RamblingDyna

https://youtu.be/2HNG96Jghd8 I produced a news story about the need for Asian and Pacific Islander bone marrow/stem cell donors. The Alameda, CA based Asian American Donor Program is conducting year long donor drives throughout the Bay Area. This story has a face to it, instead of a statistic, as one San Francisco native must undergo a bone marrow transplant next month. Diagnosed with leukemia in September, she hasn't found a match...yet. The self help swab donation kits can be mailed to residences. It's a simple process including paper work processing. For more information about the Asian American Donor Program, visit  http://www.aadp.org/. My news article:

I shot a news video of San Francisco Bay Area juggler, Doug Nolan, who entertained patrons at the Millbrae Library, located in the northern peninsula area. He educates children about recycling with his various comedic juggling acts. As you can see and hear in the video, parents and children of all ages can't keep their eyes off him. This was the most entertaining video I've shot so far. I had to control my giggles to prevent my camera microphone from picking it up.

I produced a feature video story for   Millbrae Patch  in memory of a Bay Area and World Series icon, Joe DiMaggio, days before the Giants won the National League pennant. I heard about this story from a local Millbrae resident while I was shooting video for another story right across the street from Leonardo's deli. If you're ever in downtown Millbrae and have an appetite for good Italian food and baseball nostalgia, check out this neighborhood favorite. Pictures of other iconic athletes, such as San Francisco 49er Joe Montana and Oakland A's Reggie Jackson, are also displayed. Memories...

A video I produced for Renewal Energy Enterprises Foundation www.alleviatepovertynow.org , an Oakland,CA based non-profit helping create solar powered hospitals in agricultural provinces of northern Philippines.

Last week, my friend Vincent Lowe asked me to shoot a music video of the up and coming Indian acoustic Marin rock band, Raj Ramayya and Brett Boyd of the Beautiful Losers as part of the 48 Hour Film Project multi media montage which includes clips of this years' San Francisco film entries. I suggested we have a two camera shoot for variety and insurance. So I invited my colleague Cory Oberdorfer to be the second camera person. Just so happens I had a full blown cold with the chills. Jeeez. Triple Darn. But the show must go on!  I powered up my Panasonic, set the controls and handed it over to Cory to start the shoot while I rested inside the car.  I woke up in time to shoot some of the goat scenes. The grazing goats were shy at first,  wondering what the heck were these singing humans doing parading around their pasture 'hood holding these sound emitting accouterments. A few warmed up to the camera. Brett and Raj were a great and flexible team...

So who the heck are these filmmakers who paid to get their one-weekend-produced film on the big screen? And in this economy? The  48 Hour Film Project  (48HFP) in San Francisco is an annual homage to quickie film making where producers have only two days to create a film out of scratch. When I first heard of 48HFP, I thought these people were bananas. Film production is an unpredictable, challenging and expensive hobby. Why go through the torture, stress and looming deadline and not get paid for it? Uhhhh, can you say out loud P-A-S-S-I-O-N? You can't put a price tag on creative drive and entrepreneurial spirit. Directors, Producers, Writers, Editors, Sound Engineers and Actors from 70 teams showcased their pride and joy during the five day screenfest. These are some of their stories from the June 30 premiere screening that was held at Landmark Lumiere Theater. But wait! Come back for more. I'll upload another feature video this we...

Guess what? There's only two more days left of the 48HFP San Francisco screenings. If you haven't seen the films, you're missing out.   You'll get more bang for your buck. You can't beat watching over a dozen films for the same price of just one Hollywood film at a mall rat movie theater. Plus you get the chance to be interviewed by me. Tonight I'm going to scope the waiting line tonight, hunt down unsuspecting patrons and make them talk to me on camera! I know, I'm mean but I get a kick out of it. Take a seat at the Landmark Lumiere Theater today June 30 and/or tomorrow July 1st. Visit The 48 Hour Film Project for ticket sales and times.

