Thanks for sharing the video! I’ll have you know that Fogzie is actually my biological father. We’re not sure who the mother is.
I figured I’d share a few details so the weirdness you saw makes a little more sense, hopefully. The video, and the series if it goes that way, isn’t the property of smartwater or any brand that sponsors it or subsequent videos. This was a concept I had been working on for some time, and had an opportunity to pitch this video to smartwater and they loved it. They, like me, had read all of the glowing news reports in Forbes, Entrepreneur, etc, and agreed that it was worth exploring.
You’ll note that there isn’t a single product placement in the entire video. I had zero oversight into the subjects I picked for the film. I chose who I spoke to, I chose the subjects and I hired the crew to produce it to my spec. I’m sure I could have hired a better host for this, too, but fortunately, I was free of charge
As for awkward interviews, man– fully agreed. It was my first time on camera in this kind of capacity, and I really struggled. I’m used to being on the other side of the camera or behind-the-scenes. We left a lot on the cutting room floor because, frankly, I’m far from being good at this kind of thing yet. Hopefully that will change. For what it’s worth, The Ogle is only the second person that has made this observation that I’m aware of, second to yours truly. I’ve got some growing to do.
Last, being entirely positive was an editorial decision on my part. That’s how I will frame every one of these films, provided I can find sponsorship partners for more of them. Yes, I could have covered the politics, the gangs, the disasters, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted to cover the good, and the good only.
For example– I’m hoping to shoot the next episode in Detroit. I was born and raised there. There is a lot of amazing stuff happening there that isn’t covered in the press. All you hear about is decay, crime, corruption and ruin porn. I want to travel there and cover the good. I want to tell the side of the story that never gets told there.
That’s why I chose to come to OKC, and did so by choice. I’m completely and entirely lucky to have had a sponsorship partner in smartwater in the process, because they helped me with the costs and left me alone to create, produce and edit the content 100% independently.
So, weird? Awkward? Douchey? Yep, guilty. Hopefully I can do a little better the next time around. I have to say though, despite not being able to watch myself on camera without wincing a little bit, I think the content is pretty great. And people in OKC have been pretty excited about it. It was my goal to tell the good story that usually isn’t told without some sort of caveat or qualifier, or just isn’t told at all.
“City Rising OKC – A Hidden Gem of American Cool”: Oklahoma City Documentary
Dunno how many here have reddit accounts but I'm sure they'd like any and all feedback on it. I don't know much about this guy, but this looks pretty cool and I'd love to know more about his story. From what I can tell, it is videos like this that will do more for the city than the (IMO) excessively promotional tourism videos that are out there (don't get me wrong -- they're great! I just think hearing it from an individual like this means a lot more to people). If only it weren't so cloudy! :P
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Originally Posted by Mel
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