I spent 3 weeks in October traveling to several different KPMG offices throughout the country. I was the DP in what will become 4 separate videos for the company. We shot in NYC, DC, Dallas, Chicago, and Seattle. Each environment, although similar, had its unique challenges. This being for an accounting firm, we set out to make the environment look as engaging as possible. We also tried to pull employees outside any chance we could to show their life outside of the office.
Shot yesterday in the kitchen with Alison of Butter + Love. She’s got a great startup based out of Brooklyn. I mean, how can you go wrong with mustache shaped cookies?? Great collaborating with producer Monica McCarthy (showandtellstories.com). Look for the edit up on the site soon.
We spent the last 3 days out on Block Island shooting the prefab house that Jens Risom designed and built back in the 60′s. It was a beautiful structure both inside and out. This will be the next installment for Dwell magazine, to be released later this fall.
I just returned from a 17-day trek through Peru. I traveled down to Lima with my brother and good friends Pete and Brian to start our excursion. We spent a day around the city before getting out to Cusco, the hub before our hike. We spent a few days on day trips in and around Cusco, learning about the people here and how the Aztec’s use to work and there magnificent walls. It truly doesn’t make sense when you try to figure out how they built these things hundreds of years ago.
After accumulating to the elevation, we set off for the Inca Trail- a 4 day 3 night trek to Machu Picchu. The hike itself was better than when we arrived at our destination. Although hundreds of people walk on the trail everyday, we were practically alone most of the day. We had our clothes, cameras, and small food rations on our back. Our camping gear was carried by (in the most impressive way) by local porters.
Each night they would setup camp for us as well as provide lunch and dinner. The meals were delicious. It was shocking what they could come up with using a small gas flame.
The trail took us along the river, through the snow capped mountains, and up and down some pretty treacherous terrain. The journey was definitely worth more than the destination in this scenario. Machu Picchu gets thousands of visitors a day. Not only from people arriving from the trail, but also those who get shipped on buses. Therefore it is very touristy. Regardless, it was incredible to see in person and will certainly remember it for a lifetime.
Revlon day 3. Wrapped.
A glimpse of our travels and behind the scenes look at our shooting in Recife & Sao Paulo, Brazil and Madrid, Spain this past November.
If you weren’t on the email list and didn’t receive my yearly update, check it out here. It’s a great review of the work I’ve done over the past year, with a bunch of photos and video links.
I just returned from almost two weeks in Panama. I took the trip as an opportunity to add travel content to my portfolio. I am a big believer in taking time for personal work, which is something that I didn’t do enough of in the previous year. Most of my time away was spent in a little fishing village called Búcaro. The people here couldn’t have been more friendly. They would wave and smile when you passed people along the street as if you had been their neighbor for the past 10 years. It being my first visit to a third world country, it really opened my eyes to the way some people live. The simplicity of their lifestyle was underwhelming at first. It appears as if they’re are missing out on so much of the world around them. And then you spend time with the locals and start to get a true sense for what their life is like. At the end of the day, most of the people I met were very happy people. I saw this the most in the younger ones. If you compared their happiness level to someone of the same age back here on the east coast, USA, I bet you’d find they’re equally as happy, if not more so. They just don’t realize the amenities they don’t have that most of us here are have become accustom to. The trip for me was a nice refresher and a great perspective on the world and the life that I choose to live. Below are a few of the photos I took along the way. In the next couple days I will also be putting together a short film which I also shot during my time there. Photos in collaboration with Tighe Kellner.
A few weeks ago I traveled out west to see a few friends and family in Colorado. We hit the mountains of Breckenridge and Beaver Creek for some awesome snowboarding. The hills of New Jersey certainly aren’t comparable to those of the Rockies. Spent some time exploring the city of Denver as well. The guys of LacorsseRecruits.com have an office right in the middle of downtown. Had some free time one of the afternoons and checked out some of the local breweries in the city. All in all it was a great few days, big thanks to @mattwheeler and @chrismeade for having us out.
The first of three installments for the Beneath the Surface series for Dwell magazine. Here we visit Philadelphia University and talk with design students about how they used the material Corian in each of their products.
Here’s a few words from Chase Jarvis talking about what it takes to produce great work. I think this is something I need to strive more towards. It’s easy to let yourself get bogged down on the business side of production. I found myself shooting far less than I wanted to last year. I did spend a good amount of time emailing, drafting proposals, contracts, setting up meetings, phone calls etc. At the end of the day I want to create inspiring art. All the stuff in between is just what needs to happen to make this lifestyle a career, but it shouldn’t be the focus.
