Blogging With Fidelity
By Lerone D. Wilson | March 25, 2007
I recently had one of my blog entries from last year entitled ‘Shoot for the Moon‘ printed in the Detroit Free Press as an Opinion/Editorial. One of the reasons I got involved with the No Child Left Behind issue to begin with was that there was an enormous group of people affected by the program (the teachers) who seemingly had no say in the development of the program, and who’s voices weren’t reflected in the following discourse. Thus, whenever I have something published, aired, or give a talk on the No Child Left Behind issue I always have a chance to hear back from teachers who are happy to see their concerns voiced in public. The following is one of such responses that I found especially entertaining [names and places have been removed for privacy]:
Dear Lerone,
I read with interest the editorial you had written and placed in the Detroit Free Press. I couldn’t agree with you more!
I have taught special education for 27 years in the —— Schools all in an elementary setting. I have seen major changes in my years as a teacher. This year, our new superintendent had put in place his “vision” for our school district. It requires all teachers to “teach with fidelity” the reading series he chose. I am now told when to go to the classes I service and pull out my students and to work “with fidelity” on an intervention program from the reading series. I’m not seeing any major gains in their reading skills. It takes me a good 5 min to walk my students down and get them settled to start on our skills because my students don’t want to be there. They hate the books they are reading but I still have to have them read it. The programs we had in place that were successful, we were told not to use them. My special ed students in past years were in a full inclusion program. I worked right in the room with my students and teachers. Nobody ever knew I was a special ed teacher. This year, it is more obvious with the pull out programs.
I have seen the creativity disappear in lesson plans as well as students. There is too much testing. I have often said “I wouldn’t want to be a student today!” There is no fun reason to come to school - not when you’re tested every month. In our state, we’re looking for the fine arts dept at school to disappear since it isn’t reading, writing, or math tested! They’ve placed higher demands on our High School students - no time left for band, choir etc.
Keep on writing and producing! I appreciate your support.
You’re right on the money regarding NCLB.
Sincerely,
—— ——
I don’t know how to fix NCLB, and I probably won’t ever try. My goal however has been to promote open and honest discussion regarding the issue. There are, and have been many teachers ‘teaching with fidelity’ for many years. However if we can start legislating with fidelity we will all be better for it. Until then, all I can hope to do is blog with fidelity.
…and here I am.
Topics: Media/Politics | No Comments »
Taking a Chance…
By Lerone D. Wilson | January 30, 2007
I think that one of the biggest faults I’ve found with the New York University film school is their tendency to turn a blind eye to ‘the real world’ with regards to what the typical student faces after graduation. In retrospect, there seems to have been an unspoken rule with regards to faculty members painting a rosier scene of the art world especially, than the one they knew existed (such considerations I’m sure entered their heads when they made the choice to begin teaching). I for one surely struggled in the beginning, and I have posted as much wisdom as possible with regards to how to succeed as a working artist on this very blog in the hopes that it will be less difficult for those who follow. Nevertheless one of the biggest struggles of the working artist is not something I’ve written about, as I have yet to truly find a solution for it. One of the biggest struggles is the influence of those around us.
One of the problems seems to be that everyone considers themselves to be an authority on art. I don’t mean black turtleneck, West Village ‘art’, rather - everyone has some concept of what they believe art is and should be. This isn’t a big problem in that art should appeal on some level to everyone, after all thats its purpose. However unfortunately many feel the need to not only tell you very frankly about the validity of the work you’re doing, but in your life as a whole.
For some reason it would be inappropriate for me to go to my friend’s job at an insurance company, or bank, or whichever professional locale, and give a commentary on the merits of the work they are performing, and the course their life has taken. However it is entirely appropriate for them to routinely criticize my work and my life, even if they have no serious qualifications to do so. I’m not being sarcastic here, this is the way it works.
I realize that the routine stability of a desk job which most artists envy (for the reduced hours and constant income simply to follow orders), can be interpreted by those occupying such jobs as ‘boredom’. The converse is also true as well. I’m sure that many sit at their desks, with their salary and benefits dreaming of a life with the ‘freedom’ of an artist as well. However I only ask that people realize one thing about that lifestyle: it is very hard to enjoy that ‘freedom’ as it comes with the cost of impossible amounts of hard work, fear, and misery.
