Dallas: Slurpee Battle of the Bands

On the road again, just can't wait to get back on the road again...

Dallas! Home of all things vast, sprawling and Texan, of course. Yesterday I flew down to Dallas to work on Dreaming Tree Film's Battle of the Bands program sponsored by Slurpee. Basically, we are producing 4 music videos in 72 hours, and they will compete head to head in a vote-off. The bands already had to fight to garner a spot in the top 4, so it should be a great time.

The most exciting part of coming into Dallas is Tropical Storm Hermine's fabulous remnants. I have never seen so much rain as yesterday, where we had to drive to the hotel from the airport amongst sheets of wet. Then, the evening kicked off with a tornado warning as a tornado touched down just outside downtown Dallas, a few miles from us.

I hope the rest of the week goes by less eventfully! We've got a location reccy happening this morning, followed by intern training. Coupled with that I've got a short film I'm producing vicariously. Busy busy busy! But all very exciting.

The biggest excitement is my upcoming art show collaboration with some artist friends of mine. Hoping to sell my photos, as well as when I return to Chicago, put them up in the Pannenkoeken Cafe in Wicker Park. I'll be promoting the heck out of the cafe, so if you are in the neighborhood go down and grab some yummy Dutch pancakes!

Thanks and Cheers,
CAE

Discovery!

Last week I was having a pretty rough week, without much work coming through. I had a really interesting chance to appear on camera in a documentary on travel, which subsequently fell through. Then I got the call to do some production work on a Discovery Channel show.

Speaking of, it has been a lifelong dream of mine to work on National Geographic and Discovery Channel documentaries. They are always such strong stories with great visuals and central characters.

This week the story was up in Waukegan, IL following a murder investigation. It was a chilling tale that will translate well to television. More importantly, it was an incredible opportunity to learn from the best of the best - our producer, sound engineer and director of photography. I can't wait to put up the link for when the show will air - most likely November/December.

Cheers!
CAE

City Lit Theatre Presents:

Hi Everyone,

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing my good friend Kristi Bogart's performance of "False Reverence," a one-woman play that her friend Randall Coburn wrote. I have been working with Kristi for the past few weeks developing a video-collaboration for her show. A little bit about the show, she plays a girl who has recently been baptized for her boyfriend, David, only to realize she's not a Christian and instead is tormented by her own psychosis.

The video interpretation was amazing; we worked to collaborate our collective vision of what these "conscience moments" looked like, and coupled with our friend Jesse Valenciana playing the role of the demon, were able to create a great work. It's very interpretive, lots of soft focus, rack focus shots abruptly cut between video static, as if that's what happening in her brain.

If you get a chance to check out the show, it's playing this Sunday off Bryn Mawr up in Edgewater, you will not be disappointed. I hope to put up a few snippets of the performance here soon.

Thanks! and Cheers,
CAE

The National - In Concert

I just love love LOVE going to see amazing live bands. Hate seeing bands live, that are not so good. Hate more bands that I know nothing about, that are anything less than amazing.

Enter, The National.

Possibly one of the best live bands ever, they feature a beautiful baritone singer, brass instruments, keyboards, amazing guitars, you name it. Couple all of this with the fact that they are generally chill, perceptive and thought-provoking people and you have an epidemic on your hands.

I discovered them a little late, after last years Kyocera documentary, but better late than never! Seeing them live brings me such happiness I'm like a kid in an Adidas factory store...

So after an incredibly kind hook-up with free tickets at the House of Blues here in Chicago, I got the chance to shoot their show from front and center, about 10 feet away. I felt inspired over the past few days to create some art with it. Enjoy!

Cheers,
CAE