I should have titled this post “Your Place or Mine?”

I really like to edit video. I used to edit full time and it was great. Now I’m on my own and find myself working at coffee shops and remote sites, so I’ve installed Final Cut Pro Production Suite on my PowerBook. Very liberating to be able to edit video remotely - coffee shop, airplane, etc. Looks cool too. The stares I get from the PC laptop guys typing away in Word and Excel are great.

So editing remotely got me thinking about selling mobile editing services. I show up with my gear at your place, we rough in an edit, produce some hot motion graphics, I export an EDL that you take to a high-end posthouse to finish. Or I show up, we edit, produce some hot motion graphics, then we finish to DVD. Nice.

I think it has potential.

If you are into triathlon than you know all about race wheels. Rich Sawiris over at Wheelbuilder builds custom wheels for triathlon and bike racing and he KNOWS wheels. He’s an engineer and is into aerodynamics and specifications. This is his calling. However, marketing isn’t, and that’s where I come in. We are in the process of ramping up his look to better reflect his attitude toward the sport of cycling and triathlon. We’re currently working on the website and tweaking as we go. I’ll be posting more about Wheelbuilder in the future. Lots of good stuff to come.

Philip Shippert and I collaborated on this spec spot for the Weather Channel. It was initially conceived as a still shot for Philip’s portfolio. I convinced him that it would be better if we could add motion to it. So we shot it in 35mm with broadcast in mind and decided it would be perfect for the Weather Channel. We shot on a perfect fall day, with a full crew. I edited it and had a custom track built for it. I fired off a VHS copy down to Atlanta and called the creative director. The conversation went like this.

Me: So what do you think?
Weather Channel: “We don’t do quirky anymore”

And that was it. It was that short.

So watch it for yourself and let me know what you think. Philip and I like quirky. We like to be a little off-beat. If you are looking for quirky Philip and I would happy to produce a spot for you. If you like “Weatherhead” we’d be more than happy to change to the logo for you.

The boatworks site was fun to work on. I shot the photography and tried to capture the character of the boatyard for the website. However what people come for every month is to look through the boat brokerage pages. Lots of nice boats get found and sold on the site. Give it a look. EJ Mertaugh Boatworks

In early 1926, Mertaugh signed an agreement with the fledgling Chris Smith and Sons Boat Company of Algonac, Michigan and began selling their boats. The very first dealer franchise was awarded to Eugene J. Mertaugh on February 18, 1926, which stated that Mertaugh “held exclusive rights to the territory north of Bay City, including Canada.” In the early days, as paved roads were yet quite uncommon, Mertaugh would himself travel to Algonac and transport the boats back to the Upper Peninsula by driving them up the lake. For those familiar with the Great Lakes (and their legendary storms), an expanse of over 250 miles could be treacherous in a freighter, let alone a wooden runabout. Moreover, legend has it that an old surveyor’s compass was his only means of navigation.