SIFTER for the Ear presents:
VFX from Pixar to VR
Mark Lambert got his break in special effects when he developed proprietary rendering software for Pixar. He went on to create visual effects for numerous movies. More recently, he’s pivoted to work in virtual reality, which has taken him around the world to shoot incredible footage. Our discussion is crammed with interesting info, including:
– Creating “flying type” for Oprah
– Developing proprietary rendering software for Pixar
– How Air Force One get him “bit by the bug”
– Breaking his arm in a Buddhist temple
– An upcoming project with The Poe Museum
– Creating the 3-headed dog for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
– Photo-realistic animation in “The Polar Express”
– Designing a talking wolf for “The Chronicles of Narnia”
– Keeping the crew out of 360-degree virtual reality
– Shooting from the top of the Burj Khalifa
– Working with veterans for VR therapy
LINKS
LighthouseXR
VArtisans
My podcast with Craig Martin on The Good Road
Jerry Williams SIFTER for the Ear September 27th, 2024
Women & Politics presents:
Women & Politics with Lawson Wijesooriya and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger
Lawson Wijesooriya – Danny Avula for Mayor, Campaign Manager
Lawson Wijesooriya moved to Richmond, VA in 2004. She lives in an historically under-resourced neighborhood with her husband, two sons, and often several others in need of housing. After growing up in New Jersey, Lawson graduated from the University of Virginia as a Phi Beta Kappa Jefferson Scholar, and enjoyed her honors interdisciplinary major in the Political and Social Thought Program. She initially taught low-income, urban, middle school children for three years before leaving her post to help start Blue Sky Fund, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide transformational experiences for urban youth through outdoor adventure. Lawson served as its Founding Executive Director for 10 years. She was highlighted as Mentor of the Year by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine and honored as Richmond Style Weekly’s Top 40 under 40 in 2010. After leaving Blue Sky in capable hands, Lawson opened an ice cream business in her neighborhood as a new social enterprise adventure. The for-profit company was formed in 2017 with a mission to provide a gathering place for all in the rapidly changing Church Hill neighborhood while creating job opportunities for youth. When her business partner took over operations at the Scoop, she went back to the non-profit sector as the Director of Development and Strategy for Urban Hope, a small affordable housing organization that provides homes for extremely low-income residents and seeks to protect against the displacement of Black households. Most recently, she took the leap to become Danny Avula’s Campaign Manager for his mayoral bid because she believes he is the best equipped to lead our city into a bright future.
Abigail Spanberger* – United States House of Representatives, VA-7
Abigail Spanberger represents Virginia’s 7th District in the House of Representatives, an office she has held since 2019. She is currently running for Governor of Virginia.
You can keep up with Representative Spanberger at @repspanberger on social media. Her House homepage is https://spanberger.house.gov/. Information about her gubernatorial campaign can be found at https://abigailspanberger.com/.
*This interview is being re-aired from Women & Politics’s 9/19 episode.
Follow our show on our social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva.
Follow our host and producer on Twitter at @sherishannon27 and @carololson.
Mara Guyer Women & Politics September 26th, 2024
Posted In: News
Tags: abigail spanberger, lawson wijesooriya, mayoral election, women and politics
What Wakes Me Up/Moccasin Tracks presents:
What Wakes Me Up Episode 5 mainstream LGBTQIA
two informative illustrations by Kat Sharp for “Swing Bridge Stories.”
This episode casts a light on the our LGBTQIA family and friends. You’ll hear about Swing Bridge Stories, from author and illustrator couple Bronwyn Hughes and Kat Sharp. These stories take place in rural Mathews, Virginia, and feature queer characters, just as everyday fictional people in realistic settings. You’ll hear about Trans Kids, Our Kids: Stories and Resources from the Frontlines of the Movement for Transgender Youth, soon to be released, from the author, Alexis Stratton. Our fourth voice is Justin Sykes, who works with VACommunityVoice.org to prevent gentrification and build community along the section of Route 1 south of the Belvidere Bridge.
