Finding ourselves

Its been interesting ride trying to start up Coffee Shop Productions over the last six years. We've always been in a state of 'trying' to start up. I wouldn't say we have failed because we've actually made a handful of documentaries and corporate films, we've lived the visual production dream. We've written, directed, edited, acted, planned and traveled ourselves into all sorts of experiences. Stuff worth writing whenever we ever get ourselves around to condensing the long sentences. We haven't been able to make a business out of this thing, and in a way this has been able to keep to the real and quite loaded Idealistic passion we started out with; we wanted to start a movement.

My partner in these crimes sit across me today and talks about us not having any visible change and bouts of success or recognition. All the changes have been within. Experiences that we're now proud of and are able to sit back reminisce and laugh together about. Today we were actually talking about what it would be like one day telling each others children, "and then your dad - all balls and glory ran head long into the madness, he actually had the gutsy, stupidity...."


We talked about registering today, an eventuality... well we talked about it. Tomorrow. For today we've just summoned up some more confidence into it all, a little more than we had the last time we have had to conjure it up. Today, a bit more of it as we grow older than the children within us. At the end of the day, it was was great to sit together, able to laugh, and to look around us and see the possibility, the freedom we have to be able to do anything, anything. And how infinitely valuable it is. Also of course, with freedom we talk about our responsibility, to love, life, God and society. We talk about the opportunity and the abilities we have. The power of ideas and the harnessed ability and even talent that we have that we so easily down play for some obscure reason. Responsibility, like the word of God says, to whom much is given, much will be expected. And we know this, especially of the self.

A perfect sense

The worst thing about being able to write, is to come back to it some time later and read, and realize that, not only is it not bad writing, but its actually good, well the worst thing about it all - is that - all time spent not writing feels like this great mass of wasted opportunity; a time that will be accounted for on some great day of judgement; which is of course is a self-prescribed hell. Kind of similar to the exactness of now; sitting here being in this time and place, feeling sorry for oneself, writing away about how hard the writing is and how shittily the time wasted has been spent. Swallowing at every re-reading and re-sentencing. The desire for cigarettes and alcohol suddenly making perfect sense.

I wonder if she's looking for that blue smeared paint brush, theres still the smell of her hair on it, and the turpentine. Every things getting dark, too dark to see, like in the song.

There is so much beauty...

I met this girl once and I was telling her about how hard the writing is for me, how it always has been; somewhere along she told me to see and look at how everything, that there is so much beauty, in it all. I've never seen her again, but amongst those few moments we had together, she was struggling to paint this something beautiful, although we were unable to comprehend what it was...

...but it was beautiful until in a manic-depressive stupor I sat and quietly watched her tear it all apart. I wanted to be nice, so I tore up my paperwork to help fuel the several sheets of heavy, white- recycled paper, the kind with a rough texture and clothy-feel, we set the remnants on fire. In the romance of it all we talked about hope, the idea of it. The intimacy was in our doubts and yearnings for a sense of quietness within. I guess we knew we wouldn't be able to see each other anymore. Its impossible to tell if I'd missed the boat, but I think if we'd tried and merged the art, we would have figured some sort of alchemy. Or maybe we'd have simply set of each others own little self-centered universes... to smoke, all like a dark flame and landscape riddled with fallen stars. I regret not reaching out to touch her. But while she slept, I did reach out to pull and then keep the blue-stained paintbrush she had used to tie her hair up with.

Coffee Shop Productions

ACT
Or Direct, it’ll change the way u look at things

Coffee Shop Productions, its pretty simple; borrow camera. Identify idea. Film about what affects u… or tell a story - make ur own movie. Get friends to act.

Coffee Shops, that’s where ideas are at…

Insperion, meaning, media, movements

Coffee Shop Productions was going to release a publication this January 01st, but for various reasons has been unable to do so this January 01st, 2008.

The publication is going to be a voice for Coffee Shop Productions and also for the Activist Cafe. It'll have a section purely on prose and poetry, a section on media, a director's editorial and an interview or feature write up on an activist.

This will be a monthly publication, we're looking to release it now on the 29th of February 2008. (Online).

The current and third working title is, "Insperion", the baseline and dynamic of the publication will continue to be "Meaning, Media and Movements". Insperion means... look it up and tell me what you think it means.

But on the side, be inspired, the purpose of the media to create change in society. The purpose of art is to affect. The purpose of Coffee Shop Productions is to produce films of consciousness. The purpose of the Activist Cafe is to connect people, organizations and resources for change.

