Cristina and Monica

Another of the videos I produced and directed for In the Life and Freedom to Marry is released today. It's the story of Cristina and Monica, legally married in Connecticut, deeply committed to one another, yet facing the threat of separation or exile because the United States government will not recognize their marriage for purposes of spousal naturalization - something commonly accepted for all heterosexuals. I also created versions of this in Spanish and with English subtitles. Last week the story of George and Farid was released.

My First Time

This mockumentary was lovingly created for the filmslam party of a film collective (The Filmshop). The party had the theme of 're-gifted' so this video short plays with that idea. The goal was a light and humorously perverse twist on that 'first time' experience. You can let me know if we got it right. Do you remember your first time?

Chinese New Year Promotion

From ridavio. This video is an excerpt from an in-house project documenting on-site marketing activities related to a Chinese New Year promotional campaign. The goal was to demonstrate the effectiveness and reach of the street marketing efforts. I shot on location in Flushing, Queens and Chinatown, Manhattan and had 1.5 days to turn around the final 6-minute video.

hide/seek

In the Life asked me to story produce a segment on the Hide/Seek exhibition that opened in Washington, DC last year. The original producers left the project and I had two weeks to take their material and create the segment by deadline. I wrote the script over the weekend, supervised a week of editing and then sought clearances for the numerous images that appear in the segment. Being able to work with these incredible images and hear the stories behind them was the funnest part of the assignment.
As the first major exhibition at the Smithsonian to feature prominent American artists with a lesbian and gay perspective the piece broke many barriers. As the co-curators explain in the segment, despite the fact that several important American artists are or were gay - Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly - most major institutions remove any mention of this from large retrospectives of their work. Why this is the case became clear soon after the edit was finished.
At the time this segment had to be delivered the controversy over the David Wojnarowicz video excerpt, "A Fire in my Belly" had not yet broken out. The original piece with it's powerful and disturbing images was created as the artist faced death from AIDS, yet religious political conservatives attacked the Smithsonian and the institution caved in, removing it from the exhibition. Clearly the culture wars are far from over. In the Life ran a follow up video on the controversy.
The original segment can be seen at their site online, or check your local PBS listings for airtimes this month. I took a trip to DC to see the exhibition last month and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area - it is up until February 13.

test, this is only a test

From ridavio. I finally took the plunge into the tape-less HD video world with a spanking new Sony HXR-NX5U that had it's debut run in Keystone, Colorado last month. Before my departure to the Rocky Mountain state I took it for a test spin in my backyard, that would be Central Park.

The footage was shot at auto settings using the default AVCHD FX (24Mbps) 1920 x 1080/60i. It was all handheld and I found the 5.5lb easy enough to work with. I tried some wide shots and some zooms and some changing of focus depth. The day was mostly cloudy with some spots of sunshine, but brisk and toward the end the wind picked up and my fingers got cold. Still it was nice to see the last of the birds passing through for fall migration and a bit of folliage.

What is digital exclusion in Harlem?

From ridavio. The indomitable Florence Rice of the Harlem Consumer Education Council pulled together this day-long event with the assistance of Dennis Lane of Kingstreet Productions addressing the possibilities and challenges of broadband access in Harlem for elderly and disadvantaged residents. Ms. Rice refers to a report by Mark Cooper on "The Challenges of Digital Exclusion" that can be downloaded via pdf through the link. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn spoke movingly of why she wants to bring the power of high speed access to communities of color. Thomas Kamber of Older Adults Technology Services addressed the need to connect seniors to vital resources. Monique Hedmann of Harlem Hospital explained the challenges of bringing telemedicine to Harlem. And Deepa Fernandes of People's Production House explained the importance of net neutrality and how it directly impacts digital justice in our community. This is an excerpt from a longer program that aired on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Securing your vote in New York City next Tuesday

From ridavio. At the September membership meeting the League of Women Voters explained the processes for making decisions within their organization and some of the voting issues they take on in the state and city of New York. In this excerpt we learn why New York State was the last to reform our voting process and get new ballot machines. They also raise the important issue of non-partisan redistricting based on recent census data. Process may not always be a glamorous thing to highlight or videotape, but it sure has a big impact on how we run our democracy and this affects our daily life. This is excerpted from a longer program that aired on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Leon Joseph Littlebird