I met all four at Richmond Friends Meeting. Justin was a young friend when I served in First Day school, i.e., Sunday school at Quaker meeting.
What Wakes Me Up is a Sunny Gardener Production hosted on WRIR 97.3 FM and WRIR.ORG and other community media outlets.
and here’s a non sequitur from the master, VCU graduate David Wiley Miller, whom I knew in the early ’70s when we were students and neighbors.
Sunny Gardener What Wakes Me Up/Moccasin Tracks September 24th, 2024
Tags: author, books, current event, gay, Gentrification prevention, lesbian, LGBTQ, Literature, music, non-binary, queer, talk show, tolerance
SIFTER for the Ear presents:
Richmond actor in new Jerry Seinfeld movie
In UNFROSTED Bailey Sheetz is discovered by Jerry Seinfeld’s character in a dumpster eating what would become a Pop-Tart. This young actor has a funny part in the new Netflix hit that was written, directed and stars Jerry Seinfeld. Our lively interview covers much more than any of the local print stories, including:
– His relationship to the gas station/restaurant with the same last name
– His love of antiques, esp. vacuum cleaners
– Being called “an old soul” on Big Little Shots with Melissa McCarthy
– His first role as the voice of a squirrel for Apple
– Working with Seinfeld, McCarthy and Jim Gaffigan
– Flying on top of a truck
– Almost getting strangled by a candy necklace
LINKS
My review of UNFROSTED
Podcast on Pine Grove School
The vacuum cleaner episode was on How to with John Wilson, Season 3, Ep 4 of (my 5-star review)
Jerry Williams SIFTER for the Ear September 20th, 2024
Women & Politics presents:
Women & Politics with Congresswoman Spanberger and Valerie Washington
Abigail Spanberger – United States House of Representatives, VA-7
Abigail Spanberger represents Virginia’s 7th District in the House of Representatives, an office she has held since 2019. She is currently running for Governor of Virginia.
You can keep up with Representative Spanberger at @repspanberger on social media. Her House homepage is https://spanberger.house.gov/. Information about her gubernatorial campaign can be found at https://abigailspanberger.com/.
Valerie Washington – Executive Director, New River Abortion Fund
Based in the New River Valley area of Virginia, the New River Abortion Access Fund (NRAAF) is a 501(c)(3) reproductive justice-aligned organization working to eliminate economic and logistical barriers to abortion access. NRAAF operates a volunteer-run helpline that provides direct financial and practical support (rides, lodging, gas, meals, childcare, etc.) to those seeking abortion care in Southwest Virginia.
New River Abortion Access Fund is a proud member of the National Network of Abortion Funds.
You can find more information about NRAAF at their website (https://newriverabortionfund.org/) or on Instagram (@newriverabortionfund).
Follow our show on our social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva.
Follow our host and producer on Twitter at @sherishannon27 and @carololson.
Mara Guyer Women & Politics September 19th, 2024
Posted In: Music Shows, News
Tags: abigail spanberger, valerie washington, women and politics, WRIR
SIFTER for the Ear presents:
The world premiere of this thriller
SOLITUDE is a horror thriller that revolves around one woman who’s living alone in the wilderness for a survival competition show…with a supernatural twist. The world premiere will be September 21st at the Byrd Theatre. Today’s show features 3 of the creatives, Jeremy Brown, Mick Strawn and Dalton Pope and we discuss:
– Their previous Friday the 13th fan film
– What is Brownspace Films
– Where the idea originated
– Shooting in the woods for the entire project
– The Windigo!
