2013 Goals for Istrico Productions

In the beginning of every new year there is a need to set goals.  Here's our shot at it.

Nora gives her 2013 Predictions for the Marketing Space

I work with Nora, and every once in a while I get an inkling she's a little psychic.  Turns out I was right!

Shot on Nikon 7k

More Flying Friends

Here are some more fantastic Flying Friends for your viewing pleasure:

Flying Kevin

Race for Hope 5k DC 2012

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be on a shoot capturing TheRace for Hope 5k here in DC.  It's a great event which raises money for brain cancer research.  This year’s event raised over 2 million dollars and participation was through the roof.  I met so many passionate and dedicated people.  I couldn't help but be moved, and at times it was tough to keep it together behind the camera.  Here's the video we made for Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure of the event.

Check out both ABCC's website and the Race for Hope website for more information and how to get involved.  I cannot wait for next year's event.

SBCTF Event @ The Newseum

A few weeks ago I was tasked with covering the State Budget Crisis Task Force event where they would roll out their final report.  It was held in the 8th floor conference room in the Newseum. It's a great space with quite a view.  Here are a few shots from the event.

Ready for business

Behind the Scenes

 I enjoyed getting shots of some of these brilliant economic minds while they exchanged pleasantries before the presentation.

About to go on

 You'll notice in the above photo the variety of lighting in the space.  There were recessed halogen lights, daylight balanced soft boxes, and the windows had a greenish tint to them making color correction an interesting proposition.

The Gathering

Can I ask you a question?

David Crane

Alice Rivlin

Paul Volker

Although the subject matter of the conference was heavy and serious I was glad to be able to get some shots of the participants having a good time.  It was a great event in a interesting space.

Other Sites

Flying Friends 2012

Frozen motion photos have always been appealing to me.  Whether it's sports, nature, or fashion a photo with little to no motion blur can really grab a moment.  The Internets have been chock full of Leisure Divers, Plankers, etc..., so I thought I would try my hand at what I like to call Flying Friends.  I didn't give any directions to these guys, I just said jump in the air and they put their own spin on it.  Good sports all around!

Short Film: Voli

I mentioned before that my brother Brett and I were making a short film.  It's called "Voli" and it was completed in one week for the Your Film Fest put on by YouTube and Ridely Scott.  Unfortunately,  we missed the deadline due to a rushed production schedule and an argument over GMT vs EST.  We had such a great time shooting it though, and we learned a lot (mostly give yourself more than a week).  I'd like to thank Brett, Michael Kennedy, Chris Rosenman, Maria Havranek, Jane and Richard Kinsella, John at First Presbyterian, Craig Lowenthal of Sertinos in Smithtown, and everyone at G Tower for feedback during the process.  Now that we have some extra time I'll be putting some finishing touches on it.  Here's the poster.

Questions and comments are encouraged!

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel.

Project 1 - Short Update

Here's a few shots from our upcoming project.  It will be entered into the Your Film Festival on Saturday.  Ok, so we're cutting it a bit close.  I found out about the contest two weeks ago and I immediately started writing.  I came up with an interesting little concept and we started shooting last Friday.  Here are some shots from the production.  We hope to have it all done by submission time.  It's hectic getting it done in such a short time frame, but we're having a lot of fun with it.

Check out our YouTube Channel for more!

Keep us making good stuff.

Geeks, Sundry, and Nerdists: The Beginning of an Era

The new captains of intelligent digital media

The announcements have been made, alliances have been formed, schedules have been set, and the future fruit has been devoured by these two.  Chris Hardwick and Felicia Day are successful media and digital culture mavens with an onslaught of content up their sleeves.  The Nerdist Podcast, The Guild, The Talking Dead, Dragon Age : Redemption, [listing the rest of their projects is where "etc..." stretches its upper limits].
Now they are each launching a YouTube channel with their respective collaborators and innovators.  Felicia Day's creation is Geek and Sundry, and Chris Hardwick's is The Nerdist Channel.  My first reaction was "wow, great timing".  It seemed apropos that both these trail blazers would have the same idea.  The second thought was something along the lines of "oh great, NBC and CBS for geeks".  While the evolution of the media might not make that a perfect metaphor it certainly speaks to the building up of a very individualized art form.  We are seeing the tipping point of individual thematic content creators organizing their efforts into larger cohorts.  These two may not end up dominating the public space, but as Malcolm Gladwell paraphrases "we're not looking for the perfect Pepsi, we're looking for the perfect Pepsis!", or in this case the perfect nerdly experiences.  This is the space these two channels will inhabit.

I am more optimistic about the outlook of Nerdist and G&S because of the ease in which people can use new technology to access them.  As it stands YouTube navigation is pretty horrible on both the XBox 360 and PS3, but interfaces such as Google TV,  Apple TV, and additional hiring at Google are starting to make it just as easy to access this content as TV allows you to turn to NBC or IFC.  The ease of access is key for any content to gain traction, especially if it doesn't have major corporate forces behind pushing it.  Hopefully more of these will form, allowing content creators to throw off the old style of distribution and thrive using the free and open nature of the Internet (I know that is debatable).