Century 21 Everest

For the last two years I've been able to produce videos for Century 21 Everest Realty Group. This year they are beginning a partnership with Troop Real Estate, a successful real estate office in Ventura County, California. To announce the new partnership, Everest and Troop had me create several short videos in which their top leadership shared thoughts on the new venture and the opportunities it would bring their agents. Here is one of the videos where we took the Everest and Troop leadership on a hike near Salt Lake City, Utah.

NUSAT1

Last summer Weber State University asked me to produce an hour long documentary on the history of their school. It's been a fun experience to look back through the University's 125 years and share stories of its greatest accomplishments. 

One of those stories is the NUSAT1 Satellite which which was launched in April of 1985 aboard NASA's Challenger Space Shuttle. NUSAT1 was an experimental satellite designed to assist the Federal Aviation Administration in tracking aircraft. It was built at Weber State University by faculty, students and host of community volunteers over the course of two years. 

Images courtesy of John Boyer.

The experience of working on NUSAT1 proved to be a once in a lifetime experience for the 45 students involved and would have long lasting effects on their careers. One student we interviewed, told us that at the time she was working on the satellite at Weber State she was 30, a single mom, living on welfare, and raising three young boys. When NUSAT1 was completed and before she had even graduated that spring, she had nine job offers.

Here are a few photos taken of the NUSAT1 Satellite's construction and launch 30 years ago. Below an image of John Boyer, who worked as an associate professor on the NUSAT1 project.

A Cathedral for All People

For the last 12 years I have been able to create an annual short documentary for the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah. The films are displayed at the Cathedral's "Bishop's Dinner," a fundraising effort for the preservation of the Cathedral. 

Msgr. M. Francis Mannion with the Cathedral bells.

In this year's video, the Cathedral honored Msgr. M. Francis Mannion who served as rector from 1984-2000. It was under his leadership that the Cathedral of the Madeleine underwent a major restoration project. When Mannion arrived at the Cathedral, the sandstone structure was 80 years old and in need of seismic upgrades. In addition, the artwork, stained glass windows and murals on the interior of the cathedral were in need of immediate care.

After the restoration was completed, Msgr. Mannion believed that the Cathedral could not become a museum of great art. And so it was also under his leadership that the Cathedral instituted a series of new programs that would provide education, arts and charitable assistance to the surrounding community. These included The Madeleine Choir School, Madeleine Arts Festival, Eccles Organ Festival and the Good Samaritan Program. 

It was a great experience interviewing Msgr. Mannion and those who knew him and speak so highly of his work at the Cathedral. Included here is this year's Bishop's Dinner video and several photographs of the Cathedral during the time of the restoration.

Images courtesy of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Archives.

A History of Temple Square

This month I am starting work on a new documentary for PBS Station KUED7 on historic Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Growing up in Utah, Temple Square has always been a special place and it is rich with history. Since 1847, Temple Square has been the heart of Salt Lake City, and home to unique architectural structures including the gothic inspired Salt Lake Temple and domed Tabernacle. The persons who envisioned, built and later maintained these buildings and the city block they rest on will be the subject of the hour long documentary. They include everything from to architects to organists and gardeners to governors. 

Here are a few photos of Temple Square over the years. As production on the film moves along, I’ll send updates with more photos, interviews and footage.

The Salt Lake Temple under construction.

Interior of the Tabernacle. All images courtesy Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints History Library.

Desert Water: Climate Change and the Future of Great Salt Lake

This week I completed a couple of short documentaries on the topic of water conservation in Utah. I worked with Hal Crimmel on the project which is based on his book Desert Water: The Future of Utah's Water Resources. In the first film, Hal and geographer Dan Bedford wanted to share some of the water issues currently facing Utah's Great Salt Lake. It was neat experience to learn about the impact the lake has on the surrounding environment and economy. Millions of migratory birds visit Great Salt Lake each year and its industries and tourist activities provide over a billion dollars in revenue. Capturing the footage for this film was a lot of fun. The lake is a fascinating place. I enjoyed my hikes on Antelope Island and a visit to the nearby Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Driving out to Antelope Island offers a striking perspective of the current low lake levels. 

