Coyote Dreams Creative writing samples

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Samples of .Work A partial list ~ more is available! Articles ~ Scripts ~ Brochures ~ Internet Digital Storytelling ~ Video ~ Live Eric's Creative Credo ~ Eric's M.O. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view these files (QuickTime for video)
This part of the website is a work in progress. As I sort & save past writing work and learn Final Cut Pro so I can create " video trailers," I will post them here.
Articles & e-Articles
Reel Leadership Lessons: Behind the Camera monthly e-Zine column read article	This is both an article about the leadership lessons I've learned as a film & video director and a description of the kind of leader I try to be.
Christmas Giving monthly e-Zine column read article	A brief article about Christmas giving from 1999.
Reel Leadership Lessons: Fly Away Home monthly e-Zine column read article	I was whining about a writing associate who wrote articles discussing leadership lessons gleaned from literature, expressing that I should be allowed to explore this kind of intellectual exploration in film. John-the-publisher shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure. Do it." Cynthia-the-editor said, "Great idea."
Reel Leadership Lessons: Dinosaur monthly e-Zine column read article	I had opened the intellectual volley with a decidedly un-sports movie (Fly Away Home), hoping to get people to explore other venues for learning about leadership. Continuing on this path, I chose this movie so people could enjoy it with their family while continuing to learn and explore issues around leadership.
Feel Like Roadkill on the Information Superhighway? e-Zine article read article	Remember 1998? Decades ago in Internet years. Our web team was deluged with questions (and... concerns) about all this newfangled web technology. So I was tasked with lending an e-helping e-hand.
Interview with Iggy M. Sirius e-Zine article read article	(mock interview written entirely by me) These kinds of opportunities don't present themselves very often. Boeing was engulfed in the pontifications of Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley, chaos theory, and an ongoing debate between employee empowerment and employee engagement. I took a stab at poking good-natured fun at these corporate windmills, along with the preponderance of "corp-speak," and our Creative Director published it.
Scripts (top of page)
Wait TV read script	Client: Maxam Inc. Conceptual Approach: Humor Description: This was a pilot for a program that would be shown in public places, like license facilities, that typically had people waiting in lines. Long lines. The idea was to weave together public service information, entertainment, and a venue for advertisers. The mix and pacing provided a good opportunity to integrate the entertainment with public service information, and to play off the concept of "waiting" with wordplay and "on-the-street" performance.
The Darigold Cheese Story read script	Client: Darigold Project: A video geared at kids to explain how Darigold cheese is made. Creative: Fun, fun, fun! A professor of cheesiology shows a kid how cheese is made. Creatively, I dream of this kind of opportunity: a customer wants to make a really fun presentation geared for kids. So I had Professor Bovenstein (the world’s leading cheesiologist, a German fellow who personifies the stereotypical image of a brilliant and disheveled genius) instruct his pint-sized earnest pupil on how cheese is made. On a simple set (white hard-cyc), our professor and pupil embark on a learning adventure, with fantastical props (huge bricks of cheese, life-size cow, cartoonish kitchen, whimsical refrigerator...) and using analogies (chewing is like a blender, digesting is like a bowl & mixer, an udder is like a faucet…) to provide explanation. Humor (and pathos) is created by the interaction between the professor and the kid, from having fun with his German accent to her making fun of things like his pocket protector.
Safeco United Way read script	Client: Safeco Description: Video to promote participation/contribution to Safeco’s United Way fundraising drive. Conceptual Approach: Humor, Fairy Tale Requirements: Use Safeco execs as on-camera talent Solution: Most execs, no matter how comfortable in front of a camera, don't have enough presence to look into the lens and motivate. Some execs are downright awful, and elicit what I call the "empathetic embarrassment reaction," where the audience recognizes the awkwardness and feels such embarrassment that they can't focus on the message; instead, they squirm. So, I decided, first of all, to have the execs not looking at the camera. Second, give them something fun to do, something that, even if they blow lines and are awkward, it becomes funny instead of uncomfortable for the audience. (Thank goodness the Safeco execs were all very willing and eager to take this kind of thing on: kudos to all of them!) To add to the fun factor, have them enact a Seuss-style fairy tale! (It certainly didn't hurt that the challenge of writing with the rhyme and rhythm inspired by Seuss would be a BLAST, and it was!)
Furnace Maintenance read script	Client: Washington Natural Gas (WNG) Conceptual Approach: Humor Description: A 7-minute program for Customer Service Reps and customers to demonstrate information from a pamphlet WNG put out on maintaining gas furnaces. You know, change filters every 6 months, clean vents, check the pilot light... Sort of dry stuff. Furthermore, the budget was very limited. We figured there was enough there for one location, one actor, and maybe an additional voice. So I decided to use a dramatic gender role-reversal comedy to present the information: an inept husband being coached through the furnace check-up by his off-screen wife, who's a crack "handy-person." This was particularly unique in the mid-80s, when this project was produced. There were discussions about whether this approach was "appropriate."
