CNR 2012: Participants: Michael Garrigues (USA)
I'm currently a video producer based in the San Francisco, California and owner of Foglifter Media, a company providing production services in Northern California. I've produced local television, environmental education and live event video. I'm also active with the independent filmmaking community of San Francisco in both the documentary and short narrative film categories.
In addition to documentary production, I currently provide ethnovideography services to the market research arms of companies such as Apple, Nokia, Google, and Sony. Before entering video production, I was a freelance copywriter in Silicon Valley. I've additionally worked as a writer for multimedia projects, such as Simulations Interactive's "Himalayan Journey", which was nominated for the European Mobius Award.
My first television job was co-producer for "Film Trip", a film review and interview program airing in San Francisco.
I also was casting and assistant director for the short film "Win Each Way" which won numerous film festival awards, including the Gold Award at the Cotswold International Film & Video Festival.
I've also done stints as a script reader for American Playhouse Theatrical and as story editor for Continental Cinema Group in New York City.
Japan
I went to Japan for the first time in 2006 on vacation and became
fascinated by this culture of extreme contrasts: modern high-tech
glass and steel skyscrapers next to 1000-year-old stone and wood
temples or bullet trains traveling at 200 miles-an-hour over rice
paddies that were terraced centuries ago.
This mix of ancient culture with ultra-modern design and
technology intrigued me. When I saw videos of Japanese robots like
Asimo and Wakamaru, I realized that no other country had as many
advanced humanoid robots. I wanted to learn why.
Although some Asian countries have similar high-tech abilities
that Japan has, no other country in the world brings as much
government, academic and business resources into the development of
humanoid robots.
Japan has the fastest shrinking population in the world and will
soon not have enough younger workers coming into the workforce to
replace the retiring ones. It is government policy to support the
development of robotics to augment this shrinking workforce. Also
the Japanese Shinto religion heavily influences the relationship of
the Japanese people towards inanimate objects. In "J, Robot" we
interview a Shinto priest who explains this relationship. This
religion is unique to Japan.
Links:
J,
Robot
Michael
Garrigues
[image source: Foglifter Media]
[source: Vive Les Robots!]
Cafe Neu Romance 2012:
Program
Exhibition
Lectures
Events
Participants
Michael Garrigues is the Director of the documentary J, Robot (2012).
J, Robot
The American documentary on Japanese humanoid robots by
Michael Garrigues will be shown several times at the exhibition
during the Cafe Neu Romance festival (27.-29. of November 2012 from
2pm - 6pm each day) at the Galerie NTK.
Galerie NTK
Technická 6
16080 Prague.