wartapes, oneworld, participatory web... beyond broadcast?

Filed under: web, berkman, beyondbroadcast, cyberdoc


notes from BEYOND BROADCAST.
day one.

secondlife registration messed up. creditcard, no pay? huh? watch on the berkman feed: James Boyle, Duke Law riffs about the future of technological innovation and net neutrality.

on screen, i see empty seats in the room. chatzilla with conference staff, and thirty minutes later charlie nesson shakes my hand and invites me through the door into Ames Hall in person, thank you very much.

in time for, THE WAR TAPES. Directed by Deborah Scranton

fallujah, IRAQ Nov. 2004; soundtrack, tension cue. pov. BANG BANG BANG. "There’s one more!" Violence. War. Know thy selves. "Today, I want to kill..."

soldiers with cameras, instant messaging and web communication, in combat overseas. wins TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2006! this is a traditional feature-length documentary. showing in theatres. open source? participatory media? beyond broadcast?

what i heard this week-end at beyondbroadcst:

i heard the words "net neutrality".
i heard a filmmaker tell the audience: as Americans, we should know war.
i heard an englishman with a powerpoint link people's media with a more just global society. and quote Karl Marx: the freepress is an intellectual mirror... and self-viewing is the first component of wisdom.

"bit torrent, Ibiblio, the Open video project, Osprey, Etree.org,
Project Guttenberg, folkstreams.net"

I heard about the digital divide.
And perpetual beta.

I heard from patricia aufterheide, center for social media: "change orientation,
embrace interconnectivity", diane mermigas, hollywood reporter (E3 conference): "understand new behavior of empowered consumer, collaborate, experiment and take risks", and dan nova, highland capital partners, "simple, effective, dynamic, entertaining, and participatory".

i heard about open source, web 2.0 and del.icio.ous, and technorati.
user quality and hangtime.

i heard ideas about blog use and user-driven media:
what is your mission?
aquire audience, retain, monetize
creation, editorial oversight
guide around diverse topics

i heard about political activism: listenup.org, omidyar
feedback, network, self-empowerment, reputation and transparency.
active, migratory, connected participants... participatory co-operatives
and the threat of the for profit world.

i heard a large talking head (JZ) say god is dead. how to share?
real world and internet world intertwined.
i heard the term "unique persistant identity",
and the question: how to bring out our best sides?

i heard words of wisdom:

• throw out what you know, and undertand that this is a new way to reach viewers and connect them with each other.
• intentionality.
• if you give a community tools and space to manage, they will.
• in the absence of rules, do not fear being a dictator.

i heard the words "rhetorical space" (nesson)
and that each single voice is a driver
looking to find identity.

22nd national space symposium

I arrive Monday afternoon in Denver. Drive a Payless rental car south to Colorado Springs. Rocky Mountains rising to the west. Arrive at the Broadmor Hotel, register at the media center. My mission: to meet the Chinese Space delegation.

Space Foundation president Elliot Pullman and chairman Robert Walker welcome industry execs and high-ranking military brass. Awards for education, public outreach, space exploration and space achievement. The message: US is pre-eminent among space faring nations - but for how long? Poised for next century, only limited by imagination; excitement, the tale is part of the journey, storytellers... “We are dreamers”, cue video and music.

Fireworks going off in the mountains as I settle into bed.


DAY ONE: Human and Robotic space exploration of the solar system.

moderator: Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, dir of the Rose Center for Earth and Space
panel: James Kennedy of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Dr. Firouz Naderi associate dir. at JPL.

Humans: NASA has accrued 78 human years in space, 450 astronauts break the 62.5 mile threshhold. Space Shuttle: 1.5 million lbs. into orbit. 600 payloads, 17 lost heroes... inspire the next generation

Robots: Looking for earthlike places, gravity, black holes, stars, big bang - places too hostile for humans, Venus, beautiful and hellacious, and watch over our fragile planet... ambassadors, precursors, human helpers.

Declining budgets, new programs, lack of enabling technology. Do we as a nation need to pursue science exploration?

Tyson asks my question to the panel: CHINA! How will the success of China's space program effect the US? Economically? Ideaologically?

Tyson is a space bard. He speaks emotionally about the search for life in outer space. After the discussion, I share my China Space doc proposal with him. He is interested, and asks my source of funding. I am seeking an invitation from the Chinese Space Program. I speak Chinese, make tv for NOVA. He says I am the perfect person for this project.

Featured session:
Chairman and Ranking member Space and Aeronautics Sub-comittee

moderator: Robert Walker, Space Foundation chairman
Hon. Ken Calvert, US House of Reps
Hon. Mark Udall, US House of Reps

Advocates for space exploration and space spending
Security issue: China = space development = military development

Gemini/Apollo = 4% of national budget
current funding = 0.7%

How to compete in a global market place? Can Congress improve investment opportunities for commercial use of space (COMMERCIAL SPACE ACT 2003)?

