September 22, 2021 • 20 mins
Thomas Verrette took a little over a month to cover a life changing competition.
Middle schoolers from across the country were competing to code satellites aboard the International Space Station and Thomas was there to tell the stories of these students with many differing backgrounds. The contest hopes to inspire students not only to reach for the stars but to use what they learned to help achieve their own dreams.
We talked to Thomas Verrette about making the documentary and the themes he hopes came through.
Middle schoolers from across the country were competing to code satellites aboard the International Space Station and Thomas was there to tell the stories of these students with many differing backgrounds. The contest hopes to inspire students not only to reach for the stars but to use what they learned to help achieve their own dreams.
We talked to Thomas Verrette about making the documentary and the themes he hopes came through.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, what's up. This isSeth Green and you are listening to Somewhere
in Vegas with Mark and I amso hot. I would desperately like a
glass of water. Please please giveme some water. This is Cindy Preston
and I'm with Mark. I'm somewherein Vegas. Hi. This is Melissa
Peterman from the MP's to Singing dand the television show for You Bak and
(00:22):
I have to tell you, Ijust have to give it off my chest.
I love Somewhere in Vegas with Mark. Hi. Here, this is
Save Glasgow and General Hospital. You'relistening in Mark. I'm Samarre in Vegas
and you better watch out. Youknow how to find you. I'stening.
Hi. This is Shannon Egan fromWhip It and I Love Somewhere in Vegas.
It's Mark. Hey, this isLee Allen Vegas. It's somewhere in
(00:45):
Vegas talking with Mark with it quThis is Courtney Cronin. You're listening to
Somewhere in Vegas with your host Mark, and I would make sure to listen
every week because he's a share Betais the money man, any money?
I got two tickets of Paradise thisyou know what it's somewhere in Vegas.
What happens in Vegas Space Vegas.Hi, this is Crystal Kale and I
love somewhere in Vegas with Mark.Hi. This is Cherry Nun from Berlin
(01:08):
and you're listening to Mark somewhere inVegas. Hi. This is Mirka Laurie
from Josh Veden Stallhouse. There arethree flowers in a vase and I'm listening
to somewhere in Vegas with Mark.Hi. This is Aaron Hill and you
are listening to Mark on blog talkradio and somewhere in Vegas. Mark is
a great guy. Hi, thisis Pulaski. I'm still trying to figure
(01:30):
out Mark Pico's sexuality, but Iknow you're listening because somewhere live in Vegas.
Who did you go? Mark?I'm sorry, I thought you were
I'm sorry yet attend to get outof you. Hey, this is Lance
and Anna from Free Radio and Anna, and you're listening to somewhere in Vegas.
(01:51):
Yeah, might say, you know, that's that's usually what happens with
me. I go to Vegas andI get lost, and so I end
up somewhere in Vegas. Somewhere inVegas. But I just don't know where
it is, not quite sure.Yeah, we get ready. It's going
to be hot. It's in Vegas. Check out part be there or be
square. My guest at this timeis a really exceptional documentary filmmaker. His
(02:20):
movie Zero Gravity is actually playing acrossthe United States in many different locations currently.
It's going to be out there withthe Boston Film Festival coming up this
weekend as well as the New JerseyFilm Festival and playing in Albuquerquies. Really
kind of getting a lot of alot of traction as it were. We
got Thomas Barretti on with us rightnow. How you doing, Thomas doing
(02:43):
great? Thanks for having me.Tell me, first of all, how
how you got involved in the projectand being wanting to cover this competition.
