The Slash: Writer/Director/Producer/Editor
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The Slash: Writer SLASH Director SLASH Producer SLASH Editor
September 1, 2010 - 4:47 PM ET
One day 'til school. That's what's on the mind of pretty much every young person 13-17 years old in our little town of Amherst. To me, this summer saw a lot of successes, and also many failures. I don't mean failures in a negative way - each time you fail, you learn something. Summer is always an interesting time. All year long, we yearn for summer. For me, it's a time when I am free from the requirements of school and can spend my days creating my own requirements. In summer I always believe I can spend the time efficiently and get everything done I want to. I always believe I'll finish the film in record time, reformat the two TV shows, build sets and websites, throw Riverwolf into the big time, and still have the time to relax at the Cape for four days with five of my amazing friends and have a social life. For (most) others, it's a time to relax, to vacation, to sunbathe, and to do whatever strikes your fancy. However, our expectations and reality haven't really ever been similar, have they? For me, this summer, I was reading at the beginning of July with all the time in the world, and suddenly it was August. We all have our ideas of summer, no? We all have these unreal expectations. Looking back at this summer, nothing I planned or expected to happen really happened to the degree I thought, except for editing The Bard. Is it a bad thing that most of the stuff I planned didn't happen? Maybe. However, I had many fantastic times, and I learned and gained knowledge and experience in things I hadn't thought of before. All in all, a good summer. That being said, even in this hot snap, I'm looking forward to the inevitable coming of fall. In fall, everyone returns, and that magical time begins. That time of running all over the place, crazy-busy doing a million and one things - but in the good way. It's still fresh, and you're so ready to hit the ground running to show the world what you're really made of. I'm beginning to realize that this had absolutely nothing to do with filmmaking, except to say that great things are on the horizon - great things. I can't help but feel that with the smell that emanates on those cool fall mornings, comes what is likely to be some of the most fulfilling time with Riverwolf Productions yet. We're going to be entering our fourth year this December, and like so many things in this life, I believe it's only going to improve with age. Enjoy the time now...
-Joshua Wolfsun
July 25, 2010 - 6:10 PM ET
Well, it has been a little while, hasn't it? I'm going to make this one a rather short post, which is probably good for the sanity of everyone but me. In any case, this summer has been pretty fruitful so far for Riverwolf Productions, if for no other reason than The Bard is finally getting going in post-production. I don't want to give too much away, but today I just finished the definite timed-out rough cut for The Bard. I am majorly psyched. I love TV (possibly more than anyone else on the planet), but there is something grand about making a film, which simply cannot be translated in a television format. Dare I say, I missed filmmaking. Student News and Lights Up are fantastic, and I wouldn't give them up for anything, but in editing The Bard there's something different about it. It's difficult to explain (one reason why I'm having trouble explaining it), but over two years since I first penned the stageplay, there's something incredibly compelling about shepherding it to completion. That and the fact that it is - with no hyperbole - going to be our best narrative piece to-date. I've got to run and do producer-y things, but I'll post soon... There are great things in the tapis for Riverwolf (psshh, don't tell anyone but ACTV got teleprompters!). Until next time...
-Joshua Wolfsun
April 17, 2010 - 5:44 PM ET
So, another show done, another premiere had. Being a young adolescent man, I can say with full understanding that birthing is the hard part. You have heard from the mouths of cast members and producers how the laugh track went, how the premiere went, and what a great experience Lights Up has been for all those involved with it. Every single thing that has been written by them about this show is true. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had working on a project - and, yes, that does include Keep Living, The Paper, The Bard, and Student News. That's not to say that I didn't have a great time working on those projects, but Lights Up was something different. I've said it before and I'll say it again; great casts turn good writing into great writing. I've had a chance to work with a team on this project that was so devoted to it, and loved it almost as much as I did (I only say 'almost' because I doubt anyone was as obsessed as I was... although on second thought, they might have been). The enthusiasm and talent of the cast, the resilience and hardy nature of the crew and intrepid women who I had the chance to produce with all made the experience something I will truly never forget... and are all partially why I went through Lights Up withdrawal this week. I've worked on a fair number of projects now, but I really fell in love with this show and this cast. Head over heels. As I sit here with a chart on all of Riverwolf's expenses sitting next to me, it's hard for me to think about not having Lights Up anymore. I was actually talking to a friend the other day, and she asked me, "Could you ever imagine your life without you working on film or television?" I'm someone who likes to keep my options open, and mostly when people ask me, "what do you want to do when you get older?" I reply, "I'm not sure yet." Thinking about the question, I came to the realization that I couldn't imagine my life without the creation of film or TV being a part of it. We're still in the process of deciding whether Lights Up will be renewed past this first episode, but I've got to say that it's very difficult to think of life without it even for the next five months, let alone for all time...