A trailer for the films I worked on in Dubai. Directed and produced by Gary Nadeau for Strawberry Frog agency
Check out a promo for The Season which airs on the NFL network. All video was shot by stillmotion who I worked with a few weeks ago down in Philadelphia for the Eagles v. Texans game. Two of my shots made it into the cut above.
This clip was posted yesterday by @chasejarvis on his blog. I couldn’t help but repost this morning. Very simple, direct, and true. Inspiration.
Recent spot I shot for Bath & Body works for the holiday season. Produced by @811media
This past weekend I ran the tri-state Tough Mudder event, a 12-mile course complete with a grueling set of obstacles. A brief overview of the race went as follows.. Run 2-miles, jump in a freezing cold lake, swim 50 yards, run another 1/2 mile, swim back across the lake, run 10 more miles soaking wet/numb and cant feel your extremities. And sprinkled through the rest of it was a fair dose of crawling through mud, scaling walls, weaving flames, tire-carrying, and then a little more water at the end. In the end, it was a blast and I highly recommend doing it with a few of your good friends.. if you’re in to that sort of thing. More details and a deeper insight to what exactly this event is about at toughmudder.com
Here is a piece I shot during NY S/S fashion week for Ohne Titel. You can see it on their site here.
A few weeks ago I was asked by the ladies behind Shatterbox to put together a little write up for a post on their blog. I gave a little insight to where I’m at today with my career, as well as expanded on a few of my general thoughts about the creative field and the Shatterbox community. Read it here.
The most recent video for Dwell mag. This one explores the show “Jet Lag” and how it uses light in its unique scenes of combining live action and video projection.
My most recent travels have taken me to the city of Dubai, located in the United Arab Emirates, right smack in the center of the Middle East. This has been my first time to anywhere even close to this region. The reality I found there was far from what I was expecting. The city itself is a man made creation. Everything from it’s gigantic pools of water to the worlds tallest building, the Burj Kalifa, was found here. It was one of the more bizarre places I’ve been too. Although the experience was unique, it wasn’t a genuine representation of what that part of the world is truly like.
I was apart of a 5 day shoot which captured a “day in the life” of a young woman exploring Dubai. There will be a series of 12 videos that will be navigated through a website. The crew I worked with was one of the more stellar teams I’ve been apart of. It was assembled by Director/Producer Gary Nadeau, with Ben Jacks as DP and Khalid Mohtaseb, Jonathan Bregel, and myself rounding out the camera crew. There was such a high level of talent between the collective, it was awesome to see such a group collaborate on one project together. I will let the footage speak as a testimonial to this. The local crew there in Dubai was also outstanding. To be honest, it was unexpected to find such knowledgeable, hard-working people working on film sets there. But we were all pleasantly surprised.
It is incredible to be doing something you love in combination with work and travel. Being surrounded by not only talented people, but also those with whom you genuinely enjoy spending time with makes the experience all the better. Here are a few more photos from the trip..
Here is an edit I did for part of the filming I did two weeks ago during fashion week in NYC. This one was a montage of four different events spread over three days for Tela Design Studio. The video captures events in their studio in the meatpacking district, and then culminates with the big stage at the Lincoln Center.
In case you missed it, the latest for Dwell. This from out trip to Holland, Michigan to the campus of Herman Miller for a full day of shooting and exploring.
Over the past week I shot for 5 days at several different events for a few different projects, all related to NYC fashion week. It was cool to be right in the middle of all the hype and hoopula that goes on in such events. I will be editing one piece that should be posted shortly, and the other won’t post until early March (considering it was shows for Spring collections, that’s just how those fashion people work). Thought I would share some behind the scenes and runway photos that I snapped here and there.
Yesterday I came across an article by Rob Loukotka where he was talking about how turning down work or certain projects is the better decision many of times than accepting such work. Full article found at link below:
http://fringefocus.com/2010/freelancing/just-say-no-how-to-turn-down-new-projects
This was a timely article for me to read. Over the past 3-4 months my work load has increased significantly. Prior to this, and even up until the current period, I have been accepting almost any job or project that has come my way. When you are just starting out in a career where your income is earned solely through freelancing, you need a lot of contacts. Much of the work I am getting these days has come from second and third referrals from clients I did work for almost a year ago. It is without doubt that early in your career, you must be careful as to the work you turn down, as your ability to be selective about the projects you work on may not be up to your liking.
