Little Red Dots
I have these stickers, they’re little red dots. They look like this: When I capture a tape (that is, put the miniDV tape in a deck and transfer that digital information to one of my external hard drives so that … Continued
To Friend or Not to Friend: A New Documentary Dilemma – Resolved
I originally posted this on Extra Criticum, a blog about the performing arts written by performing artists. I write about film mostly. This post is dated April 1, 2009. Two things you may not know about me. One, I’m making … Continued
How Do You Find These People? Robert Darden
I’m not shy about telling people about the film and sometimes they will suggest a subject. (I love it when their first response is a laugh followed by, “That sounds like me and my garage.” Really, I do, because that’s … Continued
The Shot That Got Away
In the last post, I revealed two of my favorite shots. I wish there was a third clip there. When we were filming Jill Tarter at the SETI Institute’s offices in Mountain View, CA, we also had the opportunity to … Continued
Four Minutes of A Life's Work: A Clip
In the spring I worked with editor Cabot Philbrick and constructed a 27-minute work-in-progress sample of A Life’s Work. I’m delighted that Cabot is including a portion of that work on his editor’s reel and you can view it online. … Continued
"What the Hey Were You Doing in Chicago?" Part 2
I went to meet and interview Robert Darden, founder of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project. Though I had read about him, read his books and articles, heard him on NPR, exchanged e-mails with him, and spoke with him on … Continued
Another Adventure
Wolfgang Held and I are on our way to Chicago. We return late Monday evening. I’m nervous and excited and I don’t expect I’ll get much sleep this weekend. I received an e-mail last night from Wolfgang. The last sentence: … Continued
The Readiness Is All
Friday, August 7th, I’m heading to Chicago to do the next interview. You’ll forgive me if I don’t reveal the subject by name yet. I will in time, perhaps after I’ve had time to digest the interviews. There is a … Continued
Cloning Redwood Trees?
You bet. That’s what David Milarch of Champion Tree Project has in mind. In November 2007 I went to northern California, video camera in hand, and shot the proceedings. You can read what Jim Robbins of The New York Times … Continued
I Write in the Best Notebooks
If you’ve read the About the Filmmaker page you’ll notice that I am a filmmaker and a writer. This means I have attributes of both. (I’m forgoing the deep psychological stuff for now because that’s not where this post is … Continued