Season 3

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post! I guess that's what happens when you are super busy. I have a lot of great stuff in the works, so I'll keep this belated post brief.

For those that don't know, I'm the head producer on Reel Shot TV , a national hunting show. I did their intro's in the past, but this was the first time I handle content responsibilities. I'm proud to say that with my help, I have helped increase its following, earned a feature spot on its home channel, and have improved its production value over ten fold.

If you are into hunting, or just want to see a quality show, check it out!

Sweet Tea

Check out "Sweet Teat", a video by Jackie Cox.

David St. Romain is Number 1

Wow! David St. Romain's "Twenty Years Late" is the #1 music video on GAC's video center! 

http://www.gactv.com/gac/video/

I'm super excited to see this video perform so well.  It's a great song and my crew did a fantastic job helping me put it together. This a well deserved success for all of us!

CMT Gives Me a little Credit

David St. Romain's music video "Twenty Years Late" is doing phenomenally in the country industry. Here's a link to one of it's home on the CMT website.... They actually list my directing credit!


http://www.cmt.com/videos/david-st-romain/647807/twenty-years-late.jhtml

Twenty Years Late

New Work!  David St. Romain's Twenty Years Late!

LOHSEP

Here's the second video for Livingston Parish.

Livingston Parish Detention Center

Here's the first spot in a long series of web infomercials for the Livingston Parish Government.

Doll Draft 1

Doll Draft 1 is done! 82 pages in 12 days... probably not that impressive, but the story and pacing on this one is pretty fantastic. It will definitely make the competition. Hopefully, I'll be writing about a victory soon....

Busy Month of March

Wow, I have been super busy lately, and things look like they are only going to get busier.  And trust me, this is the only way I like it.  I just finished producing two new spots for Livingston Parish. I'll post those as soon as they are approved, which will probably be in two weeks.  I'm about to start on a third and have just reached an agreement to do 12 more before the end of the month!!!!

Aria Records have contacted me to do a video for David St. Romain...looks like that will be my gig for early April. I have another video with Jackie Cox which should go into production before the end of the month... Also! That's right also... I have another documentary with Homeland Security, which should go into preproduction later this month.  Guess what, that's not all. I may be heading to Atlanta for a conference shoot ,and I know I have a production on the 16th of this month for Creative Clips LLC.

I have all this to finish plus I'm working on Doll, a script to be done by April 1st and I'm now the producer for Reel Shot Outdoors....

I'm busy but it will all be worth it in the end... Time to make a new reel and a new website...

More to come real soon.

Paul

In the Absence of Saints

"In the Absence of Saints" is my graduate thesis film. It is by no means a perfect film, although I'd like to think its a decent film, it is ultimately my first failed film.  The Film won best drama at the Indie Jam film festival but failed to be accepted by any other film festival. I also got the job to direct "My Life Story", "Bands, and "Under Investigation" largely due to the subject matter of this film, but I can't help but to compare this film to other efforts. My previous student short "Mary" never won anything, but it was viewed in several film festivals.  "Mary" also got a nice write up in a local New Orleans' newspaper. 

Now when I say that the movie is a failure, I don't mean to criticize my actors or crew. Despite a few soft shots, the look of this film is very nice. Sound and score are top notch, and I have a few stand out performances from my leads. Jerry Katz (Michael) and Carol Sutton (Mother) won best actor and actress awards at the Baton Rouge Outhouse Film Festival (a dubious name for a festival but recognition is good no matter where it comes from).  

So with three notable awards for this film, why do I consider this movie a failure. Simple, I didn't live up to the standard I placed for this film. I wanted to make something that would push my career forward. Everyone around me gave a 100 %, but my desire to make a feature film clouded my vision.  "In the Absence of Saints" is a short crying to be a feature. A few people couldn't follow it because they felt too much information was given in too short a time.  At first I didn't agree with the criticism, but now I know they are pretty accurate. 

I guess the only question to ask is: Did I waste the school's money?  Different audiences will no doubt offer different answers to that questions, but the answer from my heart is: No, I didn't waste the school's money. Even though I consider, "In the Absence of Saints" a movie that never found it's audience, it is a story that has shown me the light so to speak. I'm told that you learn more from your failures than your successes, well I believe this is what "In the Absence of Saints" has done for me. I learned story after this movie. I learned pacing after this movie. I learned a lot about actors after this movie. I learned to trust myself after this movie. I learned, and that at least is some sort of success.

For those interested, please check it out. 

Earth Zoom

The second draft of an intro I'm designing for Livingston Parish.

Livingston Parish

Here's a template of some After Effect work I'm doing for Livingston Parish. I'll post more on this subject as I finish it!

The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney)

From the album "Let it Be"

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

I was visiting my Uncle's grave when I noticed this statue watching over another lonely grave. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, so I came back and took the picture. I shot it just before sunset. Magic hour. When I look at this photo, I can't help but wonder how many years this statue has sat at that grave. There is noway to know how many storms have passed over her or how many visitors she has seen. The only thing I do know is that she has seen more than me.

Today, I can honestly say hasn't been one of my better days. Earlier, I was told that my grandmother's cancer has spread. So in addition to falling and breaking her leg, there is this bit of nasty news to contend with. The doctor has offered her a year at best. All there is to do now is enjoy what time is left. Right now my grandmother is sitting in a wheelchair at the nursing home with this bit of information circling around in her mind. I can't imagine how that feels. My heart breaks at the thought of it. It breaks for my mother, my uncles, and aunt. It breaks because we are all waiting together. Waiting for something we would rather to see.

