One Chicago.
One Nation.
One America.

I am 25% Scottish, 25% Dutch, 50% American and 100% Chicagoan.

I got to be part of an amazing campaign with Ogilvy & the Chicago Mayor's Office. Here are a couple videos that I was able to cut -

Here is some press -

ABC7 - Chicago
CNN
Chicago Sun-Times
NBC - Chicago
CBS - Chicago 
Fox32 - Chicago

2016 is now here! 2015 was an amazing year - here is a small video of what I was up to for the past year. 

Photo by Daniel Patton

Photo by Daniel Patton

A lovely night in Chicago! 

And you can tell I had a super fascination with the lights on the rooftop. But it was great seeing a bunch of the women (and men) of WIF Chicago :) 

Here are some of the stills from the shoot for Deep Dark Fears "If I Die..." It was a great shoot and now in the editing process...

Below are a couple shots from behind the scenes. 

So some exciting news! A couple of my experimental films will be shown at the Chicago Filmmakers. This is all work that I have done with Group 312 Films, here in Chicago. Windy City represent!!

You can grab tickets here.
June 6th, 2015 @ 8pm
 

Here is the video that really shows what #Chiberia is really all about. The day after the Chicago blizzard and the trees stay frozen in several inch thick ice. Enjoy!

This is the trailer that I cut together for the short film Reversal which is directed by Michael Lippert. Take a moment to enjoy this awesome trailer!

It's that time of year that everything is cold. Early February there was a blizzard that I took a short trip to the lake to see, but more then anything I felt the cold.

Here is a video that I filmed and cut together for the Cutter's Holiday Party. I filmed around Chicago - but mostly the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights and Navy Pier. Enjoy!

I know that I've already posted this photo... but goodstory films posted all the position of the women who worked on this commercial. 

Now here is where I'll talk about women filmmakers. There isn't a shortage of us - and the amount of women filmmakers does not reflect the industry. Here are some statistics:

• Women accounted for 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors. - Celluloid Ceiling 2013 Report
   
• Women accounted for 10% of writers, 15% of executive producers, 17% of editors, 3% of cinematographers, and 25% of producers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2013. - Celluloid Ceiling 2013 Report
   
• Women comprised 6% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 3 percentage points from 2012 and 1998. - Celluloid Ceiling 2013 Report
   
• A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2013 and 2012 reveals that the percentages of women directors, writers, executive producers, and editors have declined. The percentage of women producers has remained the same. Celluloid Ceiling 2013 Report
   
• In Academy Award history, four female filmmakers have been nominated for best director (Lina Wertmuller-1977, Jane Campion-1994, and Sofia Coppola-2004, Kathryn Bigelow - 2010), but only Kathryn has won.
  - Women's E-News
   
• Women support women. Films directed by women feature more women in all roles. There is a 21% increase in women working on a narrative film when there is a female director and a 24% of women working on documentaries. - Indiewire
   
• Females direct more documentaries than narrative films – 34.5% vs 16.9%.  

Its some interesting statistics on their own. But here is the commercial that we all gathered together to create:

I did a quick little video on the Bonsai Garden at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. I love bonsais and they seem like tiny giants and the fact that they take years and years to grow slowly. There were some bonsais that were past down generations to be taken care of.

Please enjoy!

I was given the pleasure to attend the Women in Film Focus Awards where they honored Shira Piven (Director), Susan Credle (CCO, Leo Burnett), Erin Sarofsky (Owner of Sarofsky), and Christina Varotsis (Producer). 

Attending with me is (from left to right)
Joanna Woods (Producer, Another Country)
Cindy Duffy (Post Production Coordinator, Cutters)
Kathryn Hempel (Editor/Partner, Cutters)
Megan Kirkpatrick (Director of Business Development, Cutters Studios)
Alison Ho (Audio Assistant, Another Country)
Me! 
Joy Holbrook (Producer, Cutters)
Phil Barton (CFO, Cutters Studios)
Jay Patton (Director, Dictionary Films)
Carrie Hunter (Client Services)

A Chicago sunset...

It's crazy to think about that I've been here, in Chicago, for one year! Many great things have happened, but now to the next year with great things :) 

Oh la la! 

The theme for Group 312 Films for August is Oh la la! And here are some of the stills from what was filmed. 

Oh la la has a double meaning.... in French its more of "oh my gosh!" or "oh my!" while in English, it was a more risqué meaning. I decided to play with that double meaning... meaning one thing but it can be another. Below is more of my thought process.