Film Making "Building me the Future!"

I spent three days this past week with Rich (camera man) and Drew (sound man) filming footage for a documentary that will possibly appear on PBS and the Discovery Channel. The documentary is about the biodiesel project that I manage for the Tribe.

What is biodiesel? It is alternative fuel that is made from used vegetable oil (UVO) that can be used in engines that use conventional diesel fuel. The Tribe is working with Clarkson University in designing and manufacturing a biodiesel production system that will make biodiesel from UVO from the Tribe’s casino. The intent is to use the biodiesel to fuel the Tribe’s garbage trucks and other diesel operated equipment at the Tribe’s transfer station.

The project is partially funded by Engineer Without Borders (EWB). EWB is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. EWB is currently providing funding for 30 projects worldwide and selected a total of 3 projects to be filmed for the documentary. The Tribe’s project is the only one in the United States that was selected to be part of the documentary.
Spending three days with Rich and Drew was exciting, exhausting, and interesting. Rich and Drew have been in the film making business a long time and have many film making stories. They have worked with some well-known actors: Anthony Hopkins and Donald Sutherland to name a few. They have spent nine weeks living in tents on Devon Island in the High Canadian Artic filming a picture about life on Mars; Rich brings a polar bear tooth with him on all his filming assignments that he got on this trip. I must admit the tooth is impressive and larger than I ever thought a polar bear tooth would be. Rich has won an Academy-Award for filming “A Story of Healing”, a documentary about doctors of Interplast who volunteer their time and skills to change the lives of children with deformities.
Rich and Drew were fun to be around and I truly enjoyed hanging out with them. They sure know their business and I felt very comfortable having a camera in my face many times throughout the three days of filming. They will be back at least two more times in the next year to get more footage.

I am honored and humbled that the Tribe’s project was selected to be part of the documentary. I am truly thankful to God for all the recent media opportunities that have been opened to me. Who knows what God has next for me….maybe an appearance on Oprah :).