January 2012
1 post
December 2011
4 posts
WatchIn 1875, the Horn Silver Mine was discovered in the red rock cliffs of southwestern Utah and the town of Frisco was born. Within ten years, over sixty million dollars worth of gold, silver and other precious metals were exported from its rich mines. Rumors quickly spread about the new boomtown’s six thousand inhabitants, its numerous saloons and its grizzly murders. Frisco gained a reputation for...
WatchOnce in a while, you find someone who is lost and they change you. This happened to me when, after following an artistic whim, I got off at a hectic bus terminal in Nakhorn Ratchasima, Thailand and asked a motorcycle taxi to help me locate someone who collects trash for a living. I wanted to follow them for a while and get a sense of what their life was like.
I jumped on the back of the...
WatchI have been hard at work recently working on a documentary series called the “Lost and Found Series.” The series comprises five short documentary films exploring loss and recovery through wildly diverse topics. You can learn more about the series at www.lostandfoundseries.com or click any of the links below to watch previews of the each film. I am lucky to be working on the series with...
June 2011
1 post
1 tag
May 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
The Story Behind 'Tarkio Balloon'
A few days before going to Cinequest International Film Festival for my first documentary ‘The Sonosopher: Alex Caldiero in Life…in Sound,’ I was sitting at a local café, resting from a long flight from Bangkok, when I suddenly felt the intense urge to get in my car and drive to Tarkio, Missouri, where my little brother Dane Morgan Bernhard is buried and died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in...
November 2010
3 posts
WatchYesterday, as part of the Reinvention Summit, I participated in a panel discussion with Mandy Leith, a documentary filmmaker with thirty years of experience from British Columbia, Canada. We talked about a number of issues and had a wonderful conversation. One topic, in particular, that has stuck with me is the relationship between artist and audience — a relationship that is progressively...
“True progress consists not in being progressive but in progressing. True...”
–
Bertolt Brecht
WatchAlex Caldiero performs his poem “Poetry is Wanted Here” on the occasion of the release of his new book of the same title at Ken Sanders Rare Books on October 2nd, 2010.
October 2010
3 posts
1 tag
“Storytelling is essential to human life. Telling stories — arranging the...”
– Jo Radner
2 tags
Ushering in a Renaissance
Tradition says the story starts in the 1200s with a shepherd boy drawing pictures of his sheep on a rock. Cimabue, the master Florentine painter, sees the boy, recognizes his talent, and invites him to apprentice under him in his work shop. The boy, Giotto di Bondone, would come to be recognized as the first great contributor in what we now refer to as the “Italian Renaissance.”
What Cimabue...
September 2010
24 posts
“We live in story like a fish lives in water. We swim through words and images...”
– Christina Baldwin, Author, StoryCatcher: Making Sense of our Lives Through the Power and Practice of Story. (via storytellingquotes)
1 tag
“Hence I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people,...”
–
Independent Filmmaker Project: Ask-an-Expert:... →
Another great article from Basil Tsiokos. I have some films to submit soon and am trying to take all of the advice I can.
What Cameron, From Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Can...
As a creative person, it’s easy to fall into Cameron Fry mode. You sit in your office/car/room, paralyzed, trying to get the engine started. The nagging voice of inspiration (in this case, Ferris) keeps calling you, but you’re in “Egypt land” and want to be left alone. You constantly tell yourself “I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go…” You are busy...
WatchDetroit Lives: Parts 1-3
“It’s all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we do not have...”
– Thomas Berry, Theologian, Philosopher, and Cultural Historian (via storytellingquotes)
MediaShift . How College Students Became... →
1 tag
The Blurry Line Between the Practical and...
In December of 2009, after graduating from college, my wife and I took all of our savings that we put aside over a one year period and traveled through Asia and Europe for eight months. We walked through Angkhor Wat at sunrise. We traveled through northern and southern Thailand by train. I got ritualistically tattooed by a monk using traditional yantra practices. I helped interpret in Thai for a...
Watchdevindra:
On why it’s wiser to keep your goals to yourself
I can’t really say I’ve noticed this in my own experience, but that study is still fascinating.
David vs. Goliath and the Art of Storytelling
I’m convinced that one of the most important and meaningful ways to rise above the social media stream is to know your story and know how to tell it. We need to, at the very least, be able to clearly articulate our purpose.
I think most of us usually feel like this first clip: unsure, concerned about coming off as immodest, and unable to reduce our story down to its most luminous moments....
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“I would argue that “informality” is one of the strongest, yet most undervalued...”
– Absolutely. I guess the trick is getting to that place.
The power of informality (via heyamberrae)
(via bigbags)
1 tag
“Conflict is one of the most dramatic elements in life — will against will....”
– William Archer
1 tag
“Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives — the...”
– Salman Rushdie, Novelist (via storytellingquotes)
1 tag
“Australian Aborigines say that the big stories — the stories worth telling and...”
– Robert Moss, Author, Dreamgates (via storytellingquotes)
1 tag
“Small sacrifices must be made.”
– Last words of Otto Lilienthal after a failed flight attempt that broke his spine.
1 tag
Detroit Hustles Harder →
I am very excited to see this. I loved 12th and Delaware and I enjoy watching anything about my home state. Can’t wait.
Five Jazz Records For Hip-Hop Heads, Recommended... →
“As a student at the Berklee College of Music, Meghan Stabile’s peers were jazz musicians who grew up with hip-hop as popular music. So during her last semester of study, she first put together a show that brought together musicians from both jazz and hip-hop communities, exploring the connections within…”
1 tag
“To love and to serve is to persevere and endure.”
– Cornel West
August 2010
12 posts
Why I am backing "Street Fighting Man"
I am backing “Street Fighting Man” because I believe in the power of film to transform lives. I have faith in the ability of personal stories to strengthen and inspire us.
In 2010, we live in a big neighborhood. Each day, I turn on my computer and watch as the borders extend. I am connected to people across the world in new and profound ways. I am excited about this. There is much...
1 tag
“No matter how old you get, if you can keep the desire to be creative,...”
– John Cassavetes
WatchA scene from “The Sonosopher: Alex Caldiero in Life…in Sound.” Alex Caldiero performs his poem “Foam and Sand.” Directed by Torben Bernhard and Travis Low.
Mobb North Records Presents: The Power Showcase...
This *FREE* event is geared to formally introduce M.E.D./Mobb North Records to the industry & the world through a dynamic showcase. People from Universal Records, Def Jam, Jive, Epic, Rock Nation, Live Nation, EFF Sports, Mobb North records, Rok Starr & Red Line Cinema will be in attendance. Artists, you can submit your music to A&R’s between 5pm-6pm. Hot teen sensation...
WatchTeaser trailer for “Street Fighting Man,” directed by Andrew James.
“Works of art consist of objectifying subjectivity.”
– David Lynch, from his Twitter thought of the day
The Sonosopher on RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio
We (Alex, Travis, and myself) were lucky enough to be on RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio today talking about our new experimental documentary film, ‘The Sonosopher: Alex Caldiero in Life…in Sound.’ He did a wonderful job and we were all very pleased with the clips he chose and his questions. I learned a lot from him today about interviewing.