Music in Mali - New movie trailer

Music in Mali is almost done! Here is the latest trailer. It was an honor getting to work on this production with KSK System Krush as an assistant editor. I worked in the post production phase starting with the subtitles - doing typography and translation. The translation was a major privilege for me - I got to work with translator Madouba Kouyate to translate 3000 year old song lyrics into English. I think we did the songs justice. From there on I went to work doing research and licensing for the archival sections of the film. Books, Euro/African news sources, and vintage African vinyl record labels all came together onto one sweet timeline.

Graffiti Fine Arts LA - international graffiti event

Frontier Media Arts has been on a work-tour down the west coast! We recently made this event video for Graffiti Fine Arts - Brazil's biggest international art event brought live to LA. We co-produced and edited this piece with event sponsor KSK System Krush, an African music label that we've been doing a lot of work with recently. It was inspiring to meet, interview and rock out with the creme of the international graffiti arts scene!  

Here is the latest work-in-progress cut of "All That Glitters", FMA's keystone project. For all you curious readers, here is the treatment:

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“For generations, Alaska Natives have hunted, fished, thrived and survived on the lands surrounding Bristol Bay. As I look forward to passing on this way of life to my children and grandchildren, I find myself fighting for the future of my culture.”

– Bobby Andrew, member of Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of Our Land)

Every summer for the past 300,000 years, wild salmon have been returning to Bristol Bay by the tens of millions. People have been living here for at least 9000 years. Today, 50% of the world’s supply of wild sockeye salmon is comes from Bristol Bay. Sadly, this is the last fishery of it’s kind on the planet, as most other populations of salmon have been driven to extinction around the world.

To add to the challenges that wild salmon and Native culture already face, there are other, non-renewable resources that lie beneath Bristol Bay – but to develop those resources would come at a terrible cost. Incredible wealth in the form of gold lies beneath the headwaters of the Bay, and an outside group of international mining companies wants to develop the world’s largest open-pit gold mine at Bristol Bay’s headwaters. Open-pit mining is the single largest polluter to the environment. What are the risks involved in developing a mine of this size in the headwaters of Bristol Bay? Who are the communities that would be impacted by such a project, and what do they think?

In our half-hour program we will juxtapose the open-pit Goldstrike Mine in Nevada with a portrait of Bristol Bay as it exists and has existed for hundreds of thousands of years. We will do this through the lens of a group of 12 Native Leaders as they travel through Nevada, visiting mines and Native communities.

Two new Interviews

Interview with Paul Hansen from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Interview with Walter Kanuli from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Interview with Jack Hobson

Interview with Jack Hobson from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Jack Hobson is the Tribal President of Nondalton Alaska, one of the closest villages to the site of the proposed Pebble Mine.

All That Glitters - Yerington's Song

All That Glitters - Yerington Song from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Here's a sizzle-reel and scene from our recently shot film "All That Glitters" that explores the impact of open pit mining to the Native communities of Nevada and Alaska.

Exxon Web Video

Exxon Web Video from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Here's a video produced and edited by Chris O'Leary of WWF to commemorate the 20th Anneversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Some of my Bristol Bay footage was licensed to be used in this piece. Check out the scenes of BB in the last half of the video. The WWF is working hard to create the links between the tragedy of 1989 to what could happen out in Bristol Bay in the near future, and I'm honored to be a part of this campaign.

I'm also really psyched to be building more partners into our Bristol Bay film. WWF's request was to build up and license a b-roll tape to be used as part of a news package that has been delievered to major news outlets.

Following is the reel itself. Enjoy watching the highlights!


WWF Bristol Bay B-Roll Selects from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

For the holidays this year, I made this video to send out to my family, friends and collegues all over the world. From our family to yours, happy holidays!

A Motorcycle Documentary About the Paranormal

A Motorcycle Documentary About the Paranormal from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

This is my art-film opus. This is the full 30 minute piece, so sit back, dim the lights, slip on your headphones and scale the video to 100%.

My pal David and I started riding cross country on our motor-bikes chasing down UFO's and American road-mythology. The result is this film. It was our college thesis project and got good play at the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and the Nevada City Film Festival. Heck, we even got a rare positive review from The Onion when we premiered in NYC.

