We, as filmmakers, are privileged. We can make people cry or laugh.
We can make them think and feel. It is a great privilege and a great
responsibility.
Our Town - This footage shot by an intrepid colleague during a white supremacist riot against
peaceful Black Lives Matter marchers gave me an opportunity make a political statement about
Donald Trump’s violent supporters.
The Promise - Shot in one clean, unrehearsed take with a static camera, this recruitment spot was
dramatically enhanced in editing with a digital zoom effect.
Donna and Harriet Make a PSA - A fun look inside the making of a public service announcement.
It Takes a Village - This a serious attempt to make a professional documentary with no budget, no
crew and inadequate gear. Because I made it for a struggling nonprofit, we didn’t want it to look
too expensive or slick anyway. Mission accomplished. This video was designed to be a recruitment
& training film that could be shown in its entirety or in modular segments.
No Place to Go Video Project - These short-attention-span videos are part of an ongoing and
evolving attempt to humanize homeless people and the people who care about them. Entirely
unfunded and unsponsored, I’m just doing this because that’s what it seems I’m supposed to be
doing.
Harry Harpoon and the Lost Party Tapes - This Alan Lomax-style footage of a down-home BBQ in
the 1980s with real-life troubadour Harry Harpoon served as the training ground to teach myself
various digital-editing tricks and techniques. Just for fun.
Although I have a dual-major MFA from UCLA in screenwriting and TV/Film production, I left the
industry in 1979 to pursue a career in print journalism and other forms of literary endeavor. Much
of my early work is lost to time, technology and just … lost. Can’t prove I was nominated for a
regional Emmy or won assorted awards from the Sacramento Advertising Club. Oh well. Many
tears, years and fears from here..
Nonetheless, my desire and training to tell stories in pictures and sounds has kept me on the
fringes. I seem to be returning to my roots. Here is a sampling of what I’ve done in recent years.
- Haskell Wexler, “Medium Cool”
- Blah, blah, blog
- Mortal Coil Shuffle
- Why I hate "the homeless"
- Choose your groove
- Give us shelter
- We need ADUs, not excuses
- Myth of the accidental overdose
- Invisible People
- Close encounter with a porcupine
- Write to Be Read
- Forgive Me Not
- Stop the steal of our flag
- Jan. 6, a day of infamy
- Code Compliance Cop-Out
- Kris Kristofferson
Blah blah blog. Does anybody read these things?
Conventional wisdom says I should have a blog, but that
doesn’t mean I have to be conventional. When I have
something to say, I’ll say it. I promise to keep these entries
short and to a really sharp point. I won’t waste your time.
Mortal Coil Shuffle - how we die
Why I hate “the homeless” - it’s not what you think
Choose your groove - a commencement curse
Give us shelter - the myth of affordable housing
We Need ADUs Not Excuses - government inaction
The Myth of the Accidental Overdose - the real victims of
the opioid crisis
Lived Experience - Invisible People: These are stories
published by InvisiblePeople.tv, a national, homeless
advocacy website. We are changing the face of
homelessness.
One Minute to Deadline - or, Close Encounter with a
Porcupine
Write to Be Read - be easy to read, look easy to read
Forgive Me Not - some things are unforgiveable
Tom Durkin
multimedia writer-editor-photographer
