David Licata | March 30, 2012
In the previous post (Using the Accident), I quoted a passage from an interview I did with Jill Tarter for A Life’s Work. It’s a gem, if you ask me. The problem is, I’m not sure it fits in the film. And that’s very frustrating. I have a surfeit of good material. I’m not complaining, [...]
David Licata | March 27, 2012
I’m doing some work for hire that I can’t talk about just yet, but I can tell you that the other day I researched special effects legend Douglas Trumbull’s animation work on the Stargate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey. (I also held in my white-archival-gloved hands a copy of an early draft of 2001. [...]
David Licata | October 21, 2011
Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Here’s a clip of Jill Tarter speaking about Frank Drake, who conducted the first SETI experiment in 1960, thereby opening the door for future generations of SETI scientists. Thanks to the mighty fine poet Susan Elbe for bringing the Emerson [...]
David Licata | October 11, 2011
Dear Filmmaker, Were you nervous before your first interview with Paolo Soleri? I mean, he’s kind of a rock star, isn’t he? R.C. in AZ Dear R.C. in AZ Yes, I think he is, and yes, I was nervous before I met Soleri for the first time. And the second time. And the third, fourth, [...]
David Licata | October 7, 2011
Last week I dropped a teaser about Sputnik’s impact on Jill Tarter, Director, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute. (What’s the Filmmaker Reading?) In the clip below, Tarter reveals when she discovered her passion for science, the effect Sputnik had on her education, and more. Sputnik caused a seismic shift in educational priorities in this [...]
David Licata | September 30, 2011
The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs by Michael Belfiore, a book loaned to me by filmmaker and friend Daria Price. In the book, Belfiore discusses the birth of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible [...]
David Licata | July 18, 2011
When the SETI Institute announced it was hibernating the Allen Telescope Array, I didn’t feel the need to say, “Production is starting up again” and fly out to California to interview Jill Tarter and shoot the dishes. (See, Is Production Really Over?) However, upon receiving the following press release from the Cosanti Foundation, I am [...]
David Licata | June 21, 2011
I know you enjoy seeing clips of A Life’s Work, and this post has one, but first this. The Los Angeles Times recently ran an Op-Ed by Christopher Cokinos about the SETI Institute’s financial woes. These two paragraphs jumped out at me. Certainly we don’t cotton to the idea of being alone. We yearn for [...]
David Licata | May 17, 2011
In previous posts, I wrote about other people and projects I considered for A Life’s Work and why I chose four subjects instead of three or five or twenty-seven. But neither of those posts address why I chose these four people. A Life’s Work is very simple, really. It’s me searching for an answer to [...]
David Licata | April 26, 2011
The SETI Institute announced this week that it lacks the funding to keep its pride and joy, the Allen Telescope Array, up and running. The National Science Foundation awarded the SETI Institute one-tenth of what it gave previously and the State of California slashed funding as well. SETI Institute CEO Tom Pierson informed donors that [...]
