Director RJ McHatton with Law Enforcement expert Gordon Graham
We drove down to Burien to shoot four short films for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Academy. The four films are focused on the SAFE CALL NOW program. Safe Call Now is a non-profit that tries to help prevent suicide or substance abuse among public safety employees. You can learn more about Safe Call Now at www.safecallnow.org We shot a great introduction by nationally recognized expert Gordon Graham, then used real life police officers, fire fighters, and EMTS in the scripted video production. I was particularly impressed with this Gordon Graham. I call him “this” Gordon Graham because I have known the “other” Gordon Graham for over 20 years. You can learn more about this Gordon Graham at www.gordongraham.com
Here are some pictures of the volunteers who helped with our video production.
Thank you so much to the great volunteers who helped out with the production of these four videos. They came in during their day off. We are very grateful for their excellent commitment to helping others.
Fire 20/20 Director Larry Sagen with Gordon Graham
We also shot an interview with Gordon Graham for the non-profit Fire 20/20 about diversity in the Firefighting industry. You can learn more about Fire 20/20 at www.fire2020.org
I had a great meeting with author Larry Lehmer over at the Monaco Hotel in Seattle. Larry is a former journalist from Des Moines, Iowa who has helped numerous people write their memoirs. Larry is also a former member of the Association of Personal Historians and the author of the bestselling book “The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens” (Schirmer Books). We talked about the current state of the Personal Historian business and some of the best ways to do an interview. It was great meeting Larry and I appreciate him taking the time to visit with me. You can learn more about Larry Lehmer at http://www.google.com/profiles/larrylehmer
I really enjoyed meeting Carroll Shelby. He talked alot about his growing, his father, his heroes, and car racing. Here he talks about his friend John Myers aka “Flying Man.”
Maria and Griff enter the beautiful Wedding Reception where a lots wonderful surprises awaited them
Maria's Parents Doug & Lori Williams and Grandparents Bud & Dolores Anthony
Its been a journey of joy working on the documentary “Maria and Griff Get Married.” Part one of the documentary was shown at the great Wedding Reception last night at Herban Feast in the Sodo section of Seattle. Stacy Kvam and her team did a fantastic job in organizing the wedding. Over the past few weeks I have interviewed several members of both Maria’s and Griff’s family. Since Griff is from Texas, I interviewed his mom and brother over the phone, and then several of his friends and family at last night’s reception. The video has been a secret to the Bride and groom so I hadn’t met them until last night. Everything went perfect. It was great to also meet some of Maria’s cousins who flew in from Germany and a lot of Griff’s friends in from Austin, Texas. You can learn more about Stacy Kvam at www.skweddingandeventdesign.com and Herban Feast at www.herbanfeast.com You can learn about Maria and Griff at http://www.mywedding.com/griffandmaria/
It was great meeting Bert Markovich, senior partner with one of America’s leading law firms, Schwabe, Williamson, & Wyatt. I was there to interview Bert for the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Best Workplaces” video project. Bert said that he had worked his entire career with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and that he was very proud of where he worked. He told me about how their firm is over 100 years old and they are focused on treating their clients and employees with respect. Bert talked about the importance of family and values and character.
Tonight RJ shot a lecture with a HDV video camera for the Foundation for the Future at the Town Hall in Seattle. The guest lecturer was Donald C. Johanson, the paleoanthropologist who discovered “Lucy” the 3.2 million-year-old fossil hominid skeleton. Johanson’s lecture was focused on “Darwin and Human Evolution.” It has been thirty years since my last anthropology class, so I was spellbound by Johanson’s educational lecture about the history of evolution and how recent finds in fossil discoveries are proving Darwin right time and time again. Johanson talked about how the origins of man all point to Africa and how changes in diet and tools have helped effect the size of our teeth. I really enjoyed shooting the High Definition Video for the Foundation for the Future. You can learn more about their mission and other lectures at www.futurefoundation.org
