The day before Thanksgiving, I was hired by Graham Colton to live-stream and film his big 20 Year Homecoming Concert. He’s released the edited video to share with everyone as a showcase piece.
I had a blast filming and editing the video together. I hope you enjoy this concert too.
Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art at Oklahoma Contemporary presents the work of artists who use video games as a catalyst for making art that addresses timely issues, including gun violence, migration and gender equality. The artworks in Open World reference a broad cross section of games, ranging from early text adventure and arcade games to more recent releases such as World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto.
In this episode, Artistic Director Jeremiah Matthew Davis shares an overview of the exhibition. Then he highlights works by Tabor Robak, Joan Pamboukes, and Feng Mengbo. The video ends with a tour of the learning gallery for Open World.
Open World’s immersive installation features three interactive artworks. The quiet, introspective game The Night Journey (2007-18), created by Bill Viola in conjunction with the USC Game Innovation Lab, mimics the process of achieving spiritual enlightenment, while Feng Mengbo’s energetic side-scrolling platformer Long March: Restart (2008) loosely recounts a significant event in Chinese history through 8-bit graphics. Retro gamers will enjoy Cory Arcangel’s I Shot Andy Warhol (2002), a modification of the 1984 Nintendo Entertainment System game Hogan’s Alley, which includes appearances by the Pop artist along with Colonel Sanders, Flavor Flav and the pope.
Artists included in the exhibition are: Ueli Alder (Hemberg, Switzerland), Cory Arcangel (New York), Alan Butler (Dublin), JooYoung Choi (Houston), Joseph DeLappe (Dundee, Scotland), Krista Hoefle (South Bend, IN), Invader (Paris), Butt Johnson (New York), Angelo Ray Martínez (South Bend, IN), Michael Menchaca (San Antonio), Feng Mengbo (Beijing), Joan Pamboukes (New York), Oliver Payne (Los Angeles), Tim Portlock (St. Louis), Tabor Robak (New York), Jacolby Satterwhite (New York), Skawennati (Montreal), Suzanne Treister (London), Nathan Vincent (Los Angeles), Bill Viola (Long Beach, CA), Angela Washko (Pittsburgh) and Mathew Zefeldt (Minneapolis).
Open World is organized by the Akron Art Museum and supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, The Tom and Marilyn Merryweather Fund, and National Endowment for the Arts. Oklahoma Contemporary’s exhibition is presented by Velocigo. It is made possible through the generous support of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation, Delaware Resource Group, Anonymous, CNS Productions, Annie Bohanon, Christian Kanady, George Records, and Glenna and Richard Tanenbaum.
A profile on Matt Payne written for the Oklahoma Venture Forum on the subject of The Community Effort to Grow Oklahoma’s Film Industry.
The domino of events for Prairie Surf Media’s formation started in 2000 when Gray Frederickson moved back to Oklahoma and started the Oklahoma Film Institute. Rachel Cannon and Matt Payne were among the first of those students. The two pursued film careers outside of Oklahoma, but they eventually found themselves back in the state.
“After a little bit of chat, and discussing perhaps the idea of making a film, or writing something together, [Rachel Cannon and I] decided that maybe it would be more exciting to begin to work to add to the existing infrastructure in Oklahoma so that we could have an even more robust and thriving film community here,” said Matt Payne, co-founder and co-CEO of Prairie Surf Media. “And we’ve been doing it ever since.”
On January 1, 2021, Prairie Surf Media took over the venue, formerly known as Cox Convention Center, through a tenant agreement with the City of Oklahoma City. The venue, now known as Prairie Surf Studios, boasts five flexible, state-of-the-art soundstages with all the amenities needed to create new worlds. Payne explained soundstages are soundproof rooms where productions can build their sets, avoid outdoor elements, and shoot in a more cost-efficient way. While the former Convention is ideal for soundstages, the facility has received upgrades to better suit productions over the past several months.
