Los Angeles, New York and Nashville may now have to tip their hats to another area recently added to the list of popular music-making locations.

Well, music video-making locations that is.

Cast and crew from the music video “Harley Man,” written and performed by Pennsylvania-based country singer Raina Bauman, this month breezed into the Bonner Springs-Basehor area to shoot part of the video at the Lake Stop convenience store, 15621 158th St. Much of the storyline for the video revolves around the goings on at a gasoline station, and while scouting for possible locations, producer Valerie Anderson suggested checking out the area. She said the Lake Stop was exactly what they were seeking.

“The Lake Stop was the first gas station we came to, and it was perfect,” said Anderson, who works with Lenexa-based production company Outpost Worldwide. “The location in Bonner Springs was great and it fit our needs perfectly. And we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. We had bright blue sky and we had green fields. It really looked great, and everyone we encountered was great.”

Director and scriptwriter Dallas Henry runs his own production company in Los Angeles called Wheatfield Productions, and is the director of such music clips as the Barenaked Ladies’ “Wind It Up,” a highly successful video on YouTube, and Craig Morgan’s “International Harvester,” a video that rose to the top 20 Country Music Television videos of the year in 2008. Originally from Wichita, Henry now shoots predominantly country music videos and says he often travels to Kansas to do so.

“I work with Nashville artists,” Henry said, while noting that this had been his first time shooting a video in the area. “But if I can talk the artist into shooting in Kansas, I shoot ’em in Kansas, because of the scenery.”

The storyline of the video involves a dream sequence where Bauman sees a number of men while stopping at a gas station but eventually sets her sights on a handsome Harley-Davidson-driving man. It called for more than 100 motorcycles to be used during the shoot, which went on from 7 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Sunday, July 19. Anderson said Gail’s Harley-Davidson, of Grandview, Mo., not only supplied the bikes but also organized enough people to ride them during filming. Eric Myers, a salesperson with Gail’s Harley-Davidson, also provided his own personal services: He plays the part of the man driving the Harley with whom Bauman eventually rides off into the sunset.

“It’s a great, awesome dealership,” said Bauman of Gail’s Harley-Davidson. “(Myers) was right out of typecasting, I couldn’t have dreamt this guy up. When I saw this guy, I was like ‘Wow.’”

This was the first music video shoot for Bauman, who will soon be releasing her first 10-song record, also titled “Harley Man.” She says all of her songs are based on personal experiences, so much so, in fact, that she refers to them as “heart songs.”

“Harley Man,” Bauman said, was inspired by a former boyfriend with whom she is still friends and who originally introduced her to the thrill of riding motorcycles.

“Ever since that time, I was just kind of bitten by the ride,” Bauman said. “Other people that ride bikes are first-class people. There’s a real camaraderie and no matter where I go, I experience it. I love it.”

Henry said the experience was one that would definitely bring him back to shoot more music videos in the future.

“It went really well,” Henry said. “I mean, I’ve been doing this for a while … but I thought it went really smoothly.”

Bringing in a number of bike riders and more than a few curious residents, thirsty on a hot day, couldn’t have hurt business at the Lake Stop either, he says.

“I think they sold more Slurpees that day than ever,” Henry said. “The Lake Stop was it! For Slurpees and video making.”

The music video for “Harley Man” is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks and should be available for viewing on several Web sites, including bonnersprings.com, youtube.com and outpostworldwide.com.

In July 2007, Ciampa took other high school history teachers and other veterans of the D-Day Normandy Invasion to France. The purpose was to enlighten the teachers about the hardships of the French people who lived under the Nazi occupation as well as hear the experiences of the veterans who fought the Nazis. The tour was also filmed for a documentary, Let Freedom Ring…Memories of France, to pass this information to younger generations.

Currently, Let Freedom Ring…The Lesson is Priceless and Let Freedom Ring…Memories of France are being broadly distributed throughout the California Educational system and are being aired on PBS affiliate KTWU in Topeka, Kansas. The hope is that these documentaries will be widely distributed throughout the PBS system. Let Freedom Ring…The Lesson is Priceless will make its film festival debut at the G.I. Film Festival in Washington D.C. on Sunday May 17, 2009.
To Learn more about Let Freedom Ring…The Lesson is Priceless and Let Freedom Ring…Memories of France go to letfreedomringforall.org.
In January 2008 with the inauguration of Barack Obama and a march for one of the greatest civil rights issues, The Right to Life was about to have there annual march on Washington D.C. Courageous filmmakers Jack Cashill and Steven Sanborne chronicle the adventures of several groups of college age kids as they make their journey to Washington D.C. to march on the Supreme Court.
Outpost Worldwide helped the filmmaker realize their journey by providing five camera crews, technical support, funding, editing and self-distribution. The film has been shown to packed out theaters throughout the Midwest and is receiving rave revues. To learn more about Thine Eyes please visit thineeyes.org.
Bob Mozcydlowski, is a very talented “jack of all trades”. He is a graduate of both the Kansas University School of Journalism and the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Management Degree programs. Bob is the founder of Closed Systems and as far as Outpost can tell a great storyteller.
Outpost Worldwide has helped Bob on his filmmaking Journey through two feature length documentaries, when finished, will no doubt inspire filmmakers and audiences the world over.
The first documentary, which is still in Post Production, is To Tell You The Truth. The story of Eugene Andolsek, who at the age of eighty-four was discovered as a genius outsider artist by the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Underlying the success of this artist, we come to find that Eugene has actually lived a tortured life, with little or no friends, which propels Eugene to create a body of work the spans over fifty years. The Documentary chronicle Eugene’s success and his doubt as a human being and a success after a lifetime of failures.
To Tell You The Truth, was picked up in 2007 and mentored by the Sundance Institutes Independent Producer Program. Outpost Worldwide looks forward to seeing this film on the festival circuit in the near future. To see an excerpt of the film go to outpostworldwide.com.
The second effort of Bob’s filmmaking career is a clever documentary about the struggles, and conditions of an Indy Rock lifestyle in, 72 Musicians. The Documentary interviews seventy two musicians from a fledging Midwest rock scene who although are brilliant musicians in the own write, will meet success, failure, and the ultimate dream crusher of non-discovery. The Documentary is sewn together with the interviews telling a story with some of the best indy rock acts in the United States today.
72 Musicians is hitting the film festival circuit with three acceptances into the film festival circuit! Stay tuned, there will be more to come.

