2012 Webby and Vimeo Award Winner

Yup. Blake Faucette and myself are Webby and Vimeo Award winners for our web series Often Awesome. Please watch the trailer…

As happy as I am to win these awards I would give them up in a second to have Tim back on this earth. I am so grateful to Tim, his wife Kaylan and the entire Often Awesome Army for allowing us to do 34 episodes on their battle with ALS. It sucked watching a person suffer with ALS. It sucked even more when that person is your friend.

We documented this series from his diagnosis to his passing. That took two years. In two years we saw his body give way to this horrible disease. The most frustrating thing was to watch this disease progress and there is nothing you can do about it. Not only watch it…but edit it. Over and over. There is a portion of your brain that shuts down and allows you to work and get things done. But it wears on you and does damage.

After Tim passed, I kept getting sick over and over for two months straight. I had fatigue like never before, I was worn down and depressed. I know it was Tim’s time to go but my body was constantly in this go go go mode and would do anything for that man. I wanted him to keep fighting. But that is the stubborn and selfish side of me. When he told me he wanted to see his memorial video before the next episode my heart sank and I knew he was ready to go. The amount of pain he was facing was beyond intense, it was cruel.

I remember getting the call from his friends that he was unconscious and they didn’t know if he was ever to awake again. I came by the house on a Friday, to see my friend for the last time. It was hard, even though you try to prepare yourself and know that this is the best for him. I looked around the house and his friends were hanging out, talking, drinking and playing his favorite music. If you didn’t know Tim you would think it was disrespectful…it was a beautiful moment. Tim asked us not to shoot this moment and I’m so glad he said that and I’m not sure if he said that for us, him or his friends. Whatever his reason I’m glad he did, cause if he asked us to shoot it…I would’ve.

I came by the house on Saturday to see Tim one more time. He was conscious for a brief moments throughout the day. I was fortunate that I was there during one of those moments. I walked over to him, held his head in my hands and told him how proud I was of him, he did an amazing job and that I loved him. I looked into his eyes and I could tell he heard me. I’m so grateful that was able to tell him that. Tuesday, Tim finally left his body.

I’m a mess right now reliving that. These tears are from missing a friend. From watching him go through all the pain and suffering. From knowing that research for this disease is terribly underfunded. From knowing there has been no significant treatment to slow down the disease. For the families that have to watch their loved ones go through this. For the future people that will be diagnosed breaks my heart.

Winning these awards is absolutely amazing. The Vimeo Award is extra special. Their community is full of amazing films and filmmakers from around the world. To bring home an award for this series is the highlight of my professional career. This web series is for the world to know this disease and not turn away, but to look at one another and say how can we cure this fucking disease.

Humanity Unites

This is simply beautiful, and speaks to the world in transition from one of the most brilliant comedians to ever entertain the world. Let us hear this message…repeat, repost and demand it.

ALS Sucks

Working on Often Awesome the series the past two years has changed me into an advocate and agent of awareness to pass the message about this horrible disease. Please help us spread awareness and help the world understand that we need to research and find a cure.

Freelance Crap Take 1

I don’t know if this is a joke or not. Here is the ad…

I have an idea in my head about the type of loyal, ambitious, talented person I think could fill this position.

I see it as an opportunity. I worked crazy hours and really cared about what I did coming up. I expect that from whomever would join this team.

There is a bunch of education and marketing video that must be done at a fairly high level of craft and expertise. That work must get done in a timely fashion with considerable attention to detail.

There are other internal development projects that require heart and a connection to more than just a 9 to 5 ( partly because it will be way more hours than 9 to 5 ). I want someone who is going to help drive forward the efforts I am putting forth. Help realize some dreams. Make something happen.

Don’t get me wrong. These are more than full time hours. And the money is modest:
$435 per week – with some production weeks going freakishly long and involving near heroic feats.

I know someone has the desire and ability to do this – and grow with us.

———————————————————–

Salaried contract position:
50 Hours a week minimum – but at times has gone as high as 70 hours when things are really moving.

Travel may be required at times. Production primarily in Metro area. Some work happens out of state.

Software, etc.

We work on Macs.
Final Cut Pro is the main editing environment.
We have some projects that incorporate After Effects – so that would be very helpful
Photoshop seems to me like a program everyone should know – some more so than others.

And then theres…
Pro Tools
Logic
Motion
Communication / Organizational skills –
And other computer, production, pre-production, intellectual and field related skills that you could bring to the table that would be of value to the production and creation process.

Real home-based start-up environment.
Clearly this is not the job for everyone. But could be a great fit for someone who wants to work hard, learn, grow, – really get results and be a part of something.

You want to work?
You can start immediately.

