Please enjoy the full documentary "Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper". Feel free to spread it as much as you would like. If you enjoyed the film and would like to leave me a tip, visit the film's vimeo page.
You can learn more about Steve Repasky as well as buy his honey at his website: www.meadowsweetbees.com
The music in the film was written by Tom Brosseau from his album Posthumous Success. I highly recommend listening to his music.
I am honored that my latest documentary, "Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper" was chosen as Best Documentary at the ClujShorts International Short Film Festival, in Cluj Romania. You can see a list of the other winners and the reason for the jury's decision at this link. I really wish I could have been there for the festival. I have traveled to Romania twice in the past and it is truly one of my favorite countries.
In addition to playing in Romania, Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper also screen here in DC at the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. The film was screened in a track of 4 other excellent film and the audience was excellent. It is always so pleasing to see something you have made on the big screen. I want to thank both festivals for their hard work and organization. Also, another well-deserved "Thank You" to all of the Kickstarter Backers who made the film possible.
"Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper" will be available for viewing on YouTube in the near future. Keep your eyes open for it.
The Environmental Group of the Pittsburgh Section of the ACS is hosting the premiere my short documentary "Portrait of an Urban Beekeeper" on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Here are the details for anyone who is interested in coming:
Saturday October 26th, 5:00pm Mellon Institute Auditorium 4400 Fifth Ave (Entrance on S. Bellefield) Pittsburgh, PA
The film is 20 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A with local beekeeper Stephen Repasky and myself. Hope to see you there!
One lazy April Sunday, a group of honey bees spotted a hole in the wall of my house and decided that it would make a cozy new home. I didn't think that it was such a good idea, but knowing how valuable honey bees are to agriculture, I didn't want to just call an exterminator. When I searched online for someone who could peacefully resolve this apian housing dispute, I met local bee keeper Stephen Repasky. I watched him observe the bees and was impressed by his knowledge and understanding of these tiny creatures. He was able to "trick" them into moving out of our wall and into a hive that he had brought. The thought then occurred to me that he would be a fascinating subject for a short documentary.
To fund this project I will be using Kickstarter.com which I have never tried before and I am very curious how well it will work. If you are interested in contributing to this short documentary please visit the Kickstarter page for my project and choose one of the rewards, many of which include fresh, local honey from the apiaries of Stephen Repasky, who is the subject of this documentary.
The film I made with Nick Brandestini about the world's most notable glacier is now available as an online rental or to buy as a instant download. Just click the appropriate button below, or watch the preview.
I became very attached to the Great Aletsch Glacier while making this film. Like Martin Nellen, one of the characters in the film, I often refer to it as "my glacier". I hope by watching this film, others will feel the way that I do about this amazing phenomenon of nature and realize that if it is going to exist in the future, we need to drastically change our habits as humans.
You can learn more about the film at www.aletschfilm.com, where it can also be purchased or rented.
I recently produced a short promo film for the Swiss Chamber Opera.
This Swiss Chamber Opera or KammerOperSchweiz is a new, traveling opera that specializes in the performance of small operas written in the Baroque Era.
August 21st will mark the 2 year anniversary of this blog. It is also my birthday. To celebrate, I am giving away 3 copies of my documentary H.R. Giger's Sanctuary on DVD. Here's the trailer:
If you want to be one of the three lucky people to win a DVD of H.R. Giger's Sanctuary then simply Use This Form to tell me you what is your favorite (or least favorite) post from theautomaticfilmmaker.com and why. If you are new to my blog, start by browsing some of the categories on the left. The insightfulness of the responses will influence how I choose the winners. If I choose you, I will contact you for your shipping details sometime after the 21st.
The Great Aletsch GlacierThis film started shooting back in October 2007 quite suddenly. We were doing some research around the area when we met one of the film's main characters, Art Furrer, by accident. We were eating lunch in Rieder Furka when a man in a cowboy hat began introducing himself to all the diners. We recognized his face from the tourism newspaper sitting on our table. We struck up a conversation with him and the next weekend we were shooting with him in the area around the Great Aletsch Glacier. Scenes from that shoot are peppered throughout the film.
Steve and Nick shooting on the Glacier.After that, we returned to the Valais many times to shoot interviews and film footage of the area. The bulk of the story was shot in June 2008 when we hiked from the Jungfraujoch to the Märjelen See. If you haven't hiked with 1000 meters of ice below your feet -- its a breath taking experience.
This film encompasses what I love about making documentaries: spontaneity, education, and new experiences. When we began this project, I knew nothing about the Great Aletsch Glacier. Now, the area feels like home to me. It is the same with Gruyères and the H.R. Giger Museum.
If you happen to be in the DC Area on March 16th, come check out the film. The entry is only three dollars. You can reserve your seat by following the instructions on this page.
(by the way, if you enjoyed the trailer, feel free to pass it around to friends. It is on Youtube and Vimeo.)
Way back during my first year in film school, we were tasked to create a short self portrait film for a documentary class. I am still quite happy with what I made -- though I probably would have recorded the voice over better. The piece is entitled I Know It.
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