Jon Else

13 SEPTEMBER 00 | "For 20 years I've done nothing but films about nuclear war, civil unrest, economic depression, environmental destruction and institutional greed," says producer/director/cinematographer Jon Else, professor of journalism. "I decided it was time to make a musical, something really accessible and entertaining; Wagner's 'Ring Cycle' may have been an odd choice but I think it worked."

The critics agree. After fellow filmmakers gave it a 1999 Sundance Fimmakers' Trophy, the hour-long "Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle,' has just garnered a 2000 Emmy Award for outstanding informational or cultural programming.

"One could scarcely imagine a more energizing or enlightening introduction to Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' than Jon Else' documentary.." wrote the San Francisco Examiner. "Else's master stroke is to encourage the stage hands to tell the story in their own plainspoken fashion. Else's camera and expert editing depict a world that teeters on the brink of chaos."

Else is currently making a film about the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Links:

UC Berkeley's journalism school opening experimental center to safeguard the documentary