Welcome to my blog

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. Over the next several months I will be preparing, planning, and shooting a documentary on historic Route 66. My actual trip begins in June. I hope to be back by July to start writing, and editing. I hope this will be an interesting look at what goes into producing a television documentary, and how the documentary is coming along.

A little background about me...
I am a broadcast video journalist with over 20 years experience shooting, editing, writing and field producing. I decided to "retire" from local news in 2009 to pursue the next phase of my career. Much of my experience is in local tv news as a Field Producer, and ENG Photographer, but the fundamentals of producing long form stories are the same as producing shorter news packages.
You are telling a story, plain and simple. The better you plan the better the final product will be.

Thanks again for reading, and enjoy the ride!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Life Along the Forgotten Highway... Route 66

Well, after 4 months I have finally finished a 30 minute documentary on the lives of the those who live along the 2448 miles of Route 66. It has taken a month of planning, a month of traveling through 8 states shooting and interviewing some very interesting people, and 2 months of logging and editing over 20 hours of broll and 50 interviews. I couldn't have reached my personal deadlines along the way if it were not for all the help my family, and friends in the business have given me along the way. From equipment to constructive criticism. From titling, graphics and FX help to composing and performing they all have made it possible for me to say I met my goal of competing the documentary By November 1st. I leave November 10th for Santa Monica California where I will be showing the piece to several RT 66 legends. I had 9 days to burn DVD copies so I could take them along. If anyone is in the Santa Monica area please stop by the pier on November 11th. There is a big 84th birthday celebration for Rt 66. You see, on that day in 1926 the road was born, and it just so happens to be my birthday too. The road has aged better than me! I was asked by a friend I meet while shooting this summer to moderate a panel of Rt 66 Legends on November 11th. I still have about about 15 minutes of stories to add so it will be what amounts to a television hour (minus commercials), but that should go relatively quickly. Then the real work begins. I have to find a distribution outlet for the show, and plan a local screening on the East coast. But for now, I cut a tease for you to view.
Thank you for following along over the past several months. I'll post when and where the screening will be, and what network if any will air the documentary. Cross your fingers!!!

1 comment:

  1. Joe, Good to see you again on the Santa Monica Pier, hope you had as much fun as I did. Thanks for a well done job of interviewing people out there, hope you will be able to attend the 2011 International Route 66 Festival in Amarillo next June 9-12. www.route66internationalfestival2011.com.

    Good luck with the distribution,
    croc Amarillo

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