Todd Raviotta

Todd Raviotta has lived in Richmond since 1996, and graduated from VCU in 2004 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film. Now, he passes his knowledge on to his students at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, where he teaches a Digital Video Senior Seminar and Film Studies class.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Yellow House, a non-profit theater and film company; an adjunct in VCU‘s Photography and Film Department; and Vice President of the Virginia Production Alliance, an organization whose mission it is to promote the Commonwealth’s filmmakers. Raviotta shares his latest work, "Mediated: The 21st Century Lifestyle," at the Byrd Theater on May 26.

Your film "Mediated: The 21st Century Lifestyle" screens at the Byrd Theater on May 26.

What’s it about?

That film was a project I started when I was in graduate school at VCU working on my Masters for film. When I was ending my undergraduate studies, I got this idea to do a film about a guy who is completely isolated from the rest of the world based on his addiction to technology.

The script took on a couple of different drafts and different forms and the one that my co-writer Chris and I landed with was a guy who surrounds himself with so many televisions, that the televisions start to talk to him. In some ways, it’s an investigation of schizophrenia where the televisions start to embody his doubt and dread and becomes the nagging voice in the back of his head that tells him to do bad things.

Speaking of media criticism, how can the media do a better job at being a positive cultural force?

The film has two main inspirations. When I was an undergrad, the Columbine tragedy happened, and I, as a young person, was aghast at how the victims were treated, and as it wore on, how the perpetrators were raised up to be seen as icons.

The second inspiration was after 9/11 when the media switched onto this [nonstop] coverage – not to understand the cause or how this could have been avoided – but just to profile the perpetrators and offer this constant coverage.

Those instances are what made me start to really look at the media.

Now to your question, what could they do differently? I think the integrity of the on-camera people – they need to not be so as detached from what’s going.

Unfortunately, the Virginia Tech instance happened earlier and everyone in the media descended on the town. I have friends who work in the industry of news and videography and they were getting phone calls to come and shoot the thing – "Come join us. We’re doing this coverage .

. ." Instead of thinking about what would get them ratings or what’s going to get them the shot, the media need to think of what the effect is going to be on the viewer and how to disseminate information to them.

How do you pick the subjects for your films?

All of the work that I’ve done has had some long, brewing phase. But really, the things that I’m attracted to as a filmmaker generally have to do with the human condition, not necessarily something disposable or easy to do.

It will generally take me three years to even get to a point where I’m like, "Okay, let me do the screenplay."

What did you do for "The Bourne Ultimatum"?

I had been working for a company called ProjectC.

net in Los Angeles doing promotional work on videos for their websites. I take clips that they assign me and make intros for the site. For "The Bourne Ultimatum" specifically, they gave me a trailer and I re-cut that for the intro of the site [www.

thebourneultimatum.com]. Then, they wanted me to take clips from the first two films ["The Bourne Identity" and "The Bourne Supremacy"] and make little "super trailers" for Part I and Part II.

So if you are on the main page of "The Bourne Ultimatum" website, there are two video clips which are highlights from the first two films. I put those together.

Are you a native Virginian?

My parents, my two bothers, and I moved to Vienna, Va. the summer of 1992 from New Orleans, La. In 1996, I moved to Richmond for the School of the Arts at VCU.

Not a native, but I consider myself a Virginia filmmaker.

You’re up for a 2007 Broadband Emmy Award, which is sponsored by MySpace.com.

Your nomination was for your film "Officer Roach." Can you describe it?

Directly following Hurricane Katrina, I knew that I had to get back there as soon as I could.

The first instance I got was Christmas 2005. I went home and visited my friend [Officer Jeff Roach] and family and took some video while I was with them to try and figure out how I felt about where the future of the city would go. Jeff was telling me what he went through as a SWAT officer during the rescue missions that happened following the crisis.

So I put together a piece with just a small percentage of the material that I shot, and I started to screen and put it online for him to see.

MySpace.com had a contest where they were sponsoring different filmmakers to submit their work to the Emmys.

The Emmy process has a pretty high-dollar entry fee, and that definitely excludes independent people from getting their films into consideration. So I said, "It’s not going to hurt to submit my film." I had received a lot of good feedback on the piece based on the personality of my friend and our chemistry, so I submitted it.

Out of nowhere, I got a phone call one day saying that MySpace was interested. I’ll find out this time next month how it did.

As you mentioned, you studied film at VCU.

How important is it to go to school for film as opposed to just learning on your own?

I really felt that the film school process for me was essential. It was a total immersion into filmmaking.

