If you are a fan of incredible short films on the internet, then you know who Eliot Rausch is. At this moment in my life, Eliot is probably one of the most inspirational filmmakers that have crossed my path. He has a connection with raw human emotions and storytelling that is unparalleled.

Eliot Rausch burst onto the scene in 2010 with his short film LAST MINUTES WITH ODEN, a heart-wrenching story that captures the last few minutes of a dog’s life before he is put to sleep. The well-received film won the first-ever Vimeo Film Festival and was named by Time as one of 2010’s top 10 Web films, putting him on the map as a filmmaker. The film caught the attention of Uber Content co-founder Preston Lee, who signed Rausch to the production company because of his powerful storytelling ability.

Eliot’s Latest Film: Remember

Director / Editor / Eliot Rausch
Producer / Preston Lee
Executive Producer / Phyllis Koenig + Mark Schwartz
Young Boy / Jonathan Woolsey
Young Girl /  Caitland Woolsey
Cinematography / Chayse Irvin
1st AC / Jake Bianco
Steadicam / Brandon Whiteside
Line Producer / Adam Litt
Location Scout / Jeff McSpadden
Composer / Adam Taylor
An Über Content Production

Special Thanks
Jim Roudebush @ Panavision
Richard Pilla & Tony Blue @ Paskal Lighting
Funk Brothers

Help end Alzheimer’s @ www.alz.org

What I have to Offer

On the 30th of September 2011, in front of a sell-out theatre at the BFI in London, Charlie Kaufman delivered the final lecture in BAFTA’s 2011 Screenwriters’ Lecture Series.

Charlie Kaufman http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442109
Full 70 minute Lecture: http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video

Images Captured (Mark III) & Edited: Eliot Rausch

Jurjen Versteeg is a Dutch designer based in Rotterdam, who designs under the name Synple. Graduated in 2011 from the Willem De Kooning Academy and currently focusing on motion graphic design, animation and visual effects for film, television and web, with a main interest in title design.

WINNER OF THE VIMEO AWARDS 2012 in CATEGORY MOTION GRAPHICS! Thanks so much for voting everyone! Watch a short 1 min. making of here, which was shown at the awards: vimeo.com/44046584

Graduation project 2011
Designed as a possible title sequence for a fictitious documentary, this film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names of title designers who had a revolutionary impact on the history and evolution of the title sequence. The names of the title designers all refer to specific characteristics of the revolutionary titles that they designed.
This film refers to elements such as the cut and shifted characters of Saul Bass' Psycho title, the colored circles of Maurice Binder's design for Dr. No and the contemporary designs of Kyle Cooper and Danny Yount.

This title sequence refers to the following designers and their titles:
Georges Méliès – Un Voyage Dans La Lune, Saul Bass – Psycho, Maurice Binder – Dr. No, Stephen Frankfurt – To Kill A Mockingbird, Pablo Ferro – Dr. Strangelove, Richard Greenberg – Alien, Kyle Cooper – Seven, Danny Yount – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang / Sherlock Holmes

CREDITS

Direction and Animation: Jurjen Versteeg / www.synple.nl
Music and sound design: Lea Jurida / www.jurida.com

Many thanks to all the people who helped me realizing this project!

For some more info on the concept and the production process, please check out the interview on 'Forget the Film, Watch The Titles': http://bit.ly/pzvXXE

Watch a short 1min. making of here: vimeo.com/44046584

I came across these cool Frenchmen at the 2012 Vimeo Awards before the awards show and it just so happened that the group of people that tagged along to the nearby bar happened to win awards that night. Achille and Thomas flew over from Paris, France to NYC and picked up their Vimeo Award for Best Experimental video…

Prie Dieu from Cokau on Vimeo.

For the next couple of days we hung out and enjoyed the festival and had some fun.

About Cokau
Cokau is the association of two french directors, Achille Coquerel and Thomas Kauffmann. Cokau is an audiovisual design studio based in Paris. Cokau is specialized in filmmaking, art direction and post-production with the aim of experimenting the shooting, the editing, the motion design and the sound design. [more...]

