The project that pulls at you

Sometimes, no matter how difficult a project is, or has become, you feel this deep need to make it happen. Even against the better advice of your inner voice there is something that just draws you to it, pulls you to it.  This is how I feel about King Charles' Coast, or, Whose Beach Is It Anyway?

I have been vested in this project for well over two years now.  Ever since the knowledge of how the coast of Maine, or more precisely the access to the coast of Maine works. I always knew there was a lot of coast here, with all the bays and inlets, the isthmi and the islands. But I never realized that over 94% of the coast was privately owned.

Yeah well, that isn't that big a deal right? A lot of the US coast is privately owned. No biggie.  If you can access the beach you can still surf it or hang out and just chill below the high tide mark, right? Nope! Not in Maine!

This whole crazy world of coastal laws and the battles that focus around it all reveled itself to me and I have to say, I was pretty shocked. Rules written in 1647 remaining in force to this day?  Ownership to the low tide mark, which can be like 200 yards out in some places here?  Whats more when I asked folks about this, people who I really thought would be 'in the know', very few people had any real knowledge, and those that did were hazy at best.

I am hugely vested in the coast of Maine.  My family is, my friends are, this community is. Maine is a coastal state and there is a pride in the maritime sensibility here. This is part of why I am pursuing this project. And I am looking to the masses to help get it done. Those of you who care about coastal access, in Maine and across the US coasts, who enjoy the ocean, I am hoping you will take a look at the project on Kickstarter, and help get this important documentary made, either by contributing, or helping to spread the word.

Here is how Kickstarter works: you support a project by contributing a given amount of money. BUT! If the project doesn't reach the goal amount in the time allotted, you are never charged the money. So  you say, ok, I can put $20 towards that, but if the funding amount isn't reached in the time limit, they never take the $20 off your credit card. It's a pretty cool thing really. Then if the goal is reached, for your $20 you get some sort of reward, like copy of the film, or a poster or whatever the $20 reward is.

Take a look at the project- follow the URL and check out the video, the description and all the cool rewards. I Really do believe this doc will resonate with all the coastal users in Maine, and beyond.  Thanks for taking the time to check it out.  

Here is the link: http://kck.st/hcdZob

You just never know....

The last thing I think of when I make a film or a piece or a work or a segment is what the long term effects are going to be of it.  Or where it will sit in the annals of my personal history of that of the region or in other peoples minds.  I make films because I love to do it.  It's that simple.  Some will be great, and others not. But it's about the enjoyment of crafting something really dear to me that spurs me on.

So when a film is out doing it's thing, like BlueGreen is currently, and people reach out to you because of some sort of connection you have made with them through the piece you created, it is a pretty amazing feeling. It was this feeling I had when I got an email from Mark Marovich, the originator of a fantastic website called The Greener Blue. 

Mark contacted me because he wanted to talk about the film and the site getting together.  There was a message we both shared, and the film and the site shared:  the desire to try to make the sport and lifestyle we both love more earth friendly, more sustainable. At first I was really flattered, but then I realized what a cool thing this was.  That through the film I created I had randomly come to the attention of another group who were of a similar mindset in the world.  Thus making the circle that much wider.

And making the sustainable surf, ocean lifestyle circle that much wider is a huge deal indeed.  I feel pretty lucky, and very humbled that I get to be part of it, and that without any planned intentions my film has facilitated part of that, if only in a small way.

Check out the this amazing site: www.thegreenerblue.com and the blog post on BlueGreen. It's a confluence of green ideas, art and action. As ocean lovers, we owe it to ourselves and the world to expand the circle just a little bit. Intentionally or otherwise.

Into The Wild (ish)

So I was just sitting here at my desk after Christmas, working on some thing or another when my friend Matt calls.  Nothing out of the ordinary but about half way through the conversation he invites me on a trek with a couple of other old friends. A 36 mile hike/camp on snowshoes through the Adirondacks on the NPT trail.

Well, I had missed our every-other-year-post-christmas-hike-up-Mount-Adams because of family duties for the holidays. So I immediately said yes without even thinking about it and then went right back to working.  Over the next few days it slowly started to sink in. During some of the typically coldest days of the year in the northeast, I and three others were about to hike into a bit of trail from which there is no exit, only forward or back, breaking trail and sleeping in the open air lean-to's provided by the park service.  A feat I am woefully unprepared for physically, mentally and probably most importantly, gear wise. What was I thinking?

