First Convention (This should've come first.)

Marsha and I attended our first Travel Film Convention in Tampa, Florida, almost ten years ago, at the invitation of Dale Johnson and Sandy Mortimer. At the time, we had not made a film of any kind, but we were in the habit of traveling to France and Great Britain every summer to play music. We had the “Travel” part covered. Dale and Sandy seemed to think that, with our backgrounds, once we had the right camera we’d fit right in, and the business needed new producers.

At the convention we watched wide-eyed as seasoned filmmakers paraded their wares at the Preview sessions. We played music at the banquet which gave us the opportunity to be noticed. 

On the third day, as the convention was winding down, we chatted with Craig and Kathleen Myers over lunch. They had enjoyed our music and seemed to feel an instant rapport with us. Craig advised us to take someone else’s film on the road — for a nominal fee — to give ourselves a bit of experience, as it might be years before we would complete our own film and convince some venues to show it.

In a cruel stroke of fate, Craig died unexpectedly a few days later (it was early December), and by February we were on the road hosting Craig’s two films, working with Windoes to stand in and fufill his schedule. Craig was in his early 40’s and perhaps the youngest full time filmmaker in our business at the time. His death was a shock and a tragedy.

The following summer we went to France specifically to make a Travel Film. During the tour with Craig’s films, I was confident (or foolhardy) enough to have arranged two independent showings of our film, “La Belle France,” before we had shot any digital tape whatsoever. I trusted that my experience with the BBC and later editing sound tape at NPR, as well as taping interviews for Louisiana Folklife, would be helpful in my new metier.

At the next Convention, in St. Louis, we previewed “La Belle France,” started to get bookings, and have since gone on to produce five more films for the Travel market. We’ll be previewing our latest, “Wales: Land of Song,” in Chicago this September. 

I wouldn’t say this is an easy profession and anyone can do it, but with a little bit of talent and a lot of work and dedication, it can be done. And when you have a happy audience giving you compliments as they leave the performance, it all seems worth it. All the better if they have one or two newly purchased DVDs in hand! 

We like to think Dale and Sandy were right about our potential. We thank them and the many others who gave advice, helped, took us in and made us feel welcome in this amazing world of sharing  moving pictures.

We look forward to the upcoming Chicago Convention, an opportunity to mingle with the ‘old hands’ in the business and welcome new interests, talk to agents and presenters, and see previews of the upcoming films.

Come join us!