YMCA: A Place to Be Loved

The YMCA of Greater Houston has 36 branches across our metropolitan area, places where people of all ages go to keep their bodies---and minds---active. It is the kind of organization (in this case, 125 years old) that has been around for so long and is so well-known that we tend to take it for granted, as if it is a machine that runs of itself.

Each year the Y's Partners Campaign reminds us that we can never grow complacent. The campaign raised over $5.5 million last year in a effort to make the YMCA available to all. Stonefilms is proud to join the YMCA of Greater Houston in the 2011 Partners Campaign. Liz Chapman wrote and produced a video that will be used to illustrate to potential donors the impact that the Y----and this campaign---make on our community. Interviews for this production were shot in the historic YMCA building in downtown Houston, one month before the structure's scheduled demolition.

A teenager interviewed in the video comments that the people he interacts with at his local Y in Huntsville are not just friends: they are family. It is our hope at Stonefilms that the 2011 Partners Campaign will allow the YMCA of Greater Houston to extend its reach to those who need it most. To find out how you can support one of the truly great organizations in our community, go to www.ymcahouston.org

Budweisers and Clydesdales

Somehow my brother and I did NOT scare off the animal in the above photograph. Actually, the Clydesdales are used to working with all kinds of strange creatures, and we were all having fun at Del Papa Distributing's 100th anniversary celebration. That photograph was taken at the 2nd of 3 parties that the company held to mark the happy event, at the Beaumont distribution center.

The final and biggest party was held last Saturday night at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. An estimated 1200 people enjoyed great country music, an amazing spread of food, and, of course, some cold Budweiser beer! The Stonefilms crew had a welcome guest, Billy's beautiful wife Vicki. Our thanks to Jan Glenn for his excellent still photography; I can tell you with certainty that neither of these 2 photographs will make the cut for the final Del Papa book, but there are plenty of other photos to choose from. We continue to work with Bright Sky Press as we dig through a treasure trove of photos new and old to create the 100th anniversary volume.

Del Papa Party Season Begins!

Del Papa Distributing packed a century of celebration into one terrific evening this past Saturday in Victoria. Our Stonefilms crew of still photographer Kim Christensen and videographer Larry Clifton documented the first of three parties marking the 100th anniversary of one of the leading beer distributors in the country. We'll also be on hand for parties in Beaumont and Galveston as Stonefilms continues an ambitious multimedia project: videos, newsletters, radio spots, and a book, all designed to capture Del Papa's past, present, and future.

An estimated 700 people came to Del Papa's Victoria headquarters for the bash, which featured delicious brisket, shrimp, Mexican food, country music, Clydesdales, and, of course, plenty of Budweiser beer! We've put a lot of hard work into this project, but we've rarely had so much fun with a client. And the folks at Del Papa always make us feel like part of their family.

The next event is November 6 in Beaumont.

2010 Texas Business Hall of Fame

The 2010 class of the Texas Business Hall of Fame is notable for its variety, its members hailing from fields ranging from oil & gas, computers, commercial real estate, and beer distribution. That makes for a wonderful creative challenge as our Stonefilms production team puts together the video profiles of the inductees for this fall's TBHOF gala dinner.

We've been working with the TBHOF for nearly 20 years, traveling across the state and the country as we conduct the interviews with some of the biggest names in Texas business: President George H.W. Bush, Ross Perot, Boone Pickens, Lamar Hunt, Bob McNair, Michael Dell, to name a few. This year's class includes:

Carlos Alvarez, the man behind beer brands like Corona at the Gambrinus Company;

Robert D. Duncan, of Transwestern, one of the largest privately held commercial real estate and development firms in the country;

W.A. "Tex" Moncrief & W.A. "Monty" Moncrief (posthumously), father & son, two of the greatest oil wildcatters;

Harvey E. Najim, chairman of Sirius Computer Solutions, and one of San Antonio's greatest philanthropists.

Each video profile is about 5 minutes long, and we will interview the inductee as well as 3 other individuals (that he selects) who can provide us some additional perspective about career accomplishments, business philosophy, and character insight. We've been working with the inductees' respective staff members since the beginning of summer to collect research material and schedule interviews.

The TBHOF gala is planned and presented by International Meeting Managers, and IMM's president, Lynne Tiras, is as always a delight to work with. This year's Texas Business Hall of Fame gala will take place Monday, November 8, 2010, at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio.

KPRC Comes To Battleship's Defense

Our recent video about the fragile state of the Battleship Texas and the need for a permanent dry dock at its San Jacinto location is making the kind of impact that the Battleship Texas Foundation was hoping for. Among the many people viewing that video on You Tube was Rusty Knight, a director at KPRC-TV here in Houston and a longtime friend. Rusty was so moved by the message that he went to the station's general manager, Larry Blackerby, and suggested that Larry devote one of his daily editorials to the subject. We're happy to report that Larry agreed. The resulting editorial is a strong reminder to all of us to come to the aid of one of the Houston area's---wait, forget that, one of America's---true treasures.