Yeah. My well, I've alwayshad a curiosity and fascination for all things
space and you know, are thephilosophy of where we belong in the universe
(03:05):
and those kind of big questions.And my executive producer had a connection with
mt is, the one of themain contributors to the Zero Box program,
which is what's featured in the film, and he asked me if I wanted
to go shoot something for it.And I kind of just jumped on the
opportunity, not even really knowing awhole lot about it at the time other
(03:30):
than it was, you know,the program features students in middle school coding
satellites aboard the International Space Station.That alone got me very, very interested
quickly, and then it was kindof just a running gun process to get
up to speed and get going.I mean, it's interesting to see,
you know, the current current pushover the past decade or so of getting
(03:53):
more more students into STEM projects earlier, especially girls. I mean, it's
been interesting thing to see kind ofthem the press for more, more,
more, more, you know,kids to get into science and technology and
all that as well. I mean, how is it for these kids to
kind of, you know, kindof enter that space even at the in
(04:13):
the middle school age. Yeah,the um my impression was, at least
for the documentary, most of thestudents hadn't done a whole lot of coding
before. And I think with programslike this, you know, it's really
about trying to engage and um andgive those opportunities to anyone really at an
(04:39):
early age, because that's kind ofthe the time where you know, passions
start to develop and uh, andsort of you know, trying to make
those opportunities equitable as part of thisAurobotics program and also was an aspect of
that. Maybe really want to tryto tell this story because I think there's
(05:02):
roadblocks all over the place that we'reyou know, in our society that are
getting broken down right now. Uh, you know, to kind of promote
a more equitable and opportunity driven futureand to see students and women in particular
getting more engaged with science and STEMand where we're going in the future is
really important, uh for me,and it's also very exciting to see and
(05:28):
going off of that, just watchingthe trailer, you can see that we're
also looking at a little bit moreinto diversity. Um in terms of that
as well. I mean, we'regetting away from what used to be thought,
you know, of of being aa white collar um you know,
you know, nerdy guy with glassesat you know, a computer terminal back
in the sixties and seventies and earlyeighties to what we were seeing now,
(05:49):
which is we're seeing Latina, Latinagirls dans coding. We're seeing you know,
um, you know, different races. Basically, it's just getting into
coding as well, we're seeing thatover many genres, including movies, most
fiction fiction movies, and documentaries.How was it for you? They kind
of see, you know, thekind of the diversity that stem is is
(06:12):
is kind of reaching out to.Um. Well, it's obviously very exciting
to see all of the interest andengagement. Of course, Um, you
know, one of the things thatI took away from the experience and is
a major part of the film andalso really comes from the students themselves,
is the ability for all of themto work together, no matter where you
(06:39):
come from or what your race orreligion is, even to kind of solve
big problems and big friendships and understandeach other. I mean, I think
that's kind of the sort of thegrowth mindset that all of that promotes in
the film with the you know,with the kids at at a young age,
but just even for all of usadults kind of looking to the next
(07:01):
generation to pick up, you know, the mantle for when they turned into
adults and you know, kind ofget into society as as adults making those
changes. Um, it was areally profound experience to see how effective and
inspiring, uh, the whole processwas. Yeah, I mean, just
just you know, just looking atthe you know, looking at the class
(07:25):
themselves, i know, on thetrailer or you know, there was somebody
that was interested in marine biology.So not necessarily the fact that they are
coding for the space station and itcould be you know, um, a
future in space exploration, but thefact that the you know, this scale
can be transferable to other industries andother portions of their passions as it were.
(07:47):
So I mean that's kind of aninteresting aspect to it as well.
Yeah, absolutely absolutely, uh,you know to that to that point,
um, I think that space andin this case, you know, the
competition it's a it's a vessel,uh that it engages uh, all sorts
of other interests really, I meanlike coding. As you pointed out,
(08:11):
Yes, they're coding satellites for thespace station, but that's a universal skill
that can be applied to almost anyindustry these days. And that's really what
it's about. It's it's it's utilizinguh, that kind of wonder to get
engaged in something that's very practical oryou know, applicable really for their you
(08:33):
know, what's coming up in thefuture essentially. Well, I mean,
on the on the converse side ofthat the idea that you know, for
for many a couple decades, theidea of of space exploration or the the
you know, the excitement of wantingto work for NASA or go up into
space was kind of you know divertedafter we UM, after we um,
(08:56):
after we stopped you know, goingto the moon. Know, basically things
went kind of a little bit downhillfor a while there. But now that
we're seeing you know, you know, private entrepreneurs you know, fly into
space. UM, it seemed likethere's a kind of a new kind of
a new kind of passion to wantto explore space or to to be able
(09:16):
to to do more space exploration asit were. I mean, how is
it how is it for the kidsto kind of be excited about that possibility
of you know, this being beingsomething that's uh maybe a goal in the
future. UM. I think thatwhat I'm most interested in really is to
(09:37):
see whether these kids all go havingalready kind of had an interaction with space.