In a big way, this trip & film combo was directly responsible for my life in AK, and my first contact with the environmental and native issues that persist with me in all of my current work. Enjoy!

1 year of www.frontiermediaarts.com!

Escape from NY from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

I started this blog a year ago. It's been really great to have a place to publish my own work and get constant feedback. I make a lot of media - and putting them all together in one place has been personally and professionally a pleasure. Kudos to Vimeo, Blogger and all 1181 readers like you! I have a special request for this next year, honorable reader: leave comments!

I'd like to share this personal film with all of you. I made this out of scraps from my film bin. Different scenes from different road trips re-mixed together with scotch tape. I have boxes of these kinds of films waiting for a niche... got one?

Creative Marketing with the Renewable Resources Coalition

Mobile Ad Truck Documentation from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

I got a call from the Renewable Resources Coalition to do some creative marketing. The goal was to deliver positive images of Bristol Bay to the attendees of this year's Alaskan Federation for Native's conference. We decided that this would be a great time to use non-traditional media, so I called up the folks at Mobile Ad Alaska to see if we could rent out their truck. What we ended up with can best be described as a mobile 10 sided billboard that could be moved around to target different flows of people throughout the event. Of course, the best place of all to park the billboard was the entrance to AFN. I'm still pulling together numbers of attendees, but the feedback so far has been very positive.


Mobile Ad Truck 4 Sides from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Long-form

Things at FMA have been pretty busy as of late! 2 big projects have kept me pretty busy.

1) New baby. She's very cute, very little, and needs a lot of attention (as well as Momma-Bear and big-boy Spencer).

2) I've been editing for Alaska Outdoors Television. It's been a blast editing long-form (half hour episodes) video for HD Broadcast. Our broadcast date on the regional Fox is just around the corner, so I'm swamped.

Keep checking back. I can't wait to show off some of the cool stuff I've been working on lately.

River Reactions

River Reactions from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Here is a video I recently did a finish edit for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council. This was a fun gig to work on. Rough chunks of the video had already been assembled, and I was asked at the last moment (just over 24 hours!) to come in and tie everything together with editing, graphics, music, and additional testimony. This is not an optimal way to get quality work done, but I always welcome a creative challenge and a good cause. Kudos to Multinesia Productions and Monty Worthington for giving me solid material to work with.

If you or your organization is having a multi-media emergency (like an imminent grant deadline), give us a call.

Here is the synopsis for the video: The Yukon River has been the lifeline of the First Nations and Tribes of Alaska's interior for thousands of years. In 2005, Toshiba offered the Native Village of Galena an experimental nuclear reactor for "free". In this video, we hear reactions of the tribes of the Yukon River to the proposed nuclear reactor.

Hoop Convergence 2008

2008 Hoop Convergence HD from Groovehoops on Vimeo.

What happens when you get 50 of America's best hula-hoopers together for a week to share tricks, strategies and moves? The world's fist international Hoop Convergence! Here's a short video that I shot and produced for the event. It was a blast to capture so many wonderful performances on tape, and then interview everyone in beautiful North Carolina. I especially enjoyed have a collaborator in the project -- Stephan over at Groovehoops in NYC did the post-production work. That's the way it ought to be. I'm honored to have been able to work and play with so many great people. Enjoy!

Bidarki: Where Science and Spirit Meet

Bidarki: Where Science and Spirit Meet from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Subsistence. What does that word mean to you? To many Alaskans, subsistence is a way of life: living off the land and the ocean. There's a saying here that "When the tide is out, the table is set." Take a stroll at low tide and you will encounter a life clinging to every available surface. Rainbows of snails. Carpets of mussels. Forests of kelp.

This is a video about Bidarkis, An invertebrate critter that is important for both native culture and modern science.

I edited for an upcoming exhibit at the Pratt Museum along with Wendy Erd, another local filmmaker.

Film Diary: Istanbul

Film Diary: Istanbul from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Back in the day, right at the dawn of Final Cut Pro, miniDV and firewire, I went to art school. We learned how to make lots of different types of things on lots of different types of media. Posters, magazines, newspapers, cookie packages, drawings, paintings, plaster, photo, silkscreen, videos, films... one of my big loves was film diaries. Like a big dork, I carried my super8 camera with me everywhere. This is one of my favorite pieces of work from that period, a super8 film diary of a trip to Turkey. This is a synchronized dual-projection film. Good times.

