Our Reception Area

For the past six months, I’ve been working on the creation and launch of Online.tv:

Online.tv is a complete digital video solution provider for the web video era. Online.tv combines the world’s largest network of online specialty HD video channels, online third party video super-distribution, advanced scalable technology solutions for video and content delivery and presentation, and a high performance production studio optimized for web production.

Studio A - soon to be the green screen studio

Part of this project for the past few months has been the finding, designing and building out of a 3000 square foot production studio, that includes two full HD shoot studios (15×33), one designated as a permanent green screen studio (with option to be a blue screen studio), the other a white cyc that can be adapted to any color/purpose. The studios are lit by cool lights purchased from Alzo Digital, that are 5500k soft box units - they stay cool, look great, use less energy, which is important these days.

You can see a tour of the space here.

Much, much more to come.  Stayed tuned to be amazed…

Peace,
Melissa

I am thrilled to announce that a film I was Director of Photography for, “Mandatory Service”, received the award for BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival:

http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/filmguide/Mandatory_Service.html

About the film:

The cultural impact of the militarization of Israeli society has both challenged and stifled the cultivation of creativity in the country. Mandatory Service asks a series of often ignored yet important questions about how forced military service-and resistance to it-influences Israeli artists’ and activists’ efforts to re-civilize the consciousness of Israeli society.

I shot this film at a pivotal time in my development as a filmmaker, and the opportunity to shoot on such a powerful topic was life changing. Not to mention being able to shoot out of a doorless helicopter over the desert, Masada and the Dead Sea!

Much thanks and love to the director and producer of the film, Jessica Habie & Nirah Shirazipour.

Peace,
Melissa

Festival Founders rock out with their docs out!

I shot press stills and interviews for the Cinema Eye Awards - the first awards show totally for documentaries. Sponsored by IndiePix, the event was a raging success, and really inspired me as a documentary filmmaker. It had me fired up to keep going, and to know that a room full of great minds knew my personal pain and joy deeply. We all share this bug, this nagging desire to communicate meaningfully.

“Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)” winners!

The big winners of the night were the crew of “Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)” - they won for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking, Outstanding Achievement in Editing and Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography.

presenter Barbara Kopple

Lots of documentary greats in the house - presenters included Barbara Kopple, Alan Berliner, Alex Gibney…it was incredible to be face to face, shooting these folks and hearing them speak from their hearts about documentary filmmaking.

the Eyes…

This was the first year, hopefully of many more years to come! Check out the pix soon to be uploaded in the photography section.

Peace,
Melissa

The Art & Apathy Project was selected for inclusion in the next Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Jessica Habie, this film addresses the militarized conditions artists struggle to create under in Israel and Palestine, and the complexities of occupations. I was one of the DPs for this project, and it was my great honor to help bring this conversation to Western audiences. Please check out the site and join in the dialogue:

http://www.artandapathyfilms.com

Peace,
Melissa
Multo.com

I think it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it never has seen but is to be - that man may have cosmic destinies that he does not understand. And so beyond the vision of battling races and an impoverished earth, I catch a dreaming glimpse of peace.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

This is a piece we’re developing for UrbNews.tv.

Check it out!

Peace,
Melissa

 

 Obama Who? [3:37m]: Play Now | Download (200)

Broadway.tv is up and running!  Please check out the features and reviews.  The video production was done by Multo.com.

Peace,
Melissa

The Art of Love and Struggle will be screening at the Pan African Arts and Film Festival 02/11/2008 - 1:10pm, 02/13/2008 - 10:20pm, in Los Angeles, at the AMC Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15, 4020 Marlton Avenue.

Purchase tickets here!

Please do come out and support this fantastic film, which was a huge labor of love, celebrating these women and their struggle to make art.

Peace,
Melissa

Check out the three most hilarious videos of the past month for me:

The Landlord - A MUST SEE!!!

Which one of these is not like the others? And why does that make it EVEN FUNNIER?!?!?!

Peace,

Melissa

Blower’s Daughter - Damien Rice

É Isso Ai - Ana Carolina E Seu Jorge

I love this song - so achingly loving, full of gorgeous longing. And yet in Portuguese, (such a lovely language), it sounds strong and passionate. Both version stir something in my soul - one sad and reaching, one alive and powerful.

I so miss Lisbon…the people, the art, the energy. It was full of wide open love and laughter, with no strings, no pressure, just fun and free. It seems to a be a place where one can rest easy in happiness and extend in art.

Besos mil,
Melissa

Smokifantastic dancing away…

Great news!  For those of you interested in purchasing the beautiful and moving documentary, The Art of Love & Struggle, you can now get it at Film Baby!