It’s not the work that creates this environment. Artists do what they do because they enjoy it. However it’s a world in which creating the actual art is only the beginning. Consider that if I’m working at XYZ corp., and my boss, or even myself is charged with taking on a risky yet potentially rewarding project for the company. The team works constantly for several weeks, and finally produces a fine product - which flops. Best case, they try again. Worst case, they get fired and collect unemployment until finding another job. The artist on the other hand has no such luck.
The great artists are those who constantly take on risks. The greater, the better - as far as the work goes. I’ve all too often seen artists in every mode simply stop when something works. I understand it, we all long for success and stability - and thus I don’t frown upon it. Nevertheless you must constantly wonder about the heights such an artist would’ve reached otherwise. Unfortunately the ramifications of the chances artists take are literally life and death. Failure literally means food, clothing, and housing, and there is seldom a safety net. For this reason it is nearly impossible not only to stop at 5pm (or any reasonable hour short of ‘working yourself to death’) but it’s very difficult to sleep at night. This being considered the best thing one can give to a working artist is support and encouragement, unfortunately thats rarely what happens.
The majority of startup companies in this country fail within the first 3 years. Nevertheless the people, nay ‘entrepreneurs’ who start such firms are not looked upon with the universal disdain in which artists are. Obviously, the successful artists are accepted as ‘visionaries’ (meaning the check to the gallery has cleared) so they are excluded. Rather, the working artist is constantly looked down upon. There seems to be merit in running say a new heath club, yet saying you’re an ‘artist’ seems to imply you spend days listening to jazz records and smoking pot.
I realize that people are usually looking out for the interests of those they care for, and thus in many ways their discouragement can be seen as a sign of affection. On the other side of that there are many who have believed in you from the very beginning despite the times you stumble and even fall. But the most shocking thing you realize when you take on this career is not the doubters - you always saw them coming, and with a thick skin you can learn to ignore them. The thing that really hurts are the ones whom you expected to be in your corner, only to find them curiously absent.
…but when the premiere rolls around, everyone always knew you’d make it 
Topics: Film/Video | No Comments »
The Horrors of Distribution
By Lerone D. Wilson | November 20, 2006
I’ve closely monitored the popularity of each post on this blog, since I started it almost a year ago. It appears my rantings and ‘pearls of wisdom’ regarding film production and ‘the industry’ are by far the most popular posts. Thus I’m struck with the choice that I’m sure many TV outlets are struck with - whether or not to ‘play to the crowd’ by giving people what they want, or to try to fix whats not working, to make it more appealing. Often times networks, and stations sacrifice, in my opinion, the integrity of their programming in favor of the ‘give them what they want, not what they need’ mentality… and on this occasion I too will take the low road.
I kid, I kid… I was going to speak about production anyway - I just needed a crafty introduction that would make it seem like I had thought this through a bit more than I in fact have. Nevertheless I have already raised an important question about television programming. How does someone in charge of programming choose which programs to air… and when?
One of the great things about public television, is that rather than derive their entire schedule from the PBS feed, they have a great deal of flexibility in their schedule. What that means is that the 349 individual PBS stations out there air 349 variations of PBS programs, local programming, and independent programs. For the independent filmmaker this is a dream.
All too often the filmmaker is faced with the frustration of depending on a single executive, to give a simple ‘no’, thus barring the program from that mode of exhibition/distribution. In the case of PBS however, a single network ‘no’ can be parlayed into 349 different ‘no’s’… or if you’re a ‘glass half full’ type, 349 possibilities to get the ‘yes’ that will make the difference.
In early 2004 I was faced with the nasty reality that PBS wouldn’t pick up my first full length film ‘No Child Left Behind’. Considering all of the sacrifices I had made for that film, this was especially devastating. It was as if my beloved friend had died, and I went through all of the steps accordingly:
Denial - ‘There must be a mistake… they admit it’s a good program, nevertheless they claim it doesnt fit their ‘content priorities (another rant for another day)’
Anger - ‘How could they do this? I’ve spent the last year living like a homeless man and they have the nerve to say no?’