Eyes Wide Open

Eyes Wide Open from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Here's a video I made for Memorial Day Weekend, at the request of a few non-profits in town. It's been a while since I've done a war video... a long while. it was a powerful event. Thanks to Anne Nixon who coordinated all the artists, and thanks to all the volunteers who put their time into the project. Here's the video synopsis:

A group of artists gathered on Memorial Day Weekend in Homer Alaska to remember Alaskan soldiers who had fallen during the Iraq War. 108 pairs of combat boots to symbolize our Alaskan troops and 400 pairs of shoes and sandals to represent the Iraqi civilians deaths. Here is a short video interview with Charlie Gibson, one of the volunteers who participated in the event.

Chiswell Ridge in HD!

Welcome to the Chiswell Ridge from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

OK. So we've seen this before... but have you seen it before on HD? I thought not! I have recently begun an affair with Vimeo. Benefits over Youtube and Google Video are being able to show your films in HD and 500MB max filesizes. All the others limit you to 100MB per file. Plus, these videos just look better.

Group Worksample for Alaska Statehood Grant

FMA Group Worksample from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

This is a group worksample that we submitted with a recent grant. The first piece is a excerpt from a video that was edited by Miriam Elizondo and shot with Kevin Co. Second piece is some animation work by David Nicholson, and third piece is a excerpt from Kevin's upcoming film about Bristol Bay that he shot and edited.

The project we've proposed is a historical documentary of Bristol Bay, exploring pre-statehood to the present. The film will be told through the personal stories and images of Violet Wilson, an Aleut Elder who has been fishing the Bay for 51 years with her family. Keep your collective fingers crossed.

I've also started to use Vimeo as our online broadcaster. I think you'll agree that the videos look much better.

HoopCon 2008

We've been in North Carolina for the past few weeks at the first ever Hoop Convergence. Try to imagine 7o of some of the best hoopers in North America coming together. It was an amazing experience, and I feel grateful for the opportunity to witness such a powerful moment in hooping history. We shot loads of video which will shortly be edited by Stefan @ GrooveHoops. Thanks to everyone who shared their stories, time and energy!

Archive Film: Nothing is Better, Nothing is Best

Nothing is Better, Nothing is Best from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

We love 24 hour film fesivals. Here is a film that we produced for the 2006 DramaSlam. The theme of the film was drawn out of a hat: "Nothing is better, nothing is best". Here was our documentary interpretation of that concept, illustrated by these 3 wonderful young men that we met on the road to Homer.
Enjoy.

Editing in the Studio

This past weekend we offered up our editing studio to the Homer Film Society for this year's DramaSlam. The mission was to create a film in 24 hours. It was great fun to have the building full of filmmakers, and to max out our editing bays with creative energy. Other groups in Homer's drama community labored to create 4 other original plays in the same period. Keep on checking back as we upload our videos!  

Disaster strikes!

It's been a long time since an update, but we have a good excuse. This is a picture of Apple's version of the "blue screen of death". Yes, Macs do melt down. 

In this instance my main system hard-drive on my video editing computer physically ground to a halt. The fine folks at Mac Service did a fine job at replacing the unit, although the data was a total loss. Fortunately I my back-up regimen saved my project media files (still working on Invasive Species videos) and parts of my operating system and applications. Despite the back-ups, it's still going to take a few days to get everything back in working condition. Deadlines? What deadlines?

Lesson: back everything up! Keep clones of system drives ready to go, as well as media drives. 

Geek out over, crisis over.  

Archive Film: Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island is one of the hidden gems of New York City. It's a small island nestled between Queens and Manhattan and can only be reached by an aerial Tram that parallels the Queensboro Bridge. Mystery surrounds it. Half of the island is sealed off from the public -- the ruins of a derelict psychiatric colony from the turn of the century. This film isn't about that though -- it's about my love affair with it's Tram.

I used to spend lots of time in New York wandering around with an old film camera. I'm happy to be able to give them new life here on the internet. This is from my personal archive, enjoy!

