Archive for September 2009

Chameleons All Around

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

From the “Streets of Philadelphia” comes an hour of music from Schmooru Josh Johnson. Listening to this latest episode of radio hour, you get a feel for his affable personality and intelligent insights into music, culture and more. In this epsiode, Josh delves into jazz vocalists—some you’ve heard, and more that you haven’t.

Mr. Johnson has been producing, shooting and editing video, television and the rest of it on two coasts (with gusto!) for as long as I can remember now. So listen now or subscribe to the radio hour podcast to get your weekly (give-or-take) fix!

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User Generated Losers

Monday, September 21st, 2009

There’s been a lot of questions about what makes SCHMOOru so COOOL? I love these questions–and to be honest, we’d be dead if no one asked them. I really like to consider them to be–what’s ALIVE about SCHMOORU? What’s its humanity? What does IT live FOR? What air does it breathe, or quite frankly DOES it have any POTENTIAL?–etc.. Let me ASCHOO one of them here-IS SCHMOORU this User Generated Content???? Your SCHMOORU curators have been working at the forefront of what has been referred to as the ‘user generated content’ industry for about the last 4 years and we’ve got something to say about it–UGC will not replace the pros and attempting to make it do so creates a lot of losers all around–its just one of many tools–frankly, we’ve always had.

Paying Tribute to the FOUNDING FATHER–”AMERICA.. THIS IS YOU!”
WE didn’t invent “User Generated Content”, this man did (no one ever pays enough respect to BOB SAGET–the FATHER of USER GENERATED CONTENT but we won’t make the same mistake):

Recently a lot of hucksters, schemesters, cheapskates and corporate mongols have lost sight of the fact, that UGC, which began with BOB SAGET, in almost ALL respects have not lost him and His show is the best place for it even if he’s gone of to other things).

For instance, while Bob may not be the HOST anymore–that other guy is, the AFV–as America’s Funniest Home Videos is now known–did not destroy scripted content–Jay Leno DID! (or might..more on HIM later;). Bottomline, it may be funny to see the cat fall off the TV–but it hasn’t replaced the whole industry. ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO THIS AT HOME: How much writing, curation, ON PURPOSENESS, CONTESTING & loser making they put into each segment–they didn’t just put it up there–but that’s for another day.)

For those not paying respect to SAGET and there are many these days, lets explain some of the UGC GOO that’s out there and why its really not SCHMOO.


Field of Dreams approach: If you build the tools–they will come!
Not so fast. Tools are great. There are some really expensive ones floating in outer space right now though which have lost connection to MANKIND. These formerly REALLY EXPENSIVE and AWESOME TOOLS are now space junk! Further, these days, what’s the HALF LIFE ON TOOLS? Just about 5 seconds right? TOOLS are just like the old JAY LENO DORITTOS commercials at the only moment when I liked the guy–”CRUNCH ALL YOU WANT–we’ll make more!” At the end of the day, if you fall subject to these tool houses, whether you’re a client or self-respecting producer–you end up feeling like a TOOL. Cause either your hard fought for work is under appreciated, or you don’t get what you ask for and it degrades expectations for your entire industry. Most clients don’t like the race to the absolute bottom we’ve had since the dawn of Youtube.


Stock Market Systems
If you like the wall street commodities guys taking a cut in the pursuit of journalism excellence–why not put your video up on one of these sites? Again, where’s the risk? YOU put your work and your idea out there and they get to maybe pay you something for it. The stock marketeer always gets a cut. There may be 1 winner and 7 losers on an effort from their 5,000s of video makers—but in the long run, after coming SECOND so many times, creative people who need to raise kids and feed a family have no choice but to leave the market place.