Antelope Island's Buffalo Point offers beautiful views of the lake.

Desert Water: A New Water Ethic

The second film is based on a chapter in Hal Crimmel's book titled A New Water Ethic. In it, author Dan McCool looks at water conservation efforts in other desert states and compares them to what is happening in Utah. 

Concept to Company

For the last year I've been able to capture several events for Grow Utah, a local non-profit that supports entrepreneurs and innovators through a variety of cash prize contests. Last week was their annual Concept to Company Outdoor Recreation Event in Ogden, Utah. Here is a short video that features a few of the winners and their products.

Richard Richards: A Conversation on Ethics

The last three years, I've had the opportunity to create a documentary film on Richard Richards, a well respected figure in American politics. The film focuses on Richards honestly and integrity in an arena that, since the founding of the United States, had been filled with candidates and office holders willing to sacrifice one’s integrity and ethics for a vote. 

We still have about a month of post-production left, but I wanted to share a short clip from the film and a few photos of Richards' career. 

After beginning a political career in Utah, Richards was hired by the Republican National Committee. He was key player in the Nixon campaigns, organizing a grassroots effort called "The Neighbor to Neighbor Program."  However, by January 1971, forces within the Nixon administration had been active for months in covert efforts to stop the leaking of classified information.  Their goal was to protect the president’s reputation and keep potentially harmful information from jeopardizing the 1972 campaign.  Part of these operations included minimizing the RNC’s role and centralizing control in a new committee called The Committee to Reelect the President, or CREEP, as it was later derisively called.  Richards was invited to join the Committee at its highest level, but he smelled trouble. He refused the job.

By mid 1975, Richards was asserting an opinion that wasn’t aligning with many others in his camp.  During the months leading up to the 1976 presidential elections, he was the only state GOP chair to endorse Ronald Reagan instead of the incumbent Gerald Ford.  Four years later, Richards would play a prominent role in the Reagan team's 1980 campaign for the presidency. His success would lead to an appointment as National Republican Party Chairman by Ronald Reagan.

While attending college, Richards worked alongside his father as a sign painter. At Reagan's 1980 victory party, a banner on the stage was accidentally painted without George Bush's (Reagan's Vice Presidential candidate) name on it. Richards was able to locate some paper and brushes and hand painted a new banner for the event.

Start SLC

Last week I was asked to document the Start SLC event for a Grow Utah. Grow Utah is a group that supports entrepreneurs in number of fields by sponsoring cash prize awards at fun events like this one. The Start SLC event had pitch competition where 10 start up businesses competed for $250,000 in prizes. The grand prize went to two guys who have developed a consumer version of the GoPro Camera called ViDi. While the image quality may not match up, the camera retails for a third of the price and its had over 10,000 orders placed since launching the idea 18 months ago. Here is a short video from the event.

50th Anniversary of the Browning Center

I just wrapped up a great project for the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities at Weber State University. The film shares memories of the Val A. Browning Center, the University's performance hall, that turns fifty in January. The University will be holding a celebration concert where the video will be shown.

Image courtesy Weber State University Archives

Finance 101

The last few months I've had a fun opportunity to produce a series of ten short videos for LDS Business College. The videos will begin to be used this semester in the college's Finance 101 course. Each segment features a husband and wife who act out scenarios based on information from the course textbook. They include topics like investments, risk, purchasing a home and making financial goals. However, instead of showing students good examples of financial decisions, we decided to take a comedy route, and show just the opposite.  

The Bishop's Dinner

Tonight was the 11th Annual Bishop's Dinner, a benefit for the Cathedral of the Madeleine. It has been a great experience to produce a video each year for the event. This year's video was a tribute to Bernice Mooney who passed away last December. Bernice began the Salt Lake Diocese's Archives in the 1980's and wrote several books documenting the history of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and the Catholic Church in Utah. In the video we interviewed her daughter, husband and two grand children. It was a neat experience to get to know Bernice's wonderful family and learn about her inspiring life.