In recent times I took to the air for two projects shooting aerial footage, the first being for Forterra. Forterra is a fantastic conservation organization working to both protect lands and enhance communities living on them. I flew with Charlie Raines, Director of Forest Conservation, and pilot Lane Gormley of LightHawk, up the Great Northern Corridor which runs up from Everett, WA, up to Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains, following US Hwy 2 and the Snohomish and Skykomish Rivers. We documented a number of sites along the way where Forterra is making an impact for Washington State residents and wildlife.
The other flight was to capture footage of I-90 from Seattle up to Snoqualmie Pass for “Cascade Crossroads”, the documentary I’m working on for the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition. While it was a challenge fighting some stubborn clouds, with Lane’s expert piloting I got some gorgeous footage showing why this particular point in the Cascades is so special.
I can't say enough great things about the work and generosity of LightHawk, an organization of pilots who donate flight time and resources for environmental causes. Thank you Christine and Lane!
So cool to have my 3D video, "Eventually They Melt" featuring music and performance by Seattle artist London James, is playing in the LA 3D Movie Festival this weekend. The festival is organized by Eric Kurland, who is also the creative energy behind the 3-D Space as well. Other 3D gems showing this weekend include Nick Cave's new film 'Once More With Feeling', which I hope to see soon as I suspect it's pretty intense...
In June, the one and only Lamborghini opened a new high tech carbon fiber research lab in Seattle. I was excited to cover the ribbon-cutting event for Centigrade Inc. as CEO Stefano Domenicali joined with Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee in announcing the grand opening, and excited again to be asked to edit a sizzle reel for Lamborghini's web site.
It's amazing what they're working on in the lab. You can see in the video a snippet of a new carbon fiber fabric that Lamborghini will actually use in the interior of one of their cars instead of leather.
It was also fun to have my former Microsoft colleague Craig Mathewson join me, since Craig and I are veterans of many years of Detroit Auto Show coverage for MSN Autos from years back.
I'm extremely excited to have been commissioned by the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition to create a documentary that details an amazing story that is unfolding at Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Working with producing partners Kris Browne and Sandy Asher, the documentary will be about how a broad coalition of environmental organizations, the US Forest Service and other government agencies, and Washington State Department of Transportation collaborated to incorporate wildlife bridges into major highway improvements on Interstate 90, one of the Pacific Northwest's major transportation corridors. The highway intersects with a critical wildlife corridor that connects protected lands like Mount Rainier National Park and Alpine Lakes Wilderness, cutting through the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. It's a connection that is even more important with the effects of climate change now in evidence.
While the documentary is currently in the earliest stages, filming will be happening throughout the summer of 2016 and beyond, with simultaneous efforts in fundraising commencing now as well. For information on how to contribute, please visit the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition web site.
You can also follow the progress of both the project and the documentary here and at the Cascade Crossroads Facebook page. Additional information about the project can be found on the WSDOT web site.
Here's a recent photo of the progress on the first wildlife overpass---a bridge dedicated for wildlife to cross over the highway, complete with native vegetation, which will be completed in 2018.
There's nothing better than over the top client feedback after you've completed a project. Collaborating with Michael Murphy Productions on an event video for the Washington State Association for Justice, we received the following feedback after the video was shown before an audience of over 500 people at the Seattle Westin Hotel:
"People uniformly thought it was the highlight of the evening--upstaging the Governor and other guest speakers...people loved the music, the format, the style, lots of laughs...the Westin had four extra large screens, and so it was large and played well. People liked it so much that many wanted a copy. You guys were a HIT! Thanks"
Earlier this year, my sometime producing partner Kris Browne and I completed a project for Microsoft that I'm very proud of. It was a case study, and while case studies don't always have a central human story element, this one was touching. It showcased how Daphne Stigliano and The Boys & Girls Club in Ft. Worth, TX, were using Microsoft's Power BI software to get new perspectives on their data, and using that new information to improve the programs they offer for their community's children, including literacy and physical activities, among others. They were helped by Doyenne360's Kristian Rickard, who also was a tremendous help to us on this project. We were also supported by Dallas DP Mikon Haaksman. It was a satisfying project to complete, happy ending and all.
Where did the time go? It's September 30th, so I better write an update about summer now before its just a memory. Needless to say it was busy, and I'm thankful that my calendar was full working with friends old and new. I was happy to have a new client come on board, Seattle Children's Hospital, and I was thrilled to help them with the grand opening of a new urgent care clinic. PBJS kept me busy editing for Sephora's annual conference, and it was off to Las Vegas to join the crew of Michael Murphy Productions making content for Amazon and Optimum Nutrition's partnership at the Mr. Olympia event. And Chris and Pat Cashman are at it again, with their new local late night show Up Late NW, and it was a crack up working with their guest, radio personality Danny Bonaduce. Let's have a look at the photo evidence, shall we?
These body building types are brutal to work with!
The Head Squish...body builder 1, video editor 0...
One of these things is not like the others...
When Ted met Danny from the Partridge Family
Shooting for Seattle Children's Hospital
Vas ist das? Hmmm, perhaps a hint of things to come...
One of the videos I produced from earlier this year, a case study for Microsoft Azure and how they worked with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network to webcast Seattle Seahawks fans making the CenturyLink field quake is now live on the Microsoft News Center. Check it out!