UM. I mean, where doesthat take you? Is kind of
the next step of you know,maybe the evolution of that story that is
not part of the documentary, butthat's what it sets up. And there's
you know, thousands of kids thatwere part of that program, like in
(09:58):
other states and schools as well.Um and you know, as far as
space goes, I mean obviously withyou know, we have inspiration for launch
uh and all as you pointed out, the corporate space industry, and NASA
is going back to the Moon andeventually to Mars, and you know there's
(10:18):
the European Space Agency is going toask I mean, like where we're going,
I think as a species collectively isis natural. Like you know,
we're exploring further than we we've everbeen able to go before. And that
I think is very exciting for thenext generation because those opportunities aren't in stone
(10:39):
yet. They have to be inventedand they're the ones that are going to
be inventing those things as well.Um and and and sort of wrap it
all up, I kind of thinkthat that's where where the nuance of all
that can go. You know,I mean you think about about coding and
the idea that it might be blandto be able to shoot or you know,
you know, it's kind of umtedious at times as well, and
(11:03):
it's sometimes hard to kind of youknow, make a visual kind of translation
into what coding is. I knowa lot of like filmmakers have been tackling
with this in the fiction where I'mfor so long. You know, they
have to make up these really crazyuh, you know, crazy visuals or
whatever. UM, tell me alittle bit about you know, you know,
kind of overcoming you know, someof that where you want to make
(11:26):
it interesting for for the audience tobe able to see these kids code and
to be able to um, tobe able to um you know, show
the technical aspect of these young youngpeople. Uh. The coding challenge,
it was by far the biggest challengeof doing the film. UM. You
(11:48):
know, trying to make coding interestingand cinematic is quite a challenge because it's
kids and or anybody really just lookingat a computer doing you know, like
whatever they're they're trying to make happen. The value that I had for the
film that really kind of made itall work is that they're trying to code
a GPS system around Mars. Sothere's something very tangible about that idea that
(12:13):
we were able to sort of bringdown to earth for lack of a better
word. And and of course weused animation and things like that. The
kids are you know, do agood job explaining it, but there's a
mission to it, and it isa game, and so the film had
the ability to kind of have astructure that's kind of like a sports movie.
(12:33):
You know, there's a tournament thatthey're involved in, there's a final
that they're trying to get to,and so that framework allowed me as the
filmmaker to sort of unfold the codingand the game rules over time, so
that it wasn't stopped down. Let'sstop the movie and all the pacing to
(12:54):
just learn a bunch of stuff.You know. I didn't want that ever
to happen. It was something thatI needed to be organic, so that
you're kind of getting engaged with thecoding as you're getting engaged with the stories
of the students and falling in lovewith their own stories. That was the
poll that made all that interesting,I think, um and what I focused
on more than anything else. Butthat took a long time to figure out.
(13:16):
Honestly, it was a challenge tofor sure, um you know,
I mean, you know medical schoolstudents, you know, I mean it
seems like once you get to highschool you have some of that that more
that led the linguistic skills as itwere, and you know, being able
to answer questions and to be ableto explain things. How was it for
the middle schoolers that you've talked to, UM and interviewed during this process,
(13:39):
and you know, I mean havemore they you know, and obviously some
were probably more verbal than others asit were. But tell me a little
bit about about about working with thekids. Working with kids is it's very
different in some ways and also uhsimilar in others as with the adults.
(14:01):
What I did that I think helpedwas most of the interview sections of the
film, or when I was doingthose interviews, I tended to do them
more as conversations and less like questionand answers just for comfort. I didn't
you know, like having somebody sitthere and not really know what to say
or you know. It was Itook in a very organic approach to work
(14:22):
in with the kids and allowed themto kind of go where and take the
conversations where they wanted to. Um. You know, there's a couple of
moments in the film. In particular, there's a sequence that's about global warming,
and i'd ever actually directly asked thekids about global warming when those interviews
(14:43):
that was something that happened organically becauseof the conversations we were having having having
at the time. I mean,and and that was I think maybe the
the best way, at least forme that I found to to sort of
get into their heads and their thoughtsand that really understands where they're thinking about
(15:05):
and where they want to go andwhat did they even think about the space
aspect of the program? Uh,it was it was really just an organic
process of like sort of gaining respectand trust for one another. And I
treated them like adults more than anything. I think that helped you. Yeah,
you know, I mean, youknow, having having cameras pretty much,
(15:26):
but in the in the classroom orwhatever they're they're doing their stuff.
