Julie and I looked at our blog the other day and were shocked that we haven’t blogged in well over 3 months. Holy cow, that wasn’t supposed to happen! We had/have grand plans to blog at least weekly, mostly to step outside of our work and reflect on things that really matter to us and that inspire us to make things. Clearly we haven’t set aside the time to write about these things, but we have definitely been situating ourselves in new creative environments that WILL be blogged about. Things like watching tons of documentaries that we’ve never seen, signing up for Type Illustration Skillshare classes, and discussing how to keep squirrels and raccoons out of our gardens. (If anyone knows about that last thing, please help.)

Aside from highly creative and inspiring paid work, we have also had amazing opportunities to work alongside our friend, Sini Anderson, director of The Punk Singer, shooting and doing post on a short about a JT Leroy play written by the incredible Paula Gilovich. We’ve made a top secret short for the New York Times that we can’t show you, but hopefully we’ll be able to someday soon. And of course we have continued to go to our weekly BINGO night (yes, BINGO) that is hosted by the ever talented Jo Firestone (Meatball), where we get all of our good old-fashioned belly laughing in. We’re still convincing Jo to make some videos with us about lots of funny things.

Overall, these past months have been unbelievably busy. In the best way possible. Oh! Did we mention that the feature length documentary Out of Order that we are working on raised over $20,000 for the next round of shooting?

The challenges of starting up your own business are plenty (we’ll save that for another 10 blog posts), but the rewards make everything worthwhile.

We come prepared to shoot in the rain. Always. – Queens, NY 04/2013

[Also seen on the Out of Order Blog!]

Last July, I received an email from the magical mystical Leslie Dela Vega that altered the course of THEY’s days in a big way. It said, “JULES! I have something you [& Christy] would be PERFECT for! Trust me, such a great match. Have I ever steered you wrong?!” Leslie (my boss & mentor many moons ago when I was a bitty photo intern at Teen People Magazine) has indeed never steered me wrong.

The Perfect Project was little more than an idea at that point, an idea being formed by director Amanda (aka Billie) Bluglass, Leslie’s good pal. At that time, Billie wanted to make a documentary about lesbian and transgender individuals fighting homophobia in order to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and needed a film team to make it happen. The first week of shooting was scheduled to take place in 2 week’s time – I bet British Billie would call that a “fortnight” – at a Secret Gay Church Camp (at least that’s what THEY call it) located below the Mason-Dixon line. The catch was that aside from expenses, there was no money involved… Ah yes, the Almost Perfect Project! Even still, Christy and I found it nearly impossible to discard the idea of being part of a compelling feature length documentary project led by a fantastic director with such high recommendations. And so, with lightening speed, THEY had video conferences with their new friend Billie, met up with superhero Reverend Mieke Vandersall (and her trusty sidekick John), bundled up their combined video equipment, and hopped on a plane headed south to kick off Out of Order.

Turns out the decision to join the Out of Order team was a solid one. We’ve made many inspiring new friends (here’s a little secret: those Presbyterians are a wild bunch!) and have learned a thing or two about the Presbyterian Church (USA) – for instance, I always have to write “(USA)” after I write “Presbyterian Church” when referring to the Presbyterians in this film because… wait, Alex, why do I have to do that again? Well anyway, Christy and I both come from families that were raised Catholic, but neither of us identify with an organized religion, so spending numerous days back-to-back with a bunch of ministers was a bit of a shock to the system at first! The project has far to go (years, even), but it’s off to a great start.

Working on this film has both confirmed and challenged many of my views on Christianity (general, I know) and queer-identified individuals within Christian religions (in this case the Presbyterian Church (USA)). My biggest question was always, WHY? Why would someone want to be so involved in a community that does not fully accept and embrace every part of them? I’ve received many answers to this question, most of which I understand on a surface level, but none of which I’m able to fully connect with and embrace. But maybe the WHY is not the most important question here?

I came to this project with a deep interest in human rights and equality, and I’m realizing that the individuals in this documentary are fighting the fight that I’m unable (unwilling?) to fight. They stand up every day and give visibility to LGBT individuals in spaces and communities that need to cultivate the ability to See. They fight hate and intolerance with love and compassion (and sometimes a few stern words). I’m lucky enough to have a family that has always accepted and loved me unconditionally, to live in a community where I don’t have to think twice about walking down the street holding my partner’s hand, where our marriage is legal and can be openly celebrated. Unfortunately this is not the norm, so I’m exceptionally grateful to all the folks like my Out of Order friends that are bravely fighting for equality, acceptance, and basic human rights. What better place to continue this long battle than in the churches in this country?

So maybe the question isn’t WHY, but HOW? How are these individuals forging ahead, how can we join together, how can we listen, how can we see, how can we spread this message? Out of Order is one small sliver of a much larger story, but THEY is committed to telling this story.

And so I leave you with my favorite quote from The Bhagavad Gita, my mantra lately…

“On this path, effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort towards spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.” – Bhagavad Gita 2:40

This past December, THEY was hired to shoot stills and video for Brooklyn-based Red Paper Heart, an art studio composed of designers and coders who work together to combine interactivity and animation. The project we were documenting took place in a swimming pool in a Soho townhouse for the Urban Daddy holiday party. Red Paper Heart wanted to create animations that partygoers could swim through, so they filled the pool with 65,000 ping pong balls, thereby creating a reflective screen that people could swim through. What?! Rad.

Synchronized swimmers!

Synchronized animations!

Synchronized swimmers under the sea!

Red Paper Heart doesn’t only create animations that project onto 65,000 ping pong balls in a swimming pool with synchronized swimmers, they have also created friendly, interactive bears and sculptures that read your heartbeat. Seriously, check them out. You won’t be disappointed. Promise.