This film documents the installation of Into the Woods, which was created for the International Garden Festival at Domaine Chaumont-sur-Loire. In making the film I asked design principals Matt Donham and Phoebe Lickwar to voice their creative choices in building it, and some of the larger ideas at play in the field of landscape architecture. Last, I wanted the film to feel like an exchange with the garden, which unfolds to a visitor in its own time.
The Milwaukee Film Festival had me back for a screening of my documentary Legacy Lives On and a panel on the topic of entrepreneurship. Both were successes. Walking through a city robed in Fall’s majesty, however, was just as exciting.
This semester I have joined the faculty of Columbia University to co-teach a class called The Climate Crisis — Imagining a Green New Deal in the Hudson Valley. What would urban design look like across the Hudson Valley if House Resolution 109 was law?
Friends get a kick out of the fact that I’m teaching film to architects. And so do I. A year ago I wrote about a family connection I have to Columbia. Now I teach there. Fun.
There was a controversy at my bodega this morning that escalated into a shouting match. A Jamaican man was making a fresh pot of coffee and blocking access to the machine while myself and another customer, a Mexican, stood waiting, even though a fresh pot sat ready on the other burner. The Jamaican paced back and forth as he prepared the pot, loose limbs flying in every direction, muttering under his breath. The Mexican and I, apparently, had no choice but to stand by and let the chef cook.
The Jamaican had an unorthodox method of preparing the filter and one of the Yemeni men who runs the joint stepped in to hurry the proceedings along. The Jamaican took offense. Choruses of “let me do this,” and “my way is better,” wrinkled the morning calm. When he said, “I pay money,” what had been a small kerfuffle mushroomed into a referendum on capitalism.
“This is America. Everybody pays money,” said the Yemeni. The argument lost its thread as everyone seemed to be saying the same thing, only louder – “I pay money. You pay money. Everybody makes money.” To this dead end the Jamaican added the turn, “I don’t always make money.”
The Jamaican started towards the counter as the coffee pot had finally been wrested from his hands. Fresh brown elixir splashed down into the empty vessel from the spout. By this time the Yemeni working the front had joined the fray, not as loud as his brother but granted special gravitas given his authority over the cash register. “You only pay fifty cents for coffee,” he said, “sometimes you don’t even pay.” I stood in line waiting to pay a full dollar for my cup as the Jamaican exited the shop, stage right. “I pay for my coffee,” he said, “I pay.”
Last night a film I directed and have been working on for the past six months aired on national television. It plays at an hour with commercials but premiered at its festival length of 43 minutes at ABFF this past weekend. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, thank you very much. You can see it online in its entirety here.
UPDATE – Legacy Lives On won a gold Telly award in the documentary category.
It was important to me to film some black cowboys while we were in Oklahoma. Although this scene didn’t make the final film, it makes a great alternate teaser:
I’ve always wanted to be sponsored by a camera company and over the past year it happened. Kinefinity, the manufacturer of the cinema camera I bought last year, took such a keen interest in the footage that I created with it that they let me take their flagship camera out for a spin to help launch it into the world.
The sci-fi genre is close to my heart. And this project gave me the opportunity to write down a bunch of crazy ideas. In science fiction, philosophical questions about the world swim a bit closer to the surface than I’m used to as a writer. Re/Connections dabbles in tones and themes I haven’t worked with much. I built props and designed effects. And while I’m proud of the resulting film, I also know that this is a first step. I’m excited to figure out where to step next.