We just setup a site for Billy Hill Productions. Billy Hill Productions is my production company. We are devoted to producing low-budget commercially viable promotional videos, feature films and documentaries. Right now it is under construction but if you would like to check it out see: www.billyhillproductions.com
I will be posting news and other updates about the documentary and anything else that urks me on twitter also my twitter name is billyhillprod.
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/billyhillprod
Gotta go eat. Thanks for checking it out.
I just thought I would post some quick updates about the project. As you might have read in my previous post Juan Leguizamon is going to be the lead editor for our project. We are very excited about this and will continue to post news about our progress on post production.
We have also been communicating with Esteban "CoCo" Rodich about composing original songs for the documentary. He recently agreed to come on board and start writing original songs for the film. CoCo Rodich is an award winning Argentine folk singer and we are very excited to be working with him on the soundtrack for our film.
The water project in San Antonio is also moving along very quickly. Jim Hill has been in active communication with the city engineer and Adadge Technologies about the final stages to install the water filtration system for the town.
I am planning on going to Argentina for two months in order to film all of the events and any other material we might need including possible interviews with congressional representatives and other people who have been involved with the fight for clean drinking water in Argentina.
Although we have made a lot of progress over the last several several months we still are in desperate need of production funds and completion funds. Please consider giving or helping out in any way so we can make this film a reality.
Thanks for reading.
I am extremely pleased to report that the entire amount of $70,000 which was needed to install the water filtration system for San Antonio de Los Cobres is here. Through the valiant effort of many different people the money has finally been provided. Right now Jim Hill is in Argentina on a preliminary visit arranging people and things in order to lay the groundwork for the installation of the filtration system.
Thank you, thank you, thank you; thank all of you who have given and helped out in any way towards this extremely important goal. Now that the money for the filter system has been raised that also means that the documentary is going into it's final hectic schedule of production and right now we have an urgent need for funds in order to travel and film everything that is happening right now. I was actually supposed to go on a trip to Argentina right now, with Jim Hill, but due to the lack of funds I was unable to go. We probably have two more trips to make and the two trips we will make are probably going to be the most important for the documentary. I hate asking for support but if you can help out in anyway it would be greatly appreciated; any amount or any task it would help. Just contact me via email and I will give you a ring.
I also want to announce some exciting news with this post. Over the last several months I have been communicating with a very talented Argentine editor about the documentary and as of two week ago he has agreed to be involved with Troubled Waters. Juan Manuel Leguizamon has won many awards and worked on films featured at the NY Film Festival, IDA awards, 34th ALCINE, Montreal Wold Film Festival, Docuweek and many others. We are extremely excited to have him on board as the lead editor and we hope to bring more good news concerning the final stages of the documentary in weeks to come.
Finally, I know I have promised it for way too long but we will have a new website soon, it is in the works, so be looking for it. Thanks for reading and please if you feel compelled to help tell this story contact me.
-Thanks
So this is Father's day. Interesting. Well, I want to post something since I haven't in a long time. So here is a post.
I have been saying we are going to update the website and what have you for a year now, well, things are in the works that will cause it to truly happen. Be checking in for a new website. We will have the community blog posts in the same format but we will have a whole new look with an updated trailer and other exciting news about the documentary. Hopefully I will be able to get this site working so that eveyone can chime in and be a part of production.
We are in the final stages of production and moving into post right now. There are a lot of changes happening behind the scenes all of which I will be able to talk about within the next month. Be looking for MySpace, FaceBook, Youtube, and Vimeo channels dedicated to the documentary community. We will hopefully be able to include you, the audience, and others in the post production process and keep everyone in the loop about clean drinking water and community activism world wide.
Thanks to all who have asked and continue to support me with Troubled Waters. I'm am encouraged, excited, and cannot wait to see the final product.
Till next time...
April 5, 2009 Day Four Full Frame - Final Day
Drham, NC 12:51 pm
Blue Coffee Cafe
I rushed into see "Disturbing The Universe" this morning and sat in the second row. The film, was wonderful, it stirred me on more than a superficial level. Although it was an interview or for lack of a better term "talking head" style documentary it was OK with this one. If anyone is familiar with William Kunstler you will now that he is controversial and was a bit of a revolutionary mad lawyer. The film was made by his two daughters. It opens with them as little girls in a home movie, introducing their father. William Kunstler, whether you agree with him or not lived life from his heart and he was a real person. What moved me was this passing down, this honor from the daughters, and the passing down of values or history, story, whatever you want to call it to the daughters. That moved me to tears, that one man who lived his life with passion passed down whatever that was to his daughters. Something hits me so strong about that idea, about that truth.
I have to say, it was a good documentary. I am eating, getting ready to go to the award ceremony, after that it will be one more documentary and I am off, back to reality in Wilmington.