This was an absolute labor of love, between director Jessica Habie and I. We slaved into the wee hours to get this in the can and we were thrilled with the result.

Please scoop up your copy today!

Peace,
Melissa

Lizzie White looking down on the good work…

Great news! Updates on the progress of MHB on the festival circuit! MHB was accepted to the Independents Film Festival and the Gloria Film Festival this past fall. Nancy O’Mallon was a great director to work with and the result of our joint efforts continues to bear sweet fruit.

Peace,
Melissa

I recently finished a group of clips for the new site BMI.tv (Body Mass Index). Check out the sample below and the site here!

Peace,
Melissa

 

 BMI.tv - Underweight [1:36m]: Play Now | Download (255)

Featured Video on Gravel Site

The spots I directed and edited are getting great feedback online. From the reviews of viewers, to the amount of views on YouTube.com, the spots seem to have hit a nerve. They are also currently being broadcast in New Hampshire on WMUR and MCAM. And one of the spots is featured on Gravel’s website front page, helping bolster views well over the 2800 mark in under a week.

Peace,
Melissa

I will be in Atlanta next week for the Hip Hop Awards and Conference.  I’ll be shooting with Misty and Vince, as we cover events and do interviews on the 2008 election, the state of Hip Hop and issues with the Anti-Snitching movement.

Look for me on the red carpet Friday night!

Peace,
Melissa

I love my Macs - seriously - no other tool besides my camera gear has allowed me to express my art so fully. And now, proof again that Macs are truly badass.

Have you ever had an officemate that borders on, oh, I dunno, psycho? Lucky for me I was saddled with one this past summer, and she, in a selfish and ridiculous move, ended up crashing not one but 10 of my hard drives. Over a terrabyte of data inaccessible. To say I was inconsolable for the few hours after fully realizing the situation goes without saying. I did consider homicide but I’m too peaceful a person, (I really just wanted to sock her a good one in the eye, for the idiot factor alone). I had backed up data on redundant drives, but she took the whole drive farm down, in one fell swoop.

So cut to trying to save the drives - nothing worked. No application made it better, and quotes for data retrieval were well outside of my budget. I sorta shut down creatively, or at least became cautious. I moved my office home, and I worked on what I could. I tried to make peace with the content that was gone, and notified clients of their lost data (oooh that one really hurt and cost me a bundle). I considered suing, but the silly person who did this isn’t worth much, and what’s the point, really, but to stay angry? That’s not me. I’m all speed ahead, even if I’m wounded. And this loss truly wounded me, as a sole proprietor and an artist.

Cut to a week ago, some more research and I happen upon two programs - an updated version of Disk Warrior and Data Rescue II. I snag them from Digital Society, and held on them for a few days, not really wanting to be disappointed all over again. I had a sense at the back of my brain not to give up completely, but take a break from the trauma of data loss, and then try again when the dust settled.

This morning, I’m sitting at my desk, procrastinating again, and eye the two applications to the side of my monitors. I see the box of drives across the room, with a portable 80 gig drive I named Brigid sticking out of the top, under LaCies labeled Minerva, Sappho and Artemis (all my drives are named after goddesses). I snatch it up and drop in the Disk Warrior CD. I run the rebuild on Brigid and there it is, fixed, mounted and ready to rock.

I dropped to my knees and thanked the goddesses of data!!!! And the manufacturers of Disk Warrior.

I load another drive in - Disk Warrior takes care of it. Another - boom - done. Another - ah yes - I definitely want to celebrate tonight. Another - technology is so hot when it works. Another - ooops - not loading. Not fixable. Data Rescue II sees some of the data and I can snag it. Oh yah…I’m feeling REALLY GOOD about my projects and my data.

So the moral of the story is sometimes data takes a nap, but if you find the right tool, you can wake it up again. Also, patience…not something I’m particularly good at…but damn, if it doesn’t always work out for the best!

Peace and Smiles!
Melissa

Check out this short sample of animated backdrops for an upcoming tour.  Can’t say who its for yet…but check back to see who I’m on tour with this December!

Peace,
Melissa

 

 Tour Sample [2:56m]: Play Now | Download (393)

Here is the updated trailer for “The Art of Love & Struggle”.

Enjoy!
Melissa

 

 The Art of Love & Struggle Trailer [3:00m]: Play Now | Download (343)

Does this strike include a call to independents?

Dear WGA:

As a freelance writer, who has been so for years, but not a member of your organization, I sympathize deeply with your members.  We in the independent world, particularly in internet content producing, work more with corporate bodies who have little experience in production, and little understanding of the costs or process.   Or we work on low budget productions, skewed more and more toward direct to DVD or internet broadcasting, where you are simply a gun for hire.  I cannot speak for my fellow independents and internet video makers, however I sincerely hope you will invite and include us in the fight, and in the union.