However, there comes a point where you will have enough work on the table to keep you busy, and you can start to pick the work that really interests and inspires you. Rob’s post provides great insight into what your thought process should be when you get to the point where you say “NO.”
The biggest factor for me is calculating how much additional time, energy, and stress a said project will truly entail. A one days worth of editing a simple piece can easily turn into a week of going back and forth with client. To truly be happy in your creative career in addition to being successful, you need to filter and focus your talents and energy to the work that you truly believe in.
I have been a big fan of Xavier Rudd since I studied in Australia 3 years ago this fall. His music is inspirational, and gives off good vibes while doing so. I was bummed I didn’t get to see him while in the country where he originates from, but I finally got the chance last night in NYC at Irving Plaza. I’ve heard his live shows are like no other.. I certainly wasn’t disppointed. We were up close for the entire show (which was awesome) so I got some nice photos and a video to give you a sense of his energy.
I’ve been getting to shoot some pretty sick loft apartments in NYC lately for some high end realtors. A pretty cool job indeed. The views on some of the spaces are just incredible. Here is a panoramic I shot while on location… 65th street looking west with Central Park in the near distance.
One of the best parts about what I do is getting to see and learn about a whole bunch of places and people. The last few days were spent in Holland, Michigan shooting to third and final segment for Dwell’s color series, The Full Spectrum. If you haven’t heard of Herman Miller, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or even sat in a piece of their furniture. We were able to get a full tour of their facilities, everywhere from their design house to archives to manufacturing warehouse. I was a bit blown away by he company and the little town in Western Michigan as a whole.
We had full access to shoot where ever we liked, which is always great. I ended up taking a lift for one shot to get an aerial timelapse of the warehouse. Another cool part about the company and the area we were in is that all the buildings are built and operated in the most efficient manner, most of them being LEED certified (including the sick hotel we stay at).
The past few days have honestly felt like a mini vacation, getting to explore an awesome little area of the country that I would have probably not have found myself at if it had not been for this job. A job that I can hardly consider work. The edit should be up on Dwell sometime in September.
this is an excerpt from an article I read today from Spencer Fry:
In my social life, I’ve only been in love once and it didn’t work out in the end due to long distance and bad timing. In business, I’ve been in love twice. Once with TypeFrag and now a second time with Carbonmade. Just as in your social life, when you meet someone great you get this gut feeling and your stomach fills up with butterflies, the same is true when an idea clicks with you. You fall in love. Your stomach churns and you can’t sleep at night, all because you want to work on the idea so much — the equivalent being wanting to be with someone all the time.
If you’re thinking “I’m not really into you”, then you should pack away your thoughts and wait for the next idea. If you’re at all successful developing your idea then you’ll be fully involved with it for at least five to seven years. You don’t want to be invested in something that you don’t care about enough to commit to for that long. And most importantly, you won’t be able to give an idea your best work and attention if you’re not in love. Your relationship will suffer and, ultimately, die out.
——–
I wouldn’t claim to have that many great ideas, but I do have enough interests right now that I couldn’t possibly focus all my attention into just one. I think the thought of committing several years of your life into an idea is something that hasn’t really hit me yet. I’ve dabbled in a few things, most of which I project lasting for a few months. Of course I have dreams of these ideas growing beyond that, but none of them have been something that I would be “in love” with 7-10 years down the road. I think when the right idea comes along, it will indeed feel right.
I am in the middle of shooting a new series for Dwell called “The Full Spectrum.” Thus far we have been up to Connecticut to visit the Albers Foundation and a day in SoHo in the clothing shop Seize sur Vingt. I have loved the visuals and style of Gary Nadeau’s films and it’s been awesome to shoot and collaborate along side him. Check out the flicks below and be sure to check out the last episode coming soon..
James Jurney | Seize sur Vingt
The Full Spectrum for Dwell | Josef Albers
Here is some of the recent work I’ve been doing with @garynadeau.. great to be doing work for bigger and bigger clients
InStyle Fall 2010 Trends
Total Beauty “How-to” Hair Trends
Check out these timelapses I shot for @garynadeau‘s new short film, “Pizza Verdi.” With this stunning view it wasnt too hard to capture some pretty incredible images.