Bargaining - ‘Look, I can change the program to fix whatever it is thats being objected to (I actually wrote a letter to this effect… didn’t work)’
Depression - ‘I’ve just wasted an important chunk of my life on this failure of a project… looks like all the naysayers were right after all. Why didn’t I just get a ‘normal job’ after college?’
and finally…
Acceptance - ‘You know what… this can’t be the end of this crazy adventure. I’ve spent too much time, effort, and money on this thing to let it die here.’
After all of that, I was finally able to move on and use the public television system to my advantage. As you may know, much of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ film takes place in Detroit (where I grew up), and New York City. The first thing I did after my initial rejection was to bug the heck out of the poor head of programming at WTVS, and finally after a few calls, emails, and letters he agreed to air the program. Lots of time, film festivals, college presentations, coupled with some luck, and friendships finally paved the way for WLIW, New York to not only air the program, but to distribute it nationally to other public television stations. This interestingly enough was after an initial ‘no’ shortly after the airing in Detroit, nevertheless miracles do apparently happen.
All is not wonderful in public television. Although at this point any station has the ability to say ‘yes’ to the program, and grab it off the satellite free of charge, this unfortunately doesn’t bode well for the filmmaker. All of the publicity we were able to do in Detroit and NYC in order for the film to find the film’s audience is infinitely more difficult when theres no concrete way to tell which stations are airing the program and when.
In fact, the best way in which I can find out when my own program is airing - is to do an internet search for it. Using this method I was able to find that the program will air in Utah, Texas, Michigan, New York, and Maryland in the next few weeks.
Naturally, people often contact me under the assumption that I am the first to know when and where the program will be available next… unfortunately I am in fact the last. Just a few days ago I was informed that the program recently aired in Philadelphia… thats news to me. In any regard it’s merely one of the many frustrations of television distribution. For that matter I don’t have any greater luck with the random programming of another film of mine ‘Aardvark’d’ on The Documentary Channel.
…perhaps I should just buy the DVD.
Topics: Film/Video | No Comments »
(they have the plans, but we have the power)
By Lerone D. Wilson | September 26, 2006
I’ve yammered on about the following scenario many times, in many contexts, in this very blog. In it’s last incarnation I was angry that Google Video first promised new opportunities for independent filmmakers only to ultimately sell out to big entertainment. However it now occurs to me that perhaps this isn’t a phenomenon unique only to Google… or Video even. Perhaps this is the fate of the internet altogether.
Take the iPod for example. In the beginning the iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Music store were heralded as a way to crush the record label’s grip on the music industry. Offering fair pricing to all, and ridding consumers of the need for homespun file-sharing networks, it seemed like a win-win situation for all involved. But in the end have things really changed? Is there some sort of newly found independent recording revolution underway as a result of Apples intervention into the way music is sold? If so, I haven’t witnessed it. Rather, I simply see the Apple Computer Incorporation as a new middle man.
The barriers to entry in the music business are still the same. To have your music sold on iTunes you still have to go through record labels. Only now two different hands get to dip into the $1 per song pot before the artist sees a share of the profits. Furthermore, you can rest assured that Apple will make no effort to promote your music through the iTunes music store unless you’re signed to a major label and/or your music is pulling in serious money. So in the end independent musicians are left with the same line as independent filmmakers. “We’ll be happy to take your money… but bring your own crowd”.
Of more concern to me is the current big business interest in social networking. One of the few promises of the internet that actually panned out, was the ability to mobilize entire internet communities at a grassroots level. People from all over the world with similar interests could communicate with one another with a level of simplicity never before seen. This was perhaps most evident during the 2004 presidential primary, when Howard Dean was able to raise an amount of money from the internet that was unforeseen by anyone. The entire world took notice…unfortunately.