Rallying around the issue affects all of us, however, I believe that for the union to be truly powerful, it should also embrace the independent more inclusively.  The process and cost to get into any entertainment union is prohibitive to many independents, particularly documentary makers, and exclusion has turned a worker’s concept into an access-only club.   The ability to produce quality media no longer meets a pay scale rate allowing for a new media maker to afford both rent and dues.  Can these rates be more accessible to independents?  Can the initiation fee be more realistic to our times?  Can the concept of “writer” be broadened to include webisodes, podcasts, blogs and even code?  Can this concept also be embraced by the other unions, to understand that now an online content producer may do all roles professionally - write, direct, shoot, edit and stream?  Perhaps now is a time for the WGA to revisit what they see themselves as, and who they include in their mission.

For the ability of the many independents has grown exponentially in this digital age and talent is everywhere.  To harness that talent now would be a progressive action for the union to do, as the majors most certainly will, and probably already have, with contests like “America’s Next Producer”, “The Lot”, etc.  We independents need you to help us get the same rights, and you need us for numbers and solidarity with your cause.  This is not a threat but a call for inclusion.  Unions originally formed to protect the many poor laborers in this country, not just the ones who could afford entry.  Unions traditionally get their strength from the proletariat.  WGA, get yours now from the digital proles.

We are here, with you, ready to stand in solidarity.

Best,
Melissa Ulto
Independent Content Producer
Multo.com

Librado Romero/The New York Times

Above, Tina Fey pickets outside Rockefeller Plaza. (Go Tina!) The strike is beyond valid and overdue. As the new media boom continues, cross platform delivery of writers’ content is now on everything from DVDs to iPhones. Not to mention the mass use of content now in public spaces (with LCD screens everywhere), and on the internet. The writers, who come up with the ideas and scripts for the content, get a little upfront and a little on the backend. Very little. I say to writers and content producers everywhere - take back the media - start your own .tv and find your own audience. Take that audience away from the entertainment fossil known as Hollywood, and bring it back to the realities of what it really costs and who should really get the credit and bank. You can get sponsors, advertisers, etc, without the massive middle-beast and bring the industry back down to the people who actually make it happen. Lord knows the Hollyweirds certainly don’t have anything over the creatives and crew - they couldn’t pick a winning movie if it came up and slapped in the face with a protest sign. And seriously, without the words, the talent would do what it does best - stammer and sputter and say stupid things like its prose. We don’t want too many actors improv’ing, you know? There are few Robin Williams out there - very few. Its bad enough when talent speaks on bigger issues and blunders titanically - Tom Cruise and psychotherapy, Dog the Bounty Hunter and his racist rants, and well, any actor on politics.

The strike calls up a few other issues - like asking independent filmmakers and content producers to submit work for very little, for free or for a “contest” to a growing swarm of websites. From YouTube to Fox’s The Lot, pros are having to swim with the tadpoles and cell phone cammers, and are asked to “prove” their worth and work. Didn’t we go through years of artistic poverty and PA’ing to do that already? Isn’t our reel or our website or our YouTube profile enough? Guess not! So that means these sites can pick and choose, stockpile content and wrap their advertising around it, while barely breaking a sweat or spending much at all. I guarantee you the studios, who have been stockpiling scripts, will turn to America, with some LAME contest, to find the next great script or sitcom or film, and bypass the Writer’s Strike. I mean, wasn’t The Lot, American’s Next Producer and a variety of other shows proving that talent exists in plenty outside the Hollywood system?

I participated in The Lot and I felt conflicted at the time. I know why - it was most definitely talent mining, on an uneven field, where both pros and amateurs jockeyed for position. How many of those hungry hopefuls, if offered the chance, would cross the picket line eagerly and get their foot in the door? Thousands, if not millions. And not just in the US - worldwide! How do you explain to a desperate, starry eyed amateur that being a scab is not only killing the existing professionals a chance at real parity, but destroying their own chances at fair pay down the road?

When you can mass anything together - talent, workers, choices - you can lose sight of the individual value of each thing separately. Homogenized results come from mass selection. The mean or the median is chosen, the average is applauded but what about consistency and brilliance? What about professionalism and the craft of what we do as artisans, not just corporate cogs?

Support this strike, though it may cramp your Daily Show watching. Its important for many reasons, and solidarity is required of all of us, union or not, in this industry. For disclosure, I’m not in the union, but I do subscribe to the WGA for their bulletins and notices.