I was lucky enough to get myself an advanced copy of Tony Hsieh’s new book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. Tony is CEO of the online shoe store, Zappos. I hadn’t known much about Zappos previous to reading the book so I wasn’t biased in any way. My experience went beyond the pages of the book. Midway through my reading, I placed my first order online at Zappos.com. What I experienced as an actual customer was exactly what was described to me in Delivering Happiness.
I am an avid reader when it comes to any book related to being in business or being an entrepreneur. Some are simply a bio of how a person got to where they are today. Others are more of a how-to, listing items that you can implement into your own business. This one falls somewhere in between. I always find it refreshing to learn where someone came from, learning how they went from someone like me to running a million dollar business. Tony does not linger in this area too long as he moves on to the greater approach to Zappos later in the book. Zappos is all about customer service. There are countless stories in which I highlighted throughout the book, hoping to retell in my post here. However, I now realize that there are far too many that I’ve liked to attempt to reproduce here. I will only speak from my personal experience. While placing my first order through Zappos, I simply tweeted out that I had ordered new shoes, and I was upgraded to free overnight shipping. Not only that, but I was placed in there VIP program, which entitles me to such shipping priority for future orders. I felt kind of special. I told all my friends about how easy it was to order, and that if I didn’t like my shoes, I could mail them back (with free shipping of course!). I didn’t get how they weren’t loosing money with giving me a lifetime of free shipping. Well, through the 244 pages that I continued to read, it became quite clear. Doing the little things that can actually make a customer stop and say, wow, I never would have expected someone to do that for me.
I believe that is what I got most from Delivering Happiness and the entire Zappos brand as a whole. You know what the #1 Core Value of Zappos is? Deliver WOW through service. If you want to be enlightened on how you can possibly transform your own business, pick up a copy of the book here. Even better.. as if I wasn’t wowed enough when I was sent a free advanced copy of the book just for being a blogger- I was sent two. One for me and one to give to you. Email me (jasonkoontz4@gmail.com) and I’ll send you your own copy. Tony’s words will provide insight and inspiration.. you can’t afford to pass this one up.
Couldn’t be more excited for the World Cup to kick off tomorrow! We will surely see futbol at its best on the biggest stage in the world. I made a schedule of all the Group Stage games for you desktop. Download your own here.
Note: I gathered images from around the web, no rights reserved.
Just got my eyes on the edit from a few weeks ago, compliments of the Driggs Bros. The event itself was a blast, this video does a pretty good job of conveying that.. though there was nothing like being there.. two seats away from Taylor Steele during the world premiere in person.. but we can’t all be that lucky.
I was able to link up with my good friends Spencer and Christian and get in on the world premiere of Castles in the Sky, the newest surf film from Taylor Steele. When I found out they had sold out within hours, I called up the Driggs Bros to see if they had an in. Sure enough, they were filming the event for the New York Surf Film Festival, and they were able to get me in on the production crew. Being a mere few feet from both Taylor (director) and cinematographers Todd Heater and Alex Berger while being interviewed was an unreal experience. I even ended up sitting just a seat away from the crew during the showing in the theatre as I was posted up right in the row they were in. The movie, filmmakers, and entire event proved to be inspiration to me, making me want to create films and travel even more than my current desires.
Freedom gained from doing what you want with your life, not worrying about what other people think is a rare, beautiful thing.
via @nopattern
Found an epic location to shoot yesterday. Didn’t quite get there in time to get a solid timelapse, but it was a good test for next time. The panarmaic on the other hand.. not sure if that could have turned out better. View here.
This is what I want my POV of the world to be. Getting out there and TRAVELING.
This morning I was checking my Twitter feed and came across this article. It’s worth a read through, I won’t repeat everything here. Basically NJ Transit is going to raise prices for its transportation by 10%, yet New Jersey hasn’t raised it’s gas tax since 1988. Each commuter who rides the train or bus saves about 4,800 pounds of global warming pollution to our air each year. But that’s not apparently important to Gov. Christie, who would rather keep that gas tax low and get more cars on the road. Aside from the environmental standpoint, Transit creates 41,000 jobs for every $1 billion invested in the system. But, again, it’s more logical to spend our money on imported oil from dictators in the middle east. Nice logic.
It’s dangerous to start a business once you’ve had a career- while young, you HAVE to make profits. Older, you can dip into savings.
