I'm a Real Pioneer

At least that's what Columbia Sportswear says. I entered their video contest a few months back, and they chose my entry as the winner. So thanks Columbia! Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what this new title means. I guess I can put "Pioneer" on my business card now. And maybe on the back of my hoody. And speaking of clothes, they're giving me $500 worth of Columbia Gear. They have these fancy videos on the site about their other pioneers- maybe I'll get one of those? For now you can see a small photo of me on a hydrobike on their site here. I'll let you know if I learn anything else about my new position...

Happy Hannukah/Channuka/Xanuka

In honor of the holiday I'm taking a trip down memory lane to the time I taught Sarah Silverman to play dreidel. It was the winter of 2006 and her film, Jesus is Magic, was just about to hit theatres...



It's pretty surprising that she never knew how to play the game, and I just hope she's put those skills to use since.

And what do I want for Channukah? A glockenspiel. Really. But don't go rushing to your neighborhood music store because my mom already ordered me one. Stay tuned for some elaborate glockenspiel/kazoo tunes coming your way...

Un-Road Trip: December Update

Even though the physical trip may have ended the journey is far from finished. I'm still plugging away on editing the Un-Road Trip documentary. I'm currently sorting out how I'll string it all together. It will be in chronological order, but I want to do something interesting with the narration. Maybe I could film narration sequences as I ride modes of transportation that I didn't get to last spring, (dog sled? innertube? ostrich?). Or maybe I should film narration as though it's a presentation I'm delivering- like Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth- except I'd be delivering it to a class of kindergartners or something. Or maybe you have a better idea?

I've been talking to some cool folks in DC about working together as well. I met with Planet Green a few weeks back and this morning I had a great chat with some people at the Earth Day Network. Hopefully I'll be able to segue this trip into some more fun content.

And I'm still talking a lot with the people who made the trip possible- my corporate partners. Keen Footwear recently had me put together a short recap of the trip to show at their global sales meeting. It was a lot of fun to edit together, and it forced me to play with the footage in new ways that I think will help make the final documentary even better. And I've been chatting with Columbia Sportswear too, though that stuff is still top secret. It won't be for long though.

And in Un-Road Trip style I'll be taking the train home to Portland in two weeks. This will be my fifth time riding Amtrak cross-country, but my first time doing it in winter. I'm really looking forward to seeing Glacier National Park in the snow. I'll make sure to take a lot of photos and videos.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My nephews and I have a Thanksgiving tradition. Actually, this is only our second year doing it so I'm not sure if it counts yet. Anyway, we get together and produce a short film for the holiday. This year Gavi (age 7) and Ezra (age 4) give their spin on the origins of Thanksgiving. Check it out:

A Thanksgiving Story from Boaz Frankel on Vimeo.

Have a rockin' holiday!

Un-Road Trip's Still in the News

Folks keep on clamorin' for more Un-Road Trip , or maybe they're just late to the party. Either way, Earth Techling just published a nice interview about the trip. It was interesting to reflect on the trip now that I've had a few months to think about the experience. You can check out the piece here.


And I'm still working on ways to segue the Un-Road Trip into some other projects. I'll be meeting up with Planet Green, Discovery's green-themed channel to discuss ways we might be able to work together. I'd love to take the Un-Road Trip to other countries, and I've got some ideas for some other related programming too. They already air a bunch of awesome environmentally conscious shows, and I think I could be a fun addition to their line-up. I've got pages of ideas, and they're bound to like some of them. I'll keep you posted.

And the editing process continues on The Un-Road Trip Documentary. I honestly thought it would go faster, though I guess I underestimated how much time it would to take to organize and arrange all this footage. A friend recently challenged me to finish it up by March 16th, which sounds like a pretty good goal.

In other news, I just discovered that as of this weekend I'm now over 10,000 days old. 10,000 feels pretty good. I think I'll have to plan a party for 20,0000.

I'm a Columbia Pioneer (with your help)

Columbia Sportswear helped me out on the Un-Road Trip, so when I heard about this contest to become the next Columbia Pioneer I figured I was a shoe-in. Or I'd least have a shot. Either way, here's how they describe the position:

Intrepid lovers of the outdoors, they embody a spirit of unconventional exploration. Simply put: they love the outdoors, and they aren’t afraid to find their own ways of showing it.

Current Pioneers include tundra golfers, an off-road unicyclist, and Todd & Shelly Twilbeck who find nice spots in the woods and sit there. An Un-Road Tripper sounds like a natural fit- doesn't it?

You can watch the video I submitted and vote for me by clicking below:

Eastward Bound

In a few days I'll be heading east. Last time I went to the east coast it took a few weeks, a camel, six train rides, a couple bikes, a few dozen Clif Bars, two pairs of Keen shoes, and a pogo stick. This time I'm just taking a plane. I'll be visiting some friends in New York and Boston before I head down to Washington DC in search of a job. In preparation for the trip I've printed up some shiny new business cards and launched a new website- GoBoaz.com -to serve as an umbrella site for the the various projects I've been working on. I can point prospective employers there, and hopefully they'll want to hire me. If you know anyone who may want to hire me, feel free to send them the link.

In Un-Road Trip news- I've been writing my application for the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship. I'm hoping to secure some funds to cover post-production costs for the Un-Road Trip documentary. I'm editing together some footage from the journey to submit along with my application- I'll post it here when I finish.