This is a film that my friend and fellow filmmaker Matt Boyd has been working on for many years… Matt, big congrats for not only FINISHING this long endeavor but for executing a beautifully crafted work of art!
A RUBBERBAND IS AN UNLIKELY INSTRUMENT
A Rubberband is an Unlikely Instrument is a lyrical exploration of a Brooklyn couple as they navigate their path amidst rapidly changing political, social, financial and spiritual landscapes. Walter Baker is an eccentric, multi-instrumentalist struggling to maintain balance between creating art, making ends meet and raising his twelve year old son with his third wife, a poet. Artistically and philosophically situated on the fringes of mainstream culture, Baker grasps to bear the roles of family man, business owner and aspiring composer.
Featuring: Walter Baker, Andrea Baker, Sidney Baker, Theresa Baker, Walter Baker Sr.
Directed, Photographed and edited by Matt Boyd
Produced by Jason Ross, Ryan Zacarias, Brook Bernard
A RUBBERBAND IS AN UNLIKELY INSTRUMENT… Voice Teaser:
https://vimeo.com/58639857
BENEFUL: “PICK A PATH”
A choose your own adventure video series, shot on location in LA. We spent many weeks story boarding and prepping this shoot with digital agency Deep Focus. We are very pleased with the end result and hope you enjoy Cato the dog’s adventure!
Many thanks to Deep Focus Art Director Matt Steinwald and Copywriter Ellen Karas for the awesome collaborative experience!
Directed by Josh Rothstein
Produced by Jesse Scolaro
Production Supervisor Trevor Jones
Camera Ian McGlocklin Sinclair
Talent:
Joshua McHugh
Josephine Rene
Casting:
Rich Delia
Barden/ Schnee Casting
Dog Talent:
Cato & Ernie
(Karin - Studio / Animal Services)
Recently, PDN held a photo contest called “The Scene”. They were looking for images of nightlife, celebrities, private events, clubs, nightlife street scenes, parades and festivals etc. I entered a series of images in the celebrity category - and the series was selected as runner up… and they ran my image of Penelope Cruz and Josh Brolin as the lead image. Many Thanks PDN! I appreciate the support as always.
Check out the link here as the online gallery is now live!
http://www.pdnthescene.com/gallery/winners2012/
This past year, I had the pleasure of working with digital agency Deep Focus for client Purina/Beneful on several jobs. One of which was a series of webisodes on Beneful’s Dream Dog Park Contest. Over the course of several months, we shot the building of hte park and the 2011 contest winner Jenny Wilson in her hometown of Alabaster Alabama. It was really wonderful to be involved with a community and I am still in awe of this amazing creation by the Beneful team. Check out the links below to see all of last years videos - and make sure to check back in a few weeks as we are already editing the first webisode for this years contest winner in Lancaster PA!
BOLT NYC PHOTOGRAPHS
I was shooting stills and video of Usain Bolt this past weekend. It was a crazy two days as Usain was busy going from one press interview to the next… plus he was rehearsing for his big cameo on SNL so things were extra bonkers. On the morning of this photo shoot we rented a vintage 1968 taxi cab. My team and I were scrambling around scouting a spot to get a clear vantage point of the Empire State building that also had parking for the car- not an easy task. Finally I found this great perspective just below Madison Square Park. I knew we would have very limited time to get these shots off given we were in the hub of the city with no permit. Plus the second Usain arrived and we started to set the car into position we were swarmed by paparazzi… not exactly the closed set I would have liked. There was a frenzy of tourists screaming Usain’s name and the swarm of cameras clicking right behind my back was super intense. I told him I wanted him to give me the pose and he said “Lets just wait to do at the end because everyone will go crazy”. I said ok, and that I would take a few portraits with him just chilling on the car and then I’d yell “Pose” for him to do the now iconic lightning bolt pose. It was super intense but I noticed Usain was completely calm and relaxed - this certainly helped me keep my cool too. I snapped a few shots with him leaning against the car and then yelled “Ok Usain, Pose!” As he spread his arms out and did his thing - the crowd gave a gasp and people started screaming and cheering. This was somewhat surprising to me given I have been with Usain many times during the past 3 years while he has done the pose in public… People have always reacted but not like this… and definitely not in New York. Then it occurred to me…. This was the first time that I have seen him do this in public since his latest Olympics domination. I guess New Yorkers finally figured out who he is.
A few weeks ago , Readers Digest contacted me and asked me to submit some work for an up and coming photo essay project. I was asked to submit 3 to 4 photos max that expressed my idea of what happiness means to me visually! The top image is the image that was selected! Thanks again to Kristen Farina for asking me to participate. It was an interesting challenge to interpret how a photo might convey happiness. I wanted to submit some images that didn’t so directly and literally interpret this idea.
Here is another one of the images I submitted that was not chosen but I wanted to share. I think it was a bit too bizarre for them :)
My father Bruce is an unusual man…. and he had a unusual mother (my grandmother Clarisse). They both had this strong desire to find irreverence and joy in every moment of life.
When Clarisse Rabinowtiz Rothstein passed away - my father applied that same “unusual” approach to their postmortem visits. On our first visit to her grave site he brought smiley balloons and then proceed to lay down next to her tombstone. I think she would have been happy :)
PDN FRAMES PER SECOND
PDN did a really sweet article in Frames per Second about my work with the gold medal Olympian, the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt. The article can be read here: http://www.pdnonline.com/features/Frames-Per-Second-R-6724.shtml
Over the years I have shot Usain for Puma in various commercials, webisodes and publicity stills. The article was focused on a video I filmed of Usain running with kids in Jamaica:
http://joshrothstein.com/film/Webisodes/BOLT+RUN+WITH+KIDS.mov.php
Special Thanks to PDN writer Holly Stuart Hughes for the story!
I had the pleasure to interview Jeffrey Sachs again this morning who graciously shared his time with us for the Seeds of Hope documentary. He shared some amazing insights into the global economy and how we as consumers have ever increasing power to pressure large corporations into being more fiscally and environmentally responsible for their actions. As he spoke about the interconnectedness of the world market, where people in the smallest, most remote, villages carry cell phones to connect them to the wider world, he reminded us all of the true goal of his work. He advocated for a very holistic point of view in which we take into account the needs of environment, health care, fiscal irresponsibility of companies that can operate out of PO boxes and avoid taxes, and responsibility of both the consumers who purchase the products and the companies that create goods. We did the shoot with a quick lighting setup in a lovely living room enlivened by an eclectic and beautiful art collection from sculptures to paintings. The shoot was short and sweet and we definitely got some great bites for the film. Special Thanks to Jesse Scolaro , Noah Yuan-Vogel, Sarah Phoenix, and Zoe Litaker
For more info on Jeffrey Sachs’ NGO UN Millenium Project check out the site at http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/