I mean, did they get usedto it and the fact that it was
just basically, you know, somethingin the background that they didn't have to
worry about or anything like that.Did it take a little time for them
to kind of kind of figure thatout. Yeah. I think the first
day they were very kind of awareof it, and it was a little
fun for them. They'd often lookat the camera to slap and smile and
(15:46):
you know, but I'd say itreally didn't take very much time for them
to just kind of forget about usand not really care about that we were
there, and um, you know, I think that also had to do
with the fact that they had amission that they were trying to accomplish,
and um, you know, they'rethey're sponges. They kind of like take
you know, they see what's happeningand then they just run with it.
(16:07):
And I think that, uh,that aspect of them being so young and
and just curious allowed us to kindof be there and sort of stay out
of the way as much as possible. We used a lot of um,
long lenses and small cameras as well, so we weren't really in their faces
as much as it may appear inthe in the film, because it is
(16:30):
very intimately told about how many abouthow how long did it take to shoot
the documentary? It took basically thesummer, Uh, Like, you know,
the the program was five weeks,The major part of it was five
weeks, and then the finals werea little bit separate, and I also
(16:52):
shot with all that, so I'dsay it was probably like fifteen days total
of shooting. But then yet ittook a long time because it's you know,
that was the part of it thatwas, you know, my passion
project, trying to find the timeto make this film, you know,
in between projects and and you know, COVID was sort of a silver lining
(17:15):
for me and in that sense becauseeverything's shut down and I've had plenty of
time to finally finish the film thatI had set out to make again,
because I know there's you know,always a ton of footage you have to
kind of go through and you know, kind of pick where you want to
uh, you know, were whatwhat lines you want to use, what
(17:36):
kind of you know, what akind of stories you want to tell as
well too, So it does takea little bit a bit a while.
You know, It's not like youhave a script in front of you saying
which direction you're going to be.It's it's a situation where we have to
listen to the interviews and kind oforganically kind of you know, kind of
weave that story. So I understandabsolutely. You're a writer as an editor
basically on a documentary. Um,you know, you're you're taking what you
(18:00):
have in the can and finding thestory within the material that you've captured,
and also being a documentary, itunfolds in front of you. So it's
it's it's it's a completely fascinating organicprocess. Um. So yeah, absolutely,
Yeah. I've done a couple documentariesyourself, so I know your pain.
(18:21):
Um, you know, going throughall going through all that footage and
you know, trying to derive outa story a little bit. So yeah,
I understand that as well. Um. I mean, you know,
we got all these festivals coming up. Hopefully we'll we'll find some kind of
distribution so we could maybe see thison a streaming platform at some point.
But um, but for everybody else, I mean you guys, can you
know I leave the Boston ones goingto be virtual, so you at least
(18:45):
be able to see that there aswell. Um, zero gravity zero gravity
dot dot com, you guys cancheck out where you're going to be able
to see it as well. Um, and all the social media I believe
is on that website as well,right yeah, zero Gravity doc is our
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, allof our socialist is the same. Okay,
Um, anything else you want toadd? Yeah, yeah, I
(19:07):
just want to say thanks again foryou know, having me to um and
talking about about this little film.I really appreciate the uh you know that
just your conversation and interest and andum, you know, this was a
really inspiring project for me as well. Um, you know, and I
think that that it shows in thefilm too, and I hope that's people
(19:30):
you know, come and see itand and share it with their their their
kids, their students. You know, it has a lot of educational value
as well, and that's one ofthe missions for us at the end of
all this is to make sure thatthat it's affecting the the uh you know,
middle school kids that are going tobe taking us into the future.
(19:52):
So um, so thank you again, no problem at all. Yeah,
I'm really inspired that you know,a lot of these likes and a lot
of these kids are starting to learnthe code as always middle school, because
that's going to be that's the futureof the you know, basically, the
future is the being ability to code. We're already kind of like right now
looking for people to code in orderto in order to get everything kind of
(20:14):
finished. So I think that's thefuture obviously. So it's great to be
able to see w're preparing for thatas well. Thanks a lot for joining
us, and hopefully we'll talk againsoon, maybe when you have another project
going on. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure absolutely. You
guys can check us out on socialmedia at SWIV at SWIV on Twitter,
Somewhere in Vegas on Facebook, andat SWIV podcast on Instagram. You guys
(20:41):
can check out episodes over on ourhomespreaker dot com. Also, you guys
can check it out on all yourlocal podcast catchers. Just make sure to
subscribe, and you can also askcollections please play Somewhere in Vegas for the
latest episodes. We'll be back nexttime with another episode of Somewhere in Vegas.
