Quest: Ice Age Bay Area - Great Local Storytellers and Scenery

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Quest's Ice Age Bay Area examines the inhabitants of the Pleistocene era in our backyard. Before the ice caps melted the coastline of Northern California was extended by 12 miles of verdant grassland populated by camels, gazelle and other herd animals that were stalked by saber-toothed tigers and giant short-faced bears. Giant and short? Imagine if you crossed a cheetah with a bear. Its giant, standing twelve feet tall and it has the short snout of a cheetah, the better to swallow huge gulps of air to power its massive turbo charged lungs! They could reach speeds of more than 40 mph!

To recreate this pre-historic time, producer Chris Bauer tracked down two of the best storytellers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Listening to brilliant people is one of the perks of working on a show like Quest. KQED's science and environment show is one of my favorites to watch and work on. We get to travel all over the Bay Area and film at scores of beautiful locations; parks, museums, aquariums - then track wild animals, peer through super-telescopes and interview some of the brightest people on earth. E. Breck Parkman is the Senior Archeologist for California State Parks and Dr. Douglas Long is the curator of the Oakland Museum. Parkman has a slow delivery like a wise elder. He is well versed in many of California's native cultures and when he tells a tale you crane your head closer to catch every detail. HIs theory on the polished stone at Goat Rock is fascinating. Dr. Long mixes Ace Ventura Pet Detective - Jim Carey's zaney knowledge of animals with Pee Wee Herman's childish charm and energy, minus the silly voice, of course. He can barely contain himself when discussing the animals of the Pleistocene, which are also simply some of the coolest critters to ever walk the earth. Saber tooth tigers, c'mon man!

The locations in this piece are also special. Goat Rock at Sonoma County State Beach is just south of Jenner, at the mouth of the Russian River. Not only is it home to the Sunset Rocks featured in the story but the two beaches a little further down the road are a couple of my favorites. They are separated by one of the most scenic parking lots in the world. If you head south out of the parking lot you hit a carpet of tiny multi-colored stones that have been crushed and polished into an assortment of green, red, orange, black, and crystalline pieces that are scattered for miles. My daughter and her friends spend hours hunting the pebbles, to them they are like precious jewels.To the north are the sand dunes and spit that partially cover the mouth of the Russian River. Here there's not a stone in sight, simply sand and driftwood. The two beaches are a perfect contrast of Northern California's rugged ocean-front parks.

We shot a master of the coastline so that we could super-impose a CG shot of the grasslands stretching out to the horizon. See if you can spot it!

Smart people + Stunning Scenery = Great TV. Can it be that it was all so simple....

Putting the "I" in Journalism: Sweet Home Obama

The first few days traveling to Kenya with journalist Edwin Okong'o was like riding a wild horse bare back. We arrived in Nairobi on a Friday evening. The plan was to take a couple of days to try to get settled and set up interviews and shoots for the coming week. By 4AM Saturday morning, I could have a written a travel feature on the capital city's nightlife. Usually, the pressures of getting the story and filming enough to create a high quality television program keep me in my hotel room pouring over the schedule trying to find room for one more set-up or one more interview. This trip, and this story, was different.

Edwin had pitched the project, about Obama's popularity in Kenya, to Frontline World as part of a larger international reporting project, 2008 Election The Whole World is Watching. It was a co-production with PRI (Public Radio International).

I had been reading Obama's first book, Dreams from my Father, and it had appealed to me because of my sometimes strained relationship growing up with my father. While reading some of Edwin's blogs I noticed he also mentioned tension with his dad as something that had helped shape him. I asked Edwin if he would be willing to try to incorporate some of his personal story into our film. It was a little risky, we had just met and talked on the phone maybe twice. I didn’t want Edwin to think that I was trying to take over the direction of the piece. But we both agreed it was worth a try.

So our sojourns into the Nairobi night were part of a bonding experience, a way of building trust with each other. When you put back a few dozen Pilseners, you talk about things with a certain disregard for what is proper and you let your guard down. Edwin had no difficulty sharing stories of his rough childhood with me and on camera became comfortable reporting and sharing personal insights. When a journalist opens up to an audience and relates things personal, the audience tends to absorb the reporting in the piece more deeply. When Edwin tells us about the constant requests from his family to improve the lot of his village, we gain insight into what is being asked of and expected of Obama from his Kenyan cousins. Edwin's knowledge of the complex social and political circumstances that exist in Kenya were also critical. In the end, the mixture of good reporting and personal storytelling made this piece special.

"Sweet Home Obama" has a little something for everyone; nationalism, tribalism, election politics, the pressures and bonds of family and an overall sense of the love that Kenyans feel for Obama and for their country. But what helped the piece win a Webby People's Choice Award, I believe, was Edwin's courage to share his own story and compare his own plight to that of our current President's.

Watch the video and read more about Edwin's experience here: Sweet Home Obama