-Joshua Wolfsun
March 27, 2010 - 9:05 PM ET
So, I sit here with my Friendly's "Sundaes To-Go" Reese's Pieces ice cream, and think to myself that perhaps I could blog once a week if I really tried. Then I think about what I'm not doing at this very moment, and realize that could never happen. On my five minute break between editing the latest Student News episode, scheduling the last few Lights Up shoots, writing the last Lights Up sketch, scheduling the Lights Up airdate, and writing thank-you letters to the people who make these productions possible - on that five minute break - I'm writing this blog for you... feel special. Needless to say, this will not be a long entry. I have found that there are two different periods which inevitably pop up in my life; the times where I am 100% overwhelmed with work, and the times where I am not. I also find that most of the times where I am 100% overwhelmed with work originate with the times where I am not. When I, as a human being, feel there is nothing to do, I try to fill that void... the problem comes when I don't look ahead. If I were never pre-scheduled to be busy, the new things I sign up for would fine. The problem? I'm often pre-scheduled. Let's take this blog as an example: When I first started it on December 3, 2007, I hadn't even begun my first film, and I needed something to fill the void. By the time I had actually begun filming that first short film, there was no longer time to maintain the blog. So is it likely that I will end up blogging once a week? No. However, the good news is, I have discovered that Friendly's "Sundaes To-Go" in the Reese's Pieces flavor are very good... I will need to get more of these in the future. And, oh right, the shoots are going well and everyone is fantastic, but that seems to be becoming the norm, so nothing much new besides the latest in ice cream flavors.
-Joshua Wolfsun
March 20, 2010 - 5:22 PM ET
Well, here we go again! The end of another one of those long periods of time where no one (aka me) posts on the oh-so-widely-read blog. That being said, a great many things are underway over at Riverwolf Productions. The Bard is still in post-production, Student News is chugging along, and Lights Up is due to premiere on April 12. In fact, let me take the time on this blog post to talk about television. I love television. Some people would say that I love it more than breathing and eating. Those people would know me well... too well... hmmm... For all of the rhetoric in Amherst, Massachusetts that I hear about how TV is bad, and the prideful assertions I hear from people that "I don't get TV," I notice that all of those people own televisions. And they all admit to watching television shows and movies on DVD, but they say it's different than the stuff that comes over the cable system. Besides the hypocrisy of the statement, television is something that I would assert is better quality, and better for society than what is found on the internet. Knowing full well that I run a blog and a few internet sites, I'm going to say, right here, that television should not be counted out or demonized, and is - in fact - better for Amherst and this nation than the internet. Recently, on Student News, Executive Producer Jessie Chasan-Taber and myself responded to an offensive email which was sent to us in regards to our leadership and editorial decisions on Student News. Since then, we haven't received any personal emails from the sender, but he did respond on the comments of a blog in the Town of Amherst along with other people. I am not going to respond to their accusations right now. Rather, I'd like to use the instance of the producers of a youth news show being called biased, unfair, sexist, and (ironically) told to grow a set of testicles, as an example of what the internet can do. Television certainly isn't saintly, but you always have to put your name to what goes on the air, and usually you have to look into the camera and say it, too. Television has the power to inform, create, and tell a story. It brings characters not just from the Point A to Point B, which films provide, but further than that - on to Points C, D, and E. On the cusp of another election in this town, and many, many people grasping at straws for the civility and respectful discussion that Amherst once had, the internet is not the place to find it. (He says on the internet; poetic, no?) Where the internet provides a din so loud that the user can barely hear their own thoughts, television provides a more accountable, refined, and quality-filled medium from which to get media, information, and entertainment. Wow, that was far more persuasive than I thought this post would be when I started out! The take aways? 1- TV is getting a less-than-deserved bad wrap, 2- the internet should not be hailed as the be-all and end-all of the media world, and finally, 3- the two television shows I'm working on at the moment (Lights Up and Student News) are meeting and surpassing many of my expectations (which is near impossible) and I'm loving working on them with the fantastic production teams they each possess. To all of the production teams: We've been busy, and we're going to be busy for a while, but the product... well, it's better than anything we've ever done before. To the reader: You should watch it. ;-)
-Joshua Wolfsun
December 25, 2009 - 3:21 PM EST
