Here’s an example of a piece intended for a very specific audience. I encourage you to watch it first then scroll below for explanations.

“Double-O-Send-Up” 2007
Short Film
Format: 24p DV
TRT: 2:24
Size: 13.9MB

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CREDITS

- Rose Riordan writer
- Josh Oakhurst director
- Dawn Young producer
- Megan Ward producer

- Kelsey Tyler box head actor

- Don Crossley lighting
- Creon Thorne set manager
- Laura Moya casting director
- Stump Blankenship editor

NOTES
IX.) Pay no mind to the messy key or nuances of say, the dirty car. This is supposed to be silly any everyone worked on this on lunch breaks or in between meetings. Plus, for the intended audience - there was no point for me to agonize over every minute detail. That’s not really how I am anyway, and I certainly wasn’t going to sweat pixel blemishes. I’m actually pretty proud of the piece, I’m just saying - it’s goofy - don’t think so hard.

1.) Portland Center Stage is the leading theatre company in Portland, OR, USA. If the term Seattle Rep rings a bell, think Seattle Rep but in Portland.

2.) Chris Coleman is the Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage. Basically that means he’s “the head of”, at least on the artistic side. He chooses the plays to produce each season and usually directs a few of them.

3.) A “send up” because every year the theatre holds a “season announcement” that’s a “big deal” for the theatre community and press. I’m told 500 plus patrons and writers gather in the auditorium to learn about the new plays coming up next season. Each year, the theater does a “send up” of Chris, a ritual that in past years has been done via PowerPoint “animation”.

4.) Rose Riordan (the writer of this piece + Associate Artistic Director at PCS) has typically handled PowerPoint animation duties. Since PCS found me, Rose basically handed off this idea she was going to “animate” to me and said “You have no budget - do what I was gonna do but with video.”

5.) PCPA (Portland Center for Performing Arts) is the former building the theatre was housed in. They’ve recently moved, and Rose based the “story” of this film around Chris taking PCS from the old building to the new one. The initials “PCPA” along with the visuals were immediately recognizable to the intended audience and I only include these notes to help online viewers fill in the gaps.

6.) You’re not really supposed to “get it”, understand, or appreciate this film, but just know someone else wrote the story and I was paid to direct this under a certain set of guidelines. The intended audience was very receptive and it’s always fun to see people laugh and hear them clap for your work.