Richard Branson & Harrison Ford--Red Carpet Interviews

Sir Richard Branson and Harrison Ford win Legends of Aviation Award

I really had a great time meeting so many Legends of Aviation at the 6th Annual celebration to honor the incredible heroes of aviation. Robert DalColletto and I were fortunate to be able to interview several of the Legends as the entered the private Legends area of the event. Here are just a few of the Legends we met that evening.

Julie Clark

James Raisbeck

The Girls

Dr. Forrest Bird

Harrison Ford

Clay Lacy

Sir Richard Branson

Gordy Graham - exciting new videos in production

Gordon Graham

I am so proud and excited to be producing several new videos for Gordy Graham.  Gordy has been a hero of mine for over twenty years.  We are working on several new video projects including a great new video about Relationships.  Gordon is a nationally known motivational speaker and expert on the concept of change.  For more info about Gordy, go to www.ggco.com 

Chefs of Seattle Documentary

Last summer I was driving down the road, listening to the radio when I heard the speaker talking about how "Chefs are like Rock Stars." This caught my attention and I could not get it out of my mind. I instantly knew I had to make a movie, a documentary, about chefs. This is how the "Chefs of Seattle" documentary project started.

We took the top ten chef lists from the Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, Seattle Magazine, Seattle PI, and other publications we could find, combined the lists, looked for common names, and then we had our own TOP HIT LIST of potential Chefs of Seattle.


Thanks to some great footwork by my co-producer Mitchell Pickett, it did not take long to set up our interviews with these top chefs.


Here is a VIDEO LINK to the documentary CHEFS OF SEATTLE.

Watch it, Enjoy it, Press the PLAY BUTTON




Chefs of Seattle from RJ McHatton on Vimeo.




Here they are. The Chefs of Seattle.

Bobby Moore

Daisley Gordon

Eric Donnelly



Ethan Stowell

Holly Smith

Peter Levine

Rachel Yang

Scott Carsberg

Shannon Gallusha

Thierry Rautureau

Tom Douglas

Vuong Loc


Also the following Food Critics helped us with the movie, too.




Eileen Mintz



Nancy Leson



Thanks for everyone's support for this fun film. For more info go to http://www.chefsofseattle.com/




Chefs of Seattle from RJ McHatton on Vimeo.

Robert DalColletto

RJ with Robert DalColletto

I can't tell you how great it has been to work with Robert DalColletto. He is a truly nice guy and dedicated father and husband. He really inspires me to want to be a better person. Robert brought the Legends of Aviation project to us at Inventive Productions last fall and it has been a pleasure to work with him. Robert's enthusiasm and love for the people in aviation is incredibly contagious. He lights up every time he sees a legend walk past. Robert is a professional screenwriter and is working on several projects.

Legends of Aviation Tribute Opening

Here is a video we created for the Introduction Opening for the Legends of Aviation event in Beverly Hills.

Harrison Ford Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Harrison Ford, a true American hero

Johnny Myers Legend of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Johnny Myers, a true American hero

Bob Hoover Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Bob Hoover, a true American hero

Tony Bill Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Tony Bill, a true American hero

Linden Blue Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Linden Blue, a true American hero

Bill Anders Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about General Bill Anders, a true American hero

Emily Howell Warner Legend of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about Emily Howell Warner, a true American hero.

Barrington Irving Legends of Aviation Tribute

Here is a video we created about the life and times of Barrington Irving, a true American hero.

Legends Videos Playlist

Here is a link to the playlist of Videos that I made for the Legends of Aviation Project.

TO WATCH VIDEO CLICK HERE

Thanks,
RJ

Interview with Harrison Ford

Interview with Harrison Ford

I really enjoyed meeting and interviewing Harrison Ford for the Legends of Aviation project. Harrison is being honored and recognized for his work with the Young Eagles program, which tries to introduce the love of aviation to young people all across America. We met Harrison at a hangar with some of his airplanes and helicopters. Harrison was great. He really made us feel comfortable and the interview turned out awesome. I hope he likes the video we made for him.

Janet Haberbush - Windermere Real Estate Broker

Janet Haberbush.

Janet Haberbush - Windermere Real Estate Broker.

Janet visited our Inventive Productions studios to meet about the possibility of our doing a recruiting video for your family business. Janet's father had been one of the first franchisee's of the Windermere Real Estate company back over twenty years ago. Janet's father sounds like a really great guy who treated both clients and employees with a great deal of respect and integrity.

Janet, with her husband, now run and operate five Windermere offices in the Seattle area.

While Janet was here at the studio, we went ahead and did our Basic Video Biography interview with my 124 specialized questions about her life. It is fantastic to hear the great stories of a person's life and about their family background.

Janet is a very upbeat and inspirational person and business owner. I appreciate the opportunity to capture her life story for her family.

Herb Blanchard - US Air Force & US Navy 1962-1972

Herb Blanchard.

Herb Blanchard - US Air Force & US Navy Seabee - 1962-1972

I really enjoyed meeting and interviewing Herb. He is a real nice guy.

Herb came to our Inventive Productions studios to be interviewed for my documentary "The NEW Fighting Seabees."

Herb was born in 1937 in Massachusetts. He enlisted in teh US Navy in 1962.

Over the years Herb served in Alaska, Japan, Okinawa, and Vietnam.

He told me some great stories about the culture and life of the Seabees. He talked about how he was involved in the building of the road known as HIGHWAY ONE in Vietnam. Some of Herbs skills include bulldozer, heavy equipment, cranes handling nuclear weapons, and helping to build schools in Vietnam.

I really enjoyed my interview with Herb. He is a great guy.