WHERE’s THE BEEF?!: You built it but who really came?
THE biggest MYTH of all USER GENERATED CONTENT–is that its USER INSPIRED. We’ll go into this further, but almost ALL video is not serendipitous User Generation–which means its a promised not kept OR a Wendy’s single DAVE THOMAS wouldn’t recognize! Video is Hard. Good SOUND, even worse! Making a good Story out of that stuff–PRICELESS. Unless you’re next to the lightening strike or the FOOTBALL in the GROIN, everything else UGC isn’t PURE %100 American BEEF unless its really simple to do–like checking a box, or sending a text message–even then, don’t expect the next Larry David. Your audience is NOT sitting at home looking for ways to do work FOR YOU, they’ve done their work for that day, drove thru on their way home and they want you to do something for them. Making those looking to take the video business serious HIDE under the umbrella of UGC when you used to bring them in as interns, isn’t all that honest and unlike the Field of Dreams, you can’t kidnap James Earl Jones to save you this time–cause kidnapping’s illegal.


Fuck With Morley at Your Own Risk
Which brings us to YOUR audience. Its slip, slip, slipping away. What to do? UGC is one option to make up for the loses, but so is examining the way you do business. You know that UGC does not provide reliable output. You also know that if it did–ABC would now be called “AFV” cause its so cheap to produce America’s Funniest Home videos–and while that show is cheap to produce, its never beaten 60 Minutes, let alone taken over the entire network–why should it take over your entire project?


It Doesn’t Have to End This Way–but it could and right now its on its way..
Everyone agrees right now we’re in a precarious spot–no audience, no work, no money, no future? Leveraged against each other in a quick race to an entry in the history book next to the corset factory. In the end–using the UGC for purposes beyond what the manufacturer intended it for *SPOILER ALERT!*–always turns out like the last scene of a Tarintino movie. Your network/project doesnt have audience, there’s no one left to make the sausage, you later find you don’t have a job–everyone’s dead. With the time we’ve got left to ‘build a better media’ we have a choice to make. Lets talk about all this..


What’s left…?
We need to carve out a space in this void for professionals to produce reliable, creative work–without having to compete with your cousin and without having to shoulder the entire risk for a multinational corporation. Do you ask contractors when you build a house to build 3 and then you only pay for the ONE that you like? Well then don’t ask us to build three videos or websites for you and only pay us for the one that you like. That’s the best way to make sure there’s no one left to build houses for you–unless you only want kids in college making your news, informational and entertainment everything.

Picture 2

There is a space between the way its been done for the last 30 years and those tied to legacy equipment and ideas AND Bob Saget. IN that space you find SCHMOORU.

-D.P.B.-Midtown Sublet, 09.21.09

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Schmoou-light on: Daniel Klopp

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

I am thrilled to be spotlighting one of Schmooru’s most worldly filmmakers [though there's a lot of competition out there!] who has worked in Peru, Australia and the US. Daniel was an amazing help in getting reactions to the US election in Australia for Current TV’s election coverage. He filmed, edited and delivered an amazing assortment of interviews within 24 hours [this included a hellish amount of technical difficulty] and had the best attitude during the whole thing.

Daniel uses his talent to give voices to underrepresented communities around the globe and has dedicated his life to this service. Below you’ll get to know your fellow Schmoo who has a whole lotta heart and a ton of talent.

Daniel Klopp

Tell me about yourself as a filmmaker. Who/what inspires you? How did you get started?

Working on a global scene provides me with many opportunities to share life with people and through the speaking of their stories, experiences, and challenges, film and print found their way into my journey. Desperately advocating for social justice for marginalized people, I have used the media of film to campaign for action. Amateur and humble beginnings led my journey to larger opportunities in the media environment. My inspiration comes from people. The lives and experiences of people thriving to survive motivates me to continue learning about film and using it to express current issues. Individuals like Eva Perón, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Mother Teresa inspire me.

You’re one of our more worldly producers, can you talk about your various living locations and what it’s like to produce in the US vs. Australia and Peru.

While passing through the States, I spend most of my time connecting with people, advocating for the current situations on global poverty, and getting Americans involved with what is happening in the lives of our families in developing nations.

