Utopia or Bust

Posts Tagged ‘Filmmaking

A few virtual world vignettes

Posted by: lettrist on: November 17, 2009

The following four vignettes have stuck with me since I watched them first in 2006, following the worldwide curiosity pique with the virtual world phenomena. As a filmmaker, when I first explored virtual worlds I wanted to document their religions like an anthropologist. I planned to make an hour-long film about the religious centers and [...]

FUCK MY ROBOT!

Posted by: lettrist on: September 10, 2009

I don’t usually rant on my blog, but this is an exception!

When I tell someone I can film an hour-long gig and post it online, I want to be able to say that with assurance.
Today I fired up Avid Liquid to export some .avi files to .mp4 (my favorite youtube-quality format) and after jostling with [...]

Film: Eating Locally in Pierce County

Posted by: lettrist on: September 1, 2009

This is a documentary film exploring local food in Tacoma, Puyallup, and Pierce County. From the community gardens and the farmer’s markets, to the possibilities of urban agriculture and food co-ops.
It took a while to edit this – my computer was constantly crashing because of the high res images, and the [...]

Reel Grrls’ social center

Posted by: lettrist on: August 24, 2009

Next to the Central Cinema in Seattle is a small video studio called Reel Grrls, a non-profit that opens its doors to 13 – 19 year old girls and teaches them how to create their own films. My friend has worked there 4 years or so, and gave me a tour this past weekend. It’s a very [...]

Good Bye, Indymedia

Posted by: lettrist on: August 20, 2009

I received a dispatch from Seattle Indymedia activist Randy Rowland, announcing that the (myspace) PepperSpray video collective will no longer be producing a weekly television show on public access TV. For years, Randy operated a small IMC in the attic of his house off Rainier Avenue where each week since the WTO ministerial session in [...]

Growing anti-hierarchical organizations

Posted by: lettrist on: April 21, 2009

Help me out here. I need some advice on growing anti-hierarchical organizations.
I have been trying to make Indymedia Presents more global, more interesting, more radical, and more timely. Sometimes these episodes bring the news so late that it’s not even relevant anymore. It’s because the commitment to creating a television show weekly is relatively low, [...]

G20, NATO, and Factory Takeovers

Posted by: lettrist on: April 21, 2009

This is a television show that I occasionally compile, edit and produce, called Indymedia Presents. This is the most recent episode airing this week.

So much for coffee breaks

Posted by: lettrist on: April 16, 2009

 
Wage slaves have really got it made. At least they have the security of knowing that each day they can show up for work, and they are paid a steady amount of money. I’m a filmmaker. This concept of wage work rarely happens to us. You have to go out and find your own work each [...]

“At Home in Utopia”

Posted by: lettrist on: April 15, 2009

A new film will air on PBS’s Independent Lens called “At Home in Utopia” on April 28th about the United Workers Cooperative Colony in the Bronx. This colony, when built in 1927, the Coops (rhymes with loops), was the largest cooperative housing project in the United States with 740 apartments—and from those apartments they planned [...]

The Situation and Our Tasks

Posted by: lettrist on: April 7, 2009

Airing on television this Thursday, this is a made-for-TV documentary that my friends from Pepperspray Productions in Seattle created.