Big Teeth Productions Blog

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New Media Revolution: From No Tube to YouTube in 5 Years

YouTube was founded in February of 2005. This became slightly significant to me as I was unearthing video samples that I created and came across the first short films that I wrote and directed from, you guessed it, February 2005.

Five years ago what did New Media mean to us? I'm guessing not a whole lot. Blogs existed but not everyone on the planet had three of them. How many podcasts did you download in 2005? I listened to more this week than I did that year. We didn't tag photos on Facebook, we didn't converse in tweets, and we certainly didn't upload high quality videos that could be played back in real time on every computer in the world.

On a personal note these videos are also the first collaboration between Elise and I production-wise. She produced three shorts that I wrote and directed. Now in 2010, every day of our lives involves Elise producing video that I write, direct or edit. The emergence of YouTube and New Media/Social Media has essentially allowed us to be in business and had things not progressed how they did, Big Teeth Productions might not be around today - perish the thought of course.

Here's one of the videos that I'm referring to titled, "All In."
(full disclosure, this one was actually done in March 2005, not February):

Not exactly a cinematic masterpiece but in terms of story and production value right up there with most of what you see on YouTube. Had there been a YouTube like it is today in 2005, its possible that I would have been able to show these videos to more than the few friends and mentors that actually saw it. Then maybe some of those people would have embedded it into their blogs or Facebook pages and thousands more might have seen it. Maybe PETA would have insisted I take it down because I encouraged dogs to gamble, which would have led to some PR for me and more eyes on the video. Then I would have been signed to a 3 picture deal at Dreamworks and become a filmmaking superstar... Then again, maybe I'd be right here where I am. Either way, my life is a totally different one thanks to the New Media Revolution.

Has the New Media Revolution effected what you do in your personal life or your career? Do you think we are better off with YouTube and other New Media outlets or worse?

Who . . .  is relevant?

from who dat to the who we give you our outsider perspective to the biggest insider event of the year, the superbowl.

 

Being at the Superbowl was a thrill for a number of reasons and was definitely something we'll remember for a long time, in no small part thanks to one of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Who.

A lot of the buzz I read on Facebook threads and random outlets on the web was that The Who are not "relevant" and are too old etc... as an act for the biggest TV event of the year. It makes me wonder if in fact, the kids are alright?

This being our first experience (and probably last) at the actual game versus in front of a TV, I'm left to ponder whether the CBS broadcast just couldn't possibly capture the electricity of the live performance. I know in years past I felt ambivalent about performances by Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, Springsteen and other such mega-acts who phoned in halftime show performances.

From where we we're sitting (section 403, third row from the top of the stadium) the aged Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey rocked as hard as two social security aged people could or should. Sure there wasn't the same fire as the "Magic Bus" days and no Les Paul's were smashed (admittedly a disappointment), but to the best of what I could tell, the few missed notes sung by Daltrey or maybe a muffed chord from Pete meant that these guys were actually playing their instruments and singing - NOT lip syncing. If you want to rag on them for anything, it could be the choice to play a set consisting of mostly songs that have been absconded by CBS' CSI franchise; but for the godfathers of heavy metal I'll let that slide.

Back to the whole "relevant" thing. Who would you consider to fit that bill? Would you rather have empty party anthem singers Black Eyed Peas take the stage and sing the most overplayed, uninteresting song of all time "I Gotta Feelin'"? And when I say "play" is there any doubt at all that it would just be a recorded track that Fergie and the boys would hop around to? Or the American Idol of the moment? If that's the case then I guess I'd rather not be part of "My Generation."

SB44 - Live at Super Clematis - We Built This City

Our first official "super" activity took place last night as part of Super Clematis Live - a football-themed version of the weekly nightlife activity in West Palm Beach. Now for all of you fame watchers waiting to be regaled with tales of shoulder rubbing with the Jonas Brothers, you may want to skip this post.

Clematis by Night an outdoor street fair with food, drinks and some live music acts who work tirelessly to cover every cheesy pop song ever written. They nailed it by going from "Don't Stop Believin'" right into "I Gotta Feelin'" - The dynamic duo of overplayed karaoke fare. Now what made this particular night "super" were the few non-descript former NFL players signing autographs and a couple of inflatable games with football logos. Oh, and we think we saw Freddie Falcon and Bobby Bronco running around the place too.

The Evening's headliners were none other than soft-rock legends Starship Featuring Mickey Thomas, not to be confused with Jefferson Starship. Mickey and a group of musicians half his age trotted out all the classics you know and love (and Elise REALLY loved a little too much for comfort).

For your viewing and listening pleasure here are a few of them captured with our new Kodak zx1 camera.