After Award Ceremony:
The award ceremony was what it was, an award ceremony. It is pretty safe to say the a film called, "Burma VJ" racked up the awards. It was a film I hadn't seen. After the award show I got tickets and headed off to see the award winning documentary.
Sitting outside, in sun, for 50 minutes wasn't as torturous as many American's like to make waiting in line. It was actually quite pleasant to sit with fellow doc lovers and wait to see another film.
After seeing "Burma VJ" I realized why it won so many awards. The film used footage captured by the DVB - Democratic Voice of Burma network from the closed nation of Burma. These journalist risk their lives and capture footage through any means necessary and smuggle it out of the country in order to broadcast it illegally back into the country and throughout the world. This film, smartly and emotionally took footage from September 2007 when the Burmese Buddhist monks began a nationwide protest against the totalitarian military regime which rules the country into oppression. The film successfully recreates the moments, through the eyes of one of the journalist who was the point man for communicating to the embedded journalists in Burma and the rest the world, including CNN, BBC, and the US government. These journalist were our only source of knowledge about the country. The regime, murdered the monks, beat people and suppressed the movement. The documentary completely sucks you into the Burmese VJ's world with footage from cell phones and poor quality DV cameras. It was simply amazing and extremely important. Giving voice to a voiceless people and an urgency to an extreme situation. I am happy it won the awards and I hope it awakens people to the Burmese reality.
Later:
A strangely authoritative, older man kept making comments at Q and A’s. I thought to myself that it seemed odd someone in the audience would be so authoritative and make such comments. After arriving home Sunday, looking at Festival pictures posted online, I came across one picture that astounded me. It was the authoritative comment happy, older man and the caption read,
“D.A. Pennebaker.”
I sat ten feet away from D.A. Pennebaker and never knew it. The man that helped inspire me to make "Troubled Waters", be a Bob Dylan fan, and enjoy “Verite” film making, He was one of the first Verite documentary film makers. I was so close I could have touched his bald spot and I never knew it.
For those of you who do not know of the man, you should. He was one of the first documentary film makers ever, helped define the genre, and created the Rockumentary. He made such classics as, the Dylan centered, “Don’t Look Back” or the first concert film, “Monterey Pop” He invented the “handheld” portable 16mm camera and sound mixer which revolutionized film making and help lead to the “New Wave” movement in the fiction world of film. He gave a new generation the tools to make films in a way they had never been made and his style helped define and create a genre. I could go on at length, but I will censor my giddy admiration. All of this to say, I wish I could have just shaken his hand and thanked him. I guess I can’t look back.
In the end, the last four days have been wonderful. They have given me insight into the reality of my future world and hope that this world is not too far off. I hope and pray that this documentary can impact others as some of these documentaries at Full Frame have impacted me.
Thanks for reading.
-Goodnight
Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Full Frame Day Three
Durham, NC 4:36pm
I woke up late today, showered and ran out the Fulton's front door. So, far today has been good. I haven't schmoozed as much because I've been running from show to show. The "State of the Doc" panel was excellent. The new distribution rules, or should I say rule is exciting. That rule being that all the old rules don't apply or have they have changed. There are no new rules yet because we have no idea what is going to come out of this time in film history.
John August (http://johnaugust.com/) posted a link to an article about the newspaper industry in his blog which sums up a lot of what is happening to media, art, and the distrubution process. It is a piece written by Clay Shirky.
He says:
"When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry. Leadership becomes faith-based, while employees who have the temerity to suggest that what seems to be happening is in fact happening are herded into Innovation Departments, where they can be ignored en masse." -"News Papers and Thinking The Unthinkable" Shirky
Clay Shirky’s piece
Although film is a different animal, there are a lot of similarities. Sharky's piece is excelent and gives form to what is going on right now in new media.
Today I have seen, "Between Dreams" a short from Russia that explores dreams, sleep, and a train. Following that I watched a film called, "Iona Meets Borat." It was another good one, really good in fact. It let the story be the story, once again, the kind of documentary which speaks to me the most.
Now, I am sitting half on a concrete curb and half in the semi-wet grass outside the Durham Theater, waiting. Waiting to go see "Steel LIves" and "Objectified." I am determined to speak with the director of "Objectified" afterwords. That is my goal; I only write it because I am somewhat insecure and find it hard to introduce myself to the creator of a film I just loved. Yet, I will do it.
Day Three Contd.
Well, I met Gary, the director, Gary Hustwit. The film was good, entertaining, well executed and thought provoking. What encouraged me the most was to see was the fact that "Objectified" is his second feature length documentary and he has done it alone. Without a distributor or sales agent, it has been him and his audience. He is making a living, doing what he loves. I shook his hand, told him this and he thanked me for the comment. Unfortunately there was a crowd swarming around him and it was brief, but it was good, he encouraged me with "Troubled Waters" and I left a bit more uplifted.