Hey, what's up. This isSeth Green and you are listening to Somewhere
in Vegas with Mark and I amso hot. I would desperately like a
glass of water. Please please giveme some water. This is Cindy Preston
and I'm with Mark. I'm somewherein Vegas. Hi. This is Melissa
Peterman from the MP's to Singing dand the television show for You Bak and
(00:22):
I have to tell you, Ijust have to give it off my chest.
I love Somewhere in Vegas with Mark. Hi. Here, this is
Save Glasgow and General Hospital. You'relistening in Mark. I'm Samarre in Vegas
and you better watch out. Youknow how to find you. I'stening.
Hi. This is Shannon Egan fromWhip It and I Love Somewhere in Vegas.
It's Mark. Hey, this isLee Allen Vegas. It's somewhere in
(00:45):
Vegas talking with Mark with it quThis is Courtney Cronin. You're listening to
Somewhere in Vegas with your host Mark, and I would make sure to listen
every week because he's a share Betais the money man, any money?
I got two tickets of Paradise thisyou know what it's somewhere in Vegas.
What happens in Vegas Space Vegas.Hi, this is Crystal Kale and I
love somewhere in Vegas with Mark.Hi. This is Cherry Nun from Berlin
(01:08):
and you're listening to Mark somewhere inVegas. Hi. This is Mirka Laurie
from Josh Veden Stallhouse. There arethree flowers in a vase and I'm listening
to somewhere in Vegas with Mark.Hi. This is Aaron Hill and you
are listening to Mark on blog talkradio and somewhere in Vegas. Mark is
a great guy. Hi, thisis Pulaski. I'm still trying to figure
(01:30):
out Mark Pico's sexuality, but Iknow you're listening because somewhere live in Vegas.
Who did you go? Mark?I'm sorry, I thought you were
I'm sorry yet attend to get outof you. Hey, this is Lance
and Anna from Free Radio and Anna, and you're listening to somewhere in Vegas.
(01:51):
Yeah, might say, you know, that's that's usually what happens with
me. I go to Vegas andI get lost, and so I end
up somewhere in Vegas. Somewhere inVegas. But I just don't know where
it is, not quite sure.Yeah, we get ready. It's going
to be hot. It's in Vegas. Check out part be there or be
square. My guest at this timeis a really exceptional documentary filmmaker. His
(02:20):
movie Zero Gravity is actually playing acrossthe United States in many different locations currently.
It's going to be out there withthe Boston Film Festival coming up this
weekend as well as the New JerseyFilm Festival and playing in Albuquerquies. Really
kind of getting a lot of alot of traction as it were. We
got Thomas Barretti on with us rightnow. How you doing, Thomas doing
(02:43):
great? Thanks for having me.Tell me, first of all, how
how you got involved in the projectand being wanting to cover this competition.