In current news I'm finishing up another project for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for their Invasive Species program. It's been an interesting process -- most of the work was done in the research phase where I gathered all my source images from a variety of research groups in the lower 48. It took a long time. For example, can you tell me where to get underwater images of a New Zealand Mud Snail? What about an escaped farmed Atlantic Salmon?

I thought so.

Homer to Amsterdam

I was recently given the opportunity to voice a piece/performance for artist/filmmaker Pablo Pijnappel in Amsterdam's lovely Rijksacademie. It was awesome to reunite with old friends in old Amsterdam and be a part of the art world again. 8 years ago, Pablo and I studied Media Arts together in Amsterdam at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie of Art & Design.

The show was a photography installation of Pablo's images of Homer. It was surreal for my family to travel half way across the world only to be suddenly immersed in Homer all over again. Taken in a European context, Homer Alaska is totally alien -- beyond the end of the road for sure. I voiced a wonderful story that he had written, and then performed live readings of the story for the start of the open studios (of which another 50 artists were having concurrent gallery shows).

I heard a rumor that 10,000 people from all over Europe converge at the Rijksacademie over a period of 3 days for the open studios.

Video: Exploring the Chiswell Ridge

We just finished this video for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G). It was our first project to incorporate HDV -- which quickly turned into "render hell" since we were mixing SD and super huge images/animations with the new video format. Our older machines were pushed beyond the system requirements for sure. As in 8 hour plus render periods on the timeline. Ouch! Time to move on to the next version of FCP.

The video was made to shown on wildlife cruises (on Kenai Fjords Tour boats), science conferences and general "outreach" situations.

Rebecca Sheir of Alaska Public Radio voiced the piece. Kammi Matson wrote the script and Miriam Elizondo labored hard as the finish editor and sound/music engineer. Great team work!

Rough Cuts: Picking fish from our nets

Just to be clear, these videos I'm posting about Bristol Bay are rough scenes from a documentary film that I am currently editing (amongst other projects). It's my intention to get my vision of Bristol Bay out into the public sphere so that others can see what I've seen. That said, these initial scenes are just a few out of many many many that need to be cut and distilled into a finished form.

In 2006, the commercial harvest of red salmon was 44.3 million fish. This was the 8th largest return of fish in the last 50 years of Alaskan statehood. The wild salmon runs of Bristol Bay are unique in that this is the last place in the world where this natural phenomena exists.

All kinds of people depend on this valuable, sustainable resource. Native communities have subsisted on this fish for 10,000 years. Commercial fishermen have been here for the last 150 years and that tradition continues today. All fishing is still done by hand in a season that lasts for only 3 weeks.

Every fish that lands in the net needs to be picked out of the net by hand. In 2006, that means 29 million individual fish were killed by human hands.

Think about that as you watch this video.

Rough Cuts: Bristol Bay

This past summer, I traveled to Bristol Bay (western Alaska) to begin gathering material for a new film project. My film is an exploration of the people who depend on wild Alaskan Red Salmon, and the major issues that threaten our salmon resources and salmon cultures (Native and Commercial)

Major thanks goes out to the fishermen who took this filmmaker aboard, the families of Bristol Bay who took me in, and the Rasmuson Foundation for giving me the initial funds to begin this project.

I have finally made the time to go through and begin to edit! I'll be posting rough scenes as I go along, so that this project can get out there and I can start hearing some feedback.

I'm using Blogger to handle the video because it's user friendly, but the streaming video isn't the nicest looking or sounding. Keep in mind that all of the footage was shot on HDV.

In this scene, we set our nets aboard the F/V Teal and wait for fish.

Contact Info

Kevin Co
ikevinco@gmail.com

907-399-2326

127 E. Bunnell St
Homer AK, 99603

The Gathering

The Gathering from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Bristol Bay B-Roll Selects for the WWF

WWF Bristol Bay B-Roll Selects from Kevin Co on Vimeo.

Alright. Thanks for the patience guys. Best practices on viewing this will be to view it full-screen and HD by clicking on the scaling button on the bottom RH side of the player. If it begins to stutter (on an older computer), play it back in SD.

YRITWC Ruby Turbine B-Roll

YRITWC Ruby Turbine B-Roll from Kevin Co on Vimeo.