The culminating event of the BAVC Producer's Institute is a presentation of the eight projects being developed here to a group of potential funders, partners and distributors. The challenge presented to each team was to develop and present a prototype of a participatory media project that creates social change. It's an intense and nerve-wracking experience…
Draxtor’s report on the BAVC Producer’s Institute
Here's the first in a series of machinima reports by my friend Draxtor Despres on the Producer's Institute, run by the Bay Area Video Coalition in San Francisco. Draxtor's first guest is Wendy Levy of BAVC, the coordinator of the Institute, explaining what it's all about.
“SOS Slaves” digital game challenges youth to help end sex trafficking
One of the other amazing projects I am helping with at the BAVC Producers Institute is "SOS Slaves," a web-based game that will educate and activate young people on the issue of sex trafficking around the world. Building upon "Sands of Silence" a powerful documentary about sex trafficking by filmmaker Chelo Alvarez-Stehle, "SOS Slaves" will…
Shooting machinima at the BAVC Producer’s Institute
Today we started shooting machinima for the presentation for the "Virtual Mine" project, being pitched at the conclusion of the BAVC Producer's Institute on Friday. Yes, it was a lot of work for the team to create the assets, write the shooting script, and arrange the sets for the machinima shoot. But it was also…
Virtual meeting with Claudia Linden at the Producers Institute at BAVC in San Francisco
I've been in San Francisco since Saturday participating in the awesome Producers Institute, organized by the Bay Area Video Coalition. The Producers Institute is an intense week bringing together documentary filmmakers, technologists, activists and educators to brainstorm new forms of participatory media for social change. I feel very lucky to be here as a "Mentor"…
Twitter as an Event Organizer’s Tool: Our Experience with the Frankie 95 Birthday Festival
About a month ago my friend David sent me an email asking about how we could use the micro-blogging service Twitter to help spread the word and coordinate a swing dance festival that we were helping organize. We started brainstorming and decided to try it out. As it turns out, Twitter is a pretty effective…
The Global Shim Sham compilation video: a labor of lindy love involving 5,000+ dancers from around the world
This video is the result of several months of effort involving an estimated 5,000 dancers in over 22 countries: the Global Shim Sham. This was produced by a dedicated team of volunteers for the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival, and shown to an appreciative audience of about 2,000 people on Saturday, May 23. Read on…
Off to Producers Institute for New Media Technologies in SF next week!
Video about project to create social media supporting global justice, around documentary "The Reckoning." I got a last minute invite to participate in the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies all of next week in San Francisco, run by those amazing folks at the Bay Area Video Coalition. Running from May 27 to June 7,…
Fantastic photos from Frankie 95 Festival on Getty Images
In all of the hubbub, I forgot to announce that the prestigious Getty Images stock photography service has put up several beautiful photos from the Frankie 95 Birthday Festival, mostly from the memorial service and the dance in Central Park on Friday, May 22. Check out the entire set here. One of them has already…
Gripping documentary about the International Criminal Court premieres in New York June 12 & 13!
I got the exciting news that June 12 and 13 is the New York premiere of The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court for the opening night of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. There will be two screenings: Friday, June 12, 7:00pm: Filmmakers and ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda present for Q&A…