Rock On Writers!
Melissa

Check out this trailer I edited for a fledgling project.  Not sure if the project itself is still happening, but the trailer I directed, animated and edited still stands up!

Peace,
Melissa

 

 Hip Hop For President Trailer [3:07m]: Play Now | Download (312)

I burn DVDs regularly from projects built in FCP, and have been doing this since the first version of FCP. DVD Studio Pro has its issues, but they are workable - the DVDs I build for clients - art installations, documentary rough cut reviews, screeners and video wallpaper - require the best out of the MPEG 2 codec. A recent project for an installation of 4 concurrently running DVDs had me testing codecs and encoders to get the best image from text and stills. Granted, the designers are print designers, and forgot the basics about images and text on video - keep it a fat font, keep on whole numbers for the x/y plane, keep it above 24 points, make sure its not WHITE white, use a keyline if you can, or deal with the faded edges versus jagged, pixelated ones. So I had work with InDesign Interchange documents, export as high res print PDF, import back into CS3’s Photoshop, exported several ways - high res JPEG, high res PNG, and finally, (what worked the best) Quicktime MOV files, using the animation codec setting.

(deep breath…slug back a coffee…sigh deeply, and…)

I then imported the files into FCP6, set the sequence codec to match (animation), and viola - tiny text that is readable when projected on a huge screen. At least according to my NTSC monitor. (more…)

Its official - I have signed on to do the sequel to “Death Before Dishonor”, as editor and writer. These days, the editor role in my case usually means heavy story direction. I am truly excited to be doing this project, as a rebuttal to our first film on the topic. I am working with Rich Murray again, of Invincible Pictures, and we are baggage free this time around.

If you are interested in being interviewed for this documentary, please do contact me at multo@multo.com.

Exciting things ahead! Stay tuned!

Peace,
Melissa

Screen shot from Nielsen CGM Summit Video

Today, I completed a video for the opening of the CGM Summit, to be shown later this week in NYC.  Check out the “Filmmaker” section of my site to see the completed cut.  It’s hot and flashy.

Peace,
Melissa

Warner Brothers Boycott

According to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily, Warner Brothers president Jeff Robinov is no longer interested in seeing any scripts with a female in the lead. Nikki’s sources are several insider producers, who relayed to her “the official policy as expressly articulated by Robinov is that a male has to be the lead of every pic made. I’m told he doesn’t even want to see a script with a woman in the primary position (which now is apparently missionary at WB).”

This supposedly is a knee jerk reaction by Robinov to the weak box office showing of The Brave One and The Invasion. But in review of the films with female leads put out by Warner Brothers in the last few years, there few to none. Lots of damsels in distress - Lady In The Water, Gothika, The Fountain. From 2000 to 2006, the list of films that have solely strong female leads are 2 - Catwoman, Charlotte Gray. That’s literally shameful.

It is clearly time for a female headed production studio. Our stories are not being considered, or being told mindfully and with respect. Studios focus on the biggest bang for their buck, going for the lowest common traits in us all. Instead, studios should be looking at the multiplicity of voices across the globe, male and female, and allow for artists to make smaller films that celebrate the diversity of talent and content available. Smaller productions, with better quality and mindful of its impact on our collective voice, will in the long run, be much more profitable than these huge gambles on massive features that do not uplift or engage the viewer in a meaningful way. Mass media’s goal should not be the homogenization of thought or art, and in pursuing this vigorously, they have succeeded in putting their own heads fully up their own asses, otherwise known as box office disasters.

Gloria Alred, when reached by Nikki for comment, released this statement:

“If that’s what he said, when movies with men as the lead fail, no one says we’ll stop making movies with men in the lead. This is an insult to all moviegoers and particularly women. It is truly unfortunate that women get blamed for decisions which are made by men. Instead of taking responsibility for their own lack of judgment about which scripts to make, directors to hire and budgets to OK, some men in the movie industry find it easier to place blame for their lack of success on women leads and to exclude talented female actors from the top employment opportunities in Hollywood in favor of macho males. If that studio confirms that their policy is to now exclude women as leads, then my policy would be to boycott films made by Warner Bros.”

Keep watch on SheStory.tv to monitor the boycott of Warner Brothers and any production company that works with them. Thanks to IMDB, keeping up-to-date on who is working with WB won’t be too hard.

Peace,
Melissa

Check out this swell video I shot and edited for the fabulous Andrea Grant, a couple of years back. Check her out at Copious Amounts Press.

Peace,
Melissa

Downtown LA

I’m off this Tuesday to LA for 10 days, as I shoot the Brothers Gallo for their online pilot. Should be an interesting trip, and it will be my first trip back since, well, I was a wee baby. I was born in LA, Hollywood to be exact.