From ridavio: The Cochrane Colloquium is the annual gathering of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international network of professionals in healthcare seeking to improve health care worldwide through the best information available on evidence. This year the meeting takes place in Keystone, Colorado and I was quite surprised to walk into the opening session and hear Leon Joseph Littlebird greet the international gathering with ancient words of welcome from the native culture of this country. He offered another vision of healing to the doctors, researchers and consumers gathered. As a fifteen-year survivor of leukemia his presentation was very moving and his playing resonated deep within the native DNA of all of us, as he put it.

Book Bag Give-Away at Fortune Academy

On Saturday, August 28th, book bags full of school supplies were distributed free of charge to low-income residents of West Harlem and surrounding neighborhoods at the Fortune Academy on Riverside Drive and 140th Street. Inmates at the Green Haven correctional facility had pooled money they earned while incarcerated to pay for the book bags as a way of giving back to a community in need. Glen Martin explains the work of the Fortune Society in helping formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into the communities they used to live. For more information go to Fortune Society.

How to use the new voting machine in New York City

The New York City chapter of the League of Women Voters sponsored a demonstration of the new machines New Yorkers will use to vote in this election season. This is an excerpt from the full length show of the demonstration that will air on Manhattan Neighborhood Network this Sunday. New York City will be using paper ballets filled out in blue ink with pens provided by the board of elections. There will also be Ballot Marking Devices that will assist those who need help reading and marking the fine print on the ballot. Be sure to turn your ballot over as propositions you can vote on will be on the reverse side. And you still have the option to write in your candidate - in this case, peanut butter crunch!

berries

Here in New York, we are now in that late summer season when you go out on a hike and realize that blueberries are fully ripe, but you forgot your bowl to gather some to take home for pancakes tomorrow morning. Not to worry, Ben will show you how to quickly craft one out of wild grass growing by the side of the path. The pancakes were delicious, btw.

Vacant condo anyone?

From ridavio. Right to the City is a coalition of community groups in New York City that researched the situation with vacant condos in several New York neighborhoods. Last month they released their findings along with a tour of vacant condo sites in Harlem. Along the way they stopped at three sites where condos have remained vacant and unsold, sometimes for over a year. Some buildings are up to 70% vacant and developers owe the city millions in taxes. You can download the full report on the Urban Justice League's website.

Tehom

From ridavio. This video documents the installation of Tehom, the first solo show of artist Angelo Musco. It took five days to install 191 pieces in the Carrie Secrist gallery in Chicago. When Angelo returned with his footage, I cut it together with an interview we had taped previously. The goal here was to capture the momentous effort of installing an exhibit that was the culmination of two years of work from concept to completion.

The Making of Tehom

From ridavio. Two years ago Angelo Musco started production on Tehom. I documented one of numerous photo shoots that took place in a private pool on a penthouse rooftop in Tribeca. It was a beautiful day and the small cast of models was upbeat and very creative that afternoon. After months of shooting, Angelo would continue work for two years creating an underwater world with an architecture of tens of thousands of nude human bodies. As he explains in the video, Tehom comes from a Hebrew word in Genesis signifying the great deep of the primordial waters of creation. The final piece will stretch 48 feet long and 12 feet high with some figures reaching nearly life size. As I edited the action from above the water and cut it with the photos Angelo was taking below the surface, I attempted to evoke the feeling of Tehom, the deep, as seen in the details from the final work toward the end of the video. Tehom exhibits at the Carrie Secrist gallery in Chicago, opening May 1 and running through July 10, 2010.

Net Neutrality, Why Should You Care?

So you are an independent filmmaker and you have just finished an amazing project that is buzz worthy and definitely has, dare you hope, Oscar potential. You don't have a lot of resources, but you have some marketing savvy and you launch your online campaign to build an audience for your west coast theatrical run. But suddenly AT&T, the largest broadband provider in your target area sends you a message that if you want to reach their customers you are going to have to pay 4¢ per view. Your east coast broadband provider only has a 15% market share in that area, suddenly your maxed out credit cards have slammed into another brick wall.

