Stacy is in town!

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After a really crappy week I was surprised by my old friend and former music producer, Stacy Burkett, who called me out of the blue. He was back in NYC for a few days and was reacquainting himself with NYC. It has been probably five more years since we have been in the same place so it was great to catch up with him. The last time we spoke at length was after he found one of my New York Cine podcast sessions online and heard me discussing our time working on my hip-hop demo over 20 years back.

Truth be told, he needs to move his @$$ back to NYC after so many years on the left coast.

Webinar: Video Tips & Techniques for the Web and Social Media

Effectively developing a social media campaign today includes creating video content that is both professional and engaging. If you are you looking to add high quality audiovisual content to your personal marketing strategy, but don’t know where to start, this webinar will help lay the groundwork for producing powerful video that enhances your brand.

The webinar will cover:

· Understanding how to plan and structure video content.
· Basic introduction to interviewing strategies
· Best practices for producing high quality video content
· The latest hardware and software options for video production
· Where to host your video content once it is created

Whether you are new to video production or an experienced professional, this webinar will give you a stronger foundation on how video can fit into your social media strategy.

The 2015 NYC Comic Con

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The annual family trip to Nerd Mecca was great! I am always amazed that the wife and kids still indulge me in our yearly ritual. The best part of Comic Con this year was that I got to see the pilot episodes for new series like Supergirl, Lucifer, Containment, Ash vs the Evil Dead, and Jessica Jones. The 2015-16 TV season is going to be amazing for comic nerds like myself.

Everyone of the pilots, with the exception of Supergirl, left me excited for the new television season. Supergirl looked great from a visual and special effects perspective but the tone of the show seems too “Ally McBeal” for my tastes. In contrast, Jessica Jones and Containment took a much darker direction by focusing on flawed characters who are forced to come to grips with serious and deadly challenges. No so much the case for the “girl of steel”.

Comic Con 2015 is on!

A photo posted by James Richardson (@jlrich3) on


The 2015 New York Comic Con tickets have arrived! I could only get tickets for Thursday this year. I guess it is better than not getting tickets at all. Still, let me know if anyone has extras that they are willing to sell. I would rather not have to deal with scalpers. Because, to paraphrase the great Obi-Wan Kenobi, “never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”.

Needles!!

A photo posted by James Richardson (@jlrich3) on


My rotator cuff injury got worked on today by my acupuncturist. I have been having shoulder pains for a few months now and it was getting to the point where I had to do something. I figured I would look into alternative therapies like acupuncture. And yes, it really does work. Well, at least it works if your practitioner knows what they are doing. Luckily mine does. I am feeling pretty good! My shoulder feels much better after only a couple of sessions. My practitioner is named Lisa Sumption and I would definitely recommend her. It was relatively painless. And keep in mind that I am a person that absolutely hates needles.

VHS Massacre is coming

Some of you might not know but I am appearing in an upcoming documentary on the rise of digital media and the fall of physical formats like DVDs and VHS tapes. The clip above is a small excerpt from the VHS Massacre Documentary in which I appear.

New York Cine: Softball and Grounders

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The new episode of the New York Cine Radio Podcast is up. Melanie Hope, my old buddy from college, rolled through the podcast tonight to promote her upcoming documentary. I hadn’t seen Mel since maybe a year or two after I graduated. It was great to catch up and hear what she has been up to over the years.

Her film is called Grounders (http://groundersdocumentary.com) and focuses on a Brooklyn based softball league and the lives of the women that take the field. In addition to talking Continue reading “New York Cine: Softball and Grounders”

LaGuardia New Media Technology Update

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Last week I was part of a faculty panel that presented on the upcoming curricular changes to the LaGuardia New Media Technology major. In addition to the core web development classes we are now adding new tracks in digital journalism, ecommerce/entrepreneurship, game design/mobile app development, and digital media/VFX.

These are changes that I had fought for over a number of years and were outlined in the Periodic Program Review (PPR) which I produced over two years ago. The event was well attended and many of my new colleagues in seem extremely excited to begin this work. After so many years of being the sole full time teaching member of the New Media program, it is great to have additional voices involved in shaping the future direction of the major.

This is why I teach.

I had just returned from one of the many meetings that I have during the week to find a Facebook instant message from a former student of mine. I hadn’t seen or heard from Juan directly since a few months after he graduated. It was great to hear that he was doing fantastic and that I was able to play a small role in his success. At the end of the day this is essentially why I continue to teach. None of my other responsibilities as a professor even comes close to the satisfaction of helping students find their way in life, both personally and professionally.

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