Ted Woods Makes Moviemaking Look Easy
January 21, 2009
Ted Woods visited Utah Stories on Tuesday evening to discuss his new film- White Wash, which has been nominated for three awards in XDance 2009 film festival.
by Richard Markosian
The best surfers maintain their stability on the board with ease and agility. They make it look so easy they inspire thousands to go out and buy surf boards--where most fail to ever surf a big wave. Ted Woods makes documentary film making look easy in a similar manner.
"Whitewash" is Wood's first film -- not just his first professional film -- it's his first film ever. Woods has learned the craft of film making through trial by fire. He didn't attend film school but knew after graduating in Anthropology, he wanted to be a documentary film maker. Woods asked a friend for advice who had attended NYU, his friend Brian's advice: either spend $100 K attending a top film school. Or spend between 10K to half a million making your own movie. Either way you have an education.
Woods decided to buy a Sony X1 DV cam and Final Cut Pro, and moonlight as a filmmaker while maintaining full-time employment. Woods later teamed up with Producer Airron Copeland and Editor Kolu Ryan to complete Whitewash for XDance. Woods says Whitewash is still in production and he has found an investor and has low six figure budget. Considering this is all a first, it's an amazing accomplishment.
Whitewash, is described on IMDB as " a film exploring the complexity of race in America through the struggle and triumph of black surfers." Whitewash has been nominated for three awards at XDance including best documentary film, best new director and best original score.
Woods said he chose to make his film exploring race relations through surfing because the topic of civil rights and race have always been important to his family growing up just outside of Chicago. Woods added that it is especially fitting that the awards ceremony for his film is on the same day that America is inaugurating it's first black president.
Whitewash is narrated by musician and surfer Ben Harper. The score for Whitewash includes music from artists such as Tariq Trotter and The Beach Boys.
Learn more about Whitewash and Ted Woods on his Trespass Productions website
See Utah Stories Sundance coverage
