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By Gary Jobson at 2008-12-02 18:07
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Maine Built Boats' president Jane Wellehan, Nancy Marshall, Elaine Scott, Deb Cook, and I have been working for the past year on a film project to showcase boat building in Maine. The idea was to talk to builders, designers, owners, historians, and journalists about power and sailboats being built along the state's rugged coast. Over the course of the production I had great fun interviewing 41 passionate people. I learned that Maine workers acquired their skills from generations of builders before them. It's no wonder some of the finest boat building takes place Down East.
Given all we put in to the production, it was fascinating to watch a sold-out audience of 338 industry types watch our film last Thursday evening at the nifty Strand Theater in Rockland, Maine. The overflow crowd caught a second screening.
The first production challenge was to tell the story without being overly promotional. This task took care of itself thanks to the words of the people we interviewed over the course of nine months. Several themes emerged: they build sturdy boats in Maine to handle the region's rough weather conditions; builders are quick to embrace new technology; the customer's needs are paramount; designs tend to be enduring; both sail and power boats are built to perform efficiently.
Throughout the process we created 60 hours of original footage, 185 pages of interview transcripts, 17 internet reports (at www.mainebuiltboats.com), 2,000 audio edits, and an original music score. We used 800 images throughout the 51-minute film.
It was great fun for me to see the film on a big screen and with perfect audio in the Strand Theater. One of the best lines in the film was by Robby Eddy, a high-end model maker, when he argued that owners can buy his models and not have any yard bills, or hauling fees. The comment got a good laugh. Lobster boat racing was another popular segment. The backdrop was the beauty of the Maine Coast. The toughest day we had was a foggy, windless day for the Eggomoggin Reach Race. Our helicopter never left the ground.
For me it has been a busy year. In addition to the Maine film, I also produced a 100-minute documentary on the history of the New York Yacht Club, an hour-long show for ESPNU on the college national championship, another program about the 100th running of the Chicago to Mackinac Race, a BMW Oracle DVD, coverage of Key West and Miami Race Weeks, a film on Antarctica, and 40 hours of live internet coverage of the Olympic Games. Whew!
I am ready for the holidays, and look forward to more of my own sailing next summer.
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