The Huffington Post featured my short documentary on King Tef and Colorado’s hip hop scene. Interestingly enough I have known Sean Garris, a.k.a. King Tef since college.  We both attended a small liberal arts college named Colorado College. It was interesting and just plain old fun to see him in a different setting/on a stage rapping for the Gothic Theater’s audience.

I was fortunate enough to interview him and get his motivations behind him becoming a hip hop star.  He started by wanting to go to school for medicine but since his brother’s death, a former hip hop artist as well, Sean decided to continue his brother’s legacy and became a musician himself.  

I’d say he’s done his brother proud. 

My watch said 2pm which meant I was still on US MST. At rebel HQ in Tripoli, rebels were waking up and ready to eat as it was still Ramadan in the middle of August 2011.  These guys, most of whom were teenagers, dragged the gazelle onto a plastic bag. One guy slit its throat and let it bleed out. He then cut a hole into its leg, blew into the hole so as to inflate the animal while another guy would hit it with a stick. I was guessing that this was the way to skin the animal.

I had never witnessed a slaughter before, so I was unnaturally intrigued by the experience. I also have never been to a war zone before, so I was ok with first-time experiences.   

This is a video log post on the film I’m working on titled Recovering.

Visit indiegogo.com/recovering as we only have little time to fundraise!

I am joining the post-production team for Become Films’ documentary, Recovering. Michael de Yoanna, an investigative reporter, and Greg Campbell, author of the award-winning book Blood Diamonds, came together to film and produce a documentary about how bicycling is helping troops heal wounds. 

Frankly, this will be the first feature length film I will be editing.  No doubt am I nervous.  I didn’t shoot it nor am I directing it so for the most part I’m out of my comfort zone here.  But there is something about this story that really grabs me.  I’ve been wanting to make a documentary on veterans and soldiers and the issue of PTSD.  There is a lot of good media out there on the matter but not enough that shows any hope or agency for change.

Recovering shows a side of PTSD I am interested in seeing.  Bicycling as a way of healing wounds is something I wouldn’t have thought of and why would I? I haven’t been traumatized by the violent events many of these men and women have faced.  I am hoping to be a part of a team that aims to show audiences that there are ways forward. 

To donate to post-production funds please visit www.indiegogo.com/recovering

The photo “Waiting for Anything” received 2nd place in best photo category at the Denver Foundation’s Annual celebration.  

In the photo, I feature Nancy and Cortez Graves.  While living in a motel, they are waiting till the job market opens up again. She spends her days filling out applications and sending out resumes while he goes to school and then spends time with Colfax Community Network’s After School Program. This program is one of many that Colfax Community Network runs as ways of aiding the transition from homelessness to more stable lifestyles. Like many families on the streets, Nancy and Cortez are waiting for anything.

A short film will follow soon.

New blog, new post and new YouTube Channel with the short film “Mother’s Day Breakfast in Bed” to headline.  

The Simon family (Fran, Anna and Jeremy) are amazing, beautiful and were simply a joy to work with.  This short film originated in a discussion over beers with Matt Elder, a close friend from back in grade school.  We were both concerned about the current issue of civil unions and wanted to do something about it without getting too confrontational.  Next thing you know it I’m talking to connections, colleagues and friends.  Turns out my good friend CJ Pascoe, author and professor of Sociology at Colorado College, had been friends with Fran Simon of the Simon family since back in CA (not sure how far back that was).  One thing led to another and I’m filming Jeremy make breakfast for Mother’s Day. 

After all the YouTube views (the most any of my videos have had) and features in the Huffington Post Denver and the Westword Blog I am hoping people will start to understand that political debates impact people like the Simon family, children like Jeremy.  I hope we don’t forget that. 

I have excuses but no good reason for why my vlog DocJournal took a holiday  So I just wanted to throw it out there and say, I am resuming production here very soon/the coming weeks.  So stay tuned for more updates on this vide blog project I call Documentary Journal.

Now posting the most recent episode of my Documentary Journal: “That photo…Isn’t that bad.”

After the 2008 DNC, Jackson and I decided to drive about 1,000 miles from Denver, CO to Shreveport, LA. We stopped there to find southern Louisianans in Red Cross shelters waiting for Hurricane Gustav to destroy their homes.

Photography by Jackson Solway

Music by Devin James Fry’s band Salesman (salesmanmusic.com)

In light of the 2012 election, I thought it best to resurrect some footage I collected while I was volunteering as a radio editor for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. What started out as a small volunteer job turned out to be a journalistic adventure shared by Jackson Solway, then freelance photographer and now founder of Once Magazine (oncemagazine.com), an interactive IPad app found at the Apple App Store.

Photography by Jackson Solway
Music by Devin James Fry and the band Salesman (salesmanmusic.com)

Ok so I have some explaining to do:

1. I am posting the last video of “It Takes a Real Women to Fix a Country”, which I was planning on posting a week & 1/2 ago but didn’t….my bad.

2. Part of the reason I’ve been busy is, of course, the holidays and I’ve been preparing for a trip/job that came out of the blue. A week from today (Jan. 7th) I’ll be flying to Chad to film and document issues regarding the Darfuri refugee camps.

3. and Happy New Year as this series is a great start to 2012. I’m glad to have such good friends and a growing audience!!

This is the last episode of the 3 journal entries titled “It Takes Real Women to Fix a Country”. It concludes my experiences on working with the upcoming women’s health education organization Healthy Women Healthy Liberia headed by Dr. Chris Hena and Marcella Ruch. 

Film by Mike Shum
Music by Devin James Fry and the band Salesman (SalesmanMusic.com)

This is part 2 of episode 1, It Takes Real Women to Fix a Country.  Enjoy my Documentary Journal Series!

This is the first episode of my web series Mike Shum’s Documentary Journal. Let me know what you think. The next part will be released tomorrow at 12 pm MTN USA 12/16/11. Thanks for watching.

I am introducing the introductory episode film of my web documentary series, Mike Shum’s Documentary Journal.  It’s a series that recounts 5 years of an array of stories across the globe.  It’s a way for me to reflect on these experiences and what I’ve learned. Episode 1 Part 1 features tomorrow, Dec. 15th at 12 pm MTN.

One of my friends from college interviewed one of the two directors of the Academy Award nominated film Restrepo, Sebastian Junger.  The interview focused on the recent death of world-renowned war photographer/filmmaker Tim Hetherington.  I am incredibly proud of my friend for this piece as it had great impact on my perspective in my pursuits in more video/photojournalism. 

IPhone Photo Post 1

When my camera runs out of battery or the off chance I don’t have it on me, I pull out my IPhone.  Sometimes I get some interesting things, like how Liberians fill and refill gas.

These are the first four photos of the IPhone Collection.

Greg Marinovich, co-author of The Bang Bang Club, said this as he was talking with Terry Gross on NPR about his time as a war photographer.  She didn’t really address the quote but I remember listening to this and feeling compelled to reflect on how I see journalism.

I look at the way I take a photo or produce a video and frankly so much of my subjectivity goes into the way I tell a story.  I do my best to not be political or opinionated but I admit in every frame and pixel of my pieces I like to think there is a bit of honest subjectivity, a bit of me essentially.