Streams Of Mercy - America's Giving Challenge

Most of you probably know by now that my dad runs an incredible organization called "Streams Of Mercy".  I help them with a lot of technical things that they need help with, and as a part of that, I admin the Streams of Mercy Cause on Facebook, as well as overseeing their blog.  I just entered the Streams of Mercy Cause into what I think is a very important contest being held by the Causes organization called "America's Giving Challenge".  The purpose of the contest in a nutshell is this: whoever can get the most donations from now until November 7 will receive a gift of $50,000 plus, those who are able to get the most daily donations will receive gifts of $1000 and $500 (this prize can be received daily). 

There's a more detailed posting over on the Streams of Mercy Blog that talks about how you can get involved.


Click here to go there now

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New Spec Shoot

My friend Chris and I have been in the process of shooting five "spec" commercials that will hopefully help us get hired for some "real" commercials and other jobs down the road.  We shot one a year ago, and we just wrapped production for the second last night.  Chris directed both of the specs, and I was his 1st Assistant Director.

The first spec we shot was back in August of last year, and was for Arrogant Bastard Ale. Here it is:



The second shoot, which we wrapped last night is for 'Biography.com'.  Chris cut the first spec, but I'll be editing this one.  Once it's finished, I'll post it here, but in the mean time, here's a few production stills from the set.  For those interested, we shot the spec with the Canon 5D Mark II.  Director of Photography was Nicholas J. Reid:

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Viral Vs. Viral

Question: What do you get when you combine two bands + award winning directors + 24 hours?

Answer: You get viralvsviral.com, and online video contest between two bands to see which one of their videos will go viral first:

There is a bit of an assumption that you can stick any old film online and you've instantly got yourself a viral hit... We decided to give two bands a chance to be visually creative inviting them to produce their own music video...Can they go viral?

Here's the vids:



And second:



(via handheldhollywood.com)

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Streams Of Mercy - Good Shepherd Homes

I can't always say that the videos that I edit have a lot of meaning to me. Earlier this year, my dad contacted me about helping them put together a series of videos for their organization Streams Of Mercy (site). Their primary focus as an organization is helping orphans around the globe who are desperate and helpless in changing their circumstances.

Each of the videos is a highlight on one of the orphanages that they sponsor; and while Streams Of Mercy sponsors many orphanages in many different nations, so far they only have footage from some of their sponsored orphanages in India.

The first that I cut is from an orphanage called "Good Shepherd Homes" located in Talegaon which is in the Indian state of Maharashtra near the city of Pune.

Here's the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

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Driving Out Hunger

Earlier this year, due to economy related downsizing at the company I was working for, my position as a staff video editor was terminated, and I moved into the freelance market. At first it seemed like it was going to be difficult to make this adjustment, but after about six months, I actually think I prefer it.

In an effort to share with the world some of the various projects that I am working on, I am going to attempt to post at least once a week, hopefully more, with updates on current and recent projects.

The first is a project I just finished editing, which is a month long series of videos for The Cheesecake Factory. During the month of September, they partnered with Feeding America to tour across the country with their 'Drive Out Hunger' tour. Throughout the month of September, they visited 30 cities in 30 days collecting cans of soup and other food donations, and then they donated them to local food banks in those cities. When all was said and done, they collected 321,992 cans! The videos that I cut are on the Drive Out Hunger Tour Site. To see them, look in the bottom left corner, and click on the link that says "Tour Video". I cut all of the videos except the intro video that comes up when you first get to the site.

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WHAT THE...? -> "MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS"???

I am slightly intrigued by incredibly horrible story concepts, and I'm even more intrigued when people step out and make movies out of them.  So, in this segment that I'm simply calling: "WHAT THE...?" I present the trailer for "MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS"

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