George Martinez Profile and Interview

As we embark on our very first piece, an Election Special! we're going to take a bit of time to tell you just how it came about:

Firstly, you're going to ask. How on earth did you get a political candidate to do a piece on Velociraptor Awareness? Our answer is... It's a little surprising we're the first ones to do so.

The second thing you're going to ask is, wait, he is really running for office? and he decided to do a Velociraptor Awareness spot? The answer is yes and yes, George Martinez was and is seriously running for office in New York's 12th Congressional District. Election day is Tuesday, November 2, 2010.

If you'll note, this is pretty much exactly the core of hipness in New York City and a breeding ground for creatives of all stripes. Obviously, George Martinez is a man who knows his potential constituents.

Our only regret is that we were unable to get this sort out before the Democratic Primary, because he was unable to raise the funds and assemble the full number of signatures necessary to get his name on the ballot for election. More on all that can be found at our Interview on the core site, which goes into depth on how one runs for office, how to get involved and the specific troubles faced in the 2010 campaign.

But on to production... since this is the production blog and all. Once we had gotten George and his campaign on board, we drafted the script with campaign staff and George to reflect both the most meaningful issues in his campaign and the funniest material possible. We think we succeeded.

From there we shot the whole thing in two mornings. The piece one day and then the interview after we had a chance to chat further after shooting the spot. We borrowed a camera from a friend (who we love dearly, watch her movie!!!!) had another friend do the tape transfer (you still haven't told me what baked good you want in barter-C) and then edited the whole thing on the iMovie software that came with a laptop, though we're considering updating that to a newer version.

The final bit of magic came when one of our colleges, Adam Nash, watched the roughs over my shoulder and created the sound effects out of the goodness of his heart.

We hope you like the spot as much as we do it was very fun to make and we hope it inspires you to do something, even and especially if it's to throw down and help us out with Jurassic Park Slope, or even better, to help George Martinez after the election organize in and around the Brooklyn community, or to get involved wherever you may be.