california is a place

California Is A Place is a cool sounding name for a talented collective of inspired and inspirational film makers. I love the idea of collaborative groups and sometimes wish that competition and the market place didn’t drive a wedge of insecurity between us all. If we all worked together more often maybe we could all produce something like this….

From Cannonball about a group of skaters who seek out empty pools to ride in the abandoned landscapes of the American dream gone broke to Scrapertown’s urban hero Baby Champ who gives identity, self esteem and a sense of purpose to the youth of Oakland through the highly specialised customisation of their push bikes.

jade and joe

I shot this footage with the manual in one hand and the camera in the other!!! I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.
Going from stills to motion I didn’t even know what shutter speed to set the camera on for video…Still, for all its technical ‘mistakes’ I like this little black and white film.

While I was filming Jade I came across Joe – who’d swim the English Channel more times than he could remember.
There’s something about the self deprecating, stiff upper lip, stoicism of the Brits that’s difficult to find elsewhere……….it’s what I love about the culture and the way it celebrates the individuals among us.