It took a bit, but I know exactly what I was thinking.  I am tired. I am tired of the constant battle of the last few years.  I am done with the trying to hide, to dodge a bullet, to sit here and brace for whatever comes next.  I am tired of the 09's and the 10's. It's time to move on it's time to shake things up.  To put myself into places and situations I am not entirely comfortable with. To get back into the creative groove, to feel better, to try to make things happen, to put myself back out there, and to ask the question: what would happen if?

2011, whether it turns out well or poorly, will be a year for me where I get active again.  Business wise, creatively, personally. The first decade of the new millennium is over, we can move on now. So I am making the choice to do so. It's not always going to be easy, or necessarily fun, but it will be enlivening for sure. And that is what I need, and probably a lot of other folks too.

A lot of it for me will be getting up and getting active.  Even pulling away from the desk for an hour during the day to get outside, regardless of the conditions.  Just to breathe and remember there is a whole huge world out there. It brings all kinds of perspective into all sorts of corners. For this hike I will be pushing myself physically and mentally. To prepare I have started running, and doing things every day to try to get my heart rate up. It's great, and it begs the question, why haven't I been doing this even without a goal in sight?  This hike will be 12 miles a day on snowshoes through unbroken snowpack with a 40 pound pack on my back. It will be merely in the teens during the day and at least the single digit negatives during the night. What will come of it?  Who knows.  Maybe just an experience. But that in itself, is really really great.

'Sides, better to do it now before the world ends next year (he wrote with a knowing wink).

'Tis the season! To give ocean consciousness!

The holidays are here, no matter how hard I have tried to be distracted with other things. Even though the battle for access rages on in my home town, and the intertidal lands of my state are up for review, the holidays have come.

As every year, I feel sort of blase about the whole thing until our annual co-hosted holiday party. This even seems to always kick things into high gear for me. This year was no exception either! 100 people and tons of kids running crazy all over the house, Food, drink, merriment, and the true spirit of the holidays- time with loved ones family and friends all. Meeting new friends, reconnecting with old. Community. My community.

It is soon after this party that I realize, oh criminy! I haven't bought gift 1 yet! Yike!

It's a somewhat panicky moment for sure. But it always works itself out. I like giving gifts. I like taking the time to think about a person, and what they truly love, what I think they would appreciate, and what I think could really be excellent for them. But sometimes the panic overtakes this desire and I just freek out and buy.

Which is no good. You may have these holiday moments as well. So in an effort to help you curb such distress (in a somewhat self promoting way) I want to suggest to you a great gift for all lovers of the ocean, of surfing and of connection to nature. Grab a copy of BlueGreen from Cinema Libre. There is still tons of time.

It's got extra features, and a soundtrack included with the award winning documentary. Pick up a few copies for all the ocean enthusiasts in your life- grab one for yourself too. This documentary is a must see for everyone looking for their connection.

http://store.cinemalibrestore.com/bluegreen.html

Have a BlueGreen holiday!

Enraged

Processes can sometimes be hard.  Especially when the people that set up the rules that everyone else has to work by don't adhere to the rules themselves.

Here in my beautiful state of Maine we are undergoing huge coastal access issues. I mean it's not just here, North Carolina, Florida and Texas are all under similar duress.  But for some reason it is really coming to a head here in the northeast.  There are several cases pending in court which will determine whether or not coastal land owners continue to own to the low tide mark (one of 2 states- can you guess the other?) or the high tide mark.  More on this in another post...

But here, in my little burg we have been waging another war.  There is a beautiful little beach, not far from downtown Portland where the surf comes up in storms and when it's placid the townsfolk walk their dogs, hang with their families and generally get a moment to feel like they actually ive ina place that tries to incorporate the wonders of the coast into our every day lives.  It is a big, big reason why many people live here.

But recently a small group of landowners near the beach have been seeking to remove all on street parking. And they are making headway. We are trying, fighting the hard battle but it seems we are losing ground. In the belief that blogs should be short and readable I won't go into the terrible details, but if you are interested I can point you in the right direction (see below). But watch this quick little vid I put together to talk about the  issue.

But what I wanted to get to here is that last night we had an opportunity to talk before the town council about the issue.  One ex councilor brought up that the changes needed to be kicked back to an ordinance committee, because that is the procedure. Eventually what happened was that one of the councilors started berating the crowd and bullying the other councilors into not pushing it back and started bringing up all these points that the crowd was not allowed to mention because they were not on the agenda. He sat in his bully pulpit with another councilor and offered challenges to the crowd that due to procedure were not allowed to be answered.