This afternoon I was struggling with motivation and decided things just weren’t getting done tonight. I decided to throw on Afterlame by Robotfood. This video succeeded Afterbang and Lame, and collective are perhaps the reason I got serious about filmmaking. Everyone always asks me, so what are you favorite movies? Being a film major and all, one would think I’m a big movie buff. When it comes to Hollywood films I’ve seen just as many, if not fewer than any other regular character. It’s just not what got me into making movies. Robotfood was what did it. I had a particular interest in snowboard movies, and a love for what this company did with them. Their camera style and editing techniques was something I always tried to mimic, and probably still a great influence to how I make my films today. Below is a clip from one of the segments:
An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.
-Arnold H. Glasgow
There is a national headquarters for the Seeing Eye right here in Morristown. I am simply amazed by these dogs every time I see them in action. I will sometimes sit in my parked car outside my house for 10 minutes watching them cross the street. Today they were out in training again, so I grabbed my camera and shot some clips.
*It should be noted that the car almost hitting the person + dog in cross walk is part of the training
Never had been to the Metropolitan Museum.. you can go from Ancient Egypt to Medieval Italy and on ward from there. Pretty neat.. was never a history buff but it’s an interest of mine. Its hard to believe this stuff was real!
In this episode we discuss our recent wedding film “Lindsay + Mike” watch here
We take a look at the stunning work of stillmotion.ca
We also talk about the use of IS lenses and color correction using Magic Bullet Looks
Photo credit: Kevin Coughlin
Last night Brandon and I attended Great Conversations, a fundraising event for the Arts Council of the Morris Area. We were invited as guests, so that meant free food and open bar at the very least. However, by nights end, we came away with a lot more. Meeting older folk with more experience and insight than you always proves to be beneficial. It’s very seldom that you can’t take a positive away from an event like this. Networking is the key to this business, and the more events like this that you can get to, the better position you’ll put yourself in for the future.
Nick Onken is a photographer I stummbled across a few months ago and have been followig him ever since. His works speaks for itself- incredible looking images that capture story in a truly unique way. But what I love even more than his photos is what he writes about in his blog. I feel like I relate sometimes to his mindset on the industy and on life in general (see my previous post here). Last night he had a party for the release of his book Photo Trekking. It was such a cool atmosphere, more than inspiring. Drinks, music, photography, and lots of people mingling about made for a great evening. Makes me want to have throw an event like this.. one day down the road, definetely something to aspire to.
Being in the creative field that I’m in, I’m constantly brainstorming new ideas for films, products, and business ventures. A lot of times I feel as though I have just too many great ideas, as I’m sure we have all felt once or twice before. But there are other times where I feel as though there is not one useful thought running through my head. In my eyes its all about inspiration that turns into motivation for action. Inspiration can come from so many places. A lot of the time I find myself looking at people’s work I admire online, be it a photo, film, or written article. But what I find is that this never leads to me doing anything productive. I gain tips, insight, and certainly feel a bit of motivation to get out and do something like that myself, but more times than not I’m left feeling like I have to do work now or should go out and shoot. It never really comes from inside me. I just returned from a great run around town during sunset on an unseasonably warm day, and I cannot begin to tell you the ideas that came through my mind. I believe its the things around us that truly get us inspired. All those things you pick up while browsing content online are still in your head, except this time they resurface as your own. Get out and live in the world around you, and let that environment be your source of inspiration.
My BTS video featuring model Emma Beam and photographer James Weber has been featured on fstoppers.com. They had good things to say about the video, and its great to be getting that kind of exposure.
The last time a got a new computer was the summer before freshman year of college, which was four and a half years ago. Buying any new Apple product always brings me oh so much joy. But this being the biggest deal of all (an actual computer) I am just giddy like a school boy with excitement. The greater part of this week will, without a doubt, be spent playing around on this new 27″ iMac goodness.
There’s only one team I hate more than the Philadelphia Flyers and that’s the New York Rangers. Attending a game between the two doesn’t give you much to cheer for as a Devils fan. Regardless, it was nice to see a hockey game, I hadn’t been to one in quite some time. Also my first time inside the Garden.
This weekend entailed a great combination of things.. old college roommate coming down for a visit and St Patty’s Day parade in Morristown. There’s nothing better than good times with good friends. Turns out that the parade actually got cancelled (due to the monsoon/tornado that occurred) and will be rescheduled for April. That’ll just be another excuse to where green..
