Blog of Documentary Filmmaker Mark Bussler. Producer/Director of "Expo: Magic of the White City", "World War 1 - American Legacy", "Horses of Gettysburg", "Gettysburg and Stories of Valor", "Classic Game Room" and the upcoming HD film, "Westinghouse".
It's about 9pm and I'm in the last 2-3 weeks of finishing editing on "Westinghouse". Progress is progressing smoothly, albeit slowly. Finishing editing means I basically live here until the film is done right. I'm sleepy.
Yesterday we filmed an interview with William Terbo, grand nephew of Nikola Tesla. Today I worked with Mr. Ed Reis on the commentary track for the film and recorded another interview. Right now, as I type this, I'm enjoying coffee and Pretzel Stix for dinner while I digitize footage.
Westinghouse will be released on April 8th of next year and I think you'll enjoy it. In the meantime I'm enjoying my Pretzel Stix.
On Saturday night, November 10th, I was privileged enough to do a radio interview on Carol Lee Espy's radio show, "The Life Lounge". We talked about the recent Inecom release, "Pennsylvania Train Stations: Restored and Revitalized". I also let the cat out of the bag on her show that Carol is the narrator of Westinghouse!
We talked a bit about Westinghouse and I received the following post on my blog:
Dave Kerr said... Last night, I heard [Mark] Bussler mention on Carol Lee Espy's program that KDKA's first broadcast in 1920 was from the K Bldg in East Pittsburgh.
That is incorrect. The K Bldg was located in Turtle Creek not East Pittsburgh. The Westinghouse complex here in the Turtle Creek Valley was known as the East Pittsburgh Works. However, most of it, including the K Bldg, was physically located in Turtle Creek Borough.
By the way, the demolition of the historic K Bldg was completed in the past few weeks by the RIDC.
Dave Kerr Turtle Creek Native
November 11, 2007 9:55 AM
Dave, you are correct. I made a mistake on air, fortunately this kind of information is correct in the film. I'll never get totally used to live radio because I can't turn around and re-edit myself. If I had a nickel for every dumb thing I've said on an interview I'd have an enormous pile of nickels. More info on Westinghouse is coming soon.
Visit the official Westinghouse film website HERE.
I am still alive, sort of. If you count staring intensely at a computer monitor for 10-12 hours a day as being alive. I am in the final stretch of finishing "Westinghouse", the documentary film on George Westinghouse that I am producing, directing and editing. Every day now is a lengthy session of "finishing editing" where I tweak, perfect and fine tune every detail on the 2-hour film. It's basically like watching the same movie over and over again all day every day. Fortunately, this is a good film (at least I think so!)
Of course I could mix it up an watch The Empire Strikes Back on repeat for a day, that would be fun.
The documentary was narrated a few weeks ago by Carol Lee Espy, who many of you may know from KDKA radio. KDKA radio was the first commercial radio station in the country that was started by Westinghouse Electric in 1920. I thought this was very fitting. Most importantly she has a wonderful voice, superb enunciation and is great to work with.
The film is being produced in 1080i. The DVD mastering will be started soon and the film is already available for pre-order on a number of websites. Release date is April 8th and I'd expect some theatrical screenings around that time as well.
Ok, I'm back to editing. I still get time to walk the dog most every day and play a bit of xbox when I'm fighting sleep, but my time now is dedicated to finishing this beast of a project. The good news is that many people are very excited about it and it will be released in time for the 250th anniversary of Pittsburgh (which is a complete coincidence, there's no way I could have planned that had I tried).
You can read up about Westinghouse HERE and view the trailer below.