The other documentary I saw was "The September Issue," a film by R.J. Cutler. It is about Ann Wintour at Vogue magazine and what it takes to put the September issue out into stores. It was wonderfully made, highly entertaining, and a breath of fresh entertainment following a weekend of heavy documentaries. Although the focus is on Anne Wintour, Grace Conddington, Vogue's creative director, steals the show with her openness and wit in which she cunningly navigates the titan that is Vogue. After the screening, R.J. Cutler, Grace Coddington, and Leon Talley, Vogue's editor at large, fashion icon, and friend of Andy Warhol spoke and had a wonderful Q and A . It was pretty amazing to be ten feet away from two living legends in the fashion industry and an iconic director. Although Andre Leon Talley is eccentric and some might say half crazy, in a good way, the fact that the two people in front of me, Andre and Grace, controlled the flow of the river of fashion with the stoke of their tongue was odd and a bizarre revelation of influence. The element I've come to appreciate out of all these people is their passion and the fact that they live without fear, from their heart, and will do anything for what they are passionate about. It seems that most people die inside before the age of thirty and settle for less their whole life, these people cannot do that, something in them won't let them.
I capped the night off watching a somewhat disappointing documentary called, "Mirror Noir", about Arcade Fire. Although Arcade Fire is extremely talented; I discoverd I do not have much patience for a pure "Art Film" or "Avante Garde Film." I do enjoy short, 5-8 minute pieces of poetic images and music but a whole 90 minutes is tortiourous. It is completly gratitioutus and self serving, that is my humble opinion. It like watching a fat man eat a lot of food. Ok, maybe that's harsh but really what is the value in something where there is no story, no real music, no real passion, and nothing is said. Maybe a 5 minute piece is nice and impacting but goodness, ninety long minutes is eighty-five minutes of wasted time. I will stop there for fear of repeating myself over and over.
In the end, today was pleasant, enjoyable, and as I absorb these stories, I feel like they are helping define the direction of "Troubled Waters" in my subconcious and concious, I know some of this will come through the film in the end.
- Goodnight
Friday, April 3, 2009
Durham, NC
Day Two - Full Frame
9:43 am
So, I got my tickets for the day and I'm off to see different worlds I've never seen through the eyes of their director. Documentary, can it be objective? Well, that is a whole other topic. As I sit, ready to settle in for the day I notcied something while standing in line for my tickets this morning. My target audience was surronding me. Odd people, really I can best descrive them as missionaries that live in the United States. Missionaries always dress a little off, fannie packs, bright colored tennis shoes, strange little backpacks that can be turned into sachels, they just don't fit into sheek. So, my target audience is a bit off and most, perhaps 90% are 35 or older with a large portion in the latter category of older.
There is nothing wrong with that, none at all. I guess it shows that as we grow and experience life we recognize the value of it. That is my opinion at least. Well, I better be off to see a short about a Sky flying ,sheep herding shepard and another about owning weather.
12:10 am Full Frame Day Two Contd.
"The Flying Shepard" was shot well but pointless, which is not say the film doesn't have vaule; its mere exsictence gives it that much. "We Own The Weather" was good and I enjoyed it. It was not partison or politcal but was curious and interesting. However, the plot was not tight enough and it was too long. It merely lacked a little focus, pulling out of certain subjects and narrowing down of the central issue at hand could have taken it out of the good category into the great.
The real documentaries which affected me at a core emotional level were, "Food, Inc" and "Lady of Duhahib." "Food Inc." was good and honestly led me to reassess how I eat but it relied on words to much, title cards and graphics. However, "Lady Kul el-Arab" was almost a perfect documentary. It let the life in front of the lense tell the story, it did not try to tell the story itself but the film maker let the story pour out of the subject, out of life, onto the screen. It grabbed me from the heart and drew me into the story and it did everything without any title cards or graphics. It wasn't too long and stirred up questions in the viewers mind and heart in a nonbotrusive way. So far, "Sons of Cuba" and "Lady Kul el-Arab" have stirred up my heart the most.
All of this to say, Documentaries, yes they document, but really they tell. They tell a story, they make you care about some one or some place you never cared about before. In conclusion for today, I am a little unsure of what to write. My head is dizzy with weariness and as I look in front of me "Wavy Gravy" is walking with a cain, slowly towards me. Man, I love this place. I think the same thing that interest me about screenwriting and fiction film is the same thing that interest me about documentary film. It's man, or if you prefer, woman. The human condition, the human struggle, the human tragedy, the human joy, the human complexity, the human mystery that cries out for someone to tell it somthing, that cries out in all of its mess for something true.
So, another day down. Two more rising up.