Yesterday evening I ventured down to the Hyatt hotel where Morristown was holding their Green Drinks event. I have been tied in as of late with all the happenings sustainability wise in town, so I was naturally excited for the event. My expectations were surpassingly surpassed. I talked, chatted, and mingled with multiple different individuals for over 2 hours, not once having a spare moment to myself. It was great to see so many familiar faces that I have started to become acquainted with over the past several months. You can definitely see that there is some sort of (open) circle within the community that relates to sustainability, and it’s awesome to start feeling like I’m apart of it. What was even better, was meeting with those whom I hadn’t known previous. Hearing their stories, their plans, and what motivates them proved to be inspiring. I left the event with a feeling of excitement, one that I can’t exactly put my finger on as to what directly I was excited about. I believe it was a culmination of things.. the fact that their are so many like minded people right here in Morristown is motivating, and makes me want to continue to pursue my vision for films in this town. It’s equally as satisfying knowing that their is a “market” for such products.. Yet this market is truly only a group of good-hearted individuals all looking to make a contribution. I believe that with the culmination of minds and talents in the room last night, there definitely could be and will be progress to a future of sustainability. But the main point I think I got from last night was something I heard from Marty of Marty’s Reliable Cycle. It related to the overall sense of a community that Morristown has. What makes a true community, be it transportation, retail, neighborhoods, events; all these things in combination all add up to create our ideal vision of a place we want to live. Being able to work, play, and enjoy life all in the same location says something about the community. Events like last night bring that sense our community straight to the surface.
more photos on NJ.com here. scroll to bottom to check our yours truly
I am in the classroom again this week, both today and tomorrow. It’s amazing how well the kids are taking to the idea and are excited about film. For this being a pilot program, I couldn’t have asked for things to have gone this well or this smoothly up until this point. The footage is even turning out great, making the possibilities of a good end product more and more likely.
Brandon and I are starting to do this podcast, 10PHX.tv to give some insight into what we do behind the scenes with our company Ten Phoenix (Productions). I hope these will evolve to become a resource that people can use to learn production tips as well as an understanding to the business side of creativity. Premiere episode 01 above.
I have been working on a school film project the past few days (see post two previous) that is getting students from K-8 engaged in the filmmaking process. Yesterday, after one of the most well behaved classes, a 3rd grader comes up to me and asks me how I spell my last name, followed by “are you on Facebook?” I was, to say the least, shocked. You’re in 3rd grade and you’re on Facebook.. incredible. Do 3rd graders even know how to read yet?! This question got me to thinking about the world we live in today, technology wise. I love how connected I am able to be and the resources that are at my fingertips. Being someone who is less than a year out of college and having such incredible opportunities to market and promote yourself on the web is something that I am very grateful for; grateful that I’m at where I’m at in my stage of life and in the progression of the world. But I start to reconsider things when an 8 year old asks me if I’m on a site that started when I was in college.. I wouldn’t want to be in a position where all my friends were on Facebook, and had cell phones, and probably their own laptops at an age where I didn’t need any of that. Their is something about the imagination that kids need to explore.
I don’t know if it was because of my parents wise influence or my personal preferences, but I was never a one for video games. Sure I played, but not for hours upon hours like many others did. I think that when I spent this time instead, building forts and climbing trees and playing Army, it helped me get to where I’m at today. “If you can dream it, you can do it” (Walt Disney).. the problem with today, and perhaps even more so in the next generation, is that there will be far less of those dreaming and using their imagination.. instead they will use only what they know from playing Farmville on Facebook..
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the Air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four Balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.
-Bryan Dawson, Coca Cola CEO
For the past two days, and for the next several upcoming weeks, I have been and will be working on a film project in Franklin Twp School. Basically, we will be creating one film throughout the K-8 school, with each class focusing on one aspect of filmmaking (storyboarding, prop making, production, editing, musical score, etc). I believe it is a neat approach, one that will play out nicely when everything is wrapped if all goes to plan. I’ve always liked working with youngsters (was a camp counselor back in the day) but have never done so while trying to make a movie with them. It’s a big undertaking, but it’s one that I have enjoyed thus far. It’s great to see kids respond well the the things you say and the material you present to them, especially when its about the field I work in and am so passionate about. I’ve started a blog for the school that will detail each step along the way.
Music Producer Rob Freeman discusses The Pilot Studio and the exciting work being done by bands and musicians. Another Ten Phoenix production.
compliments of Nick Campbell.
