Two days with two National Geographic photographers on the edge of a salmon stream.
Category Archives: Films
Searching for Shark Girl
It’s hard to say where stories come from. It’s a sort of archaeological game that we tend to play if we’ve ever taken a literature class and made the wildly speculative assumption that such origins exist. The online journal Failbetter.com published my novella @SharkGirl79 earlier today, so I guess if there’s a moment to spendContinue reading “Searching for Shark Girl”
Traveling cinema in Colombia
Do films actually matter? I spend a lot of time wringing my hands over this question, especially since I’ve committed so much of my life to making them. A recent trip to Colombia to screen our latest film provided some answers.
Five fictional villains endlessly more fascinating than Donald Trump
Michael Shannon is an actor known for his talent for playing complex and often malevolent characters, so it was interesting to consider his response when he was…
Watching ‘Saving Atlantis’ in the belly of the beast
Star Wars, spotted owls and showing a science documentary about anthropogenic change in the heart of timber country.
Films premiering in 2018
Two films that I co-directed/produced will premiere in 2018
Back to Burgundy – Three Days of Glory
Heading back to Burgundy to make a film about a tough year and a great wine celebration.
A visual storyteller’s guide to active consumption
How to keep yourself on the active side of the consumption equation.
Plunder on the Spanish Main
Feeling like a pirate leaving Cartagena not with a ship full of stolen Spanish plunder, but with a treasure of stories of the people working to save a small piece of of threatened reef.
Eating Poisson Cru in the tropics
Poisson Cru is French for raw fish. But as the local Mo’orean who told us about the best restaurant that serves it says, “the only thing French about it is the name.” It’s the traditional dish of the Society Islands, and much of Polynesia. We tried it in a restaurant run by a woman named Irene who, weContinue reading “Eating Poisson Cru in the tropics”
An Afternoon on Jenny Creek
Filmmaker Darryl Lai and I recently spent the afternoon in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument along the river bottoms of Jenny Creek with Jack Williams of Trout Unlimited.
Lila & Dobby make clam fritters
On the shores of Willopa Bay, I found my newest grandparents.
A legacy
Ten years ago today, Oregon lost a visionary winemaker.
The home stretch
After four years, seven states, seventy interviews, three name changes and what seems like an endless process, we’re finally nearing the home stretch. Now we’ve got a rough edit of the film and we’re raising some finishing funds to help us launch the film in 2014. Check out our campaign on Kickstarter, and look forContinue reading “The home stretch”
A tale of American vino
This past Friday we screened our documentary, American Wine Story, for some of the film’s subjects. It was bit of a nail biter as you always wonder how folks are going to react, especially to a film that’s largely about them. The reception was very enthusiastic. This is an inspirational flick about the American DreamContinue reading “A tale of American vino”
The Wind Kept: a music video
How does a writer who is used to hacking away on a coffee-stained keyboard in some dark corner while mumbling incomprehensibly to no one in particular suddenly find himself part of a team premiering a music video in a historic theatre with a group of collaborators from around the country? Well, like most things itContinue reading “The Wind Kept: a music video”
Kickstarting the Whiteside
Here’s a project we’re wrapping up. It’s a music video for acoustic guitarist Brave Julius and director/illustrator/animator Santiago Uceda. We’re raising funds to put on a concert and premiere the video in a classic theater in our hometown of Corvallis, Oregon. It’s a fun project: part filmmaking, part concert and part community art project. Strange howContinue reading “Kickstarting the Whiteside”
The Power of Great Storytelling
I just took my daughter to the premier of Justin Smith’s documentary, Relentless, about a team of student engineers who build and race formula cars. I’ve never been a car guy. To emphasize that point, I drive a moss-covered Pontiac Vibe mini wagon, which is noted for two things: it has a standard electric outletContinue reading “The Power of Great Storytelling”
Remix: part 4
Part 4 or the fantastic series Everything is a Remix by Kirby Ferguson is out. An impressive, polished series that makes you think. It’s a meditation on creativity, the nature of ideas, the inanity of intellectual property laws and litigious society. Looking forward to his next project, which sounds quite ambitious.
Ode on a Smith Corona
I bought a typewriter off of Craig’s List today. It’s a manual Smith Corona Galaxie XII that I picked up from a house on a Portland side street for thirty bucks. I’m fairly well convinced that it’s quite possibly one of the more beautiful objects I’ve ever owned. Off the top of my head, the onlyContinue reading “Ode on a Smith Corona”
The Dilettante's Field Manual 