Yeah. My well, I've alwayshad a curiosity and fascination for all things
space and you know, are thephilosophy of where we belong in the universe
(03:05):
and those kind of big questions.And my executive producer had a connection with
mt is, the one of themain contributors to the Zero Box program,
which is what's featured in the film, and he asked me if I wanted
to go shoot something for it.And I kind of just jumped on the
opportunity, not even really knowing awhole lot about it at the time other
(03:30):
than it was, you know,the program features students in middle school coding
satellites aboard the International Space Station.That alone got me very, very interested
quickly, and then it was kindof just a running gun process to get
up to speed and get going.I mean, it's interesting to see,
you know, the current current pushover the past decade or so of getting
(03:53):
more more students into STEM projects earlier, especially girls. I mean, it's
been interesting thing to see kind ofthem the press for more, more,
more, more, you know,kids to get into science and technology and
all that as well. I mean, how is it for these kids to
kind of, you know, kindof enter that space even at the in
(04:13):
the middle school age. Yeah,the um my impression was, at least
for the documentary, most of thestudents hadn't done a whole lot of coding
before. And I think with programslike this, you know, it's really
about trying to engage and um andgive those opportunities to anyone really at an
(04:39):
early age, because that's kind ofthe the time where you know, passions
start to develop and uh, andsort of you know, trying to make
those opportunities equitable as part of thisAurobotics program and also was an aspect of
that. Maybe really want to tryto tell this story because I think there's
(05:02):
roadblocks all over the place that we'reyou know, in our society that are
getting broken down right now. Uh, you know, to kind of promote
a more equitable and opportunity driven futureand to see students and women in particular
getting more engaged with science and STEMand where we're going in the future is
really important, uh for me,and it's also very exciting to see and
(05:28):
going off of that, just watchingthe trailer, you can see that we're
also looking at a little bit moreinto diversity. Um in terms of that
as well. I mean, we'regetting away from what used to be thought,
you know, of of being aa white collar um you know,
you know, nerdy guy with glassesat you know, a computer terminal back
in the sixties and seventies and earlyeighties to what we were seeing now,
(05:49):
which is we're seeing Latina, Latinagirls dans coding. We're seeing you know,
um, you know, different races. Basically, it's just getting into
coding as well, we're seeing thatover many genres, including movies, most
fiction fiction movies, and documentaries.How was it for you? They kind
of see, you know, thekind of the diversity that stem is is
(06:12):
is kind of reaching out to.Um. Well, it's obviously very exciting
to see all of the interest andengagement. Of course, Um, you
know, one of the things thatI took away from the experience and is
a major part of the film andalso really comes from the students themselves,
is the ability for all of themto work together, no matter where you
(06:39):
come from or what your race orreligion is, even to kind of solve
big problems and big friendships and understandeach other. I mean, I think
that's kind of the sort of thegrowth mindset that all of that promotes in
the film with the you know,with the kids at at a young age,
but just even for all of usadults kind of looking to the next
(07:01):
generation to pick up, you know, the mantle for when they turned into
adults and you know, kind ofget into society as as adults making those
changes. Um, it was areally profound experience to see how effective and
inspiring, uh, the whole processwas. Yeah, I mean, just
just you know, just looking atthe you know, looking at the class
(07:25):
themselves, i know, on thetrailer or you know, there was somebody
that was interested in marine biology.So not necessarily the fact that they are
coding for the space station and itcould be you know, um, a
future in space exploration, but thefact that the you know, this scale
can be transferable to other industries andother portions of their passions as it were.
(07:47):
So I mean that's kind of aninteresting aspect to it as well.
Yeah, absolutely absolutely, uh,you know to that to that point,
um, I think that space andin this case, you know, the
competition it's a it's a vessel,uh that it engages uh, all sorts
of other interests really, I meanlike coding. As you pointed out,
(08:11):
Yes, they're coding satellites for thespace station, but that's a universal skill
that can be applied to almost anyindustry these days. And that's really what
it's about. It's it's it's utilizinguh, that kind of wonder to get
engaged in something that's very practical oryou know, applicable really for their you
(08:33):
know, what's coming up in thefuture essentially. Well, I mean,
on the on the converse side ofthat the idea that you know, for
for many a couple decades, theidea of of space exploration or the the
you know, the excitement of wantingto work for NASA or go up into
space was kind of you know divertedafter we UM, after we um,
(08:56):
after we stopped you know, goingto the moon. Know, basically things
went kind of a little bit downhillfor a while there. But now that
we're seeing you know, you know, private entrepreneurs you know, fly into
space. UM, it seemed likethere's a kind of a new kind of
a new kind of passion to wantto explore space or to to be able
(09:16):
to to do more space exploration asit were. I mean, how is
it how is it for the kidsto kind of be excited about that possibility
of you know, this being beingsomething that's uh maybe a goal in the
future. UM. I think thatwhat I'm most interested in really is to
(09:37):
see whether these kids all go havingalready kind of had an interaction with space.