Is there redundancy in updating a blog twice in as many days after not updating it for two months? Yes. Do I care? No. It's Christmas, and I need to take a break from writing. Yes, in fact, there's a story to tell about me and Christmas; while I, being Jewish, don't get your tangible Christmas gifts that Santa (who would've burst into flames anyway) brought, I do have my own special tradition, and present of sorts. Christmas day, starting with the first Christmas that Riverwolf Productions was in existence, has always been a day of writing for me. Writing is where filmmaking/Television-producing began with me. Before Riverwolf, before cameras and lights, and tripods, and computers, and even proper format for scripts, I was writing. There's something inexplicably lovely about writing - creating characters, creating people, in fact. I actually wrote the entire script for The Paper on Christmas Day, not counting the forced re-write of the ending which occurred one day before we shot it. There's something about the energy, and no one being around, where I can just settle into the chair, and type up words for a few good hours. To me, a show lives and dies in the writer's room. You need all the other things to be spot-on, the directing, producing, editing, and (of course) the acting, but if you don't have a good idea to start out with, you've got nothing. Even if you've got a half-decent script to start out with, your film's only ever going to be as good as that half-decent script. Your film or TV show will only ever be as good as the script that it's shot from; so the better your script, the better your film or show can be. So, this is my (Jewish) celebration of Christmas. What's a better gift than getting a whole new world to work with?
-Joshua Wolfsun
December 24, 2009 - 8:20 PM ET
Well, it's Christmas Eve. An interesting prospect for Jews anyway, although eased by Chinese Food and movies. Might I say, the Chinese food this year was very good, though the restaurant was crowded with Jews... and Christians? Odd. In any case, I continue. I have finally lit upon a spare moment to continue this blasting blog, as our wonderful website (alliteration-heavy, perhaps, though I enjoyed the mental exercise) progresses in new and uncharted directions. Why do I have this spare moment? Well, the people I work with aren't all Jews, nor are they all crazy like me. Actually, no one's crazy like me. Let's just recap what Riverwolf is doing at the moment: The Bard is in post-production and is being edited, Student News is continuing on it's merry way, Lights Up From Youth in the Valley (which, if you haven't read about it, is going to be awesome!) is taking it's first steps, and will be entering production within a month, and if that weren't enough, we're planning some other Riverwolf specials, films, and shows. Part of me wonders if we will soon hit our waterloo. Not yet, it seems. :) Although, we did have a bad moment on December 14 - if you were watching, you know this - when the episode of Student News which was scheduled to air that day didn't air. Yeah, not my best day ever. But you get to hear the painful story (when I say 'you' I refer to all of you who read this blog... all two of you). Basically, as we headed into that Monday we were scheduled to air, I came to the realization (as the Episode Editor) that we were missing a large piece of the headlines. There was a blip on our tape recording as well as the digital recording, where three headlines just disappeared. This just would not do, because it just didn't seem good to have one headline in the show with an interview counting as a half-headline. So, we attempted to do what could be construed to be the impossible. Did we fail? Gloriously. We came to the conclusion that the only way to remedy the situation was to go into the studio the day we were going to air, and film a minute-long headline to fill the blank space in the show. Doesn't sound that hard, right? Well, it was compounded by the fact that to adequately have the time to get the show in time to broadcast it, the wonderful people at ACTV would need the DVD by 5:30pm... and we were only scheduled to begin filming at 4:30pm. Yeah, you see the problem. By 4:45 we had finished the filming process, but then the real magic had to occur, the magic of editing. If you've never worked on editing anything before (which would be odd, since probably at least one of the two of you readers has edited a video piece for Riverwolf), the editing room is really where it all comes together. In films, in television - it's like writing. Each step of the filmmaking/television-producing process is about story-telling; writing, directing, and editing. Editing usually takes the longest, I find, allows you to reconstruct your story again, and allows you the option of telling it in a new and different way than you had first thought. Enough about the art of editing, though - back to the story. Well, in any case, that "magic of editing" is not usually a quick thing. That being said, I had the piece ready to go by 5pm... but then the burn process had to occur - the dreaded burn. I won't go into the technical details, other than to say that computers really annoy me sometimes, and the burn wasn't half-done when 5:30 rolled around. So, yeah, that was a bad night for me... and for everyone who were forced to talk to me (sorry about that, Jessie!), but we learned. All of this is learning. What did we learn? Don't let your tapes blip, have back-up plans before you need them, and whatever you do, leave enough time for the burn. Yeah, won't ever do that again! As always, I hope you enjoy the stuff we're putting out of Riverwolf Productions, and check out Lights Up. I'm serious. It's going to be good stuff.