You can follow them at…

cokau.com
facebook.com/cokau
twitter.com/cokaulab
vimeo.com/channels/cokau

To listen in iTunes Click here
To listen in you Android device download Podkicker Here

Right after I edited the Beat Down Boogie podcast they did me a favor and release their much anticipated Mario Warfare. They nailed it. Such an homage to their favorite action films while maintaining their humor and flair. I’m so proud of the work that they are doing and watching them grow is so much fun. Hope you enjoyed this treat.

Check them out at

• Their Official Website
• Facebook
• Youtube
• Twitter

You can help them keep creating more films by donating to their Kickstarter campaign.

To listen in iTunes Click here
To listen in you Android device download Podkicker Here

Beat Down Boogie is a collection of talented filmmakers from North Carolina that are showcasing their love for making films they enjoy and building an online audience. They are also a bunch of great people that I’m so happy to call friends. I’m so happy to include Micah Moore (Creative Director, Writer, Shooter, Editor, Producer), Rick Burnett (Technical Director, Shooter, VFX, Producer, Music & Audio) and Brian Lee (Lead Actor, Stunt Coordinator) in the conversation. I have a history with all of them and hope you enjoy the talk.

About Beat Down Boogie from their site
Before we were BDB, we were just a few guys making short films together. We made flicks about killer toasters, evil snowmen, and the epic struggle between ninjas and pirates.

One day we decided to make feature films. We learned a lot about filmmaking, but we weren’t happy with the traditional distribution system. Nobody cared what the audience wanted to see. Everything had to be tailored for investors, middlemen, and distributors. Those guys determined what the audience was allowed to see.
We didn’t like that. Making films for the approval of industry suits wasn’t fun. We wanted to be connected to the audience. We wanted the fun back.

We decided to return to our roots – guerrilla filmmaking. During our time spent on feature films, some amazing and affordable cameras came out. We grabbed some 7d’s and started goofing around. Before we knew it we were shooting Modern War Gear Solid.

The decision to leave traditional filmmaking has been rewarding. Our Beat Down Boogie videos have been enjoyed by millions!

To listen in iTunes Click here
To listen in you Android device download Podkicker Here

I met Amani Channel through another online video blogger and we immediately connected. I’ve been following his tweets and blog posts now for about 5 years. He is a great source for resources and information about video production. Not to mention he is an awesome person and good friend.

Amani Channel’s incredible story about his twin kids.

Amani Channel is an award-winning video producer, and specialist in traditional, and convergence/new media.

He is a Sr. Producer at KEF Media, and he is also the founder of a media consulting, video production company called Visual Eye Media. The company offers high definition video production services, media training, and social media solutions for companies, organizations, and individuals.

His content, commentaries, and reports have been featured on on NPR, APTN (Associated Press Television News), CNN, Headline News, BET, Black Family Channel, HDNews, Daily Buzz, and across the Web.

Channel founded a vlog/podcast called http://www.MyUrbanReport.com/.

Channel also speaks at conferences, workshops, and universities across the country about traditional and new media. He’s taught video production at Hillsborough Community College, and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Tampa, FL, and Kennesaw State University.

In 2010 he received a Master of Arts from the University of South Florida.

His thesis is titled: “Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism: A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Media.”

You want more of Amani check out his websites…
http://www.webvideochefs.com/
http://www.kefmedia.com/
http://www.visualeyemedia.com/
http://www.myurbanreport.com/

To listen in iTunes Click here
To listen in you Android device download Podkicker Here

I came across Bruno Levy at the 2012 Vimeo Awards and instantly made a new friend.  Creative, artistic and a very likable guy.  We talk about his award winning video “Sweatshoppe” how he and his creative partner (Blake Shaw) came up with the idea and the process behind it.  We also cut up a bit about the future of video and what it means living as an artist.   Fun chat.

SWEATSHOPPE Video Painting Europe from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.

www.sweatshoppe.org
www.brunolevy.com
www.blakeindustries.com

New media art duo SWEATSHOPPE aka Blake Shaw and Bruno Levy are back from Europe with a new video that showcases their live interactive video wheatpaste in Berlin, Bristol, Belgrade, London and Paris. Over a two week period the duo pasted their videos in over 10 spots including the Berlin Wall, Les Invalides, Cordy House and even constructed a 5 meter telescopic electronic paint roller to create a two-story tall video painting in Bristol.