We Built This City - Encore style (listen closely, at one point it sounds like "live goes to tape)

Just when you thought you had been soft-rocked to the fullest, they encored with the classic "We Built This City." For one brief moment West Palm Beach was indeed built on (soft) rock & roll.

Super soft rock ballad - Sarah

Dedicated to our intrepid sports reporter chum  Sarah Spain, who has been covering media week here in So Fla., by request.

For those still wishing to know about the Jonas Brothers, take solace in the fact that in another 30 years, they will be Starship.

Back for more later, in the meantime, you can follow along with some photos we've added on flickr.

Super Bowl from the outside in

 

A series of blogs from our experience winning two tickets to the 2010 Superbowl in Miami

West Palm Beach, FL - I'm pretty sure there's a football game taking place on Sunday, and a pretty big one. As a matter of fact it's arguably the biggest sporting event on the American calendar. Yet it seems that all anyone wants to talk about is what celebrities will be on hand (Saints & Colts & Kardashians, oh my) and what party can you get in to, and not who has the better o-line, but who's o-line can sing better at Media Day's none-too subtle tie-in with "American Idol."

So rather than provide another insider report on whether Peyton Manning will root for the team he plays for or the one he rooted for as a child, we've decided to provide the complete outsider's perspective to Super Bowl madness. Throughout our week in Florida we'll make our way to a few of the coveted activities, but overall, let us be your eyes and ears at Society Ground Zero.

Notes from the Almost Front lines...

As noted above, we are not the media elite, we don't have a reality show on E! (yet) and have no discernible ties to the cash-heavy Mafia, so rather than a shimmering ocean view from a South Beach hotel, we're staying in nearby West Palm Beach. I say this not as a complaint, but as statement of fact. The takeaway from this is that we were fortunate to win two tickets to the hottest event and plan on taking full advantage of that - which means spending a week in intermittently sunny Florida during the worst weather month of the year in Chicago. If that wasn't good enough we were handed the keys to a shiny new silver Mustang as our official wheels of the Gregg & Elise adventure. A Super Bowl miracle.

 

Other things:

- Perhaps the two most coveted parties to attend before the Superbowl are put on by Playboy and Maxim magazines. Remember magazines? Those were the paper things that have all but been replaced by the Internet. If I were a more suspicious person I might surmise that these publications have stayed in business past their relevancy just to host the yearly bout of bacchanalia.

- The stories not involving the parties and celebrities are all about the advertisements during the game. Are these not the very same 30- and 60-second bits of cleverness that we go out of our way to DVR right past the other 364 days a year? The Superbowl spot seems to be the Betamax in a Blu Ray world. Do these ads bring a return anywhere near what it costs to air them?

- Why does politics ruin EVERYTHING? The Superbowl and its sideshow are beloved for the unnecessary excess, over the top half time and anything else that amounts to no actual substance. Now we have to tread out the abortion debate in between quarters of the Bud Bowl? What a downer!

Stay with us as the game approaches and we take you to all the places that you want to be.... when you couldn't afford the places you actually wanted to be.

To-Do: Crossing things off my list

Crossing "Film Kid's TV Pilot" off of Elise's To-Do list after 6 years

I like completing things. Making to-do lists and crossing items off to get that feeling of accomplishment – I even add things to my lists after I’ve done them just so I can cross more things off, and feel even more accomplished!

 

 

 

But, there was one thing that always got pushed aside…. Pushed aside to establish a career, pushed aside to pack up my New York life and move to Chicago, buy a home, get married, start my own business… you get what I’m saying. For six years I’ve lived with this idea, dreamt up with my childhood friend Jodi Balis, to produce a kid’s TV show that has food at its core. But in all that time, life seemed to get in the way. Why couldn’t I just tick this one little item off my to-do list?

 

 

 

I started wondering: “If you have a good idea what does it take to make it happen?” For Jodi and I it took finding people who understood our vision, like co-producer Kerry O'Tolksi, and kicked us in the ass to get this thing done. We formed a “gang” of foodies, chefs, caterers, restaurateurs and educators that share our goal of bringing this idea to light. Its no longer just ourselves that we could let down, we have to answer to others. With this new network in place and a team of amazing crew members that donated their time, services and equipment, we were able to shoot the footage that will hopefully become our show’s pilot – Finally!

 

 

Despite all the time that has passed and the start/stop cycle we’ve gone through with this project, we’ve taken a great leap forward with the pilot, and have already affected a great group of kids that will think differently about the food they eat and where it all comes from, which is what its really been all about from the get go.

 

 

 

Maybe most importantly, Even though I now have a lot of things to add to my to-do list (including throwing a party to raise some $$ to finish the pilot), I can finally cross off shooting kid’s show food pilot (catchy title still in the works) from my to-do list.