Outpost Worldwide, Inc. was recently awarded a GSA contract on the Advertising and Integrated Marketing Schedule (AIMS). As a GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contractor, Outpost can now offer full service video production needs to any and all federal government agencies over the course of the award duration of five years. After that time, Outpost will have the option of renewing the contract with the potential of servicing the government for the next 20 years.

Val Anderson, Director of Marketing & Development handled the application process and attended the GSA EXPO last week in San Antonio, TX. By attending the GSA EXPO, Anderson was able to take a variety of classes taught by the GSA, talk to government purchasers attending the conference and visit with numerous vendors who were exhibiting at the Expo. GSA employees were on hand to answer questions and help with any contract issues or confusion.

Attending the Expo with Anderson was Elaine Hamilton, president of Vision Teleproduction, Inc, a certified 8(a)/MBE/WBE company. Hamilton is also in the process of applying for a GSA Schedule contract.

The benefits of being on the GSA Schedule are numerous. The Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) program is the premier Government acquisition program in place today. Mirroring commercial buying practices, it’s the fastest, easiest, and most effective contracting vehicle available.

There are currently over 17,500 contracts in place with the government and the process is highly competitive. To be awarded a contract is an enormous opportunity for Outpost and one that should lead to many new successful relationships.

“It’s a big process to go through and there’s a lot of work that goes into these contracts on both ends. The GSA really works with you because they want companies such as ourselves to be successful in this endeavor just as we do,” said Anderson.

To learn more about Outpost and the GSA, go to outpostworldwide.com/gsa

LINKS:

visionteleproduction.com

expo.gsa.gov

www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa

Paola residents got a chance to see familiar businesses, restaurants, landmarks — even themselves — on the big screen Sunday (June 14, 2009) during three special showings of the movie “Last Ounce of Courage.”

The film, which was shot in Paola last summer, is a holiday-themed Christian movie about a small-town mayor who is fed up with the political correctness of Christmas. The lead role of Mayor Bob Revere was played by actor Marshall Teague of such films as “Armageddon” and “The Rock.”

Although the film has not yet been released to the public, Paola residents got a chance to view it early because much of the movie was filmed in their town.
Michael Wunsch, CEO of Outpost Worldwide of Lenexa, spoke before the showings, and he told the people packed into the Paola Community Center auditorium Sunday that they are the first people in the country to see the movie — and possibly the last in its current format. Wunsch, whose company produced the film, said it currently is being shopped to Sony Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), either of which could purchase the movie and do their own editing to scenes, music and other features.

“You’ll never see this same movie again,” Wunsch said.

The movie could be released to the public in theaters or on DVD in time for Christmas, according to Outpost’s Web site.

Missionaries Richard and Gina Headrick of Mississippi provided much of the funding for the movie, which was made for about $800,000, and Wunsch read a written statement from the Headricks to the Community Center crowd Sunday thanking the people of Paola for their hospitality. The couple developed the script for the movie with the help of Disney writer and director Darrell Campbell.

Movie watchers throughout the auditorium Sunday could be seen whispering to those sitting next to them during scenes that showed Paola landmarks, such as the Miami County Courthouse, Paola Park Square, El Tapatio, Miller’s Pharmacy at the corner of Pearl and Peoria streets and the Paola Community Center auditorium.

Some scenes, such as one in front of the courthouse and another in front of El Tapatio, included a number of extras, many of who were from Paola. The audience Sunday had fun pointing people out in the crowd.

Some local residents even got their name on the credits, with Crown Realty realtor Heidi Bacon being listed as a funeral attendee and biker in the movie, and Edward Jones financial adviser Curtis Long listed as a City Councilman for Mount Columbus, the fictional name of the town in the movie. Long’s office on the west side of Park Square was used as the mayor’s office in the movie.

When the final credits began to roll after the film’s emotional conclusion, the audience members in attendance Sunday erupted into applause.

Community Center Director Chad Myers, who could be seen briefly in the film in the audience of a city council meeting, was pleased with the movie and the turnout at the three shows Sunday. He’s not quite sure though if his performance will jump start an acting career.
“Too bad they don’t give awards out for the best performance of the back of someone’s head,” he said with a laugh.

More information about the movie, including a trailer, can be viewed at lastounceofcourage.com.

Outpost Worldwide

Three years ago, Outpost Worldwide and WWII veteran George Ciampa set out on an educational journey to witness the return of five veterans to Belgium, and the site of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’. Accompanied by four young Southern California high school teachers, the veterans recounted their memories of the Battle, and visited many present-day Belgians who could vividly remember their loss of freedom under Nazi Germany occupation. ‘Let Freedom Ring: Memories of France’ is the next chapter in this growing documentary series, and gives teachers an opportunity to interact with those who survived the war and Nazi occupation.