Introducing the iReport Film Festival!

We want YOU to make a short film for iReport Film Festival: Campaign 2008!, an online festival of short films from the campaign trail.

Put your creativity to the test and give us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes whether you are organizing in your community or following the campaign… Learn more

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Jack Gray
AC360° Producer

It wasn’t the way I envisioned my trip to San Francisco concluding…

You see, I was scheduled to spend the evening with the Young Republicans of San Francisco (no, that’s not a typo) to discuss how a group of political conservatives exist in arguably the most liberal city in the country. It was to be the ying to the yang of my visit with the Young Democrats of Utah. But, a few hours before we were to get together, I fell. In broad daylight. Getting into a cab. Sober. It’s lame, I know.

The irony is that I had just moments earlier – according to the San Francisco Police Department – narrowly escaped getting my “ass kicked” by an encampment of drug addicts in Golden Gate Park. Apparently the park is a de facto sovereign nation and it was sheer luck that two bike patrolmen came along just as the unhappy crowd began to converge on me and my $3,000 CNN video camera. By the way, special thanks to the guy on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets who suggested the park would be a great place to get footage. Hilarious, pal. Anyway, after getting out of the park alive I realized I had pushed my luck enough for the day and it was time to go back to the hotel.

So I hailed a cab, told the driver where I was going and asked that he make a quick stop at City Hall as I needed to get a few quick exterior shots. Easy as pie, right? Not quite, as it turns out. I got the exterior shots alright but as I was getting back into the cab things fell apart – literally. It was one of those mini-van cabs. I had my left hand on the top of the door frame and my right hand (which was also holding the camera) on the right side of the door frame. Any idiot could handle it, right? Well, not me.

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Introducing the iReport Film Festival!

We want YOU to make a short film for iReport Film Festival: Campaign 2008!, an online festival of short films from the campaign trail.

Put your creativity to the test and give us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes whether you are organizing in your community or following the campaign… Learn more

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Chuck Hadad
AC360° producer
 
My boss pulled me into his office one afternoon in late May and dropped a bombshell: “We want you to do a short documentary about the election. Come back to us with an idea and as long as we’re on board, we want you to go for it.”

I was thrilled with the assignment but also overwhelmed with the endless possibilities. It was like when your 9th grade English teacher told you to write an essay on “anything you want”. You loved the freedom but at the same time were crushed with the limitless options.

“This is going to be part of an iReport film festival and your film will be a model for people to get an idea of what we’re looking for,” he said. Now the pressure was really on. America was counting on me.

I came back a week later with an idea that was as ambitious as perhaps it was foolish. I wanted to know what the country thought about the election and I planned to find out by driving across the country asking as many different people as possible. In talking to individuals, I hoped to discover some universal truth. Keep reading

Introducing the iReport Film Festival!

We want YOU to make a short film for iReport Film Festival: Campaign 2008!, an online festival of short films from the campaign trail.

Put your creativity to the test and give us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes whether you are organizing in your community or following the campaign… Learn more

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Here's a sample of what we're looking for in the iReport Film Festival from AC360° Associate Producer Jack Gray. This film isn't in the running.

Rural, heavily Mormon and across-the-board-conservative: Utah, as it was and ever shall be, right? Well, not quite, as it turns out.

Until last month I had never been to Utah. I had heard good things from my friends who ski but had never had a reason to travel there myself (I am a disaster on the slopes). But when I was assigned to produce a sample mini documentary on the election for the CNN iReport Film Festival I decided that Utah was the place to go. Keep reading

Introducing the iReport Film Festival!

We want YOU to make a short film for iReport Film Festival: Campaign 2008!, an online festival of short films from the campaign trail.

Put your creativity to the test and give us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes whether you are organizing in your community or following the campaign… Learn more

________________________________________________________________

Here's a sample of what we're looking for in the iReport Film Festival from AC360° Producer Chuck Hadad . This film isn't in the running.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

It’s 2pm on Saturday and I’m doing 60 on the Long Island Expressway. The sun is shining, people are heading to the beach but I’m so tired that no matter how hard I try, my eyes will just not stay open. Although I know I have many hours to go before my final destination, I’m afraid I’ll have an accident so I pull off an exit, find a quiet suburban street to park the car, roll down the windows and immediately pass out for two, fitful hours of sleep.

As I descend into slumber, I think, “How did I get here?” but in reality, I have no one to blame but myself. Well, myself, and CNN.

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