Location: Hoboken
Compensation: $435 per week – with some production weeks going freakishly long and involving n
Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

$10.88 an hour and that is for a 40 hour work week…and it did mention sometimes 50-70 hours a week? $348.33 is what you take home after taxes. I know there are a lot of young talented filmmakers that need to get their feet wet and to be honest if I were just getting out of school this would be an exciting gig for me. But if they are looking for an experienced professional that just will not happen. Especially paying that rate in that market. Good luck.

Craigslist Ads That Are Wrong: “Do you think your child is gay?”

While browsing looking for freelance work I came across this ad titled “do you think your child is gay?”

Here is the ad, I screen captured it because the ad will be deleted, flagged or end because of the time limit posted.

If I was producing that show I would change the name of the show to…”The Worst Parent’s in America” OK, I know the show is local in the DC region, but still you have access to millions of viewers and that is just wrong for kids to be displayed on TV because their parents think they might be gay. It is even worse for the producers to promote such an idea. I want to know the name of the show and out them for being asshats. Yes, you may quote me and even use asshats at your leisure but it must be used as a worthy adjective.

Thumbtack Your Profession

I got an email this morning from Thumbtack.com. Basically it is a job board to help anyone who is an independent contractor or even a business to list their services for potential clients. I just listed mine as, Multimedia Producer and Final Cut Pro Editor, on Thumbtack.

I’m back in the game as an Independent Contractor/Freelance Multimedia Producer and need any advantage to get my name out there. I will update this post if work comes through there and let you know how well it goes.

Power to the People, to the web, and to video

Changes

Personally, the past two years have been difficult on me. For my privacy that is all I will reveal (Nothing Criminal Related).

Professionally the past year has been incredibly rewarding. Love where I work and feel blessed to be working on Often Awesome the series.

I am currently in the process of re-designing this blog. Here are some changes that are coming…

1. Section for Reviews
2. Section for tutorials by me and others online
3. A revamped Portfolio section of my work
4. Projects that I’m working on

Life is crazy, and it seems that I do not have enough time to do everything that I want to. So that is why I will be announcing a goal of mine…before I do that I want to get this design up and ready. That is all for now…back to editing.

Why Filmmakers Aren’t Embracing Online Delivery

(Guest post by James Mowery)

For many people, the recent advancements in computer technology have been life changing. After all, it’s difficult to argue against the merits of having an entirely library of books, movies and music all at the tip of your fingertips on one device. That is, unless you are a filmmaker, musician or author. Artists the world over have expressed their concern as of late about online delivery of their products, and for a variety of reasons. In particular, filmmakers are beginning to come down on online delivery, deeming it unsuitable for their work.

Filmmakers aren’t embracing online delivery for a variety of reasons. For one, online delivery of films drastically increases the chance of movies being pirated, or stolen and freely disseminated throughout the internet. While this practice is illegal, it runs rampant among internet users and shows no signs of slowing down. As a result, artists are losing out on the royalties they need in order to continue doing their work. Filmmakers, in particular, have seen the effects this problem has had on the industry first hand.

Perhaps the main reason why filmmakers are not exactly excited about online delivery is the fact that they feel as if their films aren’t being represented correctly through the medium. Films are meant to be viewed on a large screen with surround sound speakers, and most people who acquire movies through online delivery are watching them on their computer screens, listening to the sound through tiny speakers. Filmmakers argue that this is not how their movies are meant to be experienced, and that opinions are thus skewed in different directions regarding the quality of the film.

Nevertheless, online delivery has truly taken off. Much to the dismay of filmmakers worldwide, many people consider it to be the wave of the future.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to led tv.

Help Get My Friend Timothy LaFollette on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

I’m posting this letter to my site in hopes some of my readers know a producer from The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Or to see if there is any media outlet that wants to take up this story.

From the Often Awesome Army to the Ellen DeGeneres Show…

Our friend, Timothy LaFollette, is incredible. He is also sick. An unfair, scary and painful kind of sick that can’t be fixed. In April 2009, Tim was diagnosed at age 29 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). At least five generations of Tim’s family have died from ALS, including his mother and grandmother, who both died within a year of their diagnosis. Tim’s subtype of ALS has a median survival rate of 12 months. Tim survived his first diagnosis “birthday”, but there have been no advances in treatment in the 28 years since his mother’s death. Tim is almost house-bound and has lost his ability to care for his basic needs.

There is a silver lining to this seemingly sad story. Tim can discuss his decline with humor and truthfulness and he has the kind of friends that give you faith in humanity. We felt helpless as we watched our friend lose muscle control and his ability to breathe on his own. We desperately wanted to care for our friend and so the Often Awesome Army was born. Our “Army” started off as a close-knit group. It grew into a 1100+ person movement with t-shirts, a care team, benefit shows and an award winning web series!

Tim is dedicated to spreading ALS awareness and believes that Ellen’s show would be a perfect match for his personality. Ellen, please help us complete his mission. We know that you’ll love him as much as we do. Will you be a soldier in the Often Awesome Army?

Contact: info@oftenawesome.org

Please feel free to copy and paste this letter and submit it to this page.