Richmond’s Todd Raviotta

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of sitting down with Todd Raviotta – an educator, filmmaker, and photographer here in Richmond.  What follows is our talk, transcribed as word-for-word as I can make it.  Because the guy can turn a phrase, and I don’t want to leave anything out.

Q:  You’re a director, editor, and educator.  What do you direct, what do you edit, and what do you teach?

A: Starting backwards, as an educator I’ve been teaching at Maggie Walker Governor’s School and I’ve been there ten years.  I do a Digital Video Seminar with the seniors, and a Film Studies class that is dual enrollment with VCU.  Next year I will be doing two sessions of Film Studies, and the Digital Video Seminar (production, etc) will take a back burner.  This has been a huge part of my life for the past decade.

At VCU I teach in the Photography and Film Department.  In the fall I’m teaching an Advanced Film Production class, Digital Filmmaking, and a Senior Portfolio class.  I’ve been doing that since getting my Master’s Degree in 2004.

In the future, I want to get into larger classrooms and share what I share in these classes with other places.  Eventually I’d like to travel with my work, rather than teaching with other people’s media.  I already develop my own curriculum, but I want to be able to use my work as a jumping point for discussion in my classes, or on tour, at conferences, etc.  I want a larger audience.

I also teach at VMFA over the summer, so I’m doing that right now.  It’s a Digital Filmmaking Class Workshop.  The students are middle school to high school.  Rising juniors, sophomores, sort of like summer camp – before they get to summer party zone.  It’s a great supportive community and it’s been really inspiring for me.  When I taught there last summer I was already at a crisis point about my work, my aversion to television and advertising, and now I’ve realized that you can talk about what is going on in the world in fine art without sacrificing your integrity for a product or service.

Editing – again, what I do for hire is work with independent filmmakers in facilitating their vision.  Griffith Films – we’re working on a documentary about returning to farming.  There’s a lot more to it, but I can’t really talk about it at this time.  I’ve been working with Bob Griffith for about ten years (since 2001) and the projects have been amazing, social conscious documentaries or fund-raising tools for local organizations.

I’m also editing a project for Dr. Utsey (Shawn) about the impact of grave robbing in post Civil War America and the African American community in Richmond.  It’s a phenomenal piece.  Being the son of a doctor, it’s been eye-opening to see into the history of medicine 100 years ago.

That’s the for-hire editing I’ve been doing.  I have other projects, but these are the most current.  I also edit my own work; this is what I can provide as a service to others.  That’s where I feel most comfortable in other people’s projects, is in post-production and editing.

Directing – this has been under change.  Sometimes I think of directing as the way to make the art I make, but it isn’t strictly focused around nonfiction storytelling.  Right now I do have a short film in development where I’m looking for locations and window to do production, but life (teaching, life stuff) keeps pushing it back.  In the meantime, the life surrounding me in Richmond is interesting to document as a cultural phenomenon.

Q:  On your Facebook page you say your job is “making and bootlegging RVA art and culture” – what do you mean by that?

A: Since graduating from the Master’s program I’ve been part of local organizations from Yellow House, Gallery 5, and RVA Magazine and I’ve met a lot of amazing artists, musicians, dancers, choreographers, fire-spinners, hoopers, models, designers, writers, and what they do inspires me and participating and attending their events is exciting with a camera.  With my background in filmmaking and avant-garde experimental editing I’ve taken a new approach to how I see the event.  (Link to vimeo and gifs).  This spreads between doing videos of my photography, the straight-up video, the photography, and what I offer to RVA Magazine and other places.  It’s stuff that actually happened.  Part of my focus is getting people out of their homes and into the city where they live.  Most people get frustrated with where they live because they stay glued to the TV and see how great things are in New York, etc, but if they actually get out and see what Richmond has to offer they might not be so discontented.  That’s what happened to me.  I saw what was going on and I wanted to share with the rest of the world, and wish others would do the same.  Sometimes it starts with people who have moved away from Richmond, seeing that work that I make, that reminds them of Richmond, but also shows them a Richmond that they missed.

Q: Tell me about the PLF

A: The PLF started as friends inviting me to dance parties.  I used to sit and watch movies and work on the computer.  After years of being invited, I had a life change that allowed me to say yes.  Then, hanging out with friends I’d worked with in other environments, seeing them having fun and this extreme creative expression led me to want to share that and be part of it.  I found myself breaking down personal barriers and limitations I’d placed on myself artificially and was able to enjoy brining my photographic arts to share their other arts – fire-spinning, Djing, dancing, burlesque, and more.  That’s where the PLF has come into play.  It’s been liberating –  parties, really good friends.

Q:  You’ve lived in New Orleans, Northern Virginia, and have made Richmond your home for the last 15 years.  What makes this town special?