Barron Hilton - Legend of Aviation - Friend of Johnny Myers

Barron Hilton

Barron Hilton - Legend of Aviation, Friend of Johnny Myers

My GPS said it was recalculating the route, which means I might be lost. This made me worry that I might be late for my meeting with Barron Hilton. But it all worked out and I made it in time.

I entered the World Headquarters of the Hilton Hotels and was met by the security team. I told them I had a meeting with Barron Hilton and my contact person was Pat. They called upstairs and said to me that Pat would be down shortly.

I had my camera equipment in light bags so it would be easy to carry and setup for the interview. In a few moments, a tall guy with a big smile named Pat approached and took me up to a nice conference room where I could setup my equipment. Pat helped me set up the room so it would look good in the camera frame.

After I was ready, in came Mr. Barron Hilton and we had a nice video interview. Barron was a great friend to Johnny Myers. They had spent many years in their friendship and Barron had fond memories of their times fishing and flying together. I could tell by my short time with Mr. Hilton that Johnny Myers was a really nice guy. I wish I had met Johnny Myers. It sounds like he was a real character and a real quality man of integrity.

These days its hard to see many heroes amongst us. I know we just need to look closer to find the heroes. When meeting men and women like Barron Hilton and Bob Hoover and Emily Howell Warner, I feel inspired about the good in people. I wish everyone had a chance to meet people like these. Especially teenagers. I think that every teenager should meet a real life hero. Maybe they would get inspired to become a hero too. Barron Hilton was a very nice guy to me and I appreciate him taking the time to meet with me to talk about Johnny Myers.

Thanks goes to everyone who helped make the interview possible.

Tony Bill - Filmmaker, Aviator

Tony Bill

Tony Bill - Filmmaker, Aviator

It was a beautiful clear morning in Venice Beach, California. I had driven there early because I was afraid I wouldn't get a parking spot. But there was no problem on this Monday.

I was there at the steps to Barnstorm Films, the production company owned by filmmaker Tony Bill. My goal was to interview Tony for a short video biography I am making for the Legends of Aviation tribute dinner scheduled on Jan 22 in Beverly Hills.

Tony was being recognized for his life-long love for aviation and for his contributions to promote the Aviation industry through his films, including his recent film FLYBOYS.

I remember Tony from my early days as a student at UCLA. Tony Bill had just made the movie MY BODYGUARD and was very inspirational to me because he had made a hit movie from a low budget film he had struggled to complete.

Over the years Tony had produced and directed many successful filmmaking ventures.

That Monday, I interviewed Tony on a patio beside his upstairs office. His office was real cool, with lots of great movie posters, including one big one from the movie THE STING, which Tony had co-produced. It was one of my very favorite movies.

During our interview, Tony talked about his love for flying. He talked about how he first learned to fly and his love for gliders and soaring. Tony told me about how much he loved sailing and how the gliders were awesome. He told me how he had switched to powered aircraft many years ago and how he has flown over 50 different kinds of aircraft over the years. Tony said that maybe he would return to gliders one day.

He called his company Barnstorm because of his passion and love for the freedom of flying to the small towns all across America. He said that flying gives you freedom and it is a fantastic way to see this country.

Tony talked about his love for aviation and his great admiration of guys like Bob Hoover and the other Legends of Aviation. I could sense that he really does love these guys.

I really liked my short interview with Tony. As I was leaving, I told him a little about my new documentary SHIP OF MIRACLES and asked if it would be ok to send him a copy. He say sure. I really think it would be great to make a feature film around the story behind SHIP OF MIRACLES, because its a great Christmas story, with all the great elements of a good movie, including heroes, villains, suspense, compassion, and a happy ending. I told Tony about how it was a true Christmas story of how Americans saved 100,000 civilian refugees on Christmas 1950 during the Korean War.

I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet these great Legends of Aviation. They are true heroes and deserve the recognition they will receive at the event next week.

I hope they like the videos we are making for them.

Luke & Wes Myers - Grandsons of a Hero Aviator

Luke & Wes Myers

Luke & Wes Myers, Grandsons of a Hero Aviator.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning in Southern California. I drove up the beach past Malibu in my rental car, looking at all the joggers in bikinis. After a brutal winter up in Seattle, this sunshine was a great change for me.

I drove up the hill in Pacific Palisades to meet with Luke and Wes Myers, two grandsons of the legendary fighter pilot and test pilot pioneer Johnny Myers.

I was there to interview these grandsons for a short video biography I am making for the Legends of Aviation tribute dinner scheduled for Jan 22 in Beverly Hills.

Wes and Luke are great guys. They showed me terrific hospitality and generosity. I quickly set up my lights and camera and sound equipment.

They told me incredible stories about their memories of their grandfather. I could tell that they both had a tremendously close relationship with their grandfather. Both Luke and Wes were pilots too. There is aviation in the Myers blood.

I really enjoyed hearing the funny stories about the character and courage of Johnny Myers. He was an attorney who gave up his law practice because he wanted to fly. Over the years he flew them all. Johnny Myers had made many friends over the years and he was an iconic person.

Johnny Myers was world famous for his help in developing the Flying Wing and the Night fighter jets, predecessors to the Stealth bombers used today.

Wes and Luke brought out lots of great pictures of their grandfather. They told me some awesome stories about how Johnny flew helicopters and flew airplanes in his 80s. He loved to fly in the Reno Air Races, too.

Johnny had died less than a year ago at the age of 96 and it was a bit emotional for the family to talk about him. I could sense the pride and love these grandsons had for their grandfather.

I really enjoyed meeting Luke and Wes. I hope they like the video biography I am making about their grandfather.