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The Roberts Court Vs. Lilly Ledbetter

Ledbetter "Supreme Injustices"

On January 29, 2009, just nine days in office, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, the first legislative act of his presidency. This law reverses a Supreme Court ruling of two years earlier that denied Ledbetter back pay for nineteen years of discrimination at the hands of the Goodyear Tire Company, which had paid her significant less than men doing the same job. Newly appointed conservative justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion, joined by new Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's three other conservatives. In 2007 I made "Supreme Injustices" for the Alliance for Justice, and the film became part of the progressive momentum that reversed the Court's decision.

Employee Free Choice Act

Next up on the progressive agenda for President Obama is the Employee Free Choice Act, which would neutralize current corporate tactics that prevent employees from choosing a union and getting a contract. These days it doesn't make any difference if you win an NLRB union election: employers have plenty of tools at their disposal to avoid contract negotiation. Just ask John Lindner (right), who fought for democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, but can't get a union at Verizon Business despite winning a union election. I made this film for the Communications Workers of America in 2008.

"Employee Free Choice"

  Recent Political Spots

"Old MacDonald" "Two Farmers" "Factory Farmer" "Better Now"

PROPOSITION 2 - California: I was Director of Photography on these spots produced by Deno Seder for the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS sponsored Prop 2 to end the abuses common to the factory farm industry and insure humane treatment for animals raised for human consumption. The initiative passed and is now law in California. "Old MacDonald" was shot on a farm near my home in Barnesville, Maryland. The HSUS took some flak for shooting outside California, but Deno anticipated this and was prepared for it. "Two Farmers" is a nice knock-off of the "PC-Mac" ads. Guess which one is PC.

"Coronation" "Halo" "Best Actor"

BOBBY JINDAL - Louisiana. I was Director of Photography on these spots produced by Deno Seder for the Louisiana Democratic Party in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal. Shortly after his election Jindal competed with Sarah Palin for John McCain's choice for Vice President. Although they share a number of similarities, McCain probably chose Palin for her enterntainment value. Like the Prop 2 spots above, these commercials illustrate Seder's creative approach to political communication. Don't miss the classic "Sleeping Soundman Drops His Bagel" cameo at the end of "Halo."

Documentary

"Fighting For Our Lives"

"Fighting For  Our Lives" is the story of the United Farm Workers 1973 grape strike, when the union's very existence was threatened. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature category, and won the prize for Best Documentary at the Grenoble, France International Film Festival.

Social Issues

"Deadly Business" documents how the gun industry and the National Rifle Association stifle attempts at reasonable gun control in the  United States, with the result that 30,000  Americans die from  guns annually. Every two years that's as many Americans who died in the War in Vietnam. This clip features Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was gunned down in the Columbine High School massacre. Produced for the Alliance for Justice.

"Deadly Business"

Television

"Glasnost at Riga"

In the mid-eighties President Mikhail Gorbachev launched a reform movement in the Soviet Union he called "glasnost", or "openness". The Chautauqua Institution of New York responded with a series of exchanges, in which American and Soviet citizens, journalists and government officials debated the issues of the day in each other's country. In the evening, performing artists from the two countries - like Grover Washington, Jr. - collaborated, creating harmonies to balance the dissonance of each day's debates. We produced two one-hour specials on these events for PBS.

Scripted/Dramatic Programs

"It's Your Choice" uses a game show format to promote a Teamsters Union effort to stop NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Intercut documentary news footage illustrates both the dangers of allowing under-regulated foreign trucks into the country, and the union's efforts to make the public aware of these dangers, and to pressure lawmakers to abandon NAFTA.

"It's Your Choice"

Classic Television Spots

"Liberty"

Most of the television spots I have shot have been for political candidates. Joe Trippi wrote and produced this spot for Jim Moran, who was challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Stan Parris. Parris had an extreme view on the choice issue, and Trippi thought we could dramatize that by putting a cardboard cutout of the Statue of Liberty behind bars. I told him it wouldn't work. Boy, was I wrong. And Moran won the race. My credit: Director of Photography.

BES/S&K Menswear

This is a compilation of three commercials I directed for BES Television of Richmond, Virginia, and their client, S&K Menswear: "Snooty", "Teenager" and "Auctioneer".

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