I don’t think I could live anywhere that it doesn’t snow like this. Sure there’s a bunch of freezing cold days with no snow and a lot of rainy dreary days in March, but when I wake up and see the street blanked like it was this morning I still get gitty like a kid. The 2-day storm finally passed and the sun broke to an actual pleasant afternoon. Took a run around town with Brandon, which are always nice as we talk business, life, and all the in between stuff, but today particularily so because it was exceptionally nice with the fresh snow and sun as our scenery.
Here is a recent tweet by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint after the heavy snowfall down in DC a few weeks ago (as pointed out in Friedman’s Global Weirding Is Here article in the NYTimes). He was ovbiously taking a jab at Al Gore, claiming that if it’s snowing this much in the middle of winter, global warming must certainly be some kind of hoax. I’m not even going to go into the topic, because I think that more than anything, it’s a distraction. I want to say, WHO CARES if the global climate is truly changing or not. How about we focus on what we can do to better ourselves as Americans and if, at the same time, we happen to help the environment a bit, so be it. Let’s take a look at how much the U.S. spent on oil imports last month (data sourced from PickensPlan.com)
$27.5 Billion sent overseas, out of the American economy which is struggling so much to create jobs for unemployed citizens. I wish Senator DeMint would stop making comments such as the one above, and start thinking a bit more like Friedman, which would be by “investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and mass transit — because this insurance will also actually make us richer and more secure. We will import less oil, invent and export more clean-tech products, send fewer dollars overseas to buy oil and, most importantly, diminish the dollars that are sustaining the worst petro-dictators in the world who indirectly fund terrorists and the schools that nurture them.”
Why does that concept make so much sense to me and not others? Why are people praising DeMint’s tweet on website’s such as this? I’ll say it again, its a distraction. Friedman reiterating the point one last time: “Iran, Russia, Venezuela and the whole OPEC gang are high-fiving each other. Nothing better serves their interests than to see Americans becoming confused about climate change, and, therefore, less inclined to move toward clean-tech and, therefore, more certain to remain addicted to oil.”
Jason Calacanis gives his thought on startups and what it means to be an entrepreneur. You can skip ahead to 2:30 where he really kicks off the talk with, “How many people in the room want to be an entrepreneur raise your hand.. How many people want to be a drone bee and not think for the rest of their life and just collect a pay check raise your hand”.. followed up about 3/4 of the room raising their hand for the ladder. Yes these are college students in the 21st century.. blows me away.
Inspirational speeches always go a long way for me. Rowling’s closing quote…
“As is a tale, so is life.. not how long it is, but how good it is.. is what matters.”
The boys had their first scrimmage of the year tonight. The snow was plowed and the freezing temps were out for the game under the lights. There were even some flurries on top of it. Ahh what it’s like to miss the good old days. A few other alumni were out in support of the guys. The team looked good in the first half, moving the ball well, some nice G’s, and looking fresh in their new white caps. Second half was a bit of a different story, but we’ll let that slide for now as it was only a scrimmage. We’ll be looking for more than that though come the opener.
Who wouldn’t want to be this little pups valentine?? Oaks got to jump around a bit in the snow today. Was a bit deep for him, but he did his best. My brother and I took the drive home this afternoon to spend a little time with the family. I’m pretty sure I have the best family anyone could ask for. Their love, support, and inspiration does more for me than I can describe. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without having the strong foundation that I do. Growing up in an environment like this truly sets me up to have endless possibilities in life. There’s no greater gift.
Today was one of those days where it just felt good to be outside. The sky never seemed bluer. It was nice to stop and take a deep breath of the brisk wintry air. Everything felt so clean and fresh. I made a point to take a walk around the block this afternoon and snap some stills after the recent snowfall.
The view outside my window this morning. The roads look bad, travel conditions are probably poor. Not sure if I’ll be able to make the commute to work today from my bed, across the room, to my desk.
The better part of the past week and a half have been spent in front of the computer and out on several meetings. There are a few projects I’m working on editing, a website or two I’m trying to get up and running, several (potential) projects that need to be tended to, be it emailing, proposals, or those in-person meetings. I can’t say that I enjoy this process the most. I really just like those production days where I’m out shooting. I’d love to be able to get to that point one day where that’s all I’m doing. But, for the time being, this is what my days of been looking like.
Ten Phoenix Productions. a production company I’ve started with my long time friend and roommate Brandon Fake. We started back over the summer after graduating from school in May. We shot a few projects over the fall, and just launched our website after the new year. We’ve already picked up momentum through January with a wedding and music video, with much more on the horizon in the coming months. We’ve got such a great foundation under us with our backgrounds and experience working both in the field and with each other. Our collaboration is what makes our projects what they are. I couldn’t be more excited, motivated, and focused about this company and the things lay ahead..