I'm sooooo excited! Why? Because I shot video for the Art Shots 2010, film contest which partners upcoming film makers with creative and musical artists and performers from Silicon Valley in California. Collaborators of this premier event are Artsopolis, a non-profit online arts guide and the San Jose 48 Hour Film Project. Six filmmakers are competing and are judged by online votes. Produced by David Nigel Brooks, I shot the dancing footage of contest entry, "Wednesday Night Hop" which is located at the Cheryl Burke Studio ("Dancing with the Stars" instructor ) in Mountain View, California. It was a joy to watch and interview the dance instructors. What's even more amazing is that our film crew of three met for the the first time online the weekend before when we were asked to produce the film with a one and a half week looming deadline. The previous producer had bailed on the project. With the time clock ticking away...

                                   I shot video of Lindy Hop dance instructors Audrey Kanemoto and Trevor Gattis at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, CA last month for the ArtShots film contest in partnership with Artsopolis and the San Jose 48 Hour Film Project. See previous post. But with only a running total 90 second video limit and 1.5 weeks to organize, shoot, edit and finalize with all parties involved, it's amazing we were able to rise to the occasion. Producer David Rigel Brooks went in editing overdrive to edit three videos.  His first entry is about artist Lori Krein. The Wednesday Night Lindy Hop is second. This video of Audrey and Trevor didn't make it in time for the contest deadline. But you're welcome to enjoy their fun and smooth dance moves and share your feedback. ...

Can you spare a buck fifty? Listen to my quick interview with Launch Pad Winner Adam Blum of Rhomobile. Quick because I caught Blum on his way out the Moscone door after he briefly checked out of the Rhomobile exhibitor booth. He was heading back to his Cupertino office, which is located next to Apple. The man had little time to celebrate or rest on his laurels. Rhomobile opened for business on September 2008 and is currently staffed with 12 employees. They create a cross platform for smart phone apps. They build native smart phone applications for the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile , Symbian and Android. The Launch Pad is the talent contest for up and coming innovators of now and next year. Six finalists pitched their companies to a crowd of curious on lookers, three expert judges, and potential partners and VC’s.

Yesterday, I attended the three day long web 2.0 Expo Conference at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. With my free Expo pass, not only did I have free reign to the Sponsored Sessions, I had access to the more than 70 exhibitors which included big wig sponsors such as Adobe and Cisco to non-profits such as Give@Asia. Adobe had all day demos of their product lineup. Adobe presenter, Paul Trani showed off the Adobe Flash Builder 4 to the 60+ curious onlookers. I’m not a flasher (I just couldn’t resist) and don’t know how to write code from scratch. But given the fact that you can extract a Photoshop (and other Creative Suite tools) image from your desktop and use the software’s various custom templates and applications, the steps looked pretty straightforward. Trani transformed his static Photoshop generated image into a mobile flash game of a floating creature eating other aliens. I’ve used Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design and Final Cut Pro and I’ve taken a basic web desi...

Cinequest : Social

Network, learn and get inspired. It’s been awhile so I’m back to compiling a list of free or affordable (for my wallet!) seminars, events and conferences in the Bay Area. About what? The topics target small businesses, aspiring entrepreneurs and curious and nosy folks like me. But it’s not all business. I found a restaurant crawl event in the revitalized jazzy Fillmore district in San Francisco. So mark your calendars! Bring your business cards, open mind and appetite. Smiles are free! Mobile Web – What you need to know (Seminar) “You'll learn: critical factors your website must have; avoidable pitfalls that send customers running; understanding the vast sea of handheld devices; tremendous mobile marketing opportunities; and low cost ways to get started now.” - Small Business Administration February 2, 2009, 6pm-7:30pm At the San Francisco SBA Entrepreneur Center, 455 Market St., Ste 600, SF Free - RSPV at http://www.sbatraining.eventbrite.com Cocktail Cra...