Political Videography

Shot and/or Edited, then Posted Video Clips with Over 8,000 Views

Using media of the day (mini-DV and previously VHS tape), I shot, directed, edited, and/or distributed online scores of original videos documenting progressive political events, messages, and leaders — to inform, inspire, and motivate volunteers, donors, and other concerned citizens.

In my YouTube Channel clips of these videos received over 8,000 views, in addition to the 14,000-plus views of clips I edited from the cable TV talk show NewsRap with Barry Gordon, for which I was associate producer.

Health Care Reform: A Matter of Life and Death

This was my 30-second submission to the Organizing for America “Health Reform Video Challenge.”

I wrote a script structured around President Obama’s three primary goals: making health insurance “available, dependable, and affordable.”

And to best make the case, I featured photos I generously received from loved ones of some of the 45,000 Americans who have died every year because they did not have health insurance or their insurance denied them medically necessary treatments.

People will always become ill, and all of us will sooner or later die. But with the passage of “Obamacare,” at least more of us have access to health care we can depend on and afford — our stated goals — and countless lives are being saved.

I am proud to have played my small part in this historic achievement, appealing to the “better angels of our nature” as Americans.

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Organizing for America “Congressional Send-Off Rally” in Los Angeles for Health Care Reform

This event featured speeches by Rep. Jane Harman, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and a wide range of people — including former CNN news anchor Veronica De La Cruz (in this and another clip) — whose loved ones passed away when health insurance failed.

On September 3, 2009, in advance of President Obama’s speech before a rare joint session of Congress, about health care reform, Organizing for America — the Democratic National Committee group that called upon 13 million Americans who supported Barack Obama for president — together with the national grassroots advocacy group Health Care for America NOW! hosted these “Congressional Send-Off Rallies” nationwide, including in Cornfield Park, in historic downtown Los Angeles, where I videotaped the event for clips I edited and posted to my YouTube Channel.

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Rep. Adam Schiff “Town Hall” on Health Care Reform

With valid press credentials from OpEdNews.com (with hundreds of thousands of unique visitors a month), I joined members of the local to national media videotaping one of the health care “town halls” nationwide during the summer of 2009.

Here, in Alhambra, California, local Congressman Adam Schiff invited a panel of local noted health care experts to speak before and answer questions from an outdoor audience estimated by local police to number 2,000 — about evenly split between opponents and supporters of health care reform. Although the crowd was raucus at times, the event was not marred by violence, as was happening at town hall meetings elsewhere in the nation.

You may see the dozens of video clips I shot (in increasing darkness as the evening wore on and my admittedly modest equipment struggled to keep up) in my YouTube Channel, and you may read more about the event and its political and historic significance in the article I wrote for OpEdNews.com.

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Various Campaign Events & Political Leaders

Shown here are excerpts from a backyard fundraiser featuring charismatic Rep. Loretta Sánchez, then–congressional candidate, soon-to-be representative Adam Schiff, California First Lady Sharon Davis, and various local to state political leaders.

During the election years of 2000 and 2002, I was occasionally asked to videotape live events for local Democratic Party political campaigns, so that the videos could be shown at later dates to volunteers and donors who could not attend.

I have the late Mr. Jack Logan, a former U.S. Navy photographer, to thank for my introduction to various party leaders, the use of his equipment, and the benefit of his experience ... not to mention his friendship and good humor!

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Assembly Candidate Kelly Hayes-Raitt Endorsement Appeal

Shot at the last minute, obviously in her office not a studio, this brief video allowed Kelly to "be in two places at once" that evening, and win backing from a key environmental group while taking part in a live event benefiting Los Angeles mayoral candidate, soon-to-be mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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