Flix in the Stix
(informed by data)
Marketing and Communications for the 2024 Australian Film Program.
In 3 months I was able to reach over 60,000 residents through in-person, instagram, spotify, and radio marketing. I collected view & click data from Instagram and Spotify to inform each next piece of media. For Instagram, it meant reaching out to another account in the area where we were seeing large engagement. I was able to arrange a collaboration post with them and capture residents who would go on to sign up and attend our event. For Spotify, I used the data from my first advertisement to inform my second. I altered the message, tailored it to the new engaged demographic and was able to direct those residents to our website. Finally, I used government data to push event advertising to locations with a specific age range and were able to capture residents that drove 3 hours just for our event. The data helped me successfully reach and capture residents.
Full website I created here
Greenpoint Film Festival
Marketing and Communications for the 2023 Film Festival in Brooklyn, NYC.
In 2 months I was able to interview every filmmaker, create social media posts, and market the event for ticket sales.
I also helped run the festival for all 3 days.
Below are 4 examples of 50+ posts created.
Writing Samples
Excerpts from blogs, press releases, and opinion pieces
Magic Bench – A Changing City
Cities really changed during the pandemic. It was quite weird, because it was in ways I think most people didn’t expect. Cities saw two very confusing things happen when everyone was supposedly out of work and stuck inside.
The first thing was a massive housing boom. Seems like everyone moved somewhere during 2020/2021. Houses were being sold left and right and apartments were scooped up. In Arizona, I guess it was the worst? I remember reading an article titled “Tucson, Phoenix See Worst Change in Property Affordability in World.” Pretty intense title but I do encourage you to read for yourself. Arizona, among other cities, were a part of this mass exodus during the pandemic. Turns out places like California, New York, Texas aren’t ideal for living when the World is shut down. So many decided to buy property in cheaper places like Arizona.
The second thing that happened, which caught my attention, was the accelerated construction on housing and other building projects. Specifically, I looked at Downtown Tucson, one of the cities a part of this mass flood of people moving in. It was very confusing to see new hotels breaking ground and housing high-rises under way. Didn’t they know everyone was broke and the World was ending?!
I decided to take these things I had been witnessing and, as always, make art! It’s the only way. Trust me, shit posting on social media doesn’t get you anywhere. I speak from experience. After putting some thought into the idea, I decided highlighting the evolving door of gentrification was best. The idea that each generation had been “kicked out” for the next round of development was interesting to me and also a way of bringing everyone together in my opinion.
I developed the concept, wrote the script and asked Jeff Weber to direct. Him and I were quite the creative team during the pandemic. He was able to recruit local poet Eva Sierra to both act and write the poem for the film. Local funny man, Rich Gary, nailed the improv and kept my vision intact. Without giving too much of the short filmaway, I encourage you to watch it for yourself below! Would love to know what you think.
Please visit the full website to see an interview with the poet, full poem, and other gentrification resources in Tucson.
Ty Besh, 2023
Remembering the A7s
To me, the Sony A7s had the same effect as the Canon 5D. Big statement, I know, but follow me here. The sensor technology that Sony was able to develop and then throw in a sub $4000 camera is quite ridiculous. It’s something, I think, that finally got them back into the cinema game. I can’t tell you how many Sony’s I see now on shows for HBO, Netflix, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I am not here to convince anyone that Sony’s color science is anything to write home about. What I AM here to convince you of, is that the A7s was a killer little camera that packed FAR too much power for something you could buy at Walmart…
I remember getting the A7s in 2015. It is quite literally the only camera I have bought new before and since. The buzz around it was wild. People were really freaking out about this thing, and to me it was for one reason and one reason only.
This thing could see in the dark.
The low light capabilities of the A7s was all anyone could talk about. It was so impressive they completely looked over the absolute trash color science (they’ve since improved on). To me though, it wasn’t just about the low light capabilities. It was the fact that a sensor was acting differently than us low budget filmmakers were used to. It was SENSITIVE. It’s something I still think about today for the reason that it taught me how to read and interact with light in a completely different way. I had to basically re-learn what I knew about light from the cameras I had been practicing on before (Panasonic, RED, Canon). I’m not saying this is necessarily a good thing, but it made me do the work. If I were to expose things on this camera like I did on those other cameras, I was doomed. I know this because I leaned the hard way. Skin tones that were blown out beyond repair and highlights that were unusable. All of this was worth it though. Wanna know why?
You could use it in every lighting situation ever.
And as a low budget filmmaker that’s all I needed to know. No extra crew, no lights, just me and the camera in any situation. It was a pleasure to have this freedom as someone that didn’t have money to pour into gear and such. It was yet another tool that gave people like me the ability to move forward with their storytelling. And I did! I ended up using it for all of 2015 in Detroit. It helped me shoot a no-budget story that featured mostly low-light-interiors of dancers. This is even more special to me, now, as the main subject passed during the pandemic. I think the Sony A7s was the reason I was able to say yes to that project and I’m really glad about that.
One last thing before I introduce this video. I really liked that Sony’s file system included thumbnails for every video. It really was such a nice surprise to see them when opening the SD card folder. I was so impressed by it, I made an Instagram account for them.
Below is a video I shot to test the A7s low light sensor. I waited for the full moon to show and took my brother out to the local baseball field. All the footage you see is lit by available light only. The stuff on the field is moonlight ONLY. so wild.
Anywho…the A7s was a camera that kicked off the low-light monster camera category for the average consumer to enjoy. And I really appreciated that. So here’s to you, Sony A7s.
Ty Besh, 2022