-Joshua Wolfsun
October 3, 2009 - 3:34 PM EDT
Well, today's a rather average day at Riverwolf Productions, and seeing as on the last blog it seemed I just never found time to post, I will take this spare moment to fill you in on what's going on right now. Today, along with the numerous other things I do in my life, I am writing parts of the script for the Student News episode which will air in 10 days. Why are we (me and the team of SN writers) writing it now? Because in 5 days (on Wednesday, October 7) we will shoot that episode which will air on the 13th. Confusing? You bet. We don't air live with Student News (thank God!), and thus, we shoot it on the Wednesday before we air. That's not all we're working to accomplish right now, though. The Student News volunteers, numbering at approximately 30 at the moment, are working on putting together three segments, a One Minute Sound Off, and - just to cap it off - we're working on building a set. Stressful? You bet. On Oct. 1st, a team from Student News met with a wonderful ACTV staffer, and hashed out how the sets would be constructed, while at the same time, another team from Student News filmed a "Mark's Meadow Watch" interview (a segment covering the closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School in Amherst). Yesterday, we filmed an interview with Amherst High School Principal Mark Jackson about the attendance policy there, had a meeting of Student News reporters to plan for the November episode, and made more headway on the set. Right now, as I'm writing this, the Student News writers are working on putting together a script for the show; Student News editors are working on editing together segments; Student News reporters are preparing for their last interviews for this episode's segments; and Student News producers are organizing days to finish off the new SN set, are organizing segment shoots, are organizing the episode shoot, are working 24/7 to make sure nothing is going to fall through the cracks, and are making that the show happens - all around organizing. To top it off, all of that is occuring while The Bard just went into Post-Production. Just an average week on Student News. It's kind of incredible to me where we've come... a long way since Keep Living. Not that Keep Living wasn't great, and it was the best first film I could've hoped for, but this Student News experience - it's something else. Working with so many people who love the show just as much as I do. It's humbling. It's something special. As I wrote in a letter to someone recently: if that's not striving for excellence, then I don't know what is. Oh, and by the way, we're embarking on pre-production on a whole new project next month. Just an average day at Riverwolf Productions.
-Joshua Wolfsun
September 28, 2009 - 4:00 PM EDT
Well, we're back folks! After a trying summer, and much disillusionment with the internet, our website is back up, and here I am - blogging again. So, for those three people out there that read this, I'm happy to serve you again. :) Alright, so much progress has been made over this summer and over the time that this site has been "up" and then "down." After many scheduling issues and problems, we've finally shot The Bard, over the last two weekends. It was a trial to get it into production, but it was worth it. The footage coming off of those tapes is truly incredible. It's another level of quality that we've reached - and I'm enjoying every second of it. There was an all-star crew, an all-star cast, and the perfect location. What more could I ask for? I don't know how it happens, but somehow, things fall into place, and what we end up with is beyond my wildest dreams of what we could have achieved. The crew worked harder than ever, and more skillfully than ever before, and the outcomes can be described in one word: awesome. When I use the word "awesome" I don't mean it in the sense of "awesome, dude" I mean it in the old-school sense of the word, the meaning that relates to staring at the heavenly bodies floating in our sky at night and having no other possible word at one's disposal but "awesome." On top of that, we shot The Bard on back-to-back weekends, right after filming our first Student News episode. Of all the many great things Student News was able to do in it's first season, I think the show has finally come into it's own this second season. Over the summer and earlier this year, we bolstered our production team to over 20 youth, and they're quite a force to be reckoned with. After working with us last season on an international segment, as well as a Nose-to-Nose, Jessie Chasan-Taber joined the show as the other Executive Producer, upon her return to the States, and her segment on Amherst Superintendent Rodriguez's plans to change the Amherst Schools could have been an example pulled straight out of the dictionary under "Investigative Journalism." So much has occurred, and so much has yet to occur, but stay tuned, 'cause it's going to be a big year for Riverwolf Productions. I can feel it in my bones. And now, you can once again, hear all about it.
-Joshua Wolfsun