The purpose of this publication is to put all this together. It will also have a section called Revolutionary, which will showcase a person with an idea or a drive that created change because he\she chose to do something differently.

CoffeeShop Productions; CoffeeShops, that's where our ideas are at.

The activist cafe

Welcome to the activist Cafe.

The idea of the actual physical Café; CoffeeShop Productions is still just an idea. But eventually that's what we want to be able to do, to set up a real place with books on the shelves, with wifi (I suppose) for people to sit on their laptops.

We want the walls to speak with pictures, portraits, drawings and quotes from travel, revolution and activism, history, the messages from the past.

Our theme is social change and a large Coffee Shop will be host to sessions or workshops where activists from different areas of community will be able to come and interact with students, teachers and a general public who are interested in the particular campaigns or idea for change. It’ll be a forum, Coffee Shop Productions isn't an office or company; it is an experience for social activity and involvement, an environment and I'd most like to describe it as a movement; a clearing house for NGOs and anyone interested in a wider\wilder role in our societies.

We find our idea rooted into the words of President Abdul Kalam’s ideas from his books – the role that India’s people must play to see India developed (responsibly) by 2025.

We're not here to over throw the Government (as enticing as that may seem). We're here to work with the Government in our little individual and group ways. We're here to question our societies, come up with ideas, make contacts and join other organizations and causes.

Sometimes I feel a need in society and I often think - why the hell isn't there a damn organization or a movement involved in this issue. The “issue” is usually simple because we see it regularly enough to be stoned by it, it is an obvious problem and the consensus is usually “Why doesn’t the Government or somebody do something about this”, the truth is that the Government usually does have organizations for particular “issues” like child labor, unemployment, impoverished people etc. But sometimes the organizations aren’t doing their jobs or lack enough resources or simply lack the involvement of enough people or people of the right expertise to be doing their job as effectively as it can be possibly done.

A lot of time there are organizations but we’ve just not heard of them, they are doing stuff, but sometimes possibly the magnitude of the problem is so huge that the organization’s efforts are miniscule – which doesn’t mean that nothing is happening… Sometimes people set up the same organizations with the same causes instead of being able to contribute together.

Sometimes I walk into a particular building that turns out to be an NGO that's doing some Great work among women and children or various other issues and I think, God does anybody know about this Organization? Why haven't I known about them, but then you look at a brochure and see, damn they've been around for longer than I've existed, why didn't I know about them. The truth is that they’re all on the internet which should make them more accessible to the new communities of Globalization and the Information Connection.

….But like the world and the magnitude of the world’s problems, the internet is huge and full of its own problems. So how does one connect with these organizations and people and problems? Connecting resources, research, interests and forms of solutions including Government isn’t that simple.

Every activist I talk to has a similar outlook for the solutions to our societies problems: sharing resources, involvement of “young” people, cooperation and insight of corporate(s) and older, experienced individuals from all walks of life. “The government must be in the picture, sponsorship is a big issue, geologists, activists, environmentalists, media, gatekeepers of the legal system, basically for solving the complexities of our societies, what is needed is the involvement of professionals from across companies and corporations”.

So, what we’re trying to do with Coffee Shop Productions is simple. Set up tables and chairs, with the inspiration and lessons from history on the walls, access to the world (Wi-fi), books, media, members, activists etc. I suppose in a way that’s what the Rotary Club and other expensive clubs are doing - in the forms of socializing, entertainment, alcoholic aunties hosting their kitty parties and further ideas for fun social activity with a dish and dash of public service.

Welcome to the idea of the activist café. Thoughts, ideas?

All rights reserved Pradeep Rajendran (c) 2007-2008

Coffeeshop_productions

CoffeeShop Productions is a platform for people to come forward and express themselves artistically. From writing to poetry, scripting to painting or webdesigning to Filmography, we're interested in the use of the media to make people think.

We believe that the purpose of the media is to create impact in society, the most basic impact we think that the media should be able to make, as above I restress the interest we have in the media, to think is to question, we want to be able to express ideas through the media to make people, "think".

CoffeeShop Productions was an idea that came up while sitting around in small wayside CoffeeShops. We're interested in the processes of communication and believe in the media's ability to bring about change.
We're all straight out of college and have been working in the media industry for a little while now. Feel free to get in touch and talk to us anytime. We're interested in talking and the basic forms of communication to begin with.
Pradeep.rajendran@gmail.com \ Peter.tv@gmail.com