Brochures (top of page)
Jot-It! Brochure view brochure	Jot-It! was an electronic sticky-note that had the distinct advantage of linking not just to documents, but also to drop-down menus, dialog boxes, specific web pages, etc. The brochure had to make an immediate impact, and I thought should be fun to read and explore.
Boeing Leadership Center History view brochure	When asked to pen a brochure detailing the history of the Boeing Leadership Center, I think the initial expectation was that I would write about the buildings and the estate that the center was built upon. Recognizing the rich historical heritage of the place, I decided to look back, to before recorded history, to position the center as a place that has always been a witness to events of exploration and discovery (which is what the Leadership Center is all about: exploring and discovering leadership skills).
Internet (top of page)
Creating Value view site	Creating Value. Now there's an exciting topic, eh? Inspired by the computer game "You Don't Know Jack" (YDKJ) and tapping into the corporate plan for the future called "Vision 2016" (2016 marks the 100th anniversary of Boeing), I combined a roadmap analogy with multiple-choice questions, lessons, and answers, replete with YDKJ "attitude" when people got the answers right or wrong. The graphic artist and code wonks took this idea and gave it a life that blew me away (along with our customer). Unfortunately, I only have a PDF of it for now: being database driven, it's not something I could park on a CD or on the web. Later, I'll post a video that highlights the interactivity. CAUTION: This PDF is a whopping 3+ MB, so it might take a while to download.
Digital Storytelling: While some define digital storytelling as web-based presentation of digital video, I have preferred the definition that distinguishes it from simply producing video or multimedia. As defined by the people who created &/or drew the spotlight to this unique and exciting platform for storytelling, I see it as the integration of live elements (replete with props &/or sets &/or costumes) with digital support (video, graphic images, sound effects and music...) (top of page)
Everything I Know About Program Management I Learned Selling Lemonade read script	This was a live-performance presentation with integrated multi-screen digital graphic support. I was responsible for concept development, writing (script for live presentation and copy for screens), stage blocking, and working with graphic designers, artists, and coders for production. The presentation told the story of neighborhood kids setting up a lemonade business to earn money for a class trip to Disneyland. As the story recounts the process they went through (with tutelage from parents), the storyteller highlights the basic business principles that are germane for any project, from selling lemonade to developing the Boeing 777.
Flying Cloud Airlines read script	"Flying Cloud Airlines: A Family Story Demonstration of Market Economy" This digital storytelling project illustrated how to run a business in a free-market economy.
Video (top of page)
	Coming soon (to a computer screen near you)!
Live Theater (top of page)
BEGNF Bag Lady read script	Client: Boeing Conceptual Approach: Humor Description: The Boeing Employee Good Neighbor Fund (BEGNF), an in-house vehicle for employees to donate money to agencies like United Way, has an annual kickoff event to motivate "boosters" (volunteer employees who solicit participation). Over the years, the performance had developed into a formula of multi-image slide show extravaganzas, speakers with overhead projector viewfoils, financial charts and graphs. . . Attendance was starting to dwindle for the event. So why not liven things up by having a performance artist ~ comedienne play the part of an obtrusive bag-lady? She can humorously (and interactively) present the point-of-view of the people BEGNF is trying to help and make it fun in the process. It was a big hit, and attendance at each of the locations rose dramatically as word spread about the event.
Creative Credo (top of page)
How I look at the creative responsibility & process.	There are no boring topics, only boring ideas and creative. Communication is a 2-way process; if we want the audience to respect the message, we have to respect them and demonstrate that in the presentation. That means making the experience of watching & listening-reading & interacting with the media & absorbing the message as interesting & enjoyable & compelling as possible. The process of developing the creative & script/copy/production is a dynamic, collaborative process. Communication creative has to fit the message. My creative is typically a little unusual, light-hearted, or dramatic; always compelling, if not entertaining; never boring or “imposed” on the information. Tug at their heartstrings, whack their funny bone, tickle their fancy... whatever it takes. If I (and the team) have done the job right, the audience walks away with the information stuck in their brain and on their priority list, along with a smile and a sense of enthusiasm or urgency.
M.O. (top of page)
The values I bring to my process.	Genuine and cooperative with clients and/or customers. Have been both a leader and a team member, embracing the team ethic of working together and valuing the talents and contributions of people (where opinions and heated discourse is good: rancor and divisiveness is not). Insatiable curiosity, passionate about ideas and ideals, clever and creative, and fun.

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