Send Video Fast with Latakoo!

As a freelance director and producer, I get calls from companies around the world to shoot interviews or footage in Austin and Central Texas.  Most of the time, we do the shoot and ship the tapes, discs or even computer hard drives back to the production house where they are digitized and edited.  This takes time.

This week, I shot with a crew for the Nike Foundation and the Girl Effect.  Right after the shoot was over, the client and I selected the best takes from the shoot.  I then imported that footage into a MacBook Pro using Sony XD Transfer program.  We uploaded those files directly to latakoo and in minutes of the end of the shoot, the production houses in both London and New York had access to the footage.  This easily saved them a full day off of their production time - essential when the client has less than a week to edit the footage for a presentation to the Nike corporate board.  With latakoo, you can upload video anywhere there's an internet connection.

The end result - the clients were thrilled.  They could begin the post-production process right away and didn't need the discs I fedexed to them.  The video quality is that good.

Latakoo is the fastest, easiest way to send video - give it a try!  Your clients will thank you.

New CPR Guidelines

American Heart Association

If you suffer a sudden cardiac arrest at home or work, your chances of surviving are only 8%. Eight percent!

What increases the chance of survival?  Immediate CPR and defibrillation.

That's one reason the American Heart Association changed it's  CPR Guidelines.  Here's the new sequence for non-trained bystanders:

1. Tap the victim and shout "Are you OK?"  
2. If the person doesn't respond, tell someone to call 911 and get an AED.  (Go find the AED in your office.)
3. Start chest compressions immediately.  The sooner you can use the AED, the better the outcome.  
4. NEW:  Untrained bystanders don't have to provide mouth-to-mouth or breathing support.  That's because AHA Science studies show that there's enough oxygen in the blood to support the patient in the first few minutes of the attack.  You can leave that to the experts.

Victims who received CPR and defibrillation within the first three minutes of the heart attack, had a 50% chance of survival.  That's a lot better than 8%!  So, get hands on!

So, why am I writing about CPR?  Because for the last 10 months, I've been reading more than 500 pages of scientific medical studies, interviewing expert doctors, and writing scripts for seven, 15-minute training videos that would become the basis of a new Advanced Cardiac Life Support Course for the American Heart Association. That work culminated in a 10-day shoot with Elephant Productions that was a little like shooting a movie.  Now, nearly ten months after starting the project, the new course is about to hit the training sites across the globe.

I'd like to think this project will save some lives.  You can too, just remember to follow the new hands-on CPR steps!

Foundation Communities

Foundation Communities

I love working with nonprofits - especially those that let you tell really powerful stories.  Foundation Communities is certainly one of those groups.

If you don't know, Foundation Communities is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing for families and individuals in Austin, Texas.  They rehabilitate old properties and even build new ones to accommodate their clients.  But they don't stop there.  They offer career and financial counseling, even free tax preparation.  This organization has had an amazing impact on our community - and has moved many from homelessness to success.

This is the second time I've worked through Elephant Productions to write, direct and produce a fundraising video for Foundation Communities.

Dr. X

It's not often that you pitch a crazy idea to a client, and it actually turns out exactly as you imagined it.

Our Dr. X project for Luminex was one of those rare exceptions.

Luminex is one of my favorite clients - they have patented technology for laboratory testing.  Through Elephant Productions and working with flash animation guru Cal Rogers, we've done a lot of work for the company over the past several years, including many online training modules.  They're a young, fun company, and this project was one of the craziest!

Dr. X on set 

The idea was to create a viral video that explained their technology with humor.  We pitched creating a fictional 50's scientist - a take off on those classic 50's films.  Check out the video here. (Click on the Dr. X tab.)  By the way, "Dr. X" is actually a real scientist who worked at Luminex and has many patents to his name.  Yes, and he really does speak Danish.  I love a good Danish ad lib.

Can you make science funny?
Well, that video was so well received, that Luminex came back to us for two more funny videos.  Sure...I could write a silly script once, but twice?  Petrified, I sat down this summer to write another two installments of the Dr. X serial.  You can see the next installment here....just scroll down.

Another Dr. X addition is coming soon - and honestly, I hope the series continues.  However much that scares the "comedy" writer in me. (yes, I use that term very loosely.)

Selection, not compression

When I was working as an investigative reporter, I was lucky enough to attend an investigative reporting seminar at the Poynter Institute.  We were there to sharpen our reporting skills and evaluate the ethical choices we make as journalists.

What stays with me, more than a dozen years later, is a concept taught at that seminar:  selection, not compression.  "Don't pack your investigative story full of all of the small details you turned up in your investigation," the instructor told us.  "Pick the best, most dramatic information and build your story around that."

Pick the best, leave the rest.

The concept certainly helped my reporting.  It still applies when I sit down to write videos or training materials.

What if we were able to apply that concept to our daily lives?  How difficult would it be to choose only the work, volunteer causes, clients and friendships that really fulfilled us?

It's a lot easier to say than to do.  Especially since I have the tendency to pack 10 pounds of stuff into a five pound sack.  (Hello, PTA volunteering...)

Whether we're speaking to a group, writing an email or leading our lives, it's good to remember to select the bits that matter and leave the rest on the cutting room floor.

Hello World! Redux

Once upon a time, I had a website.  And it stunk.

Sure, it was great for the first six months - but like any content left static too long, it aged and decayed.  

So, I've thrown out the traditional website in favor of a blog. 

I know.  How 2005 of me.

My goal for this blog is to be what my website never achieved - to share my thoughts on telling stories, display my completed work, and to share oddities that seem to follow people who work with cameras.

Thanks for tuning in.