Thursday, July 29, 2010

MDF + Up With People = Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy


OK, so this 3 day event UP WITH PEOPLE, will forever go down in MDF history as the happiest one we've ever attended! To say that this was a fun-filled and delightful weekend full of happiness and joy is a complete understatement. These people hold up to their happy little reputation as Sue Sylvester so pointedly said on a Season 1 GLEE episode. So, let us help paint a visual for you  - 3 days..... 1,000 smiling people from all over the world.... alumni from the 60's - 2005.... current casts performances.... alumni cast performances.... and of course.... several suite and ballroom soirees. In all, a swell-of-a-good-time filming for a Cast from 1980. "What a great organization" (says one of the crew members who just happens to be an alumni herself!)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Behind-the-Scenes Saturdays: Sawdust Art Festival!

This shoot at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, California felt less like a job and more like a really fun jaunt.  Arriving at our usual early morning hour with gear in hand, we quickly re-scouted the area before heading to our first shoot of the day with glass artist, Marcus Thesing. Making our way towards the  'Artist's cage' in this gazillion-degree's space, only our fearless leader could fit in there to film while Marcus demonstrated and created this impressive display piece.  After sweating it out for an hour we made our way onward to more than a hundred booths to capture the fine art that comes out of this local-only, art festival. Eventually, we found our way to the toe ring booth and you guessed it, scored some toe-bling (which we are still sporting today!). So, check out the final video (3rd one down on our 'media projects' page) for a small sample of this annual summer must-do!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Dog-Friendly Carmel


This submission piece for The Travel Channel just goes to prove that what you THINK you have in mind doesn't always end up being the final product. And this little lesson in flexibility took the MDF crew all of 10 minutes walking the streets of quaint and beautiful Carmel, California to figure that one out. With gear in hand heading to our first location for this 'Quaint Weekend Getaway' we quickly ditched that notion after dodging several dogs and storefront doggy bowls. Stopping in our tracks, looking at all the dogs and each other, we just started laughing and said our favorite meeting shout-out - "Time to re-group!" And 10 hours later, we hit the canine jackpot after filming a doggy spa, two dog-friendly hotels, interviewed several doggy owners, dined with our own MDF mascot Romeo and attended a doggy-happy-hour with several other pooches in tow. Pant, Pant, Woof, Woof! (Check out the final travel short on our MDF Media Projects page).

Saturday, July 10, 2010

What's that Smell at The Huntington Gardens?


Reflecting back to last year at this time brings us all at MDF to our 'happy place.'  After unexpectedly receiving a call from a friend atThe Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens in early June of 2009, we hopped into the van and headed down to the Pasadena area to see what all of the fuss was about. When we arrived, there was a definite buzz in the air  at 'The H' about a rare and huge plant that most couldn't pronounce, the Amorphophallus Titanum, which we later learned, was aptly named 'Stinky.'  After a couple of weeks of hitting the highway, late nights and way-too-early-mornings, we were hooked! Checking the chart, anticipating the brief, two-day bloom we all kept our phones nearby when we finally received the call - "It's blooming tommorow!" Up at 4:00am alongside several networks, we were ready for the stench. Walking up to the Conservatory, we were already getting a whiff of what smelled like 2-day-boiled cauliflower, and then it hit us as we entered the second level. Whoa! With thousands of people already waiting in line, we filmed a piece on that stinky but beautiful, 7-foot tall rare Indonesian flower for which The Travel Channel was delighted. And after nearly 22,000 hits on our YouTube interview piece with the head Botanist, we too jumped onto the Corpse Flower train!