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Dirt Rag Articles
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Frequent Dirt Rag contributor Eric Matthies, along with his wife Tricia Todd, shot a film that's appearing in The Sixth Annual Bicycle Film Festival in New York City. The film is an excerpt from a feature length project the pair just finished shooting in Ghana. The Village Bicycle Project short is about a shipment of 450 used bicycles which were collected by Bikes Not Bombs in Boston and sent to Ghana.
Eric and Tricia live in Los Angeles and work as film producers. I conducted the following interview with Eric via email in May 2006.
Dirt Rag: Road bike, mountain bike, or both?
Eric Matthies: Both plus cyclocross, fixed and BMX for me; road and mountain for Tricia.
DR: How'd you get started mountain biking?
EM: Probably cyclocross and BMX got me into mountain bikes. As a kid in Chicago my main cycling influences were roadies. I learned about cyclocross from them; my first off-road experiences were on a cyclocross rig and my first mountain bike was set up more as a BMX style city assault vehicle. When I moved to California the local countryside provided me with my first real 'mountain bike' riding.
DR: Favorite bike?
EM: Jonny Cycles monocog 'cross rig with a flip/flop for fixed street antics. Tricia's on a monocog touring frame built up as a fast townie. Between us there's seven bikes both at home and at our folk's places.
DR: Favorite trail?
EM: Old Mulholand Road, Backbone and Sullivan, but I haven't been over there in a while. Tricia's mom is in Austin TX, so when we visit we enjoy riding the singletrack there. The trails nearest our house are the ones I enjoy most but they are, ahem, not for cycling so...
DR: Riding style?
EM: I like long distances and mixed conditions; I try to stay fluid and spinning. I'd like to think my style is 'smooth', but it's probably closer to sloppy. Tricia also likes to turn out long miles but prefers running errands and using her bike for utilitarian purposes (basket in front is bigger than a Miata). Her style is happy and fast.
DR: Tell us a bit about your company EMP Inc.?
EM: The company started as a way of producing documentaries and installation films that some directors I worked for were doing. It gained the Inc. when we got hired to produce behind-the-scenes content on The Matrix. Now we primarily produce the extras that come on DVDs and the promotional television and internet stuff that the studios use to hype their movies. Our goal is to be able to work to sustain making our own documentaries, of which the film in the Bicycle Film Festival is the first project.
DR: How did you first get involved in film making?
EM: Shooting skateboard films with the Alva team. Then I did camera work on NIN's Head Like A Hole video which was the start of shooting many music videos. I co-directed some clips for bands like Suicidal Tendencies but when I moved to LA I got work as a producer for other directors' videos and commercials, which was fine with me. Some of those directors hired me to produce films in Namibia, Guyana, Thailand, Monserratt and Nicaragua so I was satisfying my documentary jones early on. Tricia worked as a production manager on high-end commercials before she started producing for EMP full time on projects in Australia, Japan and Montreal. The film which we're showing in the Bicycle Film Festival is the first she's directed.
DR: What type of films do you usually make?
EM: Thanks to our clients, mostly documentary extras for feature film DVDs. The films we are making ourselves are all documentaries so far.
DR: Tell us about your film that's in the Bicycle Film Festival.
EM: The film in the festival is a short excerpted from a feature length project that we just finished shooting last week in Ghana. Old bicycles are valuable assets when used as a sustainable transportation solution in rural African communities. The Village Bicycle Project short is about a shipment of 450 used bicycles collected by Bikes Not Bombs in Boston and sent to Ghana. In the short we follow the bikes from loading at BNB to unloading in Accra, Ghana.
Village Bicycle Project itself is a three-man organization that sells most of the shipment to small shops to pay the import fees and then takes a quarter of the bikes for workshops in rural areas. The communities that host the workshops are taught basic mechanics and riding tips before the participants receive the bicycles. Tools are also provided to village representatives and additional training is given to local mechanics. The emphasis is on 'sustainable' transportation.
Our feature film Ayamye follows the lives of four community members in villages that receive the bikes over the course of one year. We started in rainy season a few weeks before the workshops, continuing through the days following the sessions. Nine months later in dry season we returned to mark the progress of the community and the bikes. "Ayame" means goodness/kindness/bounty in the Twi language and the film will be finished later this summer.
DR: Any interesting stories that happened during filming?
EM: The whole project has been an adventure. Seeing through people's actions how much impact the bikes have there is the greatest thing we saw.
DR: What do you hope viewers will learn from the film?
EM: From watching the short we hope they want to learn more and see the feature when it's finished. With Ayamye we have a film that shows how a simple thing like a bicycle can give people so much—power, joy and a means to get ahead or achieve goals in their lives. We hope people find something to learn about themselves from seeing a glimpse of life in Africa.
DR: Proudest overall film making accomplishment?
EM: Making our own documentary film, and the next and the next...
DR: Biggest film making goal yet to accomplish?
EM: To have our films seen on screens around the world and for the people who see them to come away informed and entertained.
DR: Favorite location you've ever filmed?
EM: Because of the friends we've made on this project, Ghana.
DR: Anything else you'd like to add?
EM: If it's possible, we'd like to include the website for our project: ayamye.org.
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