words for the day

Then she thought that however incomprehensible life is, probably we move through it with the single desire to return to the hell that created us, to live beside whoever, once, saved us from the inferno. She tried to ask herself where that absurd faithfulness to horror came from but found she had no answers. She understood only that nothing is stronger than the instinct to return, to where they broke us, and to replicate that moment forever. Only thinking that the one who saved us once can do it forever. In a long hell identical to the one from which we came. But suddenly merciful. And without blood. -- Alessandro Baricco

"If I Had A Balloon" wins at La Femme!

I never thought I'd see Laurel Wreaths in regard to one of my projects, and I can still barely believe they're here. "If I Had A Balloon" won Best Music Video this year at La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA, 2 months after winning a Spotlight Award at the SoCal Film Market. Thank you Los Angeles, for loving Panda bears.

Mucho props to friend and cohort Janelle Eagle for accepting the award on my behalf at the awards ceremony. If I had a balloon, I would give my balloon to YOU, Janelle. :)

Some more information about the video (from recent press release):

Singapore, November 11, 2010:

Singapore based filmmaker Erin Roche Galey enters the festival circuit with an original music video inspired by Americana-gospel-bluegrass singer/songwriter Joshua Panda. Galey, a native of Pittsburgh, PA, met Panda at a live show at the Radio Bean in his hometown Burlington, VT in the summer of 2009. She pitched him instantly on working together and much to her surprise, he agreed. Galey migrated to Singapore in 2007 to complete her Masters degree in Filmmaking at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, Asia campus; thus they telecommunicated via email, Skype, and telephone during pre-visualization for the video while he was on tour for his latest album, Joshua Panda.

Completing the Project:

Although the song and story are rooted in American culture, Galey worked in conjunction with Tisch Asia filmmakers Ayana Saunders, Basil Mironer, and Gilani Sumida-Moiseff to produce, shoot, and edit the project in Singapore without losing that "Americana" feel. They hired local actors, worked in local locations, and Galey created the Panda costume herself out of an old baseball cap and some beach towels, amongst other items. The project was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II, utilizing antique Mamiya lenses to achieve their look. Editor Gilani Sumida-Moiseff, also a contemporary hip-hop dancer, brought the project together in the editing room.

After submitting to festivals worldwide, If I Had A Balloon entered the festival circuit with it's first screening at the Davidson-Valentini theater in Hollywood, California, Friday, October 15th, 2010. The video previously won a Spotlight Award at the SoCal Film Market in August. This was Galey's first festival screening as a director, although her work as cinematographer and producer has previously screened before audiences at SXSW, Palm Springs Shortfest, Singapore Short Film Festival, and US-based television station A&E.

About Class V Productions:

An avid whitewater kayaker herself, the name "Class V" comes from ratings of whitewater rivers around the world. The US-based production company specializes in narrative filmmaking and cinematography worldwide. Class V was founded in 2007 by filmmaker Erin Galey, and has produced short films, commercials, and music videos. For more information, please contact Erin Galey at erin.galey@gmail.com.

And please, by all means, support musician Joshua Panda by downloading some of his music, or even better, see one of his inspiring live shows, like this one, or this one.

Hilarious and somewhat accurate blog

generalized but strangely endearing

Stuff White People Like

Music Video "If I Had A Balloon" screens at the La Femme International Film Festival this Friday October 15th at 2pm in Hollywood, CA

I've got 3 VIP passes to the festival for anyone in the Los Angeles area.

Please check out our Facebook Page for the most up to date information on screenings and releases, photos, and filmmaker Erin Galey.

If I had a balloon, I would give my balloon to you. :)

Daily Grace, for Panda's

She reads in a dictionary: "grace |gras| noun: a simple elegance or refinement of movement; courteous goodwill; a short prayer of thanks before or after a meal."

Hm.

She wonders, on a day filled with light and a soft breeze thru the trees, about the substance that fills the cracks, the movement between the postures, the way to connect rocks...

She thinks about her mother, filled with mortar and cement so nothing could get in, daggers thrown from the other side of a fortress to an unfriendly world. Those days, her mother needed this protection. Those days were hard. Her mother was protecting her future, making a space for her to use her brain instead of other things meant for Panda's by the rest of the world. It was subconscious. A mother's instinct.

Her mother had passed it on in the blood of her children, this legacy, and it would always be there for her, no matter where she turned. The fortress was inside of her. So were the fear and the daggers.

The panda-girl wondered again, about the world around her. What did it mean, being raised in captivity as she was? Would the light ever soften it's harsh edges? Would she ever know what it meant to feel truly at peace? Even now, thousands of miles away in the forest her mother always imagined, would she be forever chipping away the residue of mortar, breaking it down, working spaces open for the sweet fresh air to come in...?

She wished she could just open the door and rush out with a free pass that wipes the whole thing clean. Grace, bless my life!! She could walk through like magic, like nothing ever happened, like someone waved a magic wand. There are miracles every day!

But somewhere, from some other mother, some other family, some other universe, she remembered someone saying "wishing is like fishing - you just have to try and see what you can get." So there was no certainty, no assurance. Just a try, a shot in the dark.

And she could see she must be patient. It must be nurtured, like anything else, cultivated from a seed, a daily practice. Daily grace.

She set her mind to it, and ate a stick of bamboo as elegantly as she could, watching the wind dance through the trees.

Abby Linne/Sora An

My friend Abby Linne recently shot this music video for an artist named Sora An. It's a really sweet little video, check it out!

Abby is a camera operator for "The Hills". We met on "Rollergirls" back in Austin in 2005. She rawks.

"It's So Nice" - Sora An from Abby Linne on Vimeo.

If the video isn't working Click Here to go to Sora An's Vimeo Channel :)

Charity: Water

This charity rocks. I'm raising money for them for my birthday on Facebook. I don't need any presents... why not use my birthday to do something good for the world?

Check out their website here and a rad video with music by Beck.

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. They are: "a quickly growing grass-roots initiative based in New York City that began work in August 2006. In 2.5 years, with the support of more than 30,000 donors, we have raised more than $8.5 million, and funded 1240 water projects in 14 countries. Those projects will serve more than 640,000 people with clean drinking water. 100% of your public donations go DIRECTLY to build wells and other clean water solutions. charity: water's administrative costs are covered by its board and private donors. official site at www.charitywater.org www.twitter.com/scottharrison myspace.com/charitywater CNN: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2008/10/24/nguyen.scott.harrison.cnn"

And they make it easy. By donating $20, you can give one person clean drinking water for 20 years. Seeing those kids smile and dance at the end of the video is what I want for my birthday. If you want to donate to my charity, go here. Let's change the world before we get too old. :) Dig?

My Director of Photography Demo Reel

Check out the work I've done in the recent years. Shot on location in Singapore, Austin/Tx, and Kigoma/Tanzania. thanks for watching. :)

Cinematography Demo Reel, Erin Roche Galey from Erin Galey on Vimeo.