Meet the people behind Noble Rot

As a local Northwest film maker, I would like to see more videos like this. I love the idea of small businesses encouraging community through video. Also, I like to see larger companies who care to distribute this hyper local media.

Seed to Plate: A Garden Story from Riley Hooper on Vimeo.

Noble Rot is a great place in Portland to hang out. Its close to the Doug Fir and Juniper Inn. Its a great area for music shows and eating great food.

Streetwise (1984)

This is the out of print short feature documentary about homeless youth in Seattle, filmed in 1983 by Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark. The husband and wife team came to Seattle to expose rampant homelessness and desperation, thriving even in America's most livable city.



The pacing of this film is brilliant. It does not feel like a documentary. It feels more like a fictional piece, how we get such a moving and intimate look into the lives of these young people.

The film is book-ended by Tommy Dean's mentor and music local Seattle street performer Baby Gramps.

Rosa Alba and Fjahma

I met Fjahma at the NW Film Forum where I volunteer once a week. He is generous with his world view and meek as a monk. He always wears a big black hood over his eyes. He's an ambitious guy. I respect ambition in a person.


rosa alba

fjahma | MySpace Video

8mm film about a CIA agent who follows a flower girl from the Bremerton ferry and kills her in an alley somewhere. In the above sequence, he uses a golf club he finds leaning up against a wall but in other edits, he just shoots her.

Not sure what it all means.

local hip hop

I discovered Zia Mohajerjasbi through his genius award write up in The Stranger. Check out his Vimeo page. He makes hip hop videos for local Seattle artists. Pretty cool, right?

I think when your average person thinks of hip hop videos they think of guns, gold chains and half naked women. People should be thinking of a second type of hip hop video. That is, the short film:

Common Market "Trouble Is" Music Video from Zia Mohajerjasbi on Vimeo.

Framing a hip hop video like a short film makes sense. Indie acts such as Common Market are heavily message oriented. They tell stories about poverty and economic hardship.

They're like the Almanac Singers of the modern depression. When I was making a documentary about street musician Tommy Dean, I really wanted to end the film with Tommy's comments on hip hop. The moral is, folk singers (by nature of their medium) are looking in the rear view mirror. Hip hop is current and modern. It doesn't preoccupy itself by imitating the blues and it doesn't try to hide behind a clever riff or a catchy melody. Its just message.

That said, I'm interested in what Zia is doing. I'll keep an eye on him.

filmmakers with blogs

i don't understand why so few seattle film makers are putting together blogs. every time i meet a film maker, i ask about their blog and they look at me like i'm crazy. they say they don't have enough time.

i found Jeven's blog today. looks like he was up in seattle recently and he made a music video for fun:



he has two feature films in the hopper. the scripts are: steven king's cain rose up and 1-800-Suicide by Michael Lamio. he's just as busy as anybody i've met in seattle and yet he has a blog. two or three entries a month.

now, to find some local seattle film makers with blogs. i want to see what people are doing in this town!

edit: i met a girl at the northwest film forum the other day who calls herself purple. she was with her dad and they were looking for someone who could help them cast a film.

when you grow up

this film maker was quite the find. fleet foxes did the soundtrack for this short movie back in 2006. i would sure like to work on set with a project like this. i like the mixed media aesthetic.

When You Grow Up from Matt Daniels on Vimeo.

a wink & a smile

i served the beer and wine for this event at nw film forum friday. the event goes for a week so check the calender and see if you can't catch a viewing. support local film makers.



the film exceeded my expectations. this last decade, burlesque has gone through some serious revival and with that fresh audience comes two things. first, innovation. second, new cliches.

if you are like me, you are fearful of the new cliches. if you've ever been to a dive bar or a bad party, you might have seen hipster girls stumble awkwardly around a stage and call it burlesque.

this is not that kind of show, folks. this is the real deal. these acts are truly unique and worth taking a look at.

the stories of the women are so personal, it is impossible to criticize anything. the interview sequences bring meaning to the half naked women on stage. so, this is certainly one of those female empowerment films about feeling comfortable with your body and your sexuality. the fault of this movie is that it never steps outside of that box. it would have been nice to see some interviews from friends or family. or club owners or bartenders. or barflies or anybody else on the fringe of the scene.

but certainly worth checking out.

i'll be looking for upcoming film pretty funny women.

pirate radio and seattleiam

movies like this really appeal to my sensibilities. anybody who serves the us military and does not begin to question the motivations of the federal government needs a serious head check. i might want to look into this website a bit further.