Frustrating is not even close to what most were feeling. The whole issue is crazy.  The system is broken. The town is supporting a handful of their constituents against the rest of the public who clearly don't support the changes. They aren't listening.  It is really disheartening to believe you live in a democratic society where your voice will be heard, where you elect officials thinking they will do the best for the town and it's people, to be confronted by this.

I realize that I am still so enraged by this that this post probably will not make any sense. So for tose of you who are interested in yet another battle where the monied landowners are trying to deprive the taxpayers of their right to access public coastline you can check out what is going on here:

http://www.facebook.com/SaveHiggins  or another good resource is http://www.surfrider.org/nne

As a video tape of the meeting is public record I will be posting this crazy outburst by the councilors. I think that this is ridiculous, and people need to know what goes on behind the closed doors of small town politics.

Season Of Horror!

Halloween season is here, and with it comes the flood of horror films.  New and old, slasher and suspense, Zombie and ghost one and all. I love it.  There is not a genre out there that is pushing the limits of the imagination quite like horror.

I am not a huge fan of the gore world, films like the Saw series, basically a 120 minute gross out. No, my favorites are the ones that get you to lean forward in your seat, to look around the corner or through the back window where the hero or heroine never seems to look...in time. They run the gamut as well, from the genre defining Halloween to outer space thrillers like the amazing Alien (how movies should be made!), to some of the paradigm breakers like 28 Days Later or 30 Days of Night. No I am not a horror aficianado so I am sure true lovers of the world of slashing knives and masticated brains will be harumphing and muttering 'he doesn't know what he is talking about'.

And it's true. I don't!  I only know what I like. Most of the movies I like have an intriguing story and all the trappings of classic horror- suspense, intrigue and blood! But emphasis on story.  That is what draws you in, brings you to the edge of your seat and then....gotcha! A good story can take you places you never thought you would be. In just a few more days, the onslaught of scary flicks will abate and we'll be back to more standard films.  But the desire for intriguing story will persist....

Check out the story in my film BlueGreen.  You can order it here:

http://store.cinemalibrestore.com/bluegreen.html

Check out the trailer here:

http://www.bluegreenconnection.com/trailer.html

And really importantly, if you haven't already, we are on a huge campaign to get netflix to carry the film, so it would be great if you could add it to your queue! Do so here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/BlueGreen/70125109?strackid=5f123914b6c...d0caf_0_srl&strkid=1980134918_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&trkid=222336+

And on a side note, with a week left to go before elections, I feel compelled to just write one little note.  No, it's not an endorsement for any given candidate.  But more a plea to get everyone to take a moment and breathe.  There is a groundswell of anger out there. But in this groundswell it seems that people are having this knee-jerk reaction and backing people that are truly unfit to be the elected representatives, the leaders of our country.  People who truly have no knowledge, who lie, who disrespect the very institutions we are electing them to, and will serve to only bring us all down. If elected, these people will not help us, will not help our nation, our states and cities. We will rue the day we put these morons (for lack of a better word) in power. Please.  I am begging you.  Take a step back.  Breathe. Not matter how angry you are at the way things are now. No matter how badly you want change. Look at what these people are saying, and look at what needs to happen.  I think you will find a huge disconnect.  Please make this election an election for sanity. If not, we could make this horror season a truly scary one that will have repercussions long after this Halloween is gone.

Finding The Balance

A good movie to me is one that draws you into it's story, makes you think a bit about what you just saw, and how that might translate into your daily life.  Not that every movie has to be a heavy, thought provoking treatise, but for me it definitely separates a 'good' movie from a 'fun' movie.

So as I sit here formulating ideas and approaches for my next major doc, I am overcome by the first and initial thought- where is the balance?  I definitely want to entertain, but entertainment without message seems to me a little void. At least in the area which I choose to make my films.

How does one find an equal balance?  Where is the line that keeps a film from browbeating you with a message, but also keeps it from slipping into a vapid music video type blur of imagery and music? I want to draw the viewer in, and then wrap them in the story, the message, without alienating them, yet still entertaining them.

It's a tricky balancing act for sure. I am not sure I will ever figure it out. As with all things in life, balance is key.  Certainly there are excellent films that are all imagery, or all message. For me though, the balance between the two is essential. I will let you know how it comes along!

For now, check out the balance in my last film BlueGreen.  You can order it here:

http://store.cinemalibrestore.com/bluegreen.html

Check out the trailer here:

http://www.bluegreenconnection.com/trailer.html

And really importantly, if you haven't already, we are on a huge campaign to get netclix to carry the film, so it would be great if you could add it to your queue! Do so here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/BlueGreen/70125109?strackid=5f123914b6c...d0caf_0_srl&strkid=1980134918_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&trkid=222336+