Video painting is a technology the duo developed that allows them to create the illusion that they are painting videos onto walls with electronic paint rollers they built. It works through custom software that they wrote that tracks the position of the paint rollers and projects video wherever they choose to paint, allowing them to explore the relationship between video, mark making and architecture and create live video collages in real time.

Music: Artist Eskmo "Cloudlight" from the album Eskmo Ninja Tune (2010)
Copyright 2010
buy track: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/cloudlight/id416299279?i=41629928

First met Tom Maxwell at a fundraiser for Snüzz, a friend and fellow musician of Tom’s. It was one of those amazing nights of music and community that I’m so glad that I was able to attend and capture the evening. Tom is one of those cats when he talks you just shut up and listen…not because he demands it or is a jerk. He has a command of the modern English dialect that is just plain fun.

Tom Maxwell and The Minor Drag “Jacob Marley” from All Aces Media on Vimeo.

To purchase the single go to itunes here. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/jacob-marley-single/id491188196

Recorded live on November 26, 2011 at The Murphey School, Durham NC

Tom Maxwell – vocals, guitar
James Wallace – piano
Mark Simonsen – vibraphone
FJ Ventre – string bass
Evans Nicholson – drums

Engineered and mixed by Thom Canova
Filmed by Andy Coon, Blake Faucette and Nic Beery
Edited by Andy Coon

Michael and I finish our conversation about the present and future of Web Series and how Hollywood views it. If you are a web series creator look into submitting your web series into the LA Web Fest and meet Michael and say you heard about him here. He is a great person and am so grateful to cross paths with him.

I met Michael in 2011 at the LA Web Series Festival where Often Awesome the series took home Outstanding Documentary Series from 2010-2012. He put on a great showcase for a ton of independent web series in Los Angeles, CA. I was so impressed by all the talented creative web series that displayed true professional talent from; writing, acting, directing and producing. His vision helped our series reach a new audience and encouraged creative professionals around the world. Every time we talk he inspires me. This is going to be one I listen over and over. Here is a brief paragraph from his bio on his web site…

Michael Ajakwe jr. (creator-writer–director-producer)
Since 1993, this first-generation Nigerian-American has worked in the theatre with renowned performers like Emmy-winner Glynn Turman, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Debbie Allen, Ted Lange, Phil Morris, Robert Ri’chard, Hill Harper, Niecy Nash, Tommy Hicks, Tracee Ellis Ross, Art Evans, Gary Sturgis, James Pickens, Tatyana Ali, Marc Coppage, Estelle Harris, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Lee Garlington, Robert Pine, Shayla Rivera, Gary Anthony Williams, Ralph Carter, Deniece Williams, Charles Dutton and Oscar winner Mo’Nique. As a tv and film writer, he’s worked with Martin Lawrence, Greg Kinnear, Sherman Hemsley, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell, Charles Barkley, Marc Curry, Tracey Morgan, Tia & Tamera Mowry, Kadeem Hardisson, Kelita Smith, Brandy, Diondre Whitfield, Ali Landry, Kelly Perrine, Tim Reid, Tommy Davidson, Ernest Thomas, Richard Lawson, Jackee, Steve Harvey, Steve Trevino, Valery Ortiz, Eve, Paul Winfield, and 3-time Oscar nominee Djimon Honsou. As a live events show writer, he’s written for Anthony Anderson, Kimberly Elise, Jo Marie Payton, L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti, ex-L.A. Police Chief Bernard Parks, NAACP National President Benjamin Todd Jealous, Jason Alexander, Ben Stiller, and the NAACP Theater Awards (’04-08). He’s also developed TV and/or film projects for Russell Simmons, Dr. Dre, Bret Ratner, Kim Fields, Reuben Cannon, Norman Howard (nephew of The Three Stooges), Beverly Todd, Vidal Sassoon, ex-NBA great Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Natalie Cole. Mike has written and directed 9 plays and produced 16 that have garnered 27 NAACP Theater Award Nominations, winning 5. He is a two-time NAACP Award-winning Playwright/Producer (Company Policy/Ted Lange’s Four Queens, No Trump!), two-time NAACP Award Nominated Director (If You Don’t Believe, Body Language), an Emmy Award-winning TV producer (E! Network’s Talk Soup), an award-winning filmmaker (Happy Anniversary, Punk!) and a trailblazing web tv creator (Ajakwetv.com’s Who…)