However, my faith allows me to take comfort in that even when the fighting is done, the spirit lives on. Those who leave endure just as those who remain.  In some small way, this photograph makes me feel good, because despite the chips and cracks from time, Mother Mary proves that although most things leave us, somethings, the best things, do endure.

Grandma after Chemotherapy

Grandma after Chemotherapy

"Grandma after Chemotherapy" was captured during the summer of 2009. It was taken an hour after one of her more trying chemotherapy sessions.

Scramble for TARC

Scramble for TARC is another fundraiser the organization employs to battle the continuing budget cuts it faces.

Penny Power

As I have stated in the past, I am a big believer in TARC as well any organization that helps people with disabilities. One of the big challenges facing Louisiana this year is the continued cutting of funds given to organizations aiding our more unfortunate. Penny Power is a fundraiser put on annually by TARC to combat these devastating budget cuts. 

Kids 'R' Us

The Kids 'R' Us informercial was done in part of my service to TARC. If you have young children and live in the Hammond area, please consider this daycare.

2010 TARC Ambassador

One of my favorite projects of 2009 was the 2010 Ambassador Video for TARC.  TARC promotes the general welfare of children and adults in the Florida Parishes, fostering and developing programs and services for individuals with special needs, serving as an advocate for families, gathering and dispersing information, cooperating with all public and private providers in furtherance of these goals, aiding parents as it relates to individual challenges, and providing support and education while encouraging maximum growth through quality services.

The TARC Ambassador is a child receiving TARC assistance and is chosen to represent the organization in the community and specifically at fundraising functions. The child as well as their family talk to potential sponsors and schools about TARC and explain how the organization helps people, and in turn, how individuals can help the organization. 2010 Ambassador Video features Chance O'Hern, a very strong little boy with a list of complications.  I was very touched by his story, and with the exception of his cat peeing on me, it was a very uncomplicated shoot.  However, the project did lead me to join the organization as a board member. As part of my contribution, I video their fundraisers and turn them into 3 - 4 minute spots to be uploaded to YouTube. My overall goal is to eventually design a compilation DVD to be handed out at fundraisers.

I got this job through Livingston Parish's Josh Randall. At the time, I was teaching him the basics of Final Cut Pro when Kathleen Abels, the CEO of TARC, got in touch with him about a jeep fundraiser. She told him that they planned to video their 2010 ambassador, so he put us in touch, and the rest as they say is history...

Glory Bound

I directed "Glory Bound" just before the 2010 NFC Championship game against the Vikings. Since the Saints are back in the playoff's for 2011, I believe it's appropriate to showcase this video.

"This year's Saints have prompted a number of artists to record their own Saints song, so Carlo Nuccio - who wrote and recorded the original "Who Dat" more than 25 years ago - has returned with "Glory Bound," an update of the song. The song features the return of Aaron Neville, who sang the song the first time around, and Theresa Andersson, along with Ivan Neville, Jon Cleary, Matt Perrine, Barry Foulon, Shamarr Allen, Joe Cabral, Ben Schenck, Jimi Burtchaell, Alex McMurray, Paul Sanchez, Derrick Freeman and Rob Schafer." - Offbeat Magazine, November 2009

Featured on MSNBC, CNN's Don Lemmon's Show, and YouTube's Music Tuesday

Video
Directed/ Produced/ Edited by Paul Catalanotto
Produced by Carlo Nuccio
Assistant Director - Mary Nguyen

Grandma Silhouette

Grandma Silhouette

About the person:

My grandma is an amazing woman of courage and strength. After being diagnosed with cancer three years ago, this little old lady has fought tooth and nail to keep her life. Her doctor has nicknamed her "the Little Fighter" - a nickname I believe she wears with much satisfaction. She gets weekly chemo treatments, so as you can imagine, some days are harder than others. However, she still manages to wear most days with a bright smile, unfortunately as I post this picture, my grandma is being rushed to the doctor for a leg injury.  Sometime last night she fell, and finally, this morning was able to get to a phone. I'm sure she'll be fine, because she is after all a fighter.

About the photograph:

"Grandma Silhouette" was taken one lazy summer after noon. She was sitting on the porch as she does everyday when the weather permits. I snagged the shot just before she went inside for the night. I feel this photograph displays her courage quite well.  If you look closely, she is even offering us a slight smirk. "Grandma Silhouette" shows that even when things are darkest, you can still fight, and you can still win.

Southeastern Louisiana University Statue

SELU Statue

On one boring day, I stumbled across a face I hadn't seen since graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University.  Honestly, I don't know the name of the statue, which I should be ashamed.  As a student, I never paid attention to it, which I am equally ashamed. It took a boring afternoon and a desire to get an interesting photograph to finally look at something I had seen many times over. I'm glad to have this picture, it reminds me to pay better attention to the things that are right in front of me.

Butterfly

Honestly, I'm surprised this butterfly let me get this close, but I think after pointing a camera at him for 30 minutes, he just gave up and let me have what I wanted.

Reel 2010

This is my music video reel for 2010.  For 2011, I'm hoping to make a directing reel that shows off not only my music videos but my narratives and documentaries as well.