Tribeca Film Festival Special Pt.2: CatCam, Finding Benjaman, Library of Dust, & Baseball in the Time of Cholera

Episode 26 : BYOD: Bring Your Own Doc

Episode Synopsis

For the second part of our trip to Tribeca, Ondi and Vlad talk to some quality film makers, highlighting short docs from the fest.
First we talk to Seth Keal and Charles Miller about creating CatCam and their connection to Joan Rivers. Next, John Wilkstrom discusses Finding Benjaman, his work about an amnesia victim. Ondi then becomes the subject of the interview as she and Kyle Parker discuss Library of Dust, before we meet with Bryn Mooser and David Darg, makers of the Haitian doc, Baseball in the Time of Cholera.

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Guest Bio

John Wikstrom, film student at Florida State University, is already exceeding expectations as a student filmmaker. Winner of the Coke Refreshing Films contest, he has also now added the politically charged documentary Finding Benjamin to his IMDB biography.

Seth Keal
is a filmmaker who produced Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. CatCam is his directorial debut.

Bryn Mooseris the Country Director for Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) and lives and works in Haiti. He just helped open APJs secondary school in Port au Prince, the only free secondary school serving the slums. Bryn lived in a hut in West Africa for two and half years building schools, then hitchhiked from Bangkok to Berlin. He speaks two African languages, Creole and parts of many more. Bryn is a musician, filmmaker and writer; he grew up in Los Angeles, New York City, Maine and Zimbabwe.

David Darg
went to Oxford University to study Theology and received a BTh (OXON) in 2001. He also holds a GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualification) in sound engineering from Hereford Technology College. David currently resides in Virginia Beach with his wife Naomi.His experiences have included aiding war refugees in Sudan, Kenya and Somalia; being one of the few aid workers permitted entry into cyclone-devastated Myanmar; overseeing the rebuilding of a village in Yao Jin, China that was destroyed by an earthquake; and most recently, directing OBI’s relief and recovery efforts in Haiti following the 2010 quake which included emergency relief efforts, microenterprise fish farming projects, and helping to establish a children’s home for disabled and special needs orphans.

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Episode Breakdown

00:01 BYOD Intro from the Highline in NYC
03:06 CatCam, clip.
04:01 The Cat Cam design and inventor.
06:17 Seth Keal and Charles Miller introduce themselves and share their Sundance history.
07:09 Working on Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.
08:47 Connecting with Jurgen, the Cat Cam inventor.
09:52 “What is the film really about?”
10:49 The implications for the Cat Cam.
12:12 The tone of the film; the palate cleanser.
13:04 The DP discusses the cinematic eye of Mr. Lee the cat.
14:45 The conversation turns to cats and meows.
16:26 Keeping up with Jurgen and CatCam.
18:10 CatCam, clip.
19:02 Finding Benjamin, clip.
19:34 Welcoming John Wilkstrom of Finding Benjamin.
20:15 Still a student and screening at Tribeca.
22:28 Stumbling upon the story of Benjaman.
24:32 The “living plot device–Benjaman Kyle.”
26:05 The film transforms Benjaman’s life and helps direct John’s.
28:46 A cinematic highpoint in the film.
30:33 Looking for clues to his personality and history.
32:30 The future for the man with no past.
34:19 Where to learn more about the film and John.
37:21 Library of Dust, clip.
38:10 Vlad welcomes Ondi and Kyle Parker at the end of their year travelling.
39:13 “What is the film about?”
45:52 Fitting the story into Ondi’s schedule.
47:39 Library of Dust, clip.
48:40 The amount of time spent on the film.
51:02 Wearing many hats on the film.
52:40 Keeping up with the film.
53:01 Baseball in the Time of Cholera, clip.
55:24 Welcoming David Darg and Bryn Mooser.
56:08 Cholera returns to Haiti thanks to the UN.
56:52 What brought them to Haiti?
57:37 The situation in Haiti and the position of the UN.
59:10 From aid workers to filmmakers.
01:00:44 Olivia Wilde and the project–little league and cholera.
01:02:18 Juxtaposing childhood with the devastation.
01:05:14 Getting the world’s attention to Haiti.
01:08:18 Where to go online to learn about the film and issue.
01:08:43 The Tribeca experience.
01:09:57 The down-n-dirty filmmaking and background of David and Bryn.
01:11:31 Show wrap up.

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Hosted By

Ondi Timoner is the only filmmaker to win Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice. Born in Miami, Florida, Timoner graduated cum laude from Yale University, with a double major in American Studies (concentration in Film and Literature) and Theater Studies.

Vladimir Radovanov is a musician, entrepreneur and entertainment attorney, and has represented numerous entities in the entertainment industry, including musical artists, record labels, independent filmmakers, and television and film production companies, including TV Guide and 20th Century Fox.

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