KC: Gave up a thirty year lead... breathing on the back of our neck... American public does not understand the importance of space. Phone, GPS, entertainment.
MU: don’t be contrarians, learn the right lessons, wake up call.

Media Center:

Stephanie Fibbs and Amber Pease light up the room. The SPACE FOUNDATION media staff is very competent and friendly. Reporters writing, conference speakers on closed-circuit tv, late arrivals screened, snacks. We send a brief email to the Chinese delegation, requesting an interview.

I meet two men in the media center.

Brad Blair, 40, leather cowboy hat and pony tail. Quiet and thoughtful and kind.

Berin Szoka, 25, knowledgeable and intense, interested in International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and sat-comm law.

Brad listens to my ideas. As soon as I ask him about ITAR he introduces me to Berin, who whisks me outdoors for a very good conversation about the Commercial Space Act, the Cox Report and ITAR.

Cut off from international partners, technology driven out of US, declining commercial satellite market share, European, Russian and Chinese competition, work force issues. Law is catching up to the frontier.

Brad suggests I talk with Steve Durst of Space Age Publishing, and informs me of an International Lunar Conference in Beijing this July.

KEN FUJIWARA, JAXA assistant:

Outside, I see an Asian man, sitting on a bench. Smoking a cigarette, taking a break from the conference.

I introduce myself. He speaks English with a heavy Japanese accent. His name is Ken Fujiwara, JAXA assistant. He askes me to tell him about some of the panels he has missed. We also talk about American rock music and Japanese baseball.

Dinner: Kobe beef with Brad and Berin at Carlos' Bistro. Berin recommends that I read The Heavens and the Earth, a Political History of the Space Age, by Walter McDougal, the Tipping Point and Taylor Dinnerman.

Tueday night. Get lost driving back to the hotel.

Weds. AM: The Chinese Delegation

Eliot P. introduces Mr. LOU Ge, Vice Director of China National Space Agency (CNSA). Mr. GE stands at the left podium. In the center of the stage, a younger Chinese man sits behind a desk and reads the English translation of Mr. LOU’s script.

I am sitting on the edge of history. This is the highest level visit from the CNSA to the USA. The auditorium is full. But the speech draws no applause. The message: Chinese space programs are developing full speed ahead. The effect: like a sunami, the words crash over the USA space industry representatives - confronting declining budgets, competition for limited resources between manned and robotic missions, restrictive trade laws and now serious international competition. Is world power shifting?

I am proud and amazed. At a press conference following the speech, reporters ask about the number of SATS, new launch vehicle, space suit and lunar mission.

After 20 minutes of questions, the reporters leave the room. The Chinese delegation is three men. I speak in Chinese. We exchange business cards. I introduce my ideas to them. I present a detailed letter of introduction: a passionate description of my goals for a science documentary about the Chinese Space Program.

I also have prepared a six page color proposal: CHINESE ARK and an attractive layout of my recent editing credits.

They are impressed. They flip and read each page. Comment positively. I congratulate them for their recent successes. We talk:

1). CNSA priority: elevate world-wide public awareness of China's space program
2). Request invitation from CNSA.

We agree to talk again soon.

Space is... prestigious, poetic, scientific and historic

General James Hill Lifetime Achievement Award Luncheon
Hon. Lt. Gov Jane Norton, host

Buzz Aldrin, 2nd man on the moon, delivers a humorous and moving speech about the personal challenges faced during his illustious career.



Thurs. AM:

Featured Speaker: Kaoru Mamiya, JAXA VP

Message: expand the experience and knowledge of human experience through the exploration of space.

Featured Speaker: Hon Dr. Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator

How does space exploration serve our country's interest?

White House policy doc:
advance US economic and scientific goals through a robust program

Complex systems, inquisitive human behavior, act of faith not science
Lewis and Clark mission - route seekers
unexpected outcomes

big pay-offs? have to look
science and commerce
balance b/w govt and private

when cultures intersect = destruction or enrichment

Conclusions:

My visit had one purpose: to meet the Chinese Space delegation. This was successful. I was in the right place at the right time. And when I found myself surrounded by leaders of the world's great space-military-industrial corporations, diplomats, scientists and businessmen, I siezed the opportunity to learn and make contacts. Was this a wolves den... or a goldmine?