I met some peers, friends and contemporary filmmakers that I would not have met had I not gone.

How would you describe the Richmond film community?

The Richmond film community has a lot of different facets.

There’s your very independent filmmakers like David Williams. Then you have a group of filmmakers that have been working in the industry here for 30 years. I’ve been fortunate to work with Robert Griffith of Griffith Films and some of the other people in the local production community.

Then there is the professional crew that works for the big TV shows and big films that come through and commercial work.

I think we are also really, really young. With Los Angeles and Hollywood, it’s a 100-year-old-plus industry.

So people working there are generations into the industry. Here, we don’t have that. We have got a lot of upstarts.

I think the local industry needs a big push of exposure – we need somebody on some level of the chain to bring attention to what’s going on here.

How can Richmond become more competitive with places like Wilmington, N.C.

in attracting film production to the area?

That directly comes down to our local and state government backing a young industry and saying, "We are going to go to bat for you guys. We are going to set up some incentive plans and policies that are going to make it attractive for film companies all over the world to come shoot here.

" With VCU exploding and all of the other schools in the state having New Media programs, lawmakers really need to spur the industry as a whole to make it competitive on the national scene.

Do you write, direct, and produce your films?

Most of my projects have been written with different co-writers.

I do like to originate the concept of the film. As a matter of necessity, I produce the films I direct and have produced films for other directors. I also edit all of my films and edit for Griffith Films and ProjectC.

net Los Angeles.

What are the top three local resources that Richmond filmmakers should take advantage of?

The Virginia Film Office: It is a state organization that has been bringing the big productions to the area and other regions of the state.

On the other side of the coin is the Virginia Production Alliance. They have represented the local industries best interests to the film office, the General Assembly, state lawmakers, and unite the talent and production personal. Through the Virginia Film Office, a production guide is created each year and is online and in print.

Every person in production should have one and they should use it.

Flicker/Richmond Moving Image Co-op: Mike Jones, James Parish, and the volunteers of the RMIC have been bringing some of the worlds most influential independent filmmakers to Richmond for going on 15 years, with the bimonthly Flicker showcasing local short films shot on film. Any lover of film should attend the James River Film Festival and filmmakers should screen at Flicker.

Project Resolution/Yellow House: Since the early part of the new century, I have been able to be part of the Yellow House brain trust on the board of directors. When Project Resolution approached Yellow House to support the forum, it took the principles of enriching the film community to a new level. Monthly, film and video creators can screen their work and get audience feedback.

Why should more people support local filmmakers?

We need all the help we can get. Most importantly, we are trying to create alternate media from what is on TV, and at Project Resolution, there is a chance for the viewer to see and share that work with the filmmaker.

If new people show up, they will see things they can’t see anywhere else. With audience feedback, the filmmakers can grow and find out what people want to see. And if someone wants to donate or become a producer or investor, then they must come see what's going on on Broad Street [at the Firehouse Theater].

Will you ever leave Richmond for Los Angeles?

I will be going to Los Angeles this summer for the first time. "At the River," my 35mm short film, will be part of the OUTFEST 2007 program.

I now have my chance to go to California as a director. My hope is to continue work as a southern filmmaker with a home base in Richmond, the center of the east coast.

The film industry is a tough business.

How do you stay inspired and encouraged?

The work of my students. Their enthusiasm is the antidote to the bad films that do well at the box office.

My family and the family I want to have keeps me focused. I have to succeed for them. My girlfriend Becky is an OG punk-rock ballerina and choreography queen.

She takes care of me when my ego gets bruised.

What is your favorite film?

Hardest question you can ask a professor of film.

Too many filmmakers have made too many masterpieces. My top five directors: Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and David Lynch. My favorite film from last year was a toss up between "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Children of Men.

" My favorite film from this year so far is "28 Weeks Later."

What is your favorite Richmond landmark?

It was the VEPCO building.

They tore it down a few years ago. Now it is the Byrd Theater.

What is the best shooting location in Richmond?

The James River.

Where is the best place to watch a good movie in Richmond?

For art films, the Westhampton.

For mainstream, Short Pump. For once-in-a-lifetime films, the Byrd, which presents the VCU French Film Festival, the James River Film Fest and more.

What's your next big project?

Currently, I’m working with one of my first film students Calvin Jamison Jr. on the screenplay for a feature film. It will be a satire of estrogen and testosterone and a sex drug farce.

It will be shot in Richmond if the planets align in the way I am forcing them to. I want this to be my first "big project." The first ten years of my film work has been the "small projects.

" They have been supplements to the movies I haven't made yet.

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