“We pulled 10,000 pounds worth of buzzy lights and old speakers out of the ceiling, replaced it with LED lights,” said Payne. “We treated the walls with soundproofing, and we built vestibules on the far end of the building so that we create a barrier, an extra door barrier between the street and the sound-stage.”
In addition to building soundstages, Prairie Surf Media worked to build up the state film incentive and the local workforce. With partnerships with OCU, Oklahoma City Community College and several career techs, including Metro Tech and Francis Tuttle, Prairie Surf Media is training people. Students learn how to work and function on an actual film set.
“Since then, about 30 of those individuals have gone on to work on different productions in Oklahoma,” said Payne. “It’s been a really successful program, and we take a lot of pride in the fact that we’re not only bringing an industry here, but we’re that industry is creating jobs, and giving paths to kids like Rachel and I, that want to get in the entertainment industry.”
Matt Payne will be speaking at the Oklahoma Venture Forum Power Lunch on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. The event will be open to guests both in-person and virtually via ZOOM. Payne said they’ve been able to pursue this business by “standing on the shoulders of giants” from Oklahoma filmmakers such as Gray Frederickson, Lance McDaniel, and many others, including government officials.
“We’ve only been able to do this because of our partnerships with, particularly, Oklahoma City, and getting into this facility, and the state for putting an incentive in place, and state leadership, you know, Senator Roger Thompson, Chuck Hall, Representatives Fetgatter and Hill,” said Payne. “There were so many leaders that have played a role in getting us here. [Prairie Surf Media] is a very, very small start-up in a very big building, but, really, the truth is that this is a city, state, and community project that we’re all sort of proud of. And we think very much of Oklahoma as a whole, as our partner in this project.”
Danny Vo, an Admin the weekly bike meet-up, Hide and Go Bike, takes me on a bike ride through Oklahoma City visiting his favorite people and places.
We start in the Paseo Arts District with a visit with Andrea Koester of Holey Rollers, a vegan donut/breakfast shop. Next, we visit John Otjen about 30th Street Market, which will be opening soon in the district. We ride over to the Plaza District where Danny chats with Kyle Hix of Hix Design and gets a behind-the-scenes tour of the studio. Danny’s final interview ends Downtown at his favorite liquor store, George’s Liquor, with Cody Wilson showing us what they offer.
Wrapping up the episode, I partake in one of the weekly Thursday night bike rides hosted by Hide and Go Bike. Danny talks about the chill bike ride session and what a ride is like for those interested. All bikes are welcomed!
I had planned to get this episode published way sooner, but when Danny and I were filming the interviews, I realized I had a flat tire and that I left my GoPro at home. Schedules didn’t line up until a few weeks later when I was able to film the last part of the video on Hide and Go Bike. I’m thinking I might have Danny guest host again in the Spring/Summer.
Thank you to my superstar supporters, Revolve Productions, and the Keller Kenton family, as well as all of my supporters on Patreon. If you love what I’m doing, please join me on Patreon for bonus content, early access to new episodes. There’s also an online store with various Oklahoma-themed merchandise.
Happy Adventures!
In the season finale, as Sam and Geoff arrived in Sulphur to interview Tanya McCoy, they receive a FaceTime call from Detective Valerie James about a fifth murder. The two talk with Tanya about ghost stories in Sulphur, Ada, Blackwell, and other small towns, as well as the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. A few days after the interview, Geoff requests Sam to join him outside the Norman Public Library, where Geoff plans to confront George Grayson.
The Show Starts Now Studios was proud to bring you season four of Tales Unveiled with producer Dennis Spielman. Dennis was the voice of Sam Saxon along with his co-host, Jeff Provine as the voice of Professor Geoff DeRoot, Kristy Boone as Detective Valerie James, David Moxley as George Grayson, and Leslie Spielman as Anastasia Wheeler and the voice of the end credits.
If you love what we’re doing, want us to keep being artist-owned and fan-supported, please join us on Patreon. In return, you get bonus content, including early access to other shows from The Show Starts Now Studios!
Stay tuned as the studio has exciting projects coming in 2021!
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