Keep checking back for updates and images!

Peace,
Melissa

I directed a music video for Plastiq Passion a couple of weeks ago and we’ve finally finished up on post. My editor Raul did an amazing job. Much thanks to Jonathan for his cheeky performance as Death. And thanks to Nate and Natalie for their help on the shoot!

Check it out!!!

Peace,
Melissa

 

 Oh Death - Plastiq Passion [2:38m]: Play Now | Download (463)

Me in the sunshine…

I’ve got a new reel page up, so check out updated samples of my work in documentaries, shorts, trailers and promos.

Peace,
Melissa

Here is the rough and ready, cool and sassy 30th Anniversary video I created with Tish and Snooky for Manic Panic!

Peace,
Melissa

On our way to the boat…

I have been terribly busy lately, unable to sit myself down and write up a good long entry on Lisbon (however, I did manage to get the photos up!). I cannot express enough how wonderful an experience it was - from the gracious warmth of our hosts - Alex, Teté, Patricia, Vasco, Jose, the entire staff at Chapito - to the amazing filmmakers I met at the festival - Brendan, Gerry, Daniel, Lorcan, Bru, Nicolai - I doubt I could have had a better time.

Me and Vasco, my Lisbon little brother

From my arrival into Lisbon, to the last morning, Vasco was my transportation and my guide to the city. He was an adorable guy, who explained the city to me through the eyes of a local passionate about his city, his culture. He carted me to and from the hotel to Chapito - a circus school cum restaurant cum social activism collective cum cultural center. (more…)

MHB wins the Codes Pro Media ReelHeART Award at the ReelHeart International Film Festival in Toronto this past weekend!  The award is given to “The visiting filmmaker that exhibits true independent spirit, from promotion to inspiration and engagement”  With the award comes a medallion and a Sony Cybershot 7.2 mega pixel digital camera, which Director Nancy O’Mallon will put to good use on her next film, about cranberries!

Congrats Nancy!  Keep spreading the blueberry news!

Peace,
Melissa

Check out the notes from last week’s H20 panel on Filmmaking Methods. (Thanks to Alex Golliner for posting these!)

Peace,
Melissa

Shooting with Christi Smith from PFF Entertainment

Last night I shot a couple of interviews for the next edition of SheStory.tv - the theme being passionate persistence. Christi Smith, from PFF Entertainment, lives, works and partners with her passions. She started her business around a board game she created, PervArtistry, a charades/pictionary type game, with a delightfully naughty twist. She and her fiance/business partner, Ted Scofield, have expanded to t-shirts, events and a book is in the works! We also shot with Carla Hall, an incredible singer, who has found an outlet for her work surprisingly during her day job in banking.

I also watched Alan Berliner’s documentary, Wide Awake, about insomnia and the artist. It was masterfully done, well edited, showing with the flurries of images, sounds and thought loops the chaos that plagues the artist’s mind. So much of it echoed my own experiences with sleep and work. The late night hours, the racing mind, the intense focus the later it gets, the siesta…all things I wrestle with. Thomas Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, Marlene Dietrich, Franz Kafka, Margaret Thatcher, Van Gogh, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Catherine the Great…all insomniacs. It was interesting how having a child changed his perspective on sleep, but overall, didn’t change much. Perhaps a sequel, following the clock resetting? Ah, but then, Alan might be sleeping when he’d otherwise be editing!

Peace,
Melissa

+OLHARES Poster (click here for full size)

I’m very excited - all the arrangements are made, and I’m heading off to sunny Lisbon June 20 to 25. Here is the list of invited artists to this unique festival:

LIST OF INVITED ARTISTS
FILIPA CÉSAR (PT/GR)
JOÃO ONOFRE(PT)
URSULA BOECKLER (GR)
NIKOLAI GALITZINE (FR)
GEORG GRAW (GR)
DIANE GUYOT (FR)
BRENDAN McNAMEE (UK)
GIACOMO PICCA (UK)
JULIAN ROSEFELDT (GR)
EDDIE SINGLETON (UK)
MELISSA ULTO (USA)
LORCAN FINNEGAN (IRL)
DALTONIC BROTHERS (PT)
TIAGO PEREIRA (PT)
JOÃO PAULO SERAFIM (PT)
CTG37&BIKINIDRESSCODE(CZ)

A short collection of clips from SheStory.tv will be shown on Friday, June 22, and I will be VJ’ing in a video jam session.

If you are in that part of the world later this month, come on by and say hello!

Peace,
Melissa

The A