You can view the editorial at www.click2houston.com/video/23817917/

The Kids Are Alright

We love kids. We love them so much that between us Stonefilms producers we have 7 of them, including a precocious set of twins, a couple of beautiful college co-eds, a Little League slugger, a high school journalist, and a middle school singer. So no wonder we were excited when our friends at Pierpont Communications asked us to set up shop for a weekend at the annual Houston Children's Festival.



For Pierpont's clients Toyota and Autotrader.com, Stonefilms set up a dynamic booth that included no less than 6 50-inch plasma screens, all designed to showcase live interviews with children about their favorite car trip memories. Mom and Dad got to see their kids on all those screens in full HD glory, and Toyota and Autotrader.com got a big audience to see the new Sienna Minivans.



The response was so great, in fact, that over the course of the weekend our crews shot almost 300 interviews in those 2 days. The work was virtually non-stop; lunch meant inhaling a sandwich in between tape changes. Shot in HD, the near-300 interviews were then edited onto individual DVDs for the families of the interviewed children.

And what's it like to interview hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids? The following video puts it all in (fast) perspective.....

TOO BIG TO FAIL

I just finished reading Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big To Fail", and was fascinated with his look at the financial collapse of 2008. It was fun to read about so many people that our Stonefilms crews have interviewed for various projects. I remember interviewing Paul Volcker, former Fed Chairman at his office in Rockefeller Center, and then the same day heading over to Bear Stearns to interview the legendary Ace Greenberg. That was my first look at a major Wall Street trading operation, and it is stunning to think that one year later, Bear Stearns would be on the brink of collapse.

Both Volcker and Greenberg were great on camera, and wonderful hosts. I ended up spending several hours with Greenberg at Bear Stearns - hard to believe that it does not exist anymore.

Our team here has been blessed to travel the world and meet amazing people. On that specific trip to New York, I was doing interviews with financial figures, and my dad was across town interviewing lawyers that were involved in Watergate. Pretty great day of shooting.

Below is the video piece that we produced on legendary Texas businessman Boone Pickens. Look for Ace Greenberg...

-Billy

Stonefilms Intern Reflects on Chilean Visit

In the past few days we have all seen heartbreaking images from Chile. The death toll from the massive 8.8 earthquake has soared past 800. For some of us that information and those pictures may seem blurry, indistinct----a faraway chaos that is unreal.

But Stonefilms Production Intern William Payne has a different image of Chile. This past July he was able to realize a long-held dream. After saving several years of summer job money, William's scheme of snowboarding in the Andes Mountains of South America became a reality. William and several friends, equally passionate about snowboarding and skiing, traveled to Portillo, Chile, about an hour northeast of Santiago.

William writes, "The natural beauty of Portillo is stunning and the Andes Mountains were more majestic than I could have imagined. The Chilean people were incredibly friendly and interesting. Chile is a beautiful country and my prayers are with all the people of Chile as they recover from this massive earth quake. I am especially thinking about my Portillo friends and that special place."

Our thanks to William for sharing his thoughts and bringing Chile and its people into a clearer focus for us all.

Saints and Stonefilms

One of the best sports stories in many, many years has to be the crowning of the New Orleans Saints as Super Bowl champs. For so long, the Saints were the little sisters of the poor of the NFL, and then the devastation of Hurricane Katrina threatened to cripple the city and the team for good. All of which made the Super Bowl victory a sweet moment for the many millions who make up Who Dat Nation.

And it reminded the Stonefilms staff of our 2007 interview with Saints owner Tom Benson. Benson was one of that year's inductees into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and we discovered that, like so many other members of that elite group, he started his business career with absolutely nothing. Tom Benson was just another World War II veteran in the late 40s, trying to make a go in the business world; within 2 decades he was one of the most successful car dealers in Texas. Benson was approached by Louisiana's governor in 1985 to join a group of investors who were trying to keep the Saints in New Orleans. But as Benson soon discovered that the other investors weren't materializing---as he told Dad in the interview, "Hell, I was the group!"

He bought the Saints, and within two years the franchise was in the playoffs for the first time in team history. At the time of our interview, the Saints had made it all the way to the NFC championship game in 2006 and were just about to enter a new season. It was an extraordinarily busy time for Benson, and to make matters worse, he was battling a very heavy cold. But on that morning he was very gracious, and in the course of the two hours or so we spent with him it was obvious that he loved being a businessman. He talked about the simple joy of going to the dealership on a Saturday morning and meeting customers to show them the latest Chevy. And, of course, he was passionate about his Saints.

Once again, our work for the Texas Business Hall of Fame had given us amazing access to a truly remarkable figure. And two years later it has given us added insight into the great achievement of the New Orleans Saints----the beloved team that we can at last call World Champions.