A: One, coming here for VCU and being immersed in an art school, being surrounded by artists, this make this town a watershed for talented artists.  The creatives from most parts of the surrounding areas come here.  VCU’s school goes back to the Bauhaus in terms of design philosophy.  I got to study under world-class teachers that have helped shape the creative people in this city.  They create restaurants, galleries, and other places.  Growing up in New Orleans and having it be a shell of what it used to be, where everything is so commercialized, it doesn’t feel like home.  New York is so overwhelming it doesn’t feel home.  Los Angeles is so rooted in commercial mass media control and there is no room for creative experimentation.  Before, I was fascinated with Haight Ashbury circa the 1960’s, Seattle grunge in the late 1980’s and early 1990s, Paris in the days of artists in Montmartre, coming to Richmond, and being immersed in that culture, seeing friends leaving to go to those places, and finding what I was looking for creatively here made it hard to consider leaving.  And I still feel that way.  When it comes down to it, when you leave here you have to sell out to the commercial world.  You can go somewhere to seek out an indigenous, creative community, but you’re an interloper and it’s hard to find.  I didn’t want to go to work selling pretty girls to people with no sense of morality.  I want to share the message of my philosophy that I share in my classroom, which is basically “be a good person” and I can do that here.

Me:  Thanks for the best interview ever, Todd.  I have one question I’m going to end with for all the interviews I do on the site

Todd:  Lay it on me.

Q:  If you had my job and could interview 5 people in Richmond, who would you interview?

A:  I have more than 5:

John Reinhold , Parker, and the rest of the bunch with the PLF

Prabir Mehta from Goldrush, Long Arms, and practically every other band in Richmond

Meg Liles from the VMFA

Kiki Von Kitsch from Voix De Ville Foilles

Casey Longyear and Marche, who run Rumors.  In terms of entrepreneurship, they are amazing and inspirational.  They not only make a profit, they make their “thing” their business.  .

David Hood – saxophonist for NOBS!

Allison Apperson – Hot Lava and other bands.

Brandi Price – Diamond Center (maybe education, too)

On August 3^rd there will be a show at The Camel featuring Todd’s work.  There will be music.  There will be dancing.  There will be friends.

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
–
Contact Big Oak SEO, a Richmond SEO company, to help your website get found in Google’s search results.

An Interview with Reggie Pace of NO BS! Brass and More

I recently had the opportunity to meet up with local musician Reginald Pace, co-founder of NO BS! Brass and a fellow who is involved in a staggering number of creative projects.  He was kind enough to meet me at Kuba Kuba, a favorite that I was SURE I’d reviewed before, but guess I haven’t.  It’s awesome.  You should go there.

Back to Reggie.  I first got the idea to interview Reggie when I saw NO BS! Brass play at Gallery 5‘s Halloween bash last year.   They absolutely rocked my face off.  I mean, I was so impressed I couldn’t stand it.  I talked about them for days.  I told my mom about them.  I was like a little geek fan girl all over again.  It was great.  It had been a long time since I’d gotten jazzed over a local band.

So I contacted the band, and Reggie wrote back.  Right away.  That was back in NOVEMBER, but we finally met up and he told me all about the band, his projects, and more, so here you go, Richmond – the sweetest guy in Richmond showbiz:

From the time Reggie was a small child, he has loved music.  He wasn’t like most kids, who jump on a musical bandwagon and later discover what their taste is really all about.  He started off seeing the beauty and complexity in movie themes, and Merry Melodies songs.  He discovered Hip Hop when he was in middle school, and his own style became a wonderful, crazy combination of Hip Hop, Funk, Prog Rock, Jazz, Metal, and movie soundtracks.  This style carries over into NO BS! Brass, a band he started with co-founder Lance Koehler in 2006.

NO BS! Brass is a 10-piece band made up of a group of friends who have a love for music.  Many of the members have conservatory experience, and the entire group practices one time per week.  That’s dedication.   The members knew each other through school – Reggie graduated from VCU in 2005 and went on to teach trombone, tuba, and trumpet at Richmond Music Center.  He still does that, in addition to directing the University of Richmond’s Pep Band, all the while keeping up with his independent musical endeavours.

In addition to NO BS! Brass, Reggie is involved in at least 5 other bands.  Glows in the Dark specializes in jazzy, experimental movie music.  The guitar player, Scott Burton, writes whole suites of music for movies he likes.  That’s Reggie’s kind of collaborator.  They play once per month at Commercial Taphouse – the next show is on September 19th.  Fight the Big Bull is an indie-ish Jazz/Southern Rock 8-piece that has a wild sound.  Fight The Big Bull will be playing September 17, 18 and 19 at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC.

That’s not all.  The Big Payback is a James Brown tribute band that plays all over the East Coast.  The Trio of Justice is a roots experimental band that, to my chagrin, played just days before this post will go live.  Finally, ETAKA is an electronic/drum/trombone duo Reggie’s in as well.  There might be more.  There probably ARE more.