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to work on a pilot show called Showcase ONE.. I didn’t know much about it other than it had to do with music and dealt with local musicians coming in and performing. Needless to say I took the job and got set for the long 3-day shoot over the weekend. Fast forward to the end of the weekend, late Sunday night riding home on the train, and I couldn’t be more excited about the project. What I didn’t foresee was how talented each artist would be, and how I would walk away with a handful of bands that I now actually really like yet knew nothing about 3 days prior. This made working on set such an enjoyable experience because I was getting to listen to live music for free (actually no, I was getting paid to). A shoot such as this, in combination with a great crew, makes these kind of productions the ideal ones. It should never be underestimated how far getting along with your crew can really go. One that knows how to keep the tempo on set upbeat and understands the importance of having a laugh or two amidst the working conditions, yet knows when to buckle down and get the work done, in an efficient, professional manner. This kind of attitude surely starts from the top, and we had that from Dir. of Photography Seth Melnick. 12+ hour days don’t feel as much like work with conditions like these.
Yesterday marked the first day of practice for the 2010 FDU lax team. Aside from sitting out my junior year, it’s the first time since fourth grade that I won’t be playing lacrosse this year. Part of me has always dreaded the February 01 date.. because let’s be real, who really wants to be running around in sub frigid weather getting whacked with aluminum poles for three and a half hours everyday. The truth is, no one ever goes through all this unless they really love the game. That first day of practice isn’t what you play sports for. It’s working hard everyday starting then through the end of the season, hoping, that come seasons end you will have one a few games, scored a few goals, and perhaps, made a headline, win the conference, or dream to go further. And this isn’t all that you play for.. when you are part of a team, you get close to your teammates, your coaches, the parents. Those kind of bonds don’t happen any where else but in sports. Most of my good friends today were made on the field. I’ll miss playing this year, but can’t wait to support as a proud alumni. For today, a few highlights from last year’s MAC championship. I score first, followed by Adam collecting the next two, then not to be out done by my little bro, I finish with the next two. FDU 8 – Widner 7. That’s what you play for..
Had a splendid weekend shooting a music video with Josh Shorhagen for his single, “Your Eyes”. The tune is quite catchy, and Josh is an ever talented young musician who will definitely be going places. Today we shot at this awesome warehouse, which let our creativity have no bounds. Above, I’m operating the crane to get a nice extra reach arial shot. A few frame grabs from the incredible 5D below..
The latest for Dwell, featuring Smart Design in Manhattan where Universal Design in NYC Public Bathrooms was discussed on a shoot back in December that I assisted on.. wait for my name in those credits! Produced, directed, and edited by the highly talented and personable Gary Nadeau.
Today commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (via Wikipedia). For me, the day symbolizes a deep missing of the time I spent in the country while studying* abroad. All the boats gather in the harbour by the bridge and Opera House and have a massive fireworks display. The photos I find of this on Flickr are stunning.. a reason for me to go back and experience myself one day!
*studying noted here because it was more like expereiencing life at its best, rather than reading books in a library.
An interesting article this morning from one of my favorite authors, Thomas Friedman, on the demise of president Obama’s previously successful campaign to gain the hopes of the American people. It’s interesting how such a well executed plan of having a grassroots level movement for his election has all but disappear now that he is actually in office. I don’t want to state my political views on the previous election, but what I can say is that a lot of people were excited to see Obama take office. People felt like we were going to be headed in the right direction with a man like this. I don’t know if people really knew where we would be headed, but they had a good feeling about it and trusted that the man they voted for would get them there. It’s disappointing to see that all this positive movement and energy behind Obama has been let slip away, with now more focus and concentration put in the Senate and House. If I can steal a line from Friedman, Obama has “turned all his supporters into spectators of The Harry and Nancy Show.” I don’t understand why someone in his position can’t live up to his own standards.
I think Friedman hits many good points mid-article talking about innovation. He says 2010 should be the year that 2009 should have been, the year of innovation. He comments on a documentary, Ten9Eight, which follows high school students as they compete for a national business plan competition. It’s interesting to think what exposing younger students to entrepreneurship could truly lead to. The film premieres on TV Superbowl Sunday on BET at 12 noon. I’ll be tuning in.