Century of Success

Galveston was still reeling in 1910, an island city trying to rebuild after the devastating storm of 1900. It took people like Omero Del Papa, Sr. to bring Galveston back to life. A young Italian immigrant, Omero believed in his adopted city and was certain that better days were ahead. So he went into business with his brother-in-law, Frank Celli, starting a company called Celli & Del Papa, a distributorship that handled everything from beer and wine to olive oil and ice cream. 100 years later we are celebrating the vision of Omero Del Papa and the company that today is known as Del Papa Distributing, one of the premiere Budweiser distributorships in the country.

The folks at Del Papa wanted to find out as much as they could about the beginnings of the company. So much of the story seemed to be lost to history. Susan Elmore of Elmore Public Relations was working with the company to plan their anniversary celebration, and she happily suggested that the Stonefilms staff might be a resource for research. And that led to a year-long search into the past: digging in libraries and archives across the Gulf Coast, interviewing employees in Beaumont, Galveston, and Victoria, and scanning pages of old newspaper copy. A wonderful story emerged. Omero Del Papa, Sr. was a shrewd businessman who at the same time loved listening to opera. He worked long, punishing hours but he was devoted to his family, and his sons all followed him into the business. "It is better to have a good name than money," he often said, and his lessons in work ethic and integrity have lived long after his death in 1959.

Stonefilms crews will be on hand to document Del Papa Distributing's 100th year, and we'll keep you updated as we continue to explore the past, the present, and the future of a great American success story.

The Art of Editing

Editing looks like a science. The editor sits before the keyboard and works out what seems to be an algebraic solution so that the picture on screen will either cut, dissolve, spin, morph, or make a Denver omelet. But when you watch Stonefilms editor Stig Daniels at work----or, better yet, watch his results on-screen----you realize that editing is an art form. In the best hands, like Daniels', editing is not algebra; it is ballet.

Some of the true masters of the art of editing will gather in Miami on January 13 for the annual Editors Retreat, and we're delighted to see that Stig has been asked to lead one of the seminars at this prestigious gathering. The keynote speaker will be Christopher Nelson, editor for two standout programs, Lost and Mad Men. During the retreat, editors will discuss a variety of topics, from motion graphics to sound mixing to color correction. Stig's peer presentation, on the challenges of independent film editing, will focus on one of his ongoing projects, Dead of Night, a horror film by Houston indie director Joe Grisaffi.

It is a tribute to Stig's talent---and work ethic---that Dead of Night is just one of the many projects he is currently taking on. He has been Stonefilms' chief editor since May 1995, but he's also one of the most sought-after technical directors in sports broadcasting. Over the years Stig has worked as a TD for Astros, Rockets, Comets, Aeros, and Dynamo broadcasts, and this summer he'll be heading to South Africa as a TD and assistant director for Univision's World Cup soccer telecasts. "I enjoy having a dual career," Stig insists, "because one supports the other; it keeps me fresh."

But it is editing that he truly loves, and his artistry has been evident on a long list of Stonefilms projects. "Editing is always changing," he says. "When I first came here, I was 'just' an editor. Now I'm mixing sound, I'm an art director, I'm working with effects; I have so much creative control."

That creativity is a delight to watch in progress. Stig will plug in his Ipod, treating us to some of the most obscure music known to man, and then he will sit at the keyboard and go to work. He has the hands of a scientist, but the heart of an artist.
--Ronnie

The View from Janus

The Romans stole most of their gods from the Greeks, but they came up with one deity with a terrific moniker and an even better gimmick. That would be Janus, who gave us the name for our year's first month because he could---you guessed it---look both forward and backward at the same time. Having spent the past year getting used to bifocals, I can truly appreciate that kind of visual talent. To look back and to look forward in January 2010 is instructive because it reinforces my belief that Stonefilms has broadened its reach in a marketplace that quite simply demands more from our profession.

And what is our profession? Stonefilms opened for business in 1991 as a video production company. It was very straightforward---we made video content that played on television sets. And in 2009, yes, we produced videos that played on television sets, but that doesn't even begin to tell the whole story.

Stonefilms projects ran the gamut from web content to audio book content, from historical research for a public company nearing its 100th anniversary to a whitepaper analysis for a non-profit, from producing On Demand cable content to the technical production of a gala fundraiser. As I write this post, Stonefilms producers are working on everything from broadcast to cable to internet to radio content, from commercial spots to half-hour programs, and seemingly everything in between. No wonder we expanded our staff in 2009!

It seems likely that we'll see a great deal more in the online arena in 2010. According to analysts at eMarketer, online video advertising will be on the rise in the coming year. Internet now reaches 66% of the U.S. population. That's over 205 million people.

The view from Janus' vantage point is breathtaking. I sure hope we'll see more of you in 2010. Happy New Year!
----Ronnie