that you think could be better?  I’m all ears.

  • The film, Crazywise, is moving forward in post production!  I’m still doing the odd research, but mostly helping with keeping things running on the post production front and keeping their project manager sane.  There are so many moving parts that it definitely takes a team!  For more information on that film, be sure to check out their Facebook, Twitter and Blog for updates.  The Crazywise team is pretty amazing at keeping their followers up to date on the progress of the film so be sure to check them out – there are some amazing interviews on their blog already and they are always adding more!
  • And last of all, I’ve been working on pitches for several new projects and getting ready to start another promotional film for one of my clients.  However, for now I can’t share the details but I look forward to sharing updates as everything moves forward.

Enough about me today and back to my usual posts later this week.  Happy Tuesday!

Raincoats still available!

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I can hardly believe that Sonja Silver’s raincoat Kickstarter is complete!  If you remember, I made the campaign video and we’ve been fundraising ever since the completion.  This has been the least stressful campaign that I’ve ever worked on – woo hoo for people with an online following and a great campaign team!

In case you were hoping to order a coat or any other items but didn’t get your order in in time, you can still get your name in before they run out.  There are 94 coats still available and Sonja is willing to take fill orders over the phone.  Please contact me if you’re interested.

And in case you haven’t heard about this fabulous coat that I’ve been involved with, check out the video below:

Thank you for everyone’s support and for all of those who have contributed!

A Raincoat for the PNW Woman

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Today, I can finally share something that I’ve been working on since the beginning of March!

I’ve been collaborating with Sonja Silver Designs and Chandler O’Leary on their creation of a new raincoat, exclusively designed for fashion conscious women on the go.  My role had little to do with the design of the coat – instead I’ve been working on the Kickstarter video:

EMFIRNO

A contemporary raincoat with a constellation print lining illustrated by Chandler O’Leary. Useful + Beautiful. Made in the USA.

Sonja and Chandler’s Kickstarter campaign runs May 17-June15. Fore more details on this amazing product, please check out the details at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1284565607/a-raincoat-by-sonja-silver-with-chandler-oleary

The Breach is on Tour!

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I’m beyond excited to announce that The Breach is officially on tour!  Now I know that I’ve posted dates already, but here is the full list, as well as links to tickets etc.  And in case you need a small reminder of what The Breach is, here’s the trailer:

New York, NY – 04.25 6pm – The Rubin Museum of Art – GET TICKETS  Panel to Include: Chef Tom Douglas!  All the way from Seattle…

Boston, MA – 04.26 – 2pm–  Theatre 1- GET TICKETS

Washington D.C. – 04.28 – 7pm – Goethe-Institut – GET TICKETS

Raleigh, NC –04.29 6pm  The Rialto Theatre – GET TICKETS

Miami, FL – 04.30 – 630pm –  O Cinema – GET TICKETS

Chicago, IL – 05.03  12:30 pm – Gene Siskel Film Center – GET TICKETS

Minneapolis, MN – 05.06 7pm  Showplace Icon Theatre — GET TICKETS

Denver, CO – 05.07 630pm  Landmark Mayan Theatre -— GET TICKETS

Boulder, CO – 05.08 – E Town Hall – GET TICKETS

San Francisco CA – 05.12  530pm – The Bay Aquarium – GET TICKETS

Berkeley – 5.13 630pm – Brower Center/Goldman Theater – GET TICKETS

Seattle – 05.15 630pm  – Seattle Art Museum (SAM)  – GET TICKETS

Portland – 05.18 6pm – McMenamin’s Kennedy School – GET TICKETS

Salt Lake City – ****Special Additional Screening**** 05.19 – Utah Film Center Tickets forthcoming from Utah Film Center

Santa Monica, CA –05.20 7pm – Cross Campus – GET TICKETS

All sorts of screenings

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All sorts of things are happening in my work life at the moment.  All sorts of good things, but also overwhelming at how fast they are moving.  I promise that I’ll have something to show you soon, but until then…

There are several more screenings of The Breach and now one of Out of Print!

So here we go…

Out of Print makes it’s UK TV Premier on the Community Channel at 10 pm (GMT)!

The Breach at Portland Eco Film Fest: April 11 at 6:30 pm.  Tickets here.

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Tickets for various cities can be bought here.  More locations to be announced!

The Breach in Dublin

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I haven’t been able to share screening dates for any of my projects in a while, but finally, I have another for you:

The Breach is screening at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on March 24th at 8 pm.

Apologies for those living in Alaska and Vancouver BC who were interesting in seeing this as the Alaska tour and Vancouver International Film Festival have passed.  However, I will try to do better on notifying everyone in the future.