The Fates have smiled on us! I am proud to announce (if you haven't heard it already) that The New Colony, the storefront theater company with big dreams that I joined in Chicago, won the first round of the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook! This means, as one of the top 100 not-for-profits in votes, we will be receiving at least $25,000 in grant money! That's a huge boost, and like I mentioned in my previous post, will be able to cover the costs of the rest of our season. Not only that, but it means the corners we had to cut in our budget can be resharpened--design budgets have been raised back to target!

But, of course, it's not over! We have a chance at another prize in the second round, this time for one of six prizes valued from $100,000 to $1,000,000! Yeah, you read that right--one million dollars! By Jan 8th, we have to submit a proposal outlining what we would do with a million dollar grant, our so-called "Big Idea" to benefit the community. We've got a lot of ideas kicking around for what to do, including resource-sharing inventories for Chicago theaters, film projects, building a theater, and outreach. But, we need your input! Are these good ideas? Terrible ones? What would you like to see? How should it be done? Leave comments here, or (while it's still active), comment on the status update at http://www.facebook.com/thenewcolony. We really want your ideas!

In other news...I live in Chicago now! Even though I've been here for around seven weeks, I still get hit at least once a day with the realization that I have made it! If you know me at all from before I came here, there's nothing you're more aware of about me than the fact that I want to be here in Chicago, and that I've been wanting that for almost two years.

I was talking with my friend Andy about this--he pointed out how interesting it is that a very specific story has unfolded with almost everyone he knows that moved to Chicago. First, Everyman hears about some cool things that happen in Chicago. Then, Everyman visits Chicago. And then Everyman falls in love with Chicago. Then, Everyman spends most of his energy from that point figuring out a way to start a life here.

Perhaps it's just a certain creative type that cannot resist the draw. There's a type of artist that dominates the scene here: a high-energy, high-dedication firebrand that has only faint dreams of stardom. This artist's goal is instead collaborative work--art for art, with the contributions of many other creatives. The New Colony is a great example of a collection of creatives who simply care the most for absolute expression and craft. The dedication I've seen here in Chicago, tempered by good dispositions and playful spirits, is absolutely incredible, and is not matched by most artists I've known in the other big cities.

So, I am glad to be here!

Future stuff to come: Chase Community Giving Round 2, my lighting design for 11:11, and possibly moving into a new, awesome apartment.

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: Big Ideas, Chase Community Giving, Chicago, collaborative, film, filmmaking, The New Colony, theater, theatre

So...I know it's been a while since I've written. I made it to Chicago and life changed forever.

Among many, many other crazy things I've been able to do, I somehow was lucky enough to join up with a company, The New Colony, out here. Right now, they are primarily a theater company, but as a registered not-for-profit with big dreams, they want to support and create films, music, and other arts, all in a new, ultra-collaborative, open-to-the-public style.

It's big stuff.

But right now, we're still a small, but successful company. But...if you're on Facebook, which I'm sure you are, you've got 20 seconds to spare to vote for us on Chase Giving! The link is below--and if you vote for us, we could get at least $25,000, which could easily pay for the rest of the current season. If you're already connected to me on Facebook, then you already have seen me flooding your Live Feed. This really does matter to me, so please take the moment to vote--and tell your friends!

http://bit.ly/5KrKct

-Sunshine

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Labels: art, arts, Chicago, Facebook, film, filmmaking, The New Colony, theater

So I'm not entirely sure why I haven't posted this yet, but the film Very Small Rooms I made a little while ago with Refractory Films is getting some movement these days, and we've got a trailer and clip available to check out. To save you some time, here they are!

Trailer:

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP2zc00kAK4

Clip:

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qaqCsLoSPY

Hope you enjoy!

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: alexandra petrova-emisti, amy rose capetta, film, filmmaking, jake lucas, julia jc blau, kevin tracy, Refractory Films, sean keane, sherry wong, very small rooms, youtube

Tomorrow morning, I will hop on the bus with my coursemates and make the day and a half drive down to southern Utah to begin our 30-day Canyon Section. We'll return on April 18th.

We spent all of yesterday in classes and meetings with many of NOLS' key departments and their leaders, including meeting with the Executive Director, Human Resources, Environmental Policy, Risk Management, NOLS Pro (professional development services), and a luncheon with many employees from both NOLS Rocky Mountain and the NOLS International Branch. As a result of all that, I met one of the interns working in the video department, and after sharing my love and passion for video and my desire to have a camera in the field, he arranged for NOLS to loan me one of their cameras for this section. Since it's a small digital media video camera, it can replace my still camera in my pack and won't even add much extra weight, but will allow me to get footage that NOLS and I can share. It also means the content from my canyon section here will be even richer than the photos I've already been able to get.

Today we packed up everything we need for the section in packs, including rations (and my extra food, thank goodness!). My pack, even with extra food and a few little extras I'll probably be able to eliminate, weighs in at 45 lbs, a respectably low weight for the section. Every day, it should get at least 2 lbs lighter, as well! Woohoo!

Our canyon section will bring us to southern Utah Canyonland, exploring natural and human history in areas such as the Mancos Mesa, Gravel & Long Canyons, and the Dark Canyon area. I've included here some Google Maps snapshots to give you a peek at what the terrain in those areas is like, and so you can see the general progression of the course.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map
When I return on April 18th, after some time catching up on things, I'll be sure to get another section recap blog up before I head out to our climbing section at Split Rock and Sinks Canyon.

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: adventure, canyonland, canyons, connections, creative process, equipment, film, filmmaking, NOLS, outdoor educator, outdoors, utah, wyoming, youtube

This is a draft of the teaser trailer for "Boundaries of Attraction", a short film I've posted about before. I was TD and lighting designer for this one.

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lysT6thIGiY

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Labels: Ashley Caron, Billy Baraw, Dina Baker, Dunkirk Studios, film, filmmaking, Greg Murphy, Jamie Fessenden, Stephanie Aurora Long, teaser, trailer, video, Xebic Smith