From teaching in Italy, to releasing The Guardians, to filming in West Africa, here’s some highlights of what we’ve been up to the last few months.
Tag: film
On Teaching Documentary Film
This June, we had the unique opportunity to collaborate on the creation and instruction of an intensive documentary film course at Georgetown University’s Villa Le Balze in Florence, Italy. The Villa holds a special place for us as we were both students there almost 14 years ago. Now professional filmmakers, we teamed up with Georgetown Film & Media Studies Director and College Dean Bernie Cook to develop a program that would unite film theory and hands-on storytelling practice.
Three Things to Remember When Producing Documentary Film
It has been a while since our last update, but we are happy to share that we’ve finally reached the finish line with The Guardians. Picture lock in hand, composers Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico are currently working on the original score. And we will soon begin submitting to film festivals. We’re also waiting to hear where the film will land on PBS through our co-production agreement with public television funder ITVS. So stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, we thought we’d share a few takeaways from the production experience:
Small Actions Make a Big Impact
A nondescript northern Virginia rest stop seems like an unlikely place to help bring back the monarch butterfly. But that’s exactly what’s been happening at mile marker 155 on I-95. For the past two years, VDOT has planted upwards of 9,000 native plants and milkweed to help the monarch on its migratory route through the area.
Branded Content Storytelling for Architectural Digest
We were approached by Architectural Digest to produce a video as part of an integrated marketing campaign for Control4, a provider of home automation systems. They wanted to tell a real story of how technology and smart design could help a family with special needs. AJ and Devin’s story fit the bill perfectly.
ITVS Provides Major Funding Support for “The Guardians”
We are excited and proud to announce that the Independent Television Service (ITVS) has granted major funding support for The Guardians. The funds will allow us to complete both production and post-production on the film, which we’ve been working on since the beginning of 2014. ITVS is an ideal co-production partner for The Guardians because of its mission to fund independent films that bring underrepresented stories to public television audiences.
On Love in Documentary
This Valentine’s Day Eve as my honey and I wait for the homemade pizza dough to rise for our casual romantic eve, I felt compelled to sit down and write about what inspires me about love in non-fiction film. Mostly because it’s the only kind of depiction of love that really inspires and moves me. Hollywood doesn’t have anything on docs when it comes to love. Their formula typically goes something like this: boy meets girl, flirtation ensues, they are confronted by forces out of their control, they break up, and in most cases they get back together for happily ever after. Documentary love is much more complicated, layered, and profound.