But what about NO BS! Brass?  Many of the other 9 members of the band have multiple projects going on at one time.  Lance runs Minimum Wage Studios, Taylor is a doctoral candidate, and Bryan is a professor at VCU.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  There is only so much information you can squeeze out of an hour long conversation, even when the interviewee is as easygoing and forthcoming as Reggie.

Despite the crazy schedules, the multiple projects, the crappy economy, the hot hot weather, NO BS! Brass practices every week.  They manage to bring a lively, honest party attitude to every show and they are, to quote Harry Kollatz, “sheer musical joy.”  Reggie says that they have fun playing together – that they are a bunch of nerdy music school people – and that they take that nerdy music school stuff and make it danceable – and therefore accessible.  Their music is about 95% original, and the covers they do choose to play are an absolute delight to the audience.  Put it this way, I didn’t expect to hear Led Zeppelin, but I was sure glad when I did.

A new, self-titled album will be released at a two-day event at The Camel, one of the band’s favorite places to play. It’s their third studio album, and the CD Release Party promises to be an amazing time.  It’s October 1st and 2nd, at The Camel.  Tell your friends.

If you want to see the band play before that, you can head on over to Balliceaux this Thursday, August 26th.  That’s another favorite venue of the band’s.  They also love playing outdoors (you might have seen them at Best Friend’s Day this past weekend) and they like playing Gallery 5, which is where I first saw them.  They are super good about posting their news on the NO BS! Brass blog, so bookmark that thing and get ready to rock out.

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
–
Contact Big Oak SEO, a Richmond SEO company, to help your website get found in Google’s search results.

RichmondMom.Com – Kate Hall’s Labor of Love

When you talk to Kate Hall, it is hard to decide if you’re talking to a small-business owner, a devoted Mom – o – three, a social media guru, a Mommy Blogger, a philanthropist, or a children’s book author.  Actually, it’s not really that hard, because within a couple of minutes you realize that she really is all of the above.

I was lucky enough to know Kate when we both worked at the now-deceased local title insurance titan, LandAmerica.  Kate showed up at the company with loads of corporate experience and even more charisma.  Unfortunately (at the time) for both of us, the titan fell and we were both looking for work.

Kate started RichmondMom while she was still in the corporate world.  It was a sort of for fun, sort of experimental thing.  She was learning about web marketing and social media and saw a real need for some solidarity among parents in the Richmond community.  Kate, being Kate, decided to do something about it and started the website.

As she went through grueling interview processes at some of the biggest companies in Richmond (including The Fed), more and more of Kate’s Richmondmom.com customers, readers, and fans were urging her to take it to the next level.  With a deep breath and a giant leap of faith, she did so, and the site has been rockin’ ever since.

In addition to running a business that has more than doubled its client base within a short year, Kate has also jumped in to the social media scene here in Richmond, and through it has participated in many, many (did I say many?) charitable events and causes.  If that wasn’t enough, she actually wrote and self-published an educational kid’s book about Richmond history.

I asked her what gave her the idea for Richmond Rocks, and she told me that she was on Brown’s Island with her family and. her eldest son (age eight) started asking her questions about the area, and she realized that there was LOTS he didn’t know about Richmond history.  So she decided to do something about that, too.

Self-publishing is no easy task, but Kate pulled it off with a team of folks (illustrator, editor, etc) that she simply raves about.  With her customary good cheer and wicked (but great) sense of humor, Kate told me about the whole thing – from finding and hiring Knox Hubard for the illustrations, to working with Hayes and Fisk for photographs of Richmond, to the printing and distribution of the books, to how scary it is to foot the bill for a project like this and hope that it makes enough to even pay for itself.

Through hard work, tenacity, and the fact that the book is fantastic, the book is a success.  Richmond schools teach Virginia history in the 5th grade, so teachers are going to use it as a teaching aid.  Kate’s done signings all over Richmond, and you can check the site for upcoming signings.

Kate keeps up with her many online and networking responsibilities via Facebook, Twitter, and even 4Square (according to which she is the Mayor of Chick Fil A) and she attends the SMCRVA events.  She’s a ball of fire, a whirlwind of wit and energy, and one of the People To Know in our fair city.  And to top it off, she’s super-nice.

Get hooked in with her network on www.richmondmom.com and introduce yourself next time you see her out and about in Richmond.  You’ll be glad you did.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 5 Simple Ways SMB’s Can Adopt Social Media (socialmediatoday.com)
• Tips for Engaging Your Social Network Followers (socialmediatoday.com)

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
–
Contact Big Oak SEO, a Richmond SEO company, to help your website get found in Google’s search results.

« Previous Page — Next Page »