Projects
The Penny Jam
The Penny Jam is an iTunes podcast and video series residing at http://thepennyjam.com. The 30 episode series documents local bands playing in nooks and crannies around the beautiful city of Portland Oregon – a different band and location every time! It was created by me, Sean Whiteman and James Jacobsen in the Spring of 2008 and concluding in the Spring of 2010. The project was quite successful in generating attention to the many bands and businesses that were featured. I did graphic design, web development, scheduled of bands, locations, organized sound and video crew – and filmed 28 of the 30 episodes. Read more in the blog under “The Penny Jam“.
Childhood Machine
Childhood Machine is a feature-length film being shot in Portland, Oregon in the summer of 2011. It is masterminded by the Whiteman Brothers and I’m co-producing the film. The film follows an experimental format of narrative mixed with stylized interludes, and features some fine actors. My role so far has included doing branding, web design & development, blogging & helping organize the Kickstarter campaign. The last round of filming takes place in late September. We’re in the process of setting up an LLC for the film and planning out a scheme for paying out rewards to our Kickstarter contributors. Check out the website.
Instant Rimshot
Instantrimshot.com is a website that I started on a lark in 2007 to amuse my coworkers. It started to gain traction right around the time as a variety of other “single-serving sites,” created by Jason Kottke. It began to circulate on message boards and comments. People were fascinated by the strangely named “instant rimshot” and delighted to see it in action. Since the site was launched it has had over 5 million unique visitors and generated a significant revenue through display ads. It is popular the world over and many knockoff sites have sprung up, leading some meme enthusiasts to suggest it is the “earliest and best-known reaction site.”
Oregon Voice Magazine
The Oregon Voice is a student-funded-and-produced publication at the University of Oregon focusing on music, interviews and feature journalism. My streak as Publisher then Editor-in-Chief 2005-2006 put me in charge of managing the $12k annual budget, obtaining new computer and software equipment & organizing distribution of 7 annual issues across the city of Eugene, OR. I organized a staff of 20+ volunteer journalists and artists & increasing ad sales dramatically to improve paper quality and distribution. It was a fantastic experience – a rare chance to work at a liberated print publication.
Headset Hotties
Headset Hotties is a site I created to poke fun at the overuse of stock photography in corporate web design. It is a collection of screenshots that feature headset hotties “in the wild,” i.e. those cute, helpful customer support representatives wearing headsets on corporate websites. The site was featured prominently in the (Month) issue of Practical Web Design magazine in an article titled “Give Niche a chance.” It was also roasted by one of my idols, Jeffrey Zeldman. Strangely, I was also interviewed on Australian talk radio about the site, but it was pretty awkward – the host didn’t “get it.” Read more in the blog about Headset Hotties.
Truckerspeed, In 3D
In May 2008 I took on the insane task of producing a weekly public access television show for Metro East, a community access network in Portland. I set painted a wall green in my basement, gathered the gear and launched “Truckerspeed, in 3D” – a greenscreen variety show that was a mix of interviews, episodes of the Penny Jam, and new video that was shot originally for the show. Eventually I would deliver ten 30 minute episodes of the show – I hosted, filmed and edited each episode. While I escaped with my health intact, I learned some things about myself and managing insane workflows and the importance of teamwork (smiles).