spoke digital films

Of course, all commercial news programs exist simply to provide filler content in between their lucrative advertisements, but Morning Joe is the first to announce it to the world by emblazoning the Starbucks coffee logo all over their program.

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As Chelsea moves from one wealthy client to the next, many offer advice about how she should invest her money amidst the financial crisis. “Traditional” commerce only serves as the film’s underpainting, however. What this film really enjoys exploring is the commodification of the very humanity of the characters

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After reading part of David Simon’s testimony to Congress last week regarding the death of newspapers (though Congress titled the hearings The Future of Journalism), I was reminded what a man-crush I have on this guy. Simon, of course, is the co-creator of the great HBO drama The Wire. I am embarrassed [...]

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I just left the theater after seeing State of Play, the political thriller directed by Kevin McDonald (The Last King of Scotland) and starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, and Ben Affleck. The film was based on a BBC produced mini-series of the same title. To be honest, I went into the theater with [...]

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Jon Burge, the ringleader of the Chicago Police Department’s history of Abu-Ghraib sytle torture from the 1970’s to the 1990’s, has been arrested and charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.  (I have embedded the trailer to Shielded Brutality below, which is the documentary I’ve been producing documenting this history.)

From chicagobreakingnews.com:
Retired Chicago police Cmdr. Jon [...]

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In the second part of this story, two Iraq veterans from Tennessee discuss their frustration with the lack of coverage the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting. They are both members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, but show strong support for their colleagues still fighting overseas (as well as the innocent civilians caught in the struggle).

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This quietly engaging film chronicles a retired Texas pastor who worked as a prison chaplain for fifteen years. Part of Pastor Pickett’s job was to counsel convicts on Death Row, though his responsibilities went further than that. One of Pickett’s duties was to counsel the men on the days leading up to their execution and make certain they wouldn’t fight as they were led to the gurney to be strapped down for lethal injection.

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I’m very pleased to announce that the Puffin Foundation generously awarded Spoke Digital Films with an Artist Grant to help us complete our documentary, Shielded Brutality, which documents a thirty-year history of police torture in Chicago, Il.

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Recently, the New York Times reported about a Pew Research Center study indicating that 1 in 99 American adults are behind bars, our country’s highest rate ever. I decided to do some research about the role private prisons play in the economics and politics of this development.

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While the complicated subjects of copyright and intellectual property law are by no means glossed over, they are bolstered with historical anecdotes, personal stories, discussions with filmmakers and archivists, and plenty of real world examples spoken in plain language. This is a book written by creative people with a passion for filmmaking, and it shows in the text.

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