Hawk’s Top Storyboard Moments of 2011
Kai Ryssdal (kind of) and Hawk MendenhallHawk’s Top Five Storyboard Moments of 2011 That Even Top Meeting Kai Ryssdal
When I came up with the idea of taking 5 KUTers and putting them together one day a week to come up with a way to translate our unique way of telling Austin stories on KUT into a visual medium, I had no idea of whether it would work or not. I put them in a room and said “Be creative and figure it out!” And they came up with Storyboard. A year later the team has morphed from the original five to a core team of Storyboard Team Leader/Producer/KUT’s Views and Brews Host and Executive Producer Rebecca McInroy and Producer/Filmmaker Erin Randall with additional help from Producer Mike Lee and Producer/Music Host Rick McNulty along with a whole host of interns. Storyboard has come a long way in just one year and these are my favorite moments from 2011.
Whim City—Mueller Airport Tower
This was our first time out with Spike Gillespie. Over coffee at the Spider House, Spike Gillespie, Rebecca McInroy and I came up with the idea that we could somehow merge Spike’s skewed take on the world with Producer Mike Lee’s animation and unique Austin landmarks to tell a story that only Storyboard could take on. It worked!! Still love the subtle moment when the graffiti in the tower winks at us.
Views and Brews: Miles Davis and the Making of Kind of Blue
In some ways this night signaled the real arrival of Views and Brews as a uniquely Austin experience that was going to have legs. The room was packed, the music was hot, the discussion was incredible and everyone left the Cactus that night wanting more. We really knew we had hit on something Austin was going to love and support when this Views and Brews was finished.
The highlight video from the night was also picked up by Allaboutjazz.com and was confirmation of the great work done on this piece by producers Erin Randall and Rebecca McInroy.
Portrait of an Artist: Michelle Fitzgerald
A beautifully filmed and edited look at a true artist, midwife Michelle Fitzgerald. This felt like the moment that Storyboard started to expand the typical definition of an artist. Producer Erin Randall’s first big piece showed us how great it was to have a filmmaker helping us tell Austin’s stories.
Unlocking Community One Key at a Time
Producer Rebecca McInroy was out running around Lady Bird Lake in May when she came upon Michael Brown playing a piano that was part of the “Play Me I’m Yours” art installation. Rebecca turned her excitement in that moment into my favorite Storyboard video of the year. Shot on an i-phone using the 8mm App, it was a great use of the technology available to us and a wonderful moment that for Storyboard unlocked possibilities we hadn’t considered before.
The Color of One and Same-sex Parents in Texas: Jeff and Gary
One of our goals when we started Storyboard was to give student interns a chance to tell the stories of Austin that spoke to them. We’ve had a number of great interns but these two pieces by Nidhi Reddy and Yimou Lee stand out as two of the best examples of the realization of that goal. Both pieces turned out really great and were true collaborative efforts between motivated and creative interns and the Storyboard team. Looking back on 2011 we couldn’t put together a list of favorites without recognizing how exciting it was to see these intern pieces go from ideas in a meeting to finished gems.
-Hawk Mendenhall, Associate General Manager
