The latest Government Video Expo opened today in Washington, DC, and, as in years past, our podcast, the Digital Production Buzz, has a team of reporters covering the event.

I thought you might be interested in how we are covering it.

We have equipped each of our reporters – Ed Clark and Tchad Moore – with a Zoom H4n digital recorder and two Shure SM58 hand mikes.

Our producers – Cirina Catania and Debbie Price – have scheduled interviews with conference speakers and key industry leaders which Ed and Tchad then interview. (We are always interested in interviewing new people — let me know if you want to be added to our list.)

The interviews are transferred from the Zoom recorders via USB and compressed, in their raw state, into a single ZIP file which is transferred to our home offices here in LA via Dropbox.

The files are then downloaded and edited by Hilary White and myself. As soon as they are edited, the files are posted to our GV Expo Buzz website, while two or three of our favorite interviews will be featured on this week’s show, with a few more featured next week.

If you haven’t checked out our latest interviews, make a point to visit here.

And, if you are in the DC area, swing by the Walter Washington Conference Center and check out the exhibits. They always have a great collection of new gear that’s worth seeing.

Thanks – and let me know what you think.

Larry

Google threw a potentially huge monkey wrench into the world of online video when they announced recently that they would no longer support H.264 in their Google Chrome web browser.

Just when the world seemed to be coming together around H.264, THIS has to show up!

Anyway, I invited Philip Hodgetts onto my weekly podcast – Digital Production Buzz – to discuss this whole issue.

I found his comments so helpful in understanding this issue that I want to share them with you here.

Click here to listen to the interview. (TRT: 8:42, MP3 file)

Click here to listen to the entire show.

Click here to signup for the weekly FREE Buzz Newsletter.

Thanks!

Larry

Our podcast, DigitalProductionBuzz.com, is the Official Podcast of Digital Video Expo for the third year in a row! Digital Video Expo 2010 is in Pasadena, CA, from Sept. 28 – 30.

We are creating three special programs – LIVE – from the trade show floor starting Wednesday, Sept. 29. (More on that in a minute.)

To celebrate, we are offering FREE PASSES to the trade show and discounts on the conference sessions. Here’s how it works.

Register for the exhibit floor and use the code – BUZZ – and you get in free.

Register for the DVE conference workshops using the code – BUZZ – and save $50. (This offer does not include the Weynand Training.)

The Buzz is already covering DV Expo with a variety of pre-show interviews with industry leaders. Plus, we’ll be at the show with updates on the latest technology every evening for three days starting Wednesday, Sept. 29.

Visit – DVExpoBuzz.com – for the latest in show news and a complete schedule of our special shows when they are produced. If you listen to the show on iTunes, we’ll post them there as well.

Larry

P.S. When you come to the show, please stop by our booth – #129 – and say hello. I’d love to say hi!

We were deeply troubled to read this week in the LA Times of significant legal challenges to the First Amendment rights of a documentary filmmaker.

Joe Berlinger made a documentary about Aguinda v. Chevron, a class action lawsuit filed in 1993 against Chevron’s oil operation in Ecuador. Chevron is demanding all Joe’s outtakes — more than 600 hours of video material — as part of their legal defense. Is this an issue of First Amendment rights, trying to uncover the truth, or a large corporations acting as a bully? One judge in a lower court has already ruled in favor of Chevron requiring Berlinger to surrender his footage. On Wednesday, July 14, U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments. And the impact for filmmakers could not be more significant.

This case raises issues of: Who is a journalist? What constitutes free speech in documentary filmmaking? What rights, if any, does a corporation have to media shot by someone that is not a corporate employee.

This week’s Digital Production Buzz featured Jonathan Handel, Of Counsel, Troy/Gould, talking about the First Amendment implications and ramifications of Chevron Oil’s case against documentary filmmaker, Joe Berlinger.

This is an interview that everyone interested in documentary film production needs to hear. Because if the wrong side wins, the effect could be chilling.

It took the Appeals Court exactly a day to reach a preliminary decision. Listen to learn more.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Click here to listen to the entire program.

Click here to read the original LA Times article.

And click here to read the followup article on the Court’s ruling.

Please tell your friends about this interview – because the results affect all of us.

Thanks,

Larry

P.S. Click here to learn more about the Digital Production Buzz.