UM. I mean, where doesthat take you? Is kind of
the next step of you know,maybe the evolution of that story that is
not part of the documentary, butthat's what it sets up. And there's
you know, thousands of kids thatwere part of that program, like in
(09:58):
other states and schools as well.Um and you know, as far as
space goes, I mean obviously withyou know, we have inspiration for launch
uh and all as you pointed out, the corporate space industry, and NASA
is going back to the Moon andeventually to Mars, and you know there's
(10:18):
the European Space Agency is going toask I mean, like where we're going,
I think as a species collectively isis natural. Like you know,
we're exploring further than we we've everbeen able to go before. And that
I think is very exciting for thenext generation because those opportunities aren't in stone
(10:39):
yet. They have to be inventedand they're the ones that are going to
be inventing those things as well.Um and and and sort of wrap it
all up, I kind of thinkthat that's where where the nuance of all
that can go. You know,I mean you think about about coding and
the idea that it might be blandto be able to shoot or you know,
you know, it's kind of umtedious at times as well, and
(11:03):
it's sometimes hard to kind of youknow, make a visual kind of translation
into what coding is. I knowa lot of like filmmakers have been tackling
with this in the fiction where I'mfor so long. You know, they
have to make up these really crazyuh, you know, crazy visuals or
whatever. UM, tell me alittle bit about you know, you know,
kind of overcoming you know, someof that where you want to make
(11:26):
it interesting for for the audience tobe able to see these kids code and
to be able to um, tobe able to um you know, show
the technical aspect of these young youngpeople. Uh. The coding challenge,
it was by far the biggest challengeof doing the film. UM. You
(11:48):
know, trying to make coding interestingand cinematic is quite a challenge because it's
kids and or anybody really just lookingat a computer doing you know, like
whatever they're they're trying to make happen. The value that I had for the
film that really kind of made itall work is that they're trying to code
a GPS system around Mars. Sothere's something very tangible about that idea that
(12:13):
we were able to sort of bringdown to earth for lack of a better
word. And and of course weused animation and things like that. The
kids are you know, do agood job explaining it, but there's a
mission to it, and it isa game, and so the film had
the ability to kind of have astructure that's kind of like a sports movie.
(12:33):
You know, there's a tournament thatthey're involved in, there's a final
that they're trying to get to,and so that framework allowed me as the
filmmaker to sort of unfold the codingand the game rules over time, so
that it wasn't stopped down. Let'sstop the movie and all the pacing to
(12:54):
just learn a bunch of stuff.You know. I didn't want that ever
to happen. It was something thatI needed to be organic, so that
you're kind of getting engaged with thecoding as you're getting engaged with the stories
of the students and falling in lovewith their own stories. That was the
poll that made all that interesting,I think, um and what I focused
on more than anything else. Butthat took a long time to figure out.
(13:16):
Honestly, it was a challenge tofor sure, um you know,
I mean, you know medical schoolstudents, you know, I mean it
seems like once you get to highschool you have some of that that more
that led the linguistic skills as itwere, and you know, being able
to answer questions and to be ableto explain things. How was it for
the middle schoolers that you've talked to, UM and interviewed during this process,
(13:39):
and you know, I mean havemore they you know, and obviously some
were probably more verbal than others asit were. But tell me a little
bit about about about working with thekids. Working with kids is it's very
different in some ways and also uhsimilar in others as with the adults.
(14:01):
What I did that I think helpedwas most of the interview sections of the
film, or when I was doingthose interviews, I tended to do them
more as conversations and less like questionand answers just for comfort. I didn't
you know, like having somebody sitthere and not really know what to say
or you know. It was Itook in a very organic approach to work
(14:22):
in with the kids and allowed themto kind of go where and take the
conversations where they wanted to. Um. You know, there's a couple of
moments in the film. In particular, there's a sequence that's about global warming,
and i'd ever actually directly asked thekids about global warming when those interviews
(14:43):
that was something that happened organically becauseof the conversations we were having having having
at the time. I mean,and and that was I think maybe the
the best way, at least forme that I found to to sort of
get into their heads and their thoughtsand that really understands where they're thinking about
(15:05):
and where they want to go andwhat did they even think about the space
aspect of the program? Uh,it was it was really just an organic
process of like sort of gaining respectand trust for one another. And I
treated them like adults more than anything. I think that helped you. Yeah,
you know, I mean, youknow, having having cameras pretty much,
(15:26):
but in the in the classroom orwhatever they're they're doing their stuff.
I mean, did they get usedto it and the fact that it was
just basically, you know, somethingin the background that they didn't have to
worry about or anything like that.Did it take a little time for them
to kind of kind of figure thatout. Yeah. I think the first
day they were very kind of awareof it, and it was a little
fun for them. They'd often lookat the camera to slap and smile and
(15:46):
you know, but I'd say itreally didn't take very much time for them
to just kind of forget about usand not really care about that we were
there, and um, you know, I think that also had to do
with the fact that they had amission that they were trying to accomplish,
and um, you know, they'rethey're sponges. They kind of like take
you know, they see what's happeningand then they just run with it.