I say this because whenever certain people take notice (mainly big business) the consumer always seems to end up with the short end of the stick. Big business has seemingly realized for the first time since the .com boom, that large sums of money can be made through the internet. So I warn you now, run! Hide! Batten down the hatches, for the movement that is coming is going to be dirty, and it’s going to hurt.
It will start with promises. Promises that these companies will serve small consumers, and independent groups far better than before. We have seen this already with video. Not only Google Video, which I have spoken of far too often, but with Apple’s new foray into movies which has caused Amazon, Microsoft, and others to respond accordingly. However it doesn’t stop there. They don’t stop there.
Note the recent moves by big business into social networking - the very core of free speech on the internet. With sites such as MySpace and Facebook selling out to the highest bidder there is much trouble ahead, and not even our Federal Government can help us . The airwaves theoretically belong to the people of the United States, yet our government has no problem turning a blind eye as corporations buy all of the stations. Why would they not do the same for the internet? And once these companies own our means of communication what will stop them from beginning to censor it?
So I beg of you; run! Hide! Go now! This is it, this is the end. Find yourself a bunker and seal yourself in!
…unfortunately when you come out, the situation will be all too familiar. Internet media will be owned by the same people who own print and television media. Perhaps there will be new faces, but the agenda the same.
And free speech… will be a thing of the past.
Topics: Internet/Computing, Media/Politics | No Comments »
What is Google Video for Anyway?
By Lerone D. Wilson | August 30, 2006
I’ve already written about the grand charade that was the launch of Google Video. This was where they pretended that it was about independent film offerings, only to find out it was about video clips and music videos, so I won’t go there again. This isn’t another lambasting of their services either. I’ve never criticized Google for their video services, just what I saw as a little bit of deception in their launch. Nevertheless this time, I have good words to say.
I love how a year or two after everyone starts using a technology, computer program, or website, the mainstream media falls in love with it. If the media gave say, Africa the attention it gives YouTube and MySpace, there would be millions of people not dying and/or starving. Nevertheless, I digress.
The current social networking/file sharing phenomenon is truly amazing. All of the sudden it seems the great web/entertainment convergence we were promised in 1995 is actually happening. I can think of funny things I’ve seen on TV, or even haven’t seen (like a kid getting stuck in the net of a basketball rim as he tries to dunk from a trampoline), and voila - there they are on YouTube. Now I can’t watch much of my favorite television programming on the Internet just yet (probably because the broadcasters have the same ‘deer caught in the headlights’ looks on their faces as the recording industry did a few years ago), nevertheless watching assorted clips on YouTube can occupy me for hours. It’s like the best of America’s Funniest Home Videos without Bob Saget’s lame jokes, and smug sense of superiority.
Now where does Google fit into all of this?
Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps I should have given Google the benefit of the doubt from the very beginning. Maybe they genuinely had envisioned Google Video as a platform for the independent film community to find distribution. Perhaps even the sudden disappearance of independent film from the main Google Video page, in favor of titles such as ‘Fat Kid Tries to take a Dive’, and ‘Preacher Farts’, were merely a response to the YouTube phenomenon. YouTube found a model that worked financially, and we all know how large corporations love to play follow the leader.
There is still some upside to the service, however. Even if your video isn’t featured on the main page, usually meaning it doesn’t contain images of someone getting hurt, a striptease, or body humor (using all 3 gets you extra points), Google will still host your video. This means that the bandwidth limitations that have led to limitations on the amount of video available on your website are no longer a stumbling block. In fact, as we speak I’m uploading bits of the Boondoggle video library to Google Video, for use on the Boondoggle Site.
The current video quality leaves a bit more to be desired, however beggars can’t be choosers. I would also bet money that someday Google will implement a way to search through the countless hours of video footage people are uploading, better than anyone else (that is what they do after all).
So cheers to Google Video. Although its not quite the service they promised at launch time, its still a good service. For independent producers, however don’t open up that bottle of champagne just yet… you’ll just hear the same old line here that you will at many other venues. We’ll host your screening… but bring your own audience.
Topics: Film/Video, Internet/Computing | No Comments »