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Happy New Year!

Coal Powered Filmworks — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:04:25 +0000

As we prepare for an even better 2012, we want to take a minute and thank all of those individuals and business that we worked with in 2011.

The ETV Endowment of SC

SCETV

The Palmetto Health Foundation

Post No Bills

The SC State Fair

PeopleFit

Kristian Niemi

Flock and Rally

Bone-In Artisan Barbecue

The SC State Guard

The US Army

USC Opera

USC Department of Arts and Sciences

USC Moving Image Resource Center

The Churchill Center

John McCallister Realty Consulting

PeopleFit

Crossfade and Eleven-Seven Music

Eurolux Antiques

The Greenville Children's Hospital

Joab Dick and 101 Reasons to Quit

Battle at Congaree Creek

Pocket Productions

ArtRageous

The SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce and BUYSC

We love creating new relationships and meeting new partners. We wish a grand New Year to all and look forward to an exciting 2012 filled with great new experiences.

Closing in on 100

Coal Powered Filmworks — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:26:02 +0000

For the past year we have producing a series title "South Carolinians in World War II". Our main goal before anything was produced was to interview WWII veterans with ties to South Carolina. From these interviews we have produced 3 hours that have aired on SCETV. We have plans for five more hours.

As of today we have interviewed 94 veterans for this series. If you have a family member or know a WWII vet, we want to talk to them. Feel free to get in touch with us about the series and with any information that will help us continue our efforts.

A Rant

Coal Powered Filmworks — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:55:39 +0000

The news that the United States Post Office ran at a loss of 5 billion last year took me back. I knew, from reports over the past year, that they were in trouble. There response, however, has really been bugging me. The USPS is essentially grown from the oldest form of hand delivered communication in the United States. They developed the modern way of delivering communication. That has been replaced, over the past decade, with email, texts and other forms of instant communication.

The USPS announces that to stay afloat the way they have chosen to solve one of the issues is to not guarantess overnight delivery on first class mail. Essentially saying that it will take longer to deliver. But you still pay the same price. Huh?!

What we do at Coal Powered is not new. We are not the best in the world, we are not the worst. We are very good though and we value those that come to us with a need. You will get every ounce of creative energy that we have to offer. This is the motivation for us.

Handshakes

Coal Powered Filmworks — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:09:47 +0000

After we meet with clients, and production is a go, there is a handshake. We rarely use production agreements, no paperwork between us. It is all in the handshake. Once a client has committed to us and we have committed to them, their goals and the responsibility is understood. The trust in each other is there.

Our investment in our partners must be stronger than their investment in us.

Our Fatal Flaw

Coal Powered Filmworks — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:09:24 +0000

I was watching an episode of "Homeland" last night and the theme of the episode dealt with our fatal flaws and how they prove to be our weakness.

It got me thinking about what our fatal flaw at Coal Powered Filmworks is. the more I thought, the more it was apparent that our fatal flaw was our unwillingness to accept average. I thought more. It didn't seem as much a fatal flaw as a strength, but why did I keep thinking about it in the context of that theme?

We talk face to face to our clients. Sometimes the passion for a project is hard to see, sometimes it apparent. At the heart of every project we feel that communicating that passion to your audience is the key to collecting support for whatever goal you seek.

But again, why the context of fatal flaw? Because no matter the budget, we do not accept average. The perfect example is a project we just finished for "Battle at Congaree Creek". Our partners on this wanted a :30 sec TV spot promoting their event. Almost no media exsisted or could be collected in the time available. But they love Civil War reenactments. They were truly excited, this got us excited. At the end of our first meeting I didn't care if there was a budget at all, I wanted to do this project for them. There was a small, minimal budget.

We started with a basic info, basic graphic concept- Where, when, date and time, with some images and video. At one point about 30% in I realized this was all junk. The spot has to achieve two main things: 1) Promote the event properly. 2) Translate that excitement to the public. Start from square one.

So the more I thought, the more I realized that what we may call flaws are strengths that separate those you choose to partner with. We hope you choose us for your projects. Here are some stills from the final spot. Video will be posted soon.

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Coal Powered Filmworks — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:08:25 +0000

Our third hour of South Carolinians in World War II, "A Path To Victory", aired last week. We have been working on this project for close to three years now and are still going strong. In the end there will be seven total hours (maybe eight) of programming. This project has been an incredible experience for all involved. To date we have interviewed close to ninety vets and we are still going.

Producing one show requires a lot of additional media. Our show mixes personal photographs from those we have interviewed with existing still photographs and film footage from the Nation Archives, The Imperial War Museum in England and The Moving Image Resource Center here in Columbia.

During production of our third hour we had plans to head up to Washington D.C. and grab additional photos for the show. Deadlines hit us like a speeding train and we were not able to go. In the end we had exhausted our still photo resources. So we headed up to D.C. the first chance we got.

What an amazing place The National Achives is. The still image and footage is housed at The National Archives building in College Park, Maryland. If you need images from U.S. history, this is where you go. I spent three full days scanning images non-stop, and I am not exagerrating when I say this- I could have spent two more weeks there and not even put a dent in their collection.

In the end we collected about 850 images for the rest of our production. We may need to go again. But the overall feeling when I left was one of extreme pleasure at how the bulding was run; great staff, great direction and a great use of public funds. Outside of the show, I don't know how we can use the images we have gathered but we will make them available somehow. Here are a few examples of what we gathered.

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

Coal Powered Filmworks — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:43:47 +0000

I was thinking about this on the way in this morning. I remember a time when I was working for a company, producing media for them, and the drive in every day was good- but not great. There was always a little bird in the back saying that "you need to get back out on your own- there is a better way to do this, and you know it". I loved the job; a lot of creative freedom and support. What was missing? The passion from clients. That is what we are all about.

When we sit down with our partners, old and new, we want to find that passion they have for what they do- it's in there, and we know it. We have the tendency to go over the top with our involvement with our partners. Why? Because we don't settle for "good", or even "really good". It's all about the message for us. And the message we want to see is one that reflects that passion our clients have for what they do.

The images don't have to be the best ever captured, or the graphics on the level of the latest science fiction film, (Well the audio does have to be perfect becuase nobody forgives that), but the message that is conveyed has to be honest and from the core of what our partners want to share.

What is the story you need to tell? Call us, we want to hear it.

SC STATE FAIR

Coal Powered Filmworks — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:31:20 +0000

Here is a time lapse look at stage construction for the spots we produced for the SC State Fair and Post No Bills. Set construction and end design was done by W Olaf Wegner and Olaf's Originals. He is the best!

SALUDA CANAL PROJECT

Coal Powered Filmworks — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:02:20 +0000

Today we completed our interviews with Mike Dason of The SC River Alliance for our short project on the Saluda Canal. The Saluda Canal was built around 1820 through Richland County and still exists today. However, the mason work that makes up the walls, of what was once the main thoroughfare for river craft shipping goods and services up the rivers of South Carolina, is now hidden from view of those that drive and walk past them every day. This is an exciting project for us to be involved with.

A Path To Victory Completed

Coal Powered Filmworks — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:24:47 +0000

Last week we completed post production on our third hour of South Carolinians in World War II. This episode is entitled "A Path To Victory". We serve as the production and post production company on this series and love every minute of it. Clips of the series can be seen on our Facebook page or by clicking here. This clip below is a "cutting room floor" clip that didn't make the final film.