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