The Space Foundation organized an incredible conference. I am deeply in their debt. Stephanie, Steve, Mr. Walker, Mr. Pullman, your organizition absolutely fulfilled its mission to serve as a credible source of information about America's developing space program. Thank you for welcoming me into your community. I hope that I am able to fulfill the promise of making a special documentary about the Chinese Space Program, contribute to building a coalition of space-faring nations , and create a better world for all of us.

chinese music videos

I lived in Beijing from 1995-99, with my girlfriend and her family, in their 19th floor, 3 BR apt. Three months of Chinese language study at the Beijing Film Academy. Earn my first Renminbi taking photographs of news-rocker Wei Hua and cosmetic surgery for the local ex-pat weekly, the Beijing Scene.

Find Skyarc (aka Stonebridge), edit and produce Behind the Scenes, a top-ranked weekly broadcast about foreign films and international film festivals - watched by millions of viewers.

Join Creative Interface, an Australian post-production facility newly entering the Chinese market. Edit commercial tv spots and AD for non-Chinese speaking Directors.

Collaborate with Modern Sky Records to make five low-budget music videos:

• "Rose Garden" by Supermarket
• "Hey You!" by New Pants
• "My Thoughts Change" by Xin Wang Fei
• "Mistake" by 43 Music School Street
  
• "Wake Up Your Ears," by emerging star Jin Hai Xin

*"Wake Up Your Ears," wins MTV Asia Best New Artist Video Award!

Props crash on dancing models. Strong winds blow a set away, the bluest skies. An orphan selling roses on the street becomes a star. Hysterical auditions, electrical failures, actress quits... i learn alot, meeting creative and beautiful people.

1999. Just when the going gets hot... Zhao Hong and I move back to my home in Boston.

working for a living: ProvPix and NOVA

watch Volcano prologue

I have been editing with Gary Glassman of Providence Pictures in Providence, RI for two years. This means I commute from Boston to Providence. Gary is a compassionate man, artistic, intelligent, a fine story-teller and a great writer! We worked on many fantastic shows together.

NOVA: Voyage to the Mystery Moon, Saturn science and exploration.
PBS/ WGBH, 2006

NOVA: Deadly Ascent, science team climbs N. America’s tallest mountain.
PBS/ WGBH, 2005

Global Health Rx, viruses, Asian Bird Flu, SARS and other killers.
PBS/ WGBH, 2005

NOVA: America's Stoneage Explorers, the arrival of humanity in the "New World".
PBS/ WGBH, 2005

NOVA: Volcano Under the City, science doc about volcano in Congo, Africa.
PBS/ WGBH, 2005.

watch Volcano prologue

NOVA: The Greatest Hoax: Piltdown Man, science doc about false early human remains discovered in England.
PBS/ WGBH, 2004

NOVA: Supersonic Dream, the story of the Concorde jetplane.
PBS/ WGBH, 2004

NOVA: The Viking Deception, scientific doc questioning the authenticity of the Vinland Map, an early Norse map of North America.
PBS/ WGBH, 2004

The True Story of Troy, history and archeology from the the Trojan War.
The History Channel, 2003

link to NEW YORK TIMES filmography

AMERICAN FAIR documentary

American Fair is a tale about farm families in southern Maine and the agricultural heritage of that region.

This feature-length ethnographic doc is about hard-working farm families. A father and son. Mothers and generations. Knowledge of land and beast, honest physical labor, handicraft and winsome beauty.

But the countryside is changing and farming is an increasingly difficult and uncommon way to make a living. Will these hard-working family traditions survive?


In darkness, the carnival trucks arrive: traveling men with strange stories...

At daybreak, the fairgrounds of the York County Agricultural Fair come to life. Fences are mended. Animals, handicrafts, and vegetables set on display. Friendships and rivalries renewed. Cows cleaned and clipped, and country girls rehearse beauty pageant routines.

The fairgrounds are a gathering place. A showcase for beef and dairy cows, a pulling ring for draught horse and oxen. The Grange: the Patrons of Husbandry, the Exhibition Hall and 4H stables. Food, girls. A midway for thrills and stimulation.

American Fair quietly reveals a community of farm families working hard to keep their farming traditions alive, and opens our eyes to a wholesome side of American culture: as people of the earth.

post two

i spent the day exploring my new blog settings. big question: what purpose will blog serve?

*project development
*video and photography
*journal and creative writing
*networking

American Fair, Jamaica-China, Chinese Ark, Two Grandfathers... focus. Work hard and do good. Socially active. Explore sprituality.

Be kind.

post one

my boy is a asleep. wife and grandparents are in bed. the baseball game is over. finally a little peace and quiet...

watched the Colbert roast of Bush at the White House Correspondants Dinner. Funnier than I'd expected. Tough crowd: actors, politicians, journalists mix. Good jokes on Justice Scalia and Val Plame. MOCKED BUSH IN HIS FACE. Wow. A stunning comic and political performance. Made me proud to be an Amercian and fearful for the future of this country.



I went to NYC with my family this week end.