-Good Night
Thursday, April 2, 2009
3:10pm
Durham, NC - Full Frame DAY ONE
I've decided to blog, post, write, express, whatever you want to call it, everyday at Full Frame. I feel like this will be an important experience in my journey towards releasing Troubled Waters. My goals; first to have fun, relax and fall in love with film over and over again. Second, it is to schmooze, I wan to talk to people, meet the directors, hand out the small Troubled Waters bussiness cards, in my pocket, and see what comes of it. I would love to speak with any of the festival programers and get a real sense of what they are looking for because I will be in this festival next year. That is audacious but I believe it is true.
Surronding me in a small coffee shop next to the convention center are other film makers, film lovers, and pictures of Obama. I guess Senor Obama came to this cafe while campaigning making it an iconcic place. I am excited and can't wait to delve into everything. It has been a strange time in my life. Carina and Amaris (my wife and daughter) rushed off to Argentina just over a week ago. They left to be with Abuel Luisa, Carina's grandma. She is the patron of the family, a prophet some might say. She passed away yesterday and they had the funeral last night and today. I spoke with Carina, she is at peace. I feel as though something new is coming up, not over the horizon, but from within. IT has been building, growing, and bubbling, I have almost given up on it but I know it is almost here. I hope that is this documentary. This is the year we will release it, I will finally see it alive in front of me.
I will write more after I watch "Art and Copy" I hope to meet the director after the Q and A. For now, that is all.
12:43 am - Early Friday
Durham, Day one Contd.
I am bathed, full, tired, and inspired. I watched "Art and Copy", stayed for the Q and A, ran into a group of UNCWites, watched "Son's of Cuba", and listened to the panel discussion for it. To top it all off I met "Wavy Gravy" at the after party and petted his bass fish. It was a full night. And no, I did not mean that to be a pun. Besides desperately longing for Carina and Amaris, I am inspired; I would even venture to say encouraged. Seeing these documentaries, is wonderful and reaffirms that the story we have so far is worth telling and we can do it.
I am not sure what to scribble out onto this page right now. I know one should never write about one's own writing but here goes breaking that rule. I am choppy. Extremely choppy, it has been so long since I've written anything at length I feel like I'm pounding away at a huge chunk of meat trying slice off delicate pieces with a mallet. I will pound away though, because I am sure as the weekend proceeds that the mallet will morph into a somewhat useful knife and there will be some well cut slices of meat to read.
There are two concepts I am taking away from today and keeping them close to my heart. The first is that I have a real documentary that will be powerful; the second is the emphasis on characters cannot be underestimated. I of course know that one must empathize with the characters in a story but it is really hitting home with me in regards to Troubled Waters. We have to narrow our focus down to a main character or two, I have plenty of ideas who that is but I know, now, that it is crucial to the success of this documentary. Those two simple things have already begun giving me hope for Troubled Waters and vision for it's success and completion.
So, it is the end of day one, technically bleeding into day two as I type. I am worn down but lifted up inside. It is as if someone stopped, rested, and saw what had been accomplished and said, "it is good. "
-goodnight.
It has been a long four weeks and I'm ready for rest. I've been
working in the camera department on a show called "Little Britain"
which is based on a huge BBC comedy show in the same vein as "Monty
Python". I really do not have much news for Troubled Waters, I just
wanted to write something quick.
We are currently planning a
trip in October to San Antonio De Los Cobres. It will be a very
important trip with interviews with the town's mayor and the provincial
governor. I am trying to edit in my spare time and keep up with the
details. Currently I am wanting to get a producer attached to
it in order to help promote it and bring the film into it's final
stages, if anyone is interested you can email me.
That's about
it from this end. I will be posting a new Vlog within the next couple
of weeks and also a new promo video for the filter. Thanks for
checking up.
Well, it has been awhile since I have written anything but I have been working on a lot of material lately. Below this post you will find the first trailer for the documentary. It is edited as something I can build onto and morph into other trailers. Well, that is all the news from troubled waters. I will be updating the video blog soon and we will also be taking a trip to San Antonio in March.
Thanks for taking a look.
December 21, 2007
11:26 pm
My desk is a mess. I feel like I’m in this small box.
Crouched down, stiff, suffocating inside of it. Today was an un-restful day,
not much progress, not much digress. I know I need to spend time breathing
spiritually but I feel so deaf. A million whispers of unhappiness cross through
my ears and I know all those nasty nasty whispers run like foxes stealing the
grapes. The grapes of grace for the day, that beautiful grace that God gives
you to see life through His lense, to see life pure, to see all things
pure. Today though, it feels like all
things are sharp, jagged, and jaded. With no meat on this plate of mine all I
have to cut are the words on this page. I guess, instead of sitting and
watching Reservoir Dogs, I should hide away in the guest room with my five stringed
instrument and strum out breaths into the cool spiritual air. After all, I know
this is all I need. This communion with my never ending Creator, this love
exchange with my eternal Lover, this Life, I am created for, the I AM.
Here I go…….