Tribeca Film Festival

Wow, what a weekend. Two films that I have had the pleasure of working on, "Requiem For The American Dream" and "Tumbledown", had their premieres at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. My wife and I went down to NYC and got to go to both of the premieres, which was a really special moment for me. I even got to get a few photos taken on the red carpet at the Requiem premiere. As the Associate Producer on Requiem, it was awesome to see it play on a big screen in front of sold-out crowd (including my wife and also one of my closest friends from growing up). It was also great to see the whole PF Pictures crew again and the directors, Peter Hutchison, Kelly Nyks and Jared P. Scott. They are an incredibly thoughtful and talented group of filmmakers and it was a real pleasure working with them on Requiem and other projects. These guys are going to shake things up and I can't wait to see what they do next.

PF Pictures crew (and family) at Requiem premiere

After the Requiem premiere, we headed over to the Tumbledown premiere, which was a whole other ballgame in terms of press and scale, due to the stars of the film, Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis. I was an assistant camera/tech for some of the establishing shots/scenics that were shot in Maine for this film. The husband and wife directing/screenwriting duo of Sean Mewshaw and Desi Van Til (respectively) are wonderful people and it was a pleasure to get to work on such a great film and story. It took them years to get the film made the way they envisioned it, and to get a bit of Maine in the film (which is set in the mountains of Western Maine) was a real labor of love on their part. Seeing the finished film on screen, you don't see any of the countless hours of work and struggles to get an "indie" film made- just the great writing and directing, the powerful, funny performances of all the actors, and a beautiful film. They make it look easy. I can't wait for this film to get out to a wider audience- it really deserves it!

"Tumbledown" Q&A after the premiere.  From far right: Sean Mewshaw (director), Desi Van Til (screenwriter), Jason Sudeikis and Rebecca Hall. — "Tumbledown" Q&A after the premiere. From far right: Sean Mewshaw (director), Desi Van Til (screenwriter), Jason Sudeikis and Rebecca Hall.

After the screening we went to the premiere party and got to hang with some good friends and meet some new ones (more talented Portlanders), and got to say hello to Mike O'Brien from SNL, who's "7 Minutes In Heaven" sketches Caitlin and I are big fans of. All in all, a pretty amazing weekend.

Do The Math Trailer

Here is the trailer for the "Do The Math" documentary I worked on with the guys at PF Pictures. I was a Field Producer for an interview and when we filmed Bill McKibben's last Do The Math talk earlier this year. It's a wonderful project to be a part of, and please click through to 350.org to see how you can get involved with the movement in a few weeks for Earth Day.

Join in at http://www.350.org/math The Do the Math Movie is being screened at house-parties and screenings across the country on April 21st. At 42 minutes, it tells the story of the rising movement to change the terrifying math of the climate crisis and fight the fossil fuel industry.

Dr. Mulkey Interview

Still from interview I just shot/produced with Dr. Stephen Mulkey, President of Unity College, the first college in the US to completely divest it's endowment from fossil fuels. He made for a great interviewee, very knowledgable and engaging. The interview is part of a larger documentary being produced by PF Pictures for 350.org. Audio help on this shoot from Stuart Townsend.

Dr. Stephen Mulkey, President of Unity College in Maine.

350.org and Bill McKibben

Had the wonderful opportunity to Field Produce a shoot with the inspiring folks at 350.org and Bill McKibben. McKibben is the Rachel Carson of climate change, and the group he helped spawn at Middlebury College, 350.org, is doing the largest global organizing for climate change activism. Wonderful people doing incredible work, and they are all only a few years out of college.

Bill McKibben's office, before his last US 350.org tour event.

350 and Bill have been traveling the US giving his speech/program (similar to that of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth tour), and last Sunday was the last stop in the US, back in his home town of Middlebury, VT.

I got to Field Produce this shoot for PF Pictures, and we had a lot of the OG crew with us: Rob Featherstone as DP, Tom Moore as 2nd Camera, Nick Poholchuk on sound, Mike McSweeney as 3rd Camera, Ian DeSalvo on 4th Camera, and me on 5th Camera. We got a lot of great coverage of the program, as well as some interviews before and after with the 350 team, Bill McKibben, and students attending the show.

This is a part of a 40 min doc PF is doing on 350.org and the tour. I am really excited to have been a part of this project, and to help serve the cause of changing the way we think of energy/resource use, and our relation to the planet as a whole. These people are doing truly inspiring work, as sobering as Bill's message is at times. But that's the point.