(16:07):
And I think that, uh,that aspect of them being so young and
and just curious allowed us to kindof be there and sort of stay out
of the way as much as possible. We used a lot of um,
long lenses and small cameras as well, so we weren't really in their faces
as much as it may appear inthe in the film, because it is
(16:30):
very intimately told about how many abouthow how long did it take to shoot
the documentary? It took basically thesummer, Uh, Like, you know,
the the program was five weeks,The major part of it was five
weeks, and then the finals werea little bit separate, and I also
(16:52):
shot with all that, so I'dsay it was probably like fifteen days total
of shooting. But then yet ittook a long time because it's you know,
that was the part of it thatwas, you know, my passion
project, trying to find the timeto make this film, you know,
in between projects and and you know, COVID was sort of a silver lining
(17:15):
for me and in that sense becauseeverything's shut down and I've had plenty of
time to finally finish the film thatI had set out to make again,
because I know there's you know,always a ton of footage you have to
kind of go through and you know, kind of pick where you want to
uh, you know, were whatwhat lines you want to use, what
(17:36):
kind of you know, what akind of stories you want to tell as
well too, So it does takea little bit a bit a while.
You know, It's not like youhave a script in front of you saying
which direction you're going to be.It's it's a situation where we have to
listen to the interviews and kind oforganically kind of you know, kind of
weave that story. So I understandabsolutely. You're a writer as an editor
basically on a documentary. Um,you know, you're you're taking what you
(18:00):
have in the can and finding thestory within the material that you've captured,
and also being a documentary, itunfolds in front of you. So it's
it's it's it's a completely fascinating organicprocess. Um. So yeah, absolutely,
Yeah. I've done a couple documentariesyourself, so I know your pain.
(18:21):
Um, you know, going throughall going through all that footage and
you know, trying to derive outa story a little bit. So yeah,
I understand that as well. Um. I mean, you know,
we got all these festivals coming up. Hopefully we'll we'll find some kind of
distribution so we could maybe see thison a streaming platform at some point.
But um, but for everybody else, I mean you guys, can you
know I leave the Boston ones goingto be virtual, so you at least
(18:45):
be able to see that there aswell. Um, zero gravity zero gravity
dot dot com, you guys cancheck out where you're going to be able
to see it as well. Um, and all the social media I believe
is on that website as well,right yeah, zero Gravity doc is our
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, allof our socialist is the same. Okay,
Um, anything else you want toadd? Yeah, yeah, I
(19:07):
just want to say thanks again foryou know, having me to um and
talking about about this little film.I really appreciate the uh you know that
just your conversation and interest and andum, you know, this was a
really inspiring project for me as well. Um, you know, and I
think that that it shows in thefilm too, and I hope that's people
(19:30):
you know, come and see itand and share it with their their their
kids, their students. You know, it has a lot of educational value
as well, and that's one ofthe missions for us at the end of
all this is to make sure thatthat it's affecting the the uh you know,
middle school kids that are going tobe taking us into the future.
(19:52):
So um, so thank you again, no problem at all. Yeah,
I'm really inspired that you know,a lot of these likes and a lot
of these kids are starting to learnthe code as always middle school, because
that's going to be that's the futureof the you know, basically, the
future is the being ability to code. We're already kind of like right now
looking for people to code in orderto in order to get everything kind of
(20:14):
finished. So I think that's thefuture obviously. So it's great to be
able to see w're preparing for thatas well. Thanks a lot for joining
us, and hopefully we'll talk againsoon, maybe when you have another project
going on. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure absolutely. You
guys can check us out on socialmedia at SWIV at SWIV on Twitter,
Somewhere in Vegas on Facebook, andat SWIV podcast on Instagram. You guys
(20:41):
can check out episodes over on ourhomespreaker dot com. Also, you guys
can check it out on all yourlocal podcast catchers. Just make sure to
subscribe, and you can also askcollections please play Somewhere in Vegas for the
latest episodes. We'll be back nexttime with another episode of Somewhere in Vegas.
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