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hile most of us suffered through December’s harsh weather, MPG D.P.’s Keith Walker and Mike Swanson were in sunny ‘down under’ filming segments for Oprah’s Australian Adventure (which aired on the Oprah show in January). Keith and Mike (along with soundmen Alan Chow and Matt Vogel) had their own adventure following Oprah and her 300 guests across the continent. Mike’s highlights were filming the majestic Great Barrier reef from a helicopter http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Oprah-Gets-a-Helicopter-Tour-of-Great-Barrier-Reef-Video and shooting Oprah interviewing Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, on the streets of Melbourne. After the interview Oprah was greeted by 14,000 exuberant fans at Federation Square. Keith’s personal highlight was filming Oprah and a busload of guests at the mystical Uluru rock formation in the heart of the continent. There he met and filmed several aboriginal guides and watched the colors change almost magically as the sun set. Then they were treated to a rare aboriginal ceremony at dark: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Sunset-at-Uluru-Video Later in the trip Keith filmed Russell Crowe giving Oprah an exclusive interview while sailing in the Sydney harbor. Swanny and Keith both filmed Oprah and guests climbing the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge. Keith pulled off the impossible: filming Oprah as he climbed the steps up the precarious bridge backwards! He wondered later: will this be the next Olympic sport? The trip also coincided with a concert by U2 and Jay Z in Sydney’s world-famous Opera House. Keith and Mike filmed behind-the-scenes as Bono gave Oprah a guitar signed by the members of U2. Then, as Mike walked out with U2 and Oprah as they took the stage, he swears he heard the 80,000-plus fans screaming “Swanny, Swanny!” Obviously, he spent a little too much time in the 90 degree heat. Days later he came back to his senses as his plane landed in 15 degree Chicago.
MPG crew in Sydney, Australia
ur new documentary, A Good Man (co-produced with Kartemquin Films), is nearing completion after over three years of work. The film, a portrait of famed New York choreographer Bill T. Jones, will air on PBS’ American Masters this fall and will be seen in film festivals this summer. The film chronicles Jones and his company over nearly two years as they create their most challenging work: a piece about the legacy of Abraham Lincoln (commissioned by Ravinia Festival). It’s a fascinating glimpse at the creative process of Jones, who won a Tony Award last year for his Broadway show, Fela! The film was directed by MPG’s Bob Hercules and Kartemquin’s Gordon Quinn and produced by Joanna Rudnick. Keith Walker was the D.P. and it was edited by David E. Simpson. The associate producer was Rachel Pikelny. The film will premiere April 17 at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. To view an earlier trailer for the film: http://www.mediaprocess.com/BTJ/AGM_Trailer.mov
Bill T. Jones with Bob & Keith in New York
e recently upgraded our Avid Symphony to the new Nitris DX HD platform, allowing us to do more sophisticated color correction and finishing work on client projects. The Symphony features 4 layers of real-time HD color correction and can mix frame rates automatically. The Bill T. Jones documentary is one such project being completed on the new Symphony system. Kartemquin’s Jim Morrissette is handling the on-line/color correction himself on this documentary. For booking any of our edit suites call Lisa Pooler at 312-850-1300.
Shania Twain, David Foster, Keith & producer Bryn Freedman esides Australia, MPG’s Keith Walker has logged plenty of additional miles over the past few months while filming six one-hour episodes for the new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) about country singer Shania Twain. The series, produced by Bryn Freedman for Gay Rosenthal Productions, follows the country singer as she rediscovers her life, voice and career after the tumultuous breakup of her marriage. Along the way, Keith filmed sequences with Lionel Richie, David Foster and Gladys Knight. Keith’s journey started last July with a trip to Twain’s current home in Montreux, Switzerland and continued over the fall with trips to her original hometown in Canada and then on to Las Vegas, Nashville and Los Angeles. The series concluded with two separate shoots in the Bahamas. Stephan Mazurek was 2nd camera on the series which will air on OWN later this spring.
ot off the video presses are two new videos we created with director Andy Greenspan for Children’s Memorial Hospital. Both films focus on the importance of philanthropy and feature poignant stories of families whose lives have transformed by the medical and research teams at Children’s. One of the most compelling stories is that of Livvy Tomassetti, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. Her mother, Lisa, a school teacher in the Catholic arch-diocese, led a campaign at her school to raise $250,000 to fund Cystic Fibrosis research at Children’s. The videos were directed and written by Andy Greenspan, shot by Keith Walker and edited here at MPG by Todd Wood. Lisa Pooler was the coordinating producer.
Keith, Bob & Carol Marin at MPG’s 25th retrospective s many of our readers know, last year we celebrated our 25th anniversary with two big events: a party here at our office last September and then a screening of our independent documentaries at the Siskel Film Center in October. We want to thank all of you for your loyal support over these 25-plus years. Here are some photo highlights from our 25th year events.
ur 2nd dance film, “The Joffrey Ballet: Mavericks of American Dance,” is also nearing completion after over 3 years of work. The film, narrated by actor Mandy Patinkin, tells the full story of this groundbreaking ballet company, from their founding in 1956 to the present. It is being produced by Harold Ramis, Jay Alix, Una Jackman and Erica Mann Ramis and directed by MPG’s Bob Hercules. The editor is Melissa Sterne and the D.P. is Mike Swanson. Paul Garcia did the graphics. We hope to have a Chicago premiere later this Spring.
Producer Erica Mann-Ramis, Keith & Bob shooting in New York
hanks for taking a look at the first electronic version of our semi-annual newsletter. To all our producer friends: our 4 Avid Edit Suites are now connected together via the Unity system and are available for rent. Our two wonderful camera crews are also available for projects small and large. We shoot everything from 2 man documentary-style projects to full blown commercials with full crew. To book edit suites or camera crews call Lisa Pooler at 312-850-1300 or email her at: LisaP@MediaProcess.com For more information and to view our demo reels please logon to: www.MediaProcess.com