foolish tree films

Jo’s Theory of How We Humans Forgot Our Priorities Which Led to This Mess – Part 3 of a 3 Part Series

Jo — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:26:53 +0000

Ok. This is Part 3 and Part 1 and Part 2 came out months ago. I am a lame blogger. There. I’ve said it. Now let’s move on, shall we?

Starting somewhat where I left off, I want to do a little thought experiment with you. Einstein did it and you can too. All he did is think about things a little more deeply than most of us tend to do what with life and television and all.

So I’m asking you to step back in time and imagine that you’re one of the first beings that we now call humans. You’re living your life. The men are hunting and the women are gathering and taking care of the kids — probably cleaning the cave and washing the furs too. Anyway, the men probably started trying to kill animals with their bare hands and teeth. Then they figured out they could use a rock and then spear. The women made baby carriers out of skins and baskets for gathering berries and nuts out of reeds. Us humans started making and using tools because it made doing the regular work of staying alive easier and more efficient. And here’s where the real thinking comes in.

Why did we want to do that? Why did we want to save time and energy? Why did we want MORE time and energy? Was it so we could gather and hunt way more food than we could ever eat so that it spoiled and needlessly depleted available resources? Was it so we could have way more animal skins and caves than we needed to live in that we would then have to spend more time and effort to protect and maintain?

Being somewhat of a human myself, I think we freed up time for much better reasons. We wanted more time and energy for exploring our world, painting on the cave walls, telling stories, playing with the kids, and generally hanging with the tribe, having fun, relaxing and having a lot more sex.

Think about it. How many people out there are working for the weekend? Yeah, you may care about your job but do you really CARE about your job? If you had the chance to do what you really love to do with plenty of time to have fun and spend with friends and family, how many minutes would it take you to write that resignation letter?

We are now in an economic collapse where many people who were working ridiculously long hours in the past are now out of work with few good prospects. We need a new economy based on making people’s lives better. We need companies based on the fact that when people feel excited about their work, feel valued as human beings and feel supported to find fulfillment in their lives, there’s nothing that can stop the creative ideas and the productivity. And because I know that big business and the politicians will never go as far as I’d like them to go (and usually in the wrong direction!) Ian and I have started the revolution with our own business.

foolish tree is a company that believes money is not the only measure of value. The experiences we have working with our clients is actually more important. Although we do need cash to pay our rent and bills, we also need many goods and services. And there is no reason to have money stand in the way of good people collaborating for their mutual benefit. So I am proclaiming right now that if you need any type of film about your business or organization or to promote yourself in a video calling card or video resume, consider offering us your services in partial exchange for the star treatment. This could cut down the cost of everything from your TV commercial to your Wedding film. Call or email to discuss options or fill out our online Estimate Form and mention that you want to discuss collaboration options.

Our underlying purpose as a company is simple and sweet: To Create the Freedom to Create

So when you hire foolish tree, you will not only have an easy, fun, relaxed experience and end up with a high quality film for a very reasonable price. You will also be supporting our own creative projects as well as our future dream of a foolish tree foundation — an instrument for helping future generations have the freedom to create.

Thanks for reading my overdue blog. And let us know what YOU would like to have the freedom to create!

Elizabeth & Jay loved their Wedding video!

Jo — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:43:22 +0000

Ian filmed Elizabeth and Jay’s Wedding when we were first starting foolish tree films. We sat down with them to hear their feelings about looking back at the film now and about working with Ian and foolish tree.

Filmed in High Definition

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiDSwCQUl0

Ocean Avenue Film Festival! May 15, 2010

Ian — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:17:20 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKOY1t2CVRE

This is a short film from the Ocean Avenue Film Festival. Lots of lovely people, mainly from the neighborhood. And all the filmmakers were from the neighborhood (wherever possible, contact info will be included):

Asian Mainstream Productions
Marie Chou
Sanelle Sibanda (name misspelled in the credits -- sorry! Didn’t figure it out until now)
Dustin Magidson (you can see the short film he showed that night here. He was also awesome on tech that night!)
Amy Covell (The producer of two films at the Festival, she is also a model and actress.)
Red Suspender Films
Miranda and Woody LaBounty
Jane Anfinson, and, of course,
foolish tree films!!! (Click to see the “Victorian Thriller,” shown at the festival, and the behind-the-scenes film of the shooting of the “Victorian Thriller,” entitled “Under the Headstone.” You can also find us on facebook.)

Thanks for watching, everyone!

Best,

Ian & Jo

Closing credit music: “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” by The Darkness.

