Reality Leaves a lot to the the Imagination
Organic Process Productions (OPP) started life in 2005 -- telling stories and creating compelling and sustainable art and media projects. Since then we have produced award-winning documentaries, books, video projects, and multi-media events with artful insight.
In 2009, we began an active participation in our local farming community by launching a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and a local handmade goat cheese - Giddy Goat Cheese.
We still feel our media work is important and have focused on documenting the people, places and things that make up our local food heritage.
We operate in pursuit of a vision that learns from archaic traditions while fully embracing 21st Century digital existence. We believe a balance between both is important to happiness.
Mitchell's Pecha Kucha Presentation
This was the 7th charleston Pecha Kucha on Wed. August 25, 2010. Mitchell was the first up on the roster. Really cool.
Pecha Kucha Charleston - Mitchell Davis. Aug 26, 2010 from OPP on Vimeo.
She's Got Moxie. Post & Courier does great interview with Farrah about the Organic Process
Q: What inspired you and your husband, Mitchell Davis, to create Organic Process Productions, a media company that has produced award-winning documentaries, books, video projects and multimedia events?
A: Our passion for media arts and our compulsive need to tell meaningful stories. It also lets us work together and mutually express the love we have for life, which is quite a blessing.
Q: In 2009, you became involved in a number of agricultural projects, including the Rosebank Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and making your own "Giddy Goat Cheese." How has the move to a more agrarian lifestyle been different from the technology-driven media industry you had been involved in?
Giddy Goat Cheese Joins the Menu of James Beard Award-Winning Sean Brock's - McCrady's Restaurant
We are very happy to announce the addition of our Pure and Pimiento Goat Cheeses to the menu at McCrady's restaurant in downtown Charleston. McCrady's chef Sean Brock just became the third consecutive Charleston chef to win the coveted James Beard Award.
After working under Robert Carter at Penninsula Grill, Sean took on a number of challenges at four and five star restaurants around the Southeast, eventually ending up back in Charleston.
Brock is a passionate advocate for seed preservation and he continues to grow a number of heirloom crops, including James Island Red Corn (aka “Jimmy Red”), from which he makes grits, Flint Corn, Benne Seed, Rice Peas, Sea Island Red Peas, and several varieties of Farro.
In addition to serving our local handmade Giddy Goat cheeses, Sean is also using our Whey in his Charcuterie and meat curing processes. As we strive to reduce our waste, this is a great home for the by-product of our cheese making process.
LOWCOUNTRY LOCAL FIRST DOCUMENTARY - as part of our MEDIA work we are currently working on a documentary short focused on the "Farm to Table" relationship between Sean and local farmer Maria Baldwin @ Thornhill Farms in McCleanville. This second installment of our LLF documentary project is set for completion mid-Summer. You can see the first installment at GiveGround.tv.
As a side note, he also has one of the most rad tatoos ever. Talk about dedication to the craft!
Organic Process and Lowcountry Local First partner to document Growing New Farmers incubator program
The first video in our documentary series following the Growing New Farmers program has been posted to GiveGround.tv. This is an exciting collaboration and we appreciate being a part of this project. The video gives a good overview of what the program is all about, but for more info visit the LLF website.OPP Documentary News: Web of Water wins PBS National Education Innovation Award
The exciting thing about the Organic Process media / farm mash-up is that we use our local farming and Giddy Goat cheese as a catalyst to support our media production projects. These projects are aimed at an intelligent and constructive use of media to support our community. This week we got some great news that recognizes our efforts in this area and supports our vision.
PBS NATIONAL INNOVATION AWARD: Our environmental education project Web of Water was selected as a PBS Education Innovation Award winner. The national award recognizes innovative projects that demonstrate new ways of teaching and learning. Congratulations to Ian Sanchez (pictured here) and the crew who worked with us on this incredible project.
