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5 Tips For Cutting a Winning Fundraising Clip

Every film project needs a fundraising clip, no matter what stage of production or post. As a documentary editor, I feel like I spend as much time editing fundraising clips for filmmakers as actual films. And now with the growing popularity of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com, and individual film websites, a good short video that gives a potential funder a solid idea of what your film is about is essential.

So the question is, what to show?

Here are five tips to consider when crafting your film’s fundraising clip.Read More

Editing Kukan

This little editor has been so busy making edits that she hasn’t blogged for THREE MONTHS.  Thank goodness that she has friends and colleagues who blog. So I’m cheating…this is a re-blog…or whatever the blog equivalent of a Re-Tweet is. Read More

Laughing Samoans Kick off with Samoan Documentary Trailer in Hawaii

I had never heard of the Laughing Samoans before, but it turns out that they are pretty funny guys who travel all over the world doing stand-up comedy about Samoan life and culture. The good folks at Pacific Islanders in Communication in Honolulu tapped me to create a 2-minute trailer highlighting their documentaries about Samoa, which would show on a big screen before the Laughing Samoans’ concerts while on tour in Hawaii.  Pretty cool! Read More

ONE VOICE Trailer Sneaky Preview

Aloha friends!  Excited to share the ONE VOICE TRAILER which I edited for the good people at Pacific Islanders in Communication, a fantastic organization that channels Corporation for Public Broadcasting money to Pacific Islander films and filmmakers (they also do great education and outreach, in addition to funding).  Anyways, there is nothing more fun than editing something and immediately getting to see it with an audience. Read More

Nice review of EATING ALASKA from the Good Folks at Slow Food USA

When Ellen and I were working on the film, we always hoped to link up with the folks at Slow Food…here is their latest blog about our film Eating Alaska.

The Slow Food USA Blog

Eating Alaska

Posted on Wed, June 02, 2010
by intern Maia Puccagli
“Eating Alaska” is a quirky documentary that follows the journey that Ellen Frankenstein, a former vegetarian, takes in search of a local, sustainable diet in Alaska.
After 15 omnivorous years married to a commercial fishermanRead More

Trailer by Shirley: Check out a new season of Independent Lens films

Aloha everybody…working in Honolulu this week as I get ready to relocate Shirley Thompson Editorial world headquarters to the Aloha State!

Just wanted to share this trailer I edited for the good folks at Independent Lens…this is my eighth season creating promos and trailers for Independent Lens (!) and in particular, this trailer which they screened at the PBS Annual Meeting in Austin, TX last week.  Here is a sneak preview of a few films from the 2010-2011 season.

PIDGIN a winner at Honolulu Film Festival

Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai‘i screened as an official selection of the Honolulu Film Festival (soon to be known as the Waikiki Film Festival), held April 24 & 25 in Waikiki, and came away with two awards: a Grand Jury Prize and Best Human Rights Film.  Mahalo to this great venue for Hawai‘i film! And set your TiVo’s, San Francisco Bay Area folks…  Pidgin airs next Sunday, May 2 at Noon on KQED.  Spread the word!