I’ve been working on a number of projects lately but wanted to share some footage from my latest: a documentary on influential American art potter Richard Fairbanks.

This will be a longer term project which I’ll shoot in bursts as exhibitions of Richard’s work and interview subjects become available.  Here is a snippet of an interview with art critic Matthew Kangas, along with some images of Richard’s work–all of which I recently filmed at an exhibition at Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum.

To say that I’ve been connected with this story for quite a while would be quite an understatement.  Richard was one of my mother’s art professors at Drake University.  (And without my Mom’s influence and art lessons since before preschool I doubt I’d be pursuing an artistic profession today.)  My wife, Ahn Lee also edited one of the first books written about Richard fifteen years ago.  And our family has known Richard’s widow Dixie Parker-Fairbanks for many years.  So when the opportunity came up to make a documentary film about Richard’s work, I was in. Richard and Dixie’s story is remarkable: bridging the worlds of art, international relations, and intrigue.  There’s also an inspiring human story at the center of it, so I’m excited to see how it evolves and takes shape.

This documentary is also a great example of the “new model” of filmmaking…namely all the jobs being done by a lot fewer people than they used to be.  The economics of this project dictate that I do all the jobs of lighting, shooting, running sound, interviewing, and of course, packing up the truck at the end of the day.  (Not to mention all the post-production.)  The “new” part of this equation is that the equipment that’s available today makes it possible to actually capture the quality that a project like this demands. With two Panasonic GH2 HDSLR cameras, a Tascam DR-680 recorder with mics, and a couple lights and stands, I can get professional results from a film studio that fits in the back of a Saturn Astra.

The "new model" of shooting...one guy does everything.

I’ve been doing a number of one-man-band shoots lately and I’ve come away with two realizations.  First is a deepened appreciation for what a true dedicated professional brings to each job on set.  The second is amazement that one person can actually pull off a nicely lit, two-camera shoot with quality sound and no nasty surprises in the editing bay.  This is certainly not the way I’d like to work from now on; every moment I’m on set I feel like I’m just barely capturing what is required without really bringing the art or sophistication that one could if they were to focus on just one or two jobs.  However, many of these projects are the kind that simply would not happen if I had to wrangle vehicles, equipment, and personnel.  They would be missed opportunities.  And I’m usually pleasantly surprised (and very tired) at the end of the day to discover that the work I spent all day worrying was less than my best still looks pretty good.  Especially compared to something that just wouldn’t exist at all otherwise.

Starbucks and Official Best of Fest will be sponsoring a screening of Full Disclosure and two other great films tonight at Seattle’s Roy Street Coffee (one of the Stealth Starbucks stores) at 8PM.  Not only can you watch some great films from OBOF, but you can also order a beer or wine in a Starbucks like you’re in Europe or something.  To top it off, I’ll be doing a little Q&A about the film.

Roy Street Coffee Co.  700 Broadway East (Broadway and Harvard on Capitol Hill), Seattle.

Official Best of Fest screening of Full Disclosure at Roy Street Coffee Co. 3/31/2010 8PM

Last night MTV threw a little bash in Seattle for the cast and crew of its upcoming series $5 Cover: Seattle.  I was a pretty tangential part of the project–I made two short docs about the Seattle arts & music scene that will be a very small part of the series.  Congrats to Lynn Shelton and the whole team.  I was impressed with the show and especially the music involved.  The after-party had some fun performances by Seattle breaking bands like Thee Satisfaction and Champagne Champagne.

For me, the find of the night was Thee Emergency front-woman and new actress Zana Geddes.  She has a star quality that leaps off the screen.  The series drops in June, you’ll have to wait till then to see what I’m talking about.  Meanwhile, I wish I could get her into a film role while she’s still undiscovered.

Now can someone explain the Seattle band “Thee” thing?  I’ve been pretending to get it but really.  What’s the deal?

Zana Geddes of Thee Emergency star-in-the-making.

Some folks can't keep their cool.

It seems like there are a million ways a film or television project can die, but one of the saddest is Producer Meltdown.  It’s also surprisingly dangerous because it always seems to hit when success seems assured.  I’ve seen it on several projects and I’m currently witnessing it again.

Here’s how it typically works:  Over the course of months or years, a group of filmmakers get together to try to will a project to life.  People combine their contacts, resources, creativity, and good karma to build someone’s crazy idea into a project that has a chance of getting made.  It’s an amazing moment when something is on the cusp of transitioning from dream to reality.  But it’s also the time when people’s expectations, real or imaged are about to be solidified into concrete terms.

Invariably, one participant thinks he deserves a bigger piece of the pie.  Maybe the original deal terms were loose (or non-existent).  Maybe someone did a hell of a lot more work than the others involved.  Or perhaps someone’s connection to a distributor, star, or money was the lynch-pin for the project.  As a dream gets locked down on paper as who-gets-what-when-and-how, it’s pretty typical for someone to feel that their contribution is being given the short shrift.  Or maybe that person is just a douche who thinks he can grab a little more than he’s due.  The reasons vary, but the results tend to be the same…a project that was a “go” is suddenly just gone. (continue reading…)

Want to watch Full Disclosure for free? Someone's pirating it on YouTube...if you can stand the quality.

I’m very interested in the future of in online distribution for independent films, so I’m trying a quick experiment. (This experiment isn’t pure science.  It has the potential benefit of clearing out a box of DVDs under my desk.  But mostly, it’s science.)

The other day I found a pirated version of Full Disclosure on YouTube.  It’s a really bad version shot with a camcorder off Italian television.  The sound is horrible, as is the image, (on the plus side, however, there are Italian subtitles!).  YouTube has a procedure for removing pirated content, but it’s arduous and I don’t have the time at the moment.  Besides, it’s the free availability of this pirated version that makes the experiment possible.  So for the moment, I’m going to leave it there.

There’s this theory going around that people pirate what they like but can’t buy when, how, or in the format they wish to.  Mostly, this theory comes from people trying to justify their illegal downloading of content, but it also comes from some really smart folks who think a lot about all things digital, like my friend Fred Chong Rutherford.  Personally, I have my doubts about this, theory, but hell, the only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know everything.  So I’m going to try an experiment. (continue reading…)