While this scenario is hypothetical today, it could be a reality in the near future. The Coalition for Media and Democracy and VoterBook sponsored a panel on Net Neutrality in New York City last week with a panel that discussed the current state and future implications of broadband access. Hannah Miller of the coalition explained to me before the panel that it is a difficult issue to put on the radar of most concerned citizens.

Currently we live with net neutrality, so there is no perception of real danger. You pay an internet service provider for access and the content you post is available to viewers who are accessing the internet with competing providers. There have only been a few isolated incidents to date where providers blocked access to content, explaining in one case it was to free up bandwidth. Yet the technology exists to restrict access and as panelist, Michael Livermore of the Institute for Policy Integrity maintains, the major broadband providers are fighting very hard for the right to do so, while maintaining they have no intention of carrying through on it.

As panelist Tim Karr of Free Press stated, the market is ruled by duopolies and in some cases monopolies that are only growing larger as the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal indicates. We already pay higher prices to access broadband in this country than in similar markets overseas. The United States ranks 14th among industrialized countries in availability to high speed internet connections on a per capita basis.

Panelist Kris Rios with People's Production House explained how the digital divide is hurting individuals in low-income communities and rural areas where large providers have less economic incentive to provide access.

As a consumer who relies on the internet for your life and work as much as you might rely on your public utility for water and electricity you may want to stay current on the National Broadband Plan that is currently in the works, and the organizations that are advocating on behalf of consumer access.

The video clip contains excerpts from the panelists. The full show will air soon on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Celebration of Betty

This video memorial was created for a celebration of the life of my Aunt Betty (Elizabeth) Marie Cohen who passed last year. It was shown along with a slideshow presentation that went into more explanation on the various photos. The video offers an impression from selected periods and events along with music from the era. It starts with Betty's grandmother in a picture taken in the 1880s and includes her parents, uncle and aunt.

Betty was born to Charles and Frances Davis in 1923, in Topeka, Kansas. Her brother Bill was three years older. During World War II, she was a statistician for the US military, working at military bases in Pennsylvania, Florida, and finally, at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Testing Station in California’s Mojave Desert. There she met her future husband, Nathan Cohen, then a photographer on the rocket testing ranges. Meanwhile her brother Bill had joined the U.S. Army, and was working on the then-secret project to develop and install radar to protect England.

In 1946, Betty and Nate were married in her parent's home in Wichita, Kansas. From China Lake, they came to UC Berkeley, where she worked as a secretary while he earned his M.A. During this time, their children, David and Deborah, were born. The moves the family made, from town to town, were all occasioned by Nate's career advancements, but along the way, Betty worked to pay the bills, involved herself in the community, and continually advanced her own education. Nate earned his doctorate from Oregon State, and then came to Modesto Junior College in 1954 as a biology instructor. The family moved to El Cerrito in 1963; Nate ran special programs at UC Berkeley Extension and Betty worked, again, as a secretary on campus.

Later, she enrolled at UC, graduating with a B.A. in History and a teaching credential. Betty taught at Oakland's Bella Vista Elementary School for 20 years. She was a dedicated and creative teacher who found great fulfillment and meaning in working with Oakland students. Nate and Betty moved back to Modesto in 1994, where Deborah, her husband, and their children resided, and where Betty volunteered in Deborah's classroom.

In 1996 Betty and Nate celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at a family reunion in Asilomar, California. The family reunions occurred every three years, in the midwest, mountains, southwest and west coast.

Betty was a great lover of dogs, enjoyed the Modesto Symphony, and working in her garden. Betty moved to The Stratford at Beyer Park in 2006, where she received wonderful support. Betty was predeceased by her brother William R. Davis of Salina Kansas, and by her husband Nathan. She will be deeply missed by her son David Cohen of Oakland, her daughter Deborah, son-in-law Ed Buettner, and their daughter Andrea, of Modesto, her brother Ted Davis of Wichita, Kansas, and by her many nieces and nephews, friends and colleagues.