Shot on an Aiptek Action HD camera — not our pro cameras. Sorry about the sound -- it’s cheap and I was trying it out as a small portable “shoot anything” kind of camera (and it was giving me all sorts of codec problems). We’ve already upgraded!

Tim says good things about foolish tree!

Jo — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:14:19 +0000

Tim Jones, Technology and Activism Manager for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, extols the virtues of foolish tree films.

Filmed in High Definition.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDXHfCcCpgU

Persistence, Perspective and Passion – Part 3 of a 3-part series.

Ian — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:33:39 +0000

Yup! I'm passionate for chocolate too. Hmmm...chocolate vid...where's Willie Wonka?

In life, as in film, there are an amazing number of things that all must come to bear, together, to create success of any kind. Three of those things inhabit this series. Next up? Passion.

Passion. We’re those crazy, wacky things called humans. And if we just knew what it was that we needed, we could become adept at life, and everything would be peachy. Juuuust peachy.

But wait! We do know. At least, part of us does. What is it for you that drives you bananas – in a good way? That just makes you tingle even thinking about doing it? (Yes, including that. I think that’s, potentially, a completely valid life choice, at whatever level.) Writing? Eating? Playing wit da kitties (or puppies or bunnies or…)? Seeing the smile on a child’s face when s/he figures something out? Feeding others? What is it for you?

As you may have noticed, it’s been over a month since my last post. Waaaaaay too long. Sorry about that. Partly I’ve been workin’ on da biz, and partly I just didn’t know what to say in this blog. I was wrestling with it in late April, when I was doing Script Frenzy. (www.scriptfrenzy.org. I won!) I was hammering my script out, even when I didn’t want to. And that’s when it hit me – sure, Persistence is what got me to go back to the writing, even when I was resistant. And sure, Perspective showed me that if I didn’t get back to it, it certainly wouldn’t get done.

But…why do I care? Yup. You guessed it. Passion. It’s my Passion for writing, and for telling an original story that says, “Yes. Use your Perspective and your Persistence here. Because this is where the juice is. This is where the sweet Passion is. Go, man, go!” And so I got back to it, and with just a few hours to spare, finished the script.

Persistence will keep you on task, even when you don’t want to. Perspective will show you where you need to go next. And Passion will deliver you to those things worth doing.

What’s your Passion? Your Passion in work? Your Passion in life?

Thanks for reading!

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Persistence (click here for part 1 of this 3 part series)

Perspective (click here for part 2 of this 3 part series)

Electronic Frontier Foundation Benefit: Evan Ratliff Disappears!

Ian — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:09:04 +0000

On April 13th, Evan Ratliff did a benefit talk for one of our favorite organizations, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He spoke about the contest he underwent for Wired magazine. He “disappeared” from his old identity for a month. Wired’s readers were notified that if they found him, they would win $5000. If he evaded detection for the whole month, he’d win the money. It’s a fascinating look at identities, both physical and digital, in the modern age.

We will be uploading the entire talk as a playlist in the near future, but for now for more info, please check out the podcast of the full event by the very cool folks at Waking Up Orwell.

Evan Ratliff is a freelance journalist and feature writer for Wired, The New Yorker, Outside, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He’s also the story editor for Pop-Up Magazine, the world’s first live magazine.

Full Wired article    Waking Up Orwell Podcast    Evan's Blog

Filmed in High Definition

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo8AeWu5nq0

The Hornman plays Weott, CA!

Ian — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:45:55 +0000

Recently, foolish tree films accompanied Bill and Barb Nemoyten -- The Hornman and Crew -- in their motor home, “Dreamcatcher,” up to Weott, CA, for a couple of shows. We got some great footage of The Hornman working his magic, and some wonderful location shots of the magic of the redwoods. Enjoy!

Filmed in High Definition

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Z7d2cCkOg

VINDICATED! – Part 2 of a 3 Part Series

Jo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:07:04 +0000

Part 1: Outgrowing Plan B

My last installment was an introduction to my rebellious nature and how now, with the economic collapse, I am feeling vindicated about many of the unconventional choices I’ve made. So what else exactly do I feel vindicated about? Here are just a few examples of conventional societal advice and how not taking it has panned out for me:

1 – You need to work hard, earn at least a Master’s degree and plan your career goals carefully to be successful and “get ahead.”

I never planned my career or ever really picked one thing to be.

