Cysfilm

Bush League at the Third Goal Int. Film Fest

From a scorching hot San Diego (it’s January?) I’m happy to report that Bush League will headline this year’s Third Goal Int. Film Fest in Columbia, MO. Jake Wilson who is featured in the film and myself will join the Central Missouri Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group who put the fest together for the screening Feb 4th.

It will be my first time in Missouri and I will be doing everything I can to summon the spirit of my all time fave – Mark Twain. Is anyone in San Diego free on Feb 4th? I have a picket fence that needs some paint.

Student Photos from Irvine Valley College

I’ve been teaching still photo at Irvine Valley College for a year now and wanted to share a few of the student shots from last semester. As the new semester begins, it’s nice to take a sec to look back at last semester’s work. There’s a lot of talent out there.

SOPA/PIPA and Senator Feinstein’s Letter

The Motion Picture Association of America is the villain in the SOPA story right now (it’s also the org that rates movies (violence ok, sex not ok)) but I can’t help but wonder about all the U.S. government agencies that were hammered by wikileaks and their stake in this. I wrote to Senator Feinstein a few weeks ago expressing my concern about SOPA and was disappointed to receive the following response:

I received your letter expressing opposition to the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act,” commonly known as the “PROTECT IP Act.” I appreciate knowing your views on this matter.

The “PROTECT IP Act” (S. 968) gives both copyright and trademark owners and the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to take action against websites that are “dedicated to infringing activities.” These are websites that have “no significant use other than engaging in, enabling, or facilitating” copyright infringement, the sale of goods with a counterfeit trademark, or the evasion of technological measures designed to protect against copying.

The bill does not violate First Amendment rights to free speech because copyright piracy is not speech.

America’s copyright industry is an important economic engine, and I believe copyright owners should be able to prevent their works from being illegally duplicated and stolen. The protection of intellectual property is particularly vital to California’s thriving film, music, and high-technology industries.

I understand you have concerns about the “PROTECT IP Act.” While I voted in favor of this bill when it was before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have also been working with California high-technology businesses to improve the bill and to address the concerns of high-tech businesses, public interest groups and others. I recognize the bill needs further changes to prevent it from imposing undue burdens on legitimate businesses and activities, and I will be working to make the improvements, either by working with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) or through amendments on the Senate floor.

On May 26, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the “PROTECT IP Act” for consideration by the full Senate. Please know I will keep your concerns and thoughts in mind should the Senate proceed to a vote on this legislation. As you may be aware, Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has introduced similar legislation, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (H.R. 3261), in the House of Representatives.

Once again, thank you for sharing your views. I hope you will continue to keep me informed on issues of importance to you. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.

Wishing you a happy 2012.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Medium Format

I was driving down 5th ave in San Diego a couple weeks ago and saw a pool of light in this parking lot and wondered if it would work for a portrait. That got me thinking about a portrait series here in SD and that got me thinking about photography in general. For the last year I’ve been experimenting almost non-stop with different camera systems just trying to get inside all of them to see what they do and how they work. I think I’m ready to quit doing that and start trying to tell stories instead.

Sarah E at Night:

Large Format Test

Here are some test shots from my Crown Graphic – first time out with this beast of a camera and I have a new appreciation for the great photogs of yesteryear who hauled these things all over the planet.

Holiday Spirit

If you’re looking for a great Non-Profit to support this holiday season then please consider New Media Rights. These are very bright media attorneys who could be raking in big corporate salaries and lunching on AT&T expense accounts but instead they spend their days consulting regular people about their online/media rights FOR FREE. They have assisted hundreds of individuals and small businesses including myself. I made a contribution and if you appreciate my work in Iraq, I hope you will too – even if it’s only a dollar. Films like INDENTURED cannot be made nor shared publicly without the critical support of organizations like NMR.

Donate Here

Bush League screening at Rutgers University, New Brunswick

Bush League screened back at Rutgers University last Friday – what an honor! It was great to share the film with the students and faculty and also really nice to have Jake (the Peace Corps volunteer in the film) there to take questions.

Big thanks to Professor Frank Greenagel who put the event together. You can never anticipate what the tone or intensity of a Q&A will be and Rutgers did not dissappoint.  The students reflected some really amazing depth. Thanks Rutgers!

Here’s some of the audience saying hello to the folks in the film. I want to take these video clips back Malawi to show the people in the film where their stories have gone.

A CC license for the Zolokere Choir YouTube Video

For those who are interested in remixing/use of the music from the Zolokere church choir video on YouTube I’ve created a Creative Commons license which can be accessed below the videos. If you’re interested in commercial use please contact me at cysfilm@gmail.com and we can negotiate – I’d like to direct any funds received back to the community in Malawi. Thanks for your interest.

Zolokere Choir, African Music 1 by Zolokere Choir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.cysfilm.com.

Zolokere Choir, African Music 2 by Zolokere Choir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.cysfilm.com.

Zolokere Choir, African Music 3 by Zolokere Choir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.cysfilm.com.

Zolokere Choir, African Music 4 by Zolokere Choir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.cysfilm.com.

Hello NACA West!

I’m headed to Spokane, WA with my sister this week to present Bush League at NACA West – Looking forward to the trip and can’t wait to see what’s going on at the conference.

Here’s the trailer for the film, please stop by and chat if you’re there!

Diamond on Vinyl Teaser

Here’s JR Hughto’s first peek of his new fiction film Diamond on Vinyl – how’s that for a great title. Congrats to JR and his crew, I can’t wait to see the final product.