After our wild night of LA shmoozing (ok it wasn't that wild but it did end with Whit doing magic tricks at the 101 Coffee Shop on Franklin), we decided we needed to balance out the superficiality of Hollywood with a stop in Malibu to the offices of Reef Check, an amazing organization dedicated to saving coral reefs around the world. As an avid scuba diver, I am really interested in reef preservation. The thing is reefs just aren't sexy as they say in ol' LA, they aren't cuddly and they are hard to personalize so it's really a challenge to rally people to the cause. But one man, Gregor Hodgson, the Executive Director of Reef Check, is up for the challenge.
Greg explains many ways to help reefs in the interivew below. One way is to sign the "Declaration of Reef Rights" which I've done of course. Or to support Reef Check with donations which you can do by attending their upcoming fundraiser in LA Reef Rescue 2008.
p.s. please excuse the choppy video. we weren't getting a great connection there for some reason....
We arrived in Los Angeles with empty stomachs, smog in our hair and stars in our eyes, just like every other Hollywood hopeful. It was Vision Fest 08 and we were there, not with any vision ourselves but with a goal and a dream: to get Kevin Smith on Seesmic. There's really no need to build the suspense because I wouldn't be writing this if it didn't happen but how did it happen? How did we sucker this A list director to come on Seesmic? As they say in Hollywood, here's the backstory:
My friend Jacques Thelemaque, founder of the Filmmakers Alliance, invited us to attend Vision Fest, an event FA throws every year to screen the short films they've produced and also honor amazing filmmakers. This year the event honored Kevin Smith. Jacques is a big fan of Seemsic and thinks it has amazing potential for filmmakers so we decided to show him exactly what Seesmic is all about.
I posted to Seemic asking if there were any Kevin Smith fans out there, and got tons of responses. The best by far were from uber fans, Virginie and Sebastian from Switzerland. They posted several times but they blew us away when they dressed up like Jay and Silent Bob and digitally inserted themselves into a "scene" in front of the famous Clerks' Quick Stop.
We got to work right away (two days before the screening--oy, the pressure) editing together the Seesmic videos to actually screen at the DGA theatre in front of Kevin Smith and an audience of a 1000 including press, actors, filmmakers, hollywood veterans, etc... I wasn't stressed at all.
Before the screening, I got the opportunity to introduce Kevin to the Seesmic community and he responded directly to Seesmic uers questions. Dana (aka Wankergirl) had a "seesmagasm" when Kevin responded to her video. Kevin was very generous with his time and answered loads of questions. He also told us about his upcoming film, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Sounds like a family film.
Interviewing Kevin Smith was fun and a career high and all that, blah, blah, but the true highlight of the evening was the screening. Our little short film (using Seemic videos and also starring Vinvin, Whit and I) was a hit! I'm talking non stop laughing in the theatre. Afterwards, as the three of us stood around like dorks reveling in our glory, it started happening....a double take from a random stranger and then "Oh! Are you the guys in the film? You were so funny!" and "Hi, I'm one of the founders of FA, your short was so great, hilarious...." I hate to brag (no, i don't) but that was just the beginning. We were hounded by our fans all night. Kevin who?
So I started a new show on Friday called Happy Hour (was I supposed to get approval from my boss Vinvin? oops!) It's about the effects of global warming on the reproductive rates of sea otters. Come on folks, it's called Happy Hour. Mainly the idea is to have a place where we can drink a little, chat a little and laugh a little. We're starting off drinking the vodka sent to us by Qino One Vodka, which I'm really excited about. It's made out of the quinoa grain and it's organic. Oh, and Seesmic user, Tiil, designed the website which is really beautiful. Anyway, we'll be drinking whatever comes our way so if you want to send us some homebrew, grog or moonshine, heck we'll take it. We kicked off the show with a little dance number. No, we did not practice. I think that's pretty obvious. So, join Happy Hour Fridays at 5 PT on Seesmic.
Be Happy! Ok, fine that just showed how old I am and probably how dorky too. But, wait I can do better. Once when I was a youngin, my cousin and I despised that Bobby McFerrin song so much we called the local radio station and requested it 73 times. Why would you do that if you don't actually like the song? Well, to us, it was a joke. To the radio DJ it was annoying. It took the entire afternoon but the man played the song and mentioned us by name! Success! Oh, to be tweenish again.
Ok, back on track... I'm so excited to have Marci Shimoff on NewspOp tomorrow. I interviewed her years ago for a show I produced for TLC. She was known then for co-authoring several of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" Books. Since then, she has been featured in "The Secret" and has a new book out called "Happy for No Reason." Personally, I love the title. She is really an amazing woman whose enthusiasm is infectious. After all these years she has really stood out in my mind as one of my favorite interviewees. Can't wait! So, join the convo if you can and Be Happy man.
Ok, Kevin Smith fans....show me what you got! We're making a little video to screen at Vision Fest August 20th in LA giving folks a chance to express their thoughts on Kevin Smith, his films and anything else. My favorite film is Mallrats and apparently I'm the only one. Ya'll have mentioned every other move, mostly Clerks. Nobody is singing the praises of Mallrats the way I am though. Come on kids, this was Jason Lee's big screen breakout film long before "My Name is Earl." He's loveable, he's hateable, he's doable. oh, my!
About Vision Fest: It is a kick ass event brought to you by Jacque Thelemaque and Filmmakers Alliance, THE indie filmmaking collective. Every year they honor a prominent indie filmmaker and this year the award goes to Kevin Smith.