Watch All the webisodes for the Web of Water project
GIVE GROUND FILM RECOGNITION: Our initial GiveGround.tv video Oyster Man Mike (which was also a selection in the 2009 Charleston International Film Festival) was selected for the Southern Views series at the Echo Park Film Center in Los Angeles. All Oyster Man Mike wanted from this was "a walk down the red carpet, a couple of cold ones, and a chance to shoot the shit with some good folk." Now he can add another honor to the list. We recently saw Mike at an event on John's Island and we are happy to report he is doing great.
OYSTER MAN MIKE (documentary short)
OPP Launches GiveGround.TV
OPP has launched our first local farming / new media mash up at GiveGround.TV. This site seeks to re-invent the relationship between products and marketing. Rather than marketing driving the media, the media is a philanthropic project that is supported every time you purchase OPP's Giddy Goat Cheese or join the Rosebank Farms CSA program. You can visit the site to read the mission, but basically we want to preserve and tell the stories of the people and places of the sea islands around Charleston.
Rosebank Farms' CSA
In 2009 OPP helped Rosebank Farms launch it's first Community Supported Agriculture program. In our first year we had over 100 people in the Lowcountry of South Carolina sign-up for delivery of fresh veggies. To join the CSA visit the Rosebank Farms website.
BEN TIMPSON's Inside Nothing: Is Everything
From an upcoming biography on Ben and his art process:
"When classically trained painter Ben Timpson turned his artist's eye from large canvases to tiny bits of the natural world, his work entered a mysterious realm of fanciful, dark beauty. Flowers, insects, blood and bone – the eccentric materials Timpson collects find their way into miniature compositions he assembles into slides in painstaking marathons at his light table. These haunting and whimsical photographs, published for the first time in "End of the Roll: Goodnight 35mm," capture a style that trades traditional notions of painting and collage for an evocative visual alchemy. The result is a gallery of alarmingly original images, and the publishing debut of a remarkable young artist."
(Rough Cut) Inside Nothing from OPP on Vimeo.
POSTED BY MITCHELL: I discovered Ben Timpson's art when I was at BookSurge. I was walking through the production facility one day looking at some of the books we were printing and his book "End of the Roll" literally stopped me in my tracks. He later came and signed books at the BookSurge booth at an American Library Association conference in Chicago. We had dinner and developed a friendship. He is one of the truest and most unique artists I have ever encountered and OPP is proud to be bringing his work to a larger audience.
Ben has recently released his second book titled "Inside Nothing: Is Everything" that at 174 pages shows his more recent works and will include a DVD. Above is Farrah's rough cut of a clip from that video showing the process behind the art. The book is currently only available directly from us so contact us if you are interested in getting a copy.
Ben's work is starting to pop up around Charleston and his first large scale installation/projection project is being set up for this Winter. Please also look for him at Kulture Klash III where his originals will be on view for the first time! The audience will be able to view the projections as well as the original slide under a 1940's slide viewer in 3-D (you can see it in the video). Interacting with Ben's media is a altering experience and we encourage everyone to take the plunge.
View Ben's Online Gallery on OPP
Visit Ben's website at www.goodnight35.com
SC Burned children's Fund
We finished the cause-marketing documentary short for SC Burned Children's Fund and Camp Can Do. It was great working with Jill Evans & Betsy McMillan from MUSC's Children's Burn Hospital! Hope the promo for Camp Can Do & the short cause-doc is put to good use. Thanks also to Dan Conover who worked the camera on the opening interviews with the teenagers. Thanks most of all to the children who were so very sweet & open.
SC Burned Children's Fund & Camp Can Do from OPP on Vimeo.
Finding Pura Vida - Full Movie Post, Extra Footage and Trailer
THIS IS A FULL MOVIE POST, BUT.....Purchase the DVD and Book - A portion of every purchase goes to the kids at Casa De Suenos!
Extra footage below on the Pura Vida Entrepreurial Project
And finally... the trailer / teaser (hey, wait is this in reverse order!)