Living in three diverse cultures is complex, both socially and emotionally. Endlessly experiencing jet lag from countless hours of international travel predominantly reigns as most challenging and one that I have the least patience for. Working in film in Australia presents simplicity and distance. I find that the majority of Australian culture manifests a calm, collected, and reflective perspective. I typically spend a couple of months a year in Australia, living among the Great Ocean Road, five minutes walk to the beach, near the small town of Apollo Bay, Victoria. Filming is crisp, colorful, and quick. Rich blues of ocean water and skies mixed in with static city life in Melbourne is complex. Life is cruised, full of espresso, and wine, and very boring for me. Predominantly, I spend my time in Australia, waiting for my trip back to South America. Its like, well, hovering at 10,000 feet above Chicago’s International Airport, (ORD), in an eternally rotated holding pattern, munching nervously on that tiny bag of salted peanuts.

I find that experiencing life in South America most exhilarating and emotionally charged. Life is diverse, challenging, and beautiful in South America. Additionally, life experienced among no running water, sewage, and electricity while filming in remote regions is challenging. Having permanent residency status in Peru, I make my home/office in capital city, Lima. I typically spend 8 months a year in South America. Working in film in South America is rich and engaging and completely involved. One of the challenging experiences however is limited access to western nations to connect the current story. Filming in South America involves potent smells, rich and deep textures in faces of people, and sights of risks while speaking out. Close brushes with danger are toxically real.

What are you working on now?

I am editing a recent project on the Colombian militant narco-terrorist group, F.A.R.C, and their negative influence on the lives of teenagers and families in a community along the border of Colombia and Ecuador. I just flew out of Peru, South America last week after shooting another story on 21 teenagers living in a community with no running water become united through the formation of a soccer team.

Next up? How the drug trade along Amazon River between borders of Colombia and Peru function among locals who steer away from illegal trade. Does anyone want to come along?

Where do you think the media business is headed? And how do you as a filmmaker fit into that?

As Internet based content continues to expand and evolve, I believe that as a filmmaker, it is crucial to remain educated. The ability to remain involved in the industry is much easier through viewer-based content and I believe that I have a responsibility to society to remain informed, educated, and aware of the paths that media industry is directed.

What does being a Schmooru mean to you?

Having worked briefly on a couple of projects previously, with one of Schmooru’s curators, I was invited to join in the Schmooru journey from its implementation into the world. I’m incredibly blessed and enthusiastic to be apart of the experience. Being a Schmooru involves watching diligently, listening intelligently, and acting boldly. I believe that being a Schmooru involves the responsibility of being prepared to sacrifice time, energy, and resources to aid in the growth, development, and expansion of an incredible dream. I believe that being apart of Schmooru is growing into a life long journey of amazing experiences.

What has been the most rewarding/challenging piece you’ve worked on? Why?

The most rewarding piece that I’ve had the opportunity to work on was Down to Dribble,

http://current.com/items/89935623_b-ball-camp-in-the-andes.htm – responses

I found this incredibly rewarding because through the creation of the documentation, response was initiated. As a result of this story, others got involved to advocate and speak for those who have been silenced by poverty.

In reality, my experiences in telling the stories of others have yielded some uncomfortable security situations. Challenging moments include uncertain moments of compromised safety in order to advocate for the marginalized people. I can say that my experiences of being held at gunpoint by corrupt military officials, running for cover from stray bullets of gunfire between two drug cartels in Tocache, Peru, and being thrown into the back seat of a Toyota Helix with a pillowcase shoved over my head and taken down dirt tracks for 4 hours from Juanjui to Tarapoto, Peru rate among my most challenging moments, however, it has helped me to become the person I am today. I do not support the innate risk to put one’s self into danger, however, I will not stop advocating for justice for the marginalized people until I breathe my last breath.

Here is a link to some of Daniel’s work:

http://current.com/items/90184408_wraparound-hugs-for-peru.htm – comments
Check out Daniel’s work here: http://www.v4peru.com

and as always make sure to add him as a friend on Schmooru.

Huge thanks to Daniel for agreeing to talk to us about his amazing work.

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It’s Obama’s MAKE or BREAK WEEK again..

