Balancing Act

Promo #003 - Mike Rohde

In this clip Mike Rohde talks about work, time off, and retirement, and how they all fit into your life.

I first met Mike at a Milwaukee Web Design Meetup (before we created Web414) and I’m pretty sure the reason he came up and talked to me (besides the fact that he’s a nice guy who says “Hi” to new people) is due to the fact that I was holding a Moleskin notebook. We had a brief conversation about it, and we’ve been crossing paths ever since.

Mike Rohde

I interviewed Mike Rohde, perhaps best known for his pioneering work in Sketchnotes.

No sneak peek yet, but take a look at this video I shot of him Sketchnoting at DrawCamp back in June 2010.

Still going…

Hey folks… don’t worry, we’re still working on the film, it’s just taken a lot longer that we’d like.

We’re continuing to hone our craft in other arenas right now, which hopefully will improve the final product here. That’s good, right?

More updates when there is something to update.

Thanks!

Interview… Phil Gerbyshak

I interviewed Phil Gerbyshak, sometimes known as the Make it Great Guy.

I think I met Phil at the first BarCampMilwaukee, and he made an impact on me. We had him come give a talk at Web414, and we’ve crossed paths over the years, but it was great to sit down and do the interview with him, and get some insight into how he sees things.

That’s probably what I get most excited about during this process… finding out these bits and pieces about people, and how it all fits into how they fit themselves into this world we live in.

Exciting stuff for sure… Well, for me at least, and I’m hoping, for you eventually!

Promo #002 - Davey von Bohlen

In this clip Davey von Bohlen talks about being a musician, and how that may change as his “career” changes…

(I’ve known Davey since he was 14 years old, and we used to play in bands together, tour together, and even lived together. I haven’t hung out with him for many, many years, but it was great to be able to talk to him again and get an interview, as I’ve watched his career throughout the last 15 years or so.)

Promo #001 - James Carlson

Since I’ve been doing nothing but shooting so far, I thought it might be useful to start finding bit and pieces of the footage I’ve got and sharing it with the world. In this short clip James Carlson talks about how the concept of Bucketworks evolved.

As I’m still very early into the review, I’m not even sure this will make it into the final film, but I found it compelling enough to put it out there.

Still going!

Hey there folks, I know it’s been quiet for a while, but these things take time.

It’s been months since I’ve had the time to do an interview, but I will be doing them again. I just hit that “life gets in the way” thing, where I’ve been spending all of my doing paying work to survive, or doing other things like helping to organize PhotoCampMilwaukee.

But fret not… I am still pursuing this film, and it will continue… If you know me, you already know I don’t give up very easily. Cheers…

Progress thus far…

It’s hard to believe I’ve been working on this project for more than 6 months now. Well, maybe it’s not hard to believe. The original timetable I had planned was nowhere near realistic. I mean, it could have been if making this film was my full-time job, and not a labor of love I tend in my spare time apart from my two other full-time jobs. Anyway, it will get done… of that I am sure. I’m still aiming for everything to be done by late 2009, but again, we’ll see how this goes.

Right now I am taking a short break to do some paying work, but plan to interview Phil Gerbyshak in the next month or so. Interviews will keep on rolling, until probably summer, and then we’ll be getting into editing and b-roll shooting.

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Kevin Ciesielski, the first person who actually came through with a financial donation to this project. As I’ve mentioned, I will find a way to see this film to completion no matter what, but when I announced it, I had at least 4 or 5 people ask if they could help financially by donating something… none of them did, but Kevin is the first (and he was not of the original people who said they would.) This really helps validate what I’m doing, and makes it feel like others believe in it too… Thanks Kevin!

Onward!

Yup, still doing interviews… I was particularly happy with the setup here, as I had a lot more lights to work with than usual. This is definitely my favorite shot as far as cinematography is concerned. I’ll have to get some stills up so we can really see what this looks like.

Update: Here are some stills:

Interview: Davey von Bohlen

On November 22nd, 2008 we interviewed Davey von Bohlen, best known for his work in bands such as The Promise Ring, and Maritime. Davey’s also been a friend of mine for the last 17 years or so…

I knew Davey back before he was ever in a band, and watching his success in music over the years had been interesting. (Yes, I even played in at least one band with him over the years.) Davey’s been around the “music industry” for years and is now following a career path quite different from that of a guy who spent years writing songs and traveling around in a van doing shows night after night.

Milton Zorro was the camera operator for this interview, which took place in the Maritime practice space in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At least a few times during the interview it turned into three old friends remembering crazy stuff from the old days, but we also got some great insight from Davey on how he’s dealt with balancing the different parts of the work he’s done, and is still doing.