Thursday, November 20, 2008

Maine Media Workshop

i spent a week in rockport, maine last summer at the maine media workshops. above is a short exercise i directed. we had two hours to come up with the story, choose a location, light and shoot. it was fun to screen this at the end-of-week showcase. it got good audience response. it had a beach boys "good vibrations" soundtrack, but i nixed it here. mara laine came up with the story idea--to use books titles as a dialog--which was great, and i came up with the idea to use the bookstore ladder as a dolly as well as the device that connects the two characters. jim mcgathey directed the lighting and championed the use of "kino on the floor", which i didn't like at first but i have to hand it to him, it works! he also stars. george lamboy set the lights and kept us all in order! i'm afraid i can't remember the name of the actress (apologies).

Friday, November 14, 2008

interviews

i'm in new orleans shooting interviews for a friend, tim wolff, who is directing a film, "the sons of tennessee williams". it's about gay social clubs, the men who pioneered them in the 1960s and 70s and the men who sustain them today. gay men in new orleans took a unique path to carve out rights for themselves. they produced fantastic costume balls that provided a non-confrontational, but edgy, interface between straight and gay culture that tested and ultimately prevailed over anti-gay laws.

Monday, November 10, 2008

our little town

a great video by eva sollberger about our annual halloween parade in white river junction. it's part of a series eva makes called "stuck in vermont".