- STAFF UPDATE _ WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Things have been pretty quiet (as in hush-hush) around the Common Machine studio for the past few months as we’ve been working on some big deals we’re not quite ready to divulge. More on those to come.
Meanwhile, Common Machine has begun work on a web-based documentary series for WMNF 88.5 FM, one of the most respected independent radio stations in the country, celebrating its 30th year on-air. Released over the course of the year, each episode will be crammed full of interviews, archival footage and interactive features, allowing users to explore the station, past, present and future.
Also, the next installment of the Lost at E Minor video series should get into production next week. Details to come.
And here’s what we’ve been working on individually for other clients:
Brett O’Bourke field produced and is finishing the script for another episode of Oxygen Channel true crime thriller Snapped for Jupiter Entertainment. He recently wrote the script for a Biography Channel profile of black magic serial killer Adolfo Constanzo.
Gaspar González is currently working on Nixon’s the One: How Tricky Dick Stole the Sixties, a one-hour documentary for PBS. His previous film, Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami, was recently named a 2008 pick of the year in Sports Illustrated’s “Brow Beat” column.
Richard Patterson recently spent two weeks in Sydney, Australia as the director of photography for a music video shot on location in the deserts of New South Wales. This followed a three week documentary project as the steadicam/B camera operator focused on the American pro surfer Jamie O’Brien on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Before leaving the mainland, Richard shot a portrait campaign for HSBC Private Bank during Art Basel/Design Miami, showcasing the work of the Designers of the Year, Brazil’s Campana Brothers.
- LAEM_Pablo Cano, The Blue Ribbon
We’re pretty thrilled to have partnered with the smokin’ hot, New York-via-Sidney-based culture website Lost At E Minor. Common Machine will be producing a bimonthly video series, focusing on artists of all kinds and how/why they do what they do. We’re equally thrilled to kick the series off with Miami marionette maker Pablo Cano, who uses mundane objects to create magic on a string. Check the MOCA site for performance times (selling out fast) of Cano’s current show, The Blue Ribbon, on view through Novemeber 9. And look for the next installment of our LAEM video series in December for Art Basel Miami Beach.
Pablo Cano, The Blue Ribbon from Common Machine Prod. on Vimeo.
- SHORT FILM_KEITH LOUTIT
We have been as enamored as anyone with the increased use of the tilt-shift lens, which utilizes a limited depth of field to turn big vistas into toy-like topos. Indeed, our own Richard Patterson used one with some success for a recent Flavorpill/BMW campaign, shot on Miami’s mean streets.
We’re loving Aussie photographer Keith Loutit’s time-lapse project in his home town of Sydney using the lens.
Dig it:
Bathtub II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
- INDIE FILM _ BECAUSE YA CAN’T, YA WON’T AND YA DON’T STOP
In these lean times - when even the major studios are shuttering their so-called indie divisions - MCA (aka Adam Yauch) is keeping it Beastie. This fall, Yauch launched Oscilloscope Labratories, which acquires, produces and distributes independent films. First up are Flow, a documentary about water scarity, and Wendy and Lucy, which the city’s paper of record called “splendid” and recently screened at the New York Film Fest.
Full NYT story here.
Photo by Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
- SHORT FILM_ELEMENT AV AWARDS
The seven minute opening tracking shot of Robert Altman’s The Player is legendary. The 64-second opening shot of Brian Price for the Element AV award-winning Best Skate Video Part ain’t too shabby either. And given the skate video world’s propensity to punk-out every soundtrack, the clickity-clack nat sound of wheels on concrete throughout the rest of the video is a hypnotically pleasant surprise.
AV AWARDS - BEST SKATE VIDEO PART - Brian Price from ELEMENT SKATEBOARDS on Vimeo.
- KNIGHT FDN _ PROGRESS REPORT 07-08
We produced four video stories for the Knight Foundation’s annual report and we’re proud to see the project is finally live on the web. The foundation gives away more than $100 million a year in grants to meet the broadly defined mission of “meeting the information needs of communities in a democracy,” though their reach is even more expansive than that. We produced stories about the $40 million the foundation has invested in the arts in Miami, the funding of a network for entrepreneurs in Duluth, MN. (it was -20 degrees there while we were shooting!), a civic media conference at MIT, and a story about Kwame Scruggs and his amazing work with urban youth in Akron, OH. as an Ashoka affiliate.
Go to Knight’s site to seem them all. Here’s one of our favorites:
Knight Foundation Progress Report 2008: Ashoka from Common Machine Prod. on Vimeo.
- STAFF UPDATE _ WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
When not working on Common Machine prods, our crack staff is busy with side projects and freelance work.
Right now:
Brett O’Bourke is writing a script for Oxygen channel’s true crime series Snapped, produced by Jupiter Entertainment.
Gaspar González is currently working on a documentary about Richard Nixon and the 1960s. His previous film, Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami, premieres nationally on PBS on August 11.
Richard Patterson is working as 2nd assistant camera on the feature film adaptation of Luke Whisnant’s Watching TV With The Red Chinese, being shot in NYC, directed by Shimon Dotan.
Tripp Williams is re-building the web presence for a high-performance racing garage in South Tampa. This involves learning entirely too much about the importance of struts, and the bowel clenching fear involved in filming in front of a deafeningly loud car, strapped to the ground and a set of rollers going 204 miles an hour.
Patterson on set
- MUSIC _ 8 MINUTES OF PERFECTION
Bebo Valdés and Javier Colina. Not sure the name of the song (but check out the Salt Peanuts reference around 6:10). We’re assuming this was shot by film director/music producer Fernando Trueba of Calle 54 during the recent recording of what is said to be Bebo’s last album, Live at the Village Vanguard.
- KNIGHT FDN _ MIAMI ARTS
We’ve produced four short documentaries for the Knight Foundation, based around some of their key grant initiatives. It’ll be a few more weeks before the project is wrapped and up on their site, but they’ve posted a sneak peak of a couple of the videos here. It’s all about the Knight Arts Partnership, a $40 million investment in the arts in Miami. Keep an eye on their channel for future projects.
- SPEEDWAYS _ SHAKE AND BAKE
Shooting has begun on our Disappearing Speedways doc. Richard Patterson and I swung up to Orlando last weekend to peel off some footage and stills and talk with the track’s main man Rusty Marcus. While not as old as some of the other short tracks, Orlando Speedworld’s banked-asphalt, 3/8 mile oval provides some of the best technical racing in the state.
Here’s a wee little taste:
Speedways teaser1 from Common Machine Prod. on Vimeo.
