The Great American Sculptor

I was in Georgia for a few days in December visiting my cousin Keith Johnson and family. What came out of it was an 18-minute reality show called The Great American Sculptor.

Did you ever have a friend or a family member that was so interesting, amusing or unusual that you thought: “They ought to have their own TV show! Just record what happens to them on a daily basis and it would be more entertaining than the average sitcom.”

Of course, reality TV is based on this premise, but most of it is staged. Now with so many video podcast services available, you’d think people would do that. The typical YouTube podcast is a college student talking to the camera for a minute or two in a video blog format. In some ways, it is just an alternative for those who find it easier to talk than write. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see more people doing longer pieces chronicling “a day in the life of ___________.”

Current.TV has accomplished this with its narrative-style programs. These are usually two to six minutes long. A friend of mine calls it ADHD-TV because Google assumes that the average viewer won’t stay interested in a “pod” for more time than a long commercial break.

But can the average American hold the attention of a viewing audience? I think eventually that there will be a huge number of people who will support themselves by making these little reality documentaries about daily life. There is an audience for this. It would be the type of person who enjoys watching National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet or such fare.

The Great American Sculptor is my first entry in this genre. It tells the story of my cousin, Keith Johnson, who started sculpting historic and sports figures in high school and has made it at times as a full-time artist – his work has been featured in the Ronald Reagan library, the John F. Kennedy hospital, the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Boston Garden Sports shop, and other places of note. Most people who know my cousin find this fascinating and it’s a story that deserves to be told visually. It wasn’t too difficult to put together since he provided most of the visual material in his artwork and sculpture.

The next step is to cull down the video to about six minutes and submit it for viewing on the Current.TV site. This is a site where people can submit viewer created content. Then other viewers vote on whether the pieces should be shown on Google’s new satellite TV channel.

All my videos to this point have been Gospel-oriented. But I am planning on doing several short videos this year with a reality theme. These will feature Christians who are doing something interesting or unusual. I want to make a documentary about wildlife in the Indian River intracoastal waterway. About a year ago, I almost brought a digital camcorder out to do a wildlife style documentary with Matt Carroll, a colorful figure who also happens to be the former vice-mayor of Melbourne. But I feared the saltwater could damage my equipment. We had some stormy weather that day so that was a good call.

After the Great American Sculptor, I have some ideas about people to feature in these short programs.

Watch the video.

Whether you think it’s interesting or boring let me know.