The Bird Feed Podcast

“I mean, we're in Texas, are we not? Are we not the best state in the country? Do we not have the best locations, the best cities? Look, the bottom line is, we want to do more. We want to be more creative.   “When shows are here and when movies are here, I feel it a lot, and that's why I want the incentives. It's not so I can cash in my 10-15%, that doesn't really do a lot for me. But when those shows and projects and movies are here, that matters. And, so many people benefit from that financially," asserts Aaron Brown, a Texas-based Director.   Listen to his interview to hear his perspective on how to grow the film industry in Texas and what is holding us back.

"I grew up in Houston. I went to the high school for the performing and visual arts, wanted to be a jazz musician. But no matter how much I practiced, no matter how hard I shed, [my trumpet] wasn't going to give me that same love back. So, I decided to get rich and stop majoring in music and major in philosophy. Haha! Right." Graham Painter takes a few sharp turns to become a global brand creative director with several internationally renowned advertising agencies. But Houston wasn't ready for him. In this week's Bird Feed podcast, hear from this eclectic and fascinating anti-ad man who created his own opportunities when he founded WOND3R in EaDo.

"There are obviously a lot of challenges, there's a lot of infrastructure challenges, but there is so much potential to develop film production in Houston...We do have a long way to go, but the further we can get, the more we're going to tap into this potential, and it's really, like, endless what could happen here around developing a real film industry."   Jessica Green, Houston Cinema Arts Society Artistic Director, shares her optimistic view of Houston's film production potential at the first-ever Black Media Story Summit at DeLux Theatre. She talks about the power of film and its healing process for black filmmakers and audiences.  She also compares the diversity of New York City and Houston, and how Houston can be the next global film epicenter.

Temple Northrop, Director of the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, sits down with Bird House Productions Lynn Birdwell to discuss his strategic plan on how UH is building upon their current program to establish the county's leading film production program at the university level. He also calls for working industry professionals to help him reach his goal of training the next generation of A-list talent.

The City of Houston and local school districts recognize the importance of the arts in education.  The newly created Mayor's Office of Education works with schools to prepare students through workforce development and training, including in the film industry.   "There's some amazing programs at the elementary, middle school and high school level for young people to have an opportunity to experience what it's like to be in the film and the arts as a career. You have some places that have full-fledged studios that are operated by young people, and they write, produce, edit, and learn cutting edge technology that they're able to use and have access to," reports Juliet Stipeche, Director of the Mayor's Office of Education.   To read more about building a creative economy in Houston:   - sign up for our email at https://bit.ly/BHPEmail,  - visit http://www.bhprod.com/bird-feed, or  - listen to the podcast at https://anchor.fm/birdfeed.   Follow us on social media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhprodhtx/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhprodhtx/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/birdhouseproductions  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhprod

"We want to make it a practical program, a program that serves as a pipeline to see our students actually working in the field."  Fleurette Fernando, Director, M.A. in Arts Leadership Program, the University of Houston, gives a preliminary glimpse at the future possibility of a film degree to be offered at UH to keep students in here to support a healthy Houston creative economy.   To read more about building a creative economy in Houston:  - visit http://www.bhprod.com/bird-feed or - listen to the podcast at https://anchor.fm/birdfeed.

"The creative economy in New York City in 2017 delivered $30 billion of revenue to that city -- $30 billion!   "I believe that we can do that here because we have such a low cost of living and a high disposable income that we could take a huge chunk out of that $30 billion and bring it to Houston." - WOND3R Co-founder Kerry Chrapliwy  At the December 4, 2019, Work-In-Progress presented by Lynn Birdwell, the team from the creative agency WOND3R talked about their experience working all around the world and how the cities they worked in build creative economies, how they did it, and why they think it can happen in Houston.

From losing talented crew to LA, comparing Houston to Austin, and discussing what Houston needs to do to be back on the film industry map, Sean "Crash" Maxwell sits down with Bird House Productions Lynn Birdwell to discuss the challenges filmmakers face who make Houston their home.  

Whether he's working on an IMAX crew traveling the world, or shooting in Albuquerque on the set of Breaking Bad, Sean chooses to live in Houston Texas.  In this episode, Sean sits down with Bird House Productions Lynn Birdwell and retells the rise of film in Houston and gives a possible explanation to why production left.

Lynn takes a few minutes before the start of the 2019 TXMPA IMPACT awards to talk with Susan Fowler, TXMPA PAC Treasurer about how Houston can start to enjoy the presence in film and film production that it did during years past.