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

For those of you in New York, y0u will notice its FASHION WEEK! YAY! For Barack Obama its also, the most important week of his presidency–we keep hearing. He’s either NERF or he’s NOTHIN’. It’s the whole sha-bang, the real enchilado—the fat taco. His presidency–becomes either “a fart in the wind”, or “Gone with the wind” in the history books–all on this week.

You see, whether or not he saved our country from crashing into the GREATER DEPRESSION earlier this year or saved my poor hometown of Toledo, OH to “die another day”–its not good enough. We need health care too damn it! That’s why we voted him there–not just for status quo–but for all of it.

Let me come out with it–I think OBAMA gets a STRIKE on his first attempt to roll out his health care thing. He and his team were arrogant–I keep hearing that word. They thought they could steam roll this through–and they can’t. They get one last chance to turn things around this Wednesday–or else its OBAMA’s WATERLOO. And let us all remember all those who thought Obama couldn’t win at this time last year because of BIG BAD PALIN. The WSJ said Obama couldn’t win against Palin. Also, don’t buy a house of this architect unless you want it to cave, like Rove’s Obama Can’t win proclamation here.

So in tribute to the idea that not only do I not think Obama’s over–he’s actually still got a good chance of ‘killin’ it’–I thought I would back him up on these two finer points.

ONE–Those who know Beckmann, know I have long talked about how NANCY REAGAN came to us in our classrooms and INDOCTRINATED US! She didn’t give us an open-minded question on how we could help the president–no… she just told us to “Just Say No!” And that was all.

“Just Say No” obviously failed to stop drug use, instead pushing experimentation “behind the scenes”–just ask Willis what he’s talkin’ about, or unfortunately, Dana Plato is not around to talk about anything–thanks Nancy. At least Nancy supports stem cell research–redemption in her older years for closing so many minds.

The best part about some schools following NANCY’s LEAD and JUST SAYING NO to the Obama video–it creates tremendous BUZZ around an otherwise BENIGN video for the YOU TUBE generation to watch it in their more attentive hours after school–SCORE!

The next and final terrorist fist bump to BO—, but more specifically David Axelrod–or ‘axe’–the guy who gets guys. I bet many of you never knew he’s in a band… LONG BEFORE he did politics?

Lets just hope AXE starts making some good political music again because its damn hard to find your man being hated by his base, his enemies and liked by Hugo Chavez–all at the same time.

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This Week in THE NEWS.. Trying Again.

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Picture 1

If you’ve been following the news NEWS this week—you may have heard something about Charlie Gibson retiring and Diane Sawyer taking over for him on the news program, ABC’s World News. In some ways there’s been a refreshing lack of gestation over this job announcement and I don’t intend to cause any more blotation. However, I do think there’s a component missing here that needs to be addressed.

Lets see what we’ve got so far on the check list:
1) Woman – is she the first woman to host the news? No—check, moving on.
2) Scandal – is there some sort of scandal we can sniff out of this, obvious or made up? We’re trying—but so far nada. Ok.

End of story–right? Well.. not so fast. There is an incredible opportunity here. In most job announcements–in the real world, they don’t so much time on the political components of an appointment, they speak about the person and what they bring to the job.

To keep things brief. Diane Sawyer is special and she’s done some special things before. But to sum up in two words what she’s done all the way through–she TRIES. Sometimes she makes history for the books or for the blogs, other times you may never here about it at all–in every single case she tries and tries again and then after that, she tries some more.

What does this mean, especially when the OBITS for the evening news shows have long been written? Well, the ink is dry, but yet, these shows still keep being produced every single day. These networks, while leaking audience, still control the largest chucks of the largest group of audience left. They also still have the largest budget and amount of resource to bring to originating news–albiet less and less each quarter.

Schmooru sees opportunity in these ‘problems’ all across the ‘legacy medias’ since we don’t do things the way they’ve always done them and we generally lead happy, healthy, productive, but more than anything creative lives. And so we congratulate Diane Sawyer in this new job. One things for sure, trying never hurt anyone that’s any good at what they do–in fact, trying is the only way you can ever do anything with Potential… and Potential for anything is all we ever have.

DPB-West Village, NYC 09.05.09

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