Well, I did want to be an Elevator Operator at one point. Pushing the buttons and going up and down all day looks like the best job in the world to a 4-year-old. Then there was the Movie Star phase…

In school I was shuttled into doing things I was good at but not necessarily interested in. And like so many girls, I was looking for love and approval and trying to please everyone. But as I grew I never really wanted to be the kind of person I saw “getting ahead” so I never set my sights there. Then the 60’s happened and the Feminist Movement. I spent some years in the counter culture which eventually led to healing codependency issues and leaving a bad marriage. In my late 30’s I shifted my trajectory toward feeling fulfilled, finding what makes me happy and being in a good relationship. And now I am in the same or better financial shape as many people who have spent their entire adult lives faithfully climbing the ladder that just broke. Only I have a large degree of inner peace and happiness and the best marriage I can imagine. I can’t say that for all of my go-getter friends and acquaintances.

Vindicated.

2) The real measure of success and the way to plan for your financial future is to own your own home.

I didn’t buy a house like someone of my age is “supposed” to have done by now. I never had to deal with replacing the roof or the plumbing or any of a multitude of head-aches that ownership presents. Plus, I have had excellent landlords who have pretty much allowed me to do what I wanted with my dwellings over the years. I’m now in a reasonably priced apartment, living IN San Francisco (which has rent control) in a quiet building with 3 other units of lovely people who all have cats… and no underwater mortgage to stress over.

Vindicated.

3) If you’re not blonde, tall, thin and have disproportionately large breasts, you will never “get” a man or have a rockin’ sex life.

Now that may seem a little extreme to some. But we women and girls who will NEVER look like this are the vast majority since the average American woman is a size 14 and 162.9 lbs! And we know that this is the unreal stereotype to which we all fall short no matter how many affirmations we say. The message is so ingrained that even those who do meet these criteria seldom believe that they do.

I am a short, fat, older woman with a bad back who hates wearing a bra. I have a fantastic husband with whom I am about to celebrate our 13^th Annual Honeymoon. And the sex? Let me say this:

Vindicated!

I’m sure there are many other ways in which I feel better and better about the choices I have made that were in opposition to “normal”. I’ll share them when they occur to me. How about you? Do you feel vindicated about any of your rebellious behavior? Please share!

Next time: Jo’s Theory of How the Human Race Forgot its Priorities Which Led to This Mess

The Elephant in the Room – Excerpts

Jo — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:41:27 +0000

This is excerpts of the work-in-progress performance by r i g h t . b r a i n . p e r f o r m a n c e l a b. which foolish tree filmed in February. John Baumann and Jennifer Gwirtz are the extremely talented and wacky brains behind this exploration “…in which we find that there is always a large pachyderm-like entity that invisibly inhabits every room, real or metaphorical.”

Filmed in High Definition

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhGGoA0yosA

*** Order the DVD of the full performance plus extras!

Outgrowing Plan B – Part 1 of a 3 Part Series

Jo — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:40:21 +0000

I have never been what anyone would call “career driven”. I have an Associate of Science degree in Physics, the only one I’ve ever heard of. After earning that, I went to work as various types of electronic technician and programmer, and Admin, Executive, Development and Special Assistants. For most of my adult life, I fell into jobs through temp agencies or friends. And once I was working at a place, they never wanted me to leave because I always know too much about too many things too fast. I have too much fun filling in the organizational gaps and inevitably become the magic glue that holds everything together. And in the past decade, I started to have the great ideas just a little too soon and from a position of a little too little power. These ideas usually ended up getting considered a year or two later when someone higher on the food chain or a ridiculously high paid consultant “suddenly” presented it in a report.

Eventually, I found myself in that situation where my “boss” was my son’s age and I was just as likely to ignore organizational rules and regulations as follow them. I started being inappropriately vocal in meetings where I was just supposed to be taking minutes. Hmmm. And the economy was tanking.

Finally time to go back to Plan A, I thought.

So I am now CEO and co-owner with my filmmaker/husband/best friend of our own media company. Our bottom line purpose is “to create the freedom to create.” We do stuff we LOVE to do on our own terms. Sure – we’re not what anyone would call “solvent”. But we are treading water nicely. And frankly, I float like a cork. We finally both decided that enough is enough and we will pursue our dreams no matter what. Economy is in the eye of the beholder.

I’ve been thinking about the economy a lot lately. Not in a fearful way. More in a vindicated way. I feel vindicated about so many things that I was “supposed” to do that have never made any sense. I have never believed that the American economy works for many Americans. And now there is real evidence that it Just Doesn’t Work. Period. Vindicated!

Next time: VINDICATED!