Contributions in her memory may be sent to: NorCal Retriever Rescue - 405 El Camino Real #420, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Southern Poverty Law, Teaching Tolerance - 400 Washington, Montgomery, AL 36104

A photo album of the celebration can be seen at the link.

Reaching the Hard to Count for 2010 Census

From ridavio.com

The 2010 Census is hugely important to ensure resource allocation and representation to underserved African-American communities. These communities have historically been undercounted.

A tremendous effort is being made for the 2010 census by New York City, Borough, and State governments and the U.S. Census to make sure everyone is counted. You and your organization can participate to make this happen. Be sure to complete your census form when you receive it – and mail it back!

This teaser is excerpted from an hour-long program that will air on Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The NAACP and similar organizations will be participating in the effort to contact Hard to Count individuals and increase the Mail Back Response Rate for the 2010 census.

In the Pipeline

The goal of this video created for UCLA was to explain rectal microbicides to the target audience of men who have sex with men (MSM) and persuade them to participate in future clinical studies for HIV prevention. Starting with research on public perception of a product that doesn’t exist yet, the challenge was to explain the clinical facts in lay terms.

After speaking with many individuals served by agencies participating in the project it seemed to make sense to set it in a group meeting that would be familiar to viewers, but also let the message unfold through peer conversation as much as possible and less from expert sources. It was a lot of fun to shoot in different parts of Los Angeles and my DP Guiseppe was top notch.

The client wanted the final video to be ‘sexy’ to keep the viewer engaged, so it is indeed sex positive. Be aware there are explicit scenes and dialogue in this video that match the reality of the target audience intended. To learn more about this study go here.

Finally a shout out to Cullen who composed the sexy music, Scott who was an excellent PA and extra, Jer who got me the job and Drew who supported me every step along the way.

An Afternoon in Agustino

In a poor neighborhood of Lima, Peru, five local leaders are trying to start a community center for gay and transgender individuals. The president of the center, Cuti, explains what it’s like to be gay in the neighborhood, how he came to open his own beauty shop and why he decided to participate in the project. The group talks about their activities, challenges they face and what they want to do in the future. The ASOCAHU center is a project of the University Cayetano Heredia and the University of California Los Angeles. Its goal is HIV & STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) prevention in men who have sex with men (MSM).

To support ASOCAHU and similar groups in Peru send an e-mail to: info@epicentro.org.pe.

I had the opportunity to shoot and edit this piece thanks to a good friend who works on this project. It was a rare opportunity to see a side of Lima that I otherwise would never have witnessed. I had always heard about the volleyball games, but never before had a chance to see it first hand. My equipment was limited and in one afternoon it was impossible to capture the full extent of what this group is trying to do. But I hope it conveys at least the sincerity of their actions and the ambition they have to overcome their circumstances. They were so charming to welcome me, feed me and take care of me in my visit, which is to say make sure that nothing happened to me in this somewhat dangerous place. Please consider supporting them if possible.

Una Tarde en el Agustino

En un barrio pobre de Lima, Peru, cinco líderes locales están tratando de empezar un centro comunitario para gente gay y transgénero. El presidente del centro, Cuti, explica cómo es ser gay en el vecindario y cómo llegó a abrir la propria peluqueria y porque decidió participar en el centro. Los líderes relatan las actividades que hacen, los retos que enfrentan y lo que quieren hacer para el futuro. El centro ASOCAHU es un proyecto respaldado por la Universidad Cayetano Heredia y la Universidad de California Los Angeles. Su objetivo es la prevención de VIH e ITS (infecciones de transmisión sexual) en hombres que tienen sexo con otros hombres (HSH).

Para apoyar ASOCAHU y grupos semejantes en el Peru envíe un mensaje a: info@epicentro.org.pe. Para participar con este grupo envíe un mensaje a: asocahu5@hotmail.com.

Gracias al grupo de ASOCAHU por acogerme con tanto cariño durante mi visita. Les deseo mucho éxito con el proyecto!