– The cast member from ALONE that’s in this film
– The parallel story shot in Richmond
– The acting challenges for Sam Wren Vincent (the lead)
– A surprising answer for the photo of her daughter
LINKS:
The Byrd Theatre premiere tickets (Sat, 9/21)
Solitude trailer
Brownspace Films
Friday the 13th Vengeance (fan film)
The Magic of Horror Festival (Facebook page)
The Magic of Horror Festival (tickets)
Jerry Williams SIFTER for the Ear September 13th, 2024
Women & Politics presents:
Women & Politics with Chlo’e Edwards + Some Post Debate Review with Sheri and Carol
Chlo’e Edwards – Chief Executive Officer and founder of Transformative Changes
Chlo’e Edwards is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Transformative Changes. She provides overall strategic and operational leadership to power the organization’s mission to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of justice and human liberation. With over a decade of experience, the epicenter of her career has been public service. She works to center the needs and aspirations of historically marginalized communities to shift power to people in the social justice movement space. After working across diverse industries at the local, state, and national level, including the Small Entrepreneur Enterprise Development Institute, AmeriCorps, Voices for Virginia’s Children, The Truth Telling Project, The Movement for Black Lives, and Breathing Space, she is an expert in intersectionality.
In community, she founded Virginia’s first-ever Racial Truth & Reconciliation Week, which was recognized by Governor Ralph Northam and evolved into the Racial Truth & Reconciliation Virginia Campaign in 2020 and helped lead efforts to recognize racism as a public health crisis, making the state the first state in the south in 2021. Chlo’e has been recognized as a Richmond History Maker by The Valentine, earned the Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children’s Media Award, accepted the YWCA Outstanding Women Leadership Award, earned Style Weekly’s top 40 Under 40, and was featured as RVA Mic Share’s top 34 Black women trailblazers.
Chlo’e holds a Master of Public Policy in Leadership from Liberty University and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Social Justice from Hollins University. She has participated in various leadership development programs, including the University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Community Engagement Program, the Virginia Progressive Leadership Project, and the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Emerging Leaders Program.
She is the Policy Director at New Virginia Majority, Adjunct Faculty of General Education and Social Justice at Southern New Hampshire University, the DMV Youth Slam Team Coach and Youth Poet Laureate Advisor at Words, Beats, and Life, and is a certified yoga teacher, social emotional learning facilitator, and healing-centered engagement practitioner.
To connect with Chlo’e, email [email protected].
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Follow our show on our social media on twitter, facebook, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva
Follow our host and producer at @sherishannon27 and @carololson
Carol Olson Women & Politics September 12th, 2024
Posted In: Music, Music Shows, News
Brain Box presents:
October – A great time to go to space
Image: Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons (source: NASA)
Science Museum of Virginia astronomer Justin Bartel is back in WRIR studios with the news on some of the current and upcoming space travel. Tune in to learn about the European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft and the first-ever maneuver it accomplished in August, NASA’s upcoming exploration of Jupiter’s icy moons, the latest research of binary asteroid systems, and an upcoming mission to Mars.
To learn more:
SIFTER for the Ear presents:
This world premiere is the opening nite film at RIFF
SATURN is a sci-fi drama about a mysterious planet that appears in the sky on a crash course to earth. It follows a young father, who must decide between his family and saving the world. The world premiere is featured at the opening of this year’s Richmond International Film Festival on Tue 9/24 at the Byrd Theatre. Director Eric Esau & producer Douglas Haines talk about:
– The inspiration for this film
– The incredible talent of 7 year old Elijah Maximus
– Creating the visual effects
– Were the locations real or CGI?
– COVID showed up while shooting
– Shooting challenges on the beach
LINKS
Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF)
Saturn website
Richmond Folk Festival documentary on VPM
Jerry Williams SIFTER for the Ear September 6th, 2024
SIFTER for the Ear presents:
She goes from pain to purpose
Mary, Her Journey from Pain to Purpose tells the story of Mary Almay, who transititioned at age 58. The documentary features interviews with her and others about the process and the politics of transgender life. It will screen at the 2nd annual Virginia Queer Film Festival in at Old Dominion University campus in Norfolk from Friday, 9/20 thru Sun 9/22. We discuss:
– Why there’s a period at end of movie’s title
– The decision not to use imagery before the transition
– Throwing herself to the crocodiles
– Why Andy Warhol is credited
– The surprise response from the straight community
LINKS
Virginia Queer Film Festival
SLA Video Productions
Call Me Miss Cleo (on Lifetime)
Jerry Williams SIFTER for the Ear August 30th, 2024