Matt Giraud
While Life in Vine focuses on a rollercoaster year in Oregon vineyards, it's more than just a wine story. The documentary was independently produced over three years from more than 50 hours of footage, and much of the work -- producing, writing, shooting, editing, making lumpy sandwiches for the crew -- was done by me. It makes for embarrassingly short closing credits, of course, but it's also an indication of how dedicated I've been to this project.
What kept me going through rain and sunburn wasn't the romance of the vineyards I shot in (though as you'll see, they are all beautiful places) or a misty-eyed love of wine (though I have written a thing or two about it). What kept me shooting was the suspicion that there had to be something, well, real behind all the glitzy, coffee table book marketing most consumers associate with a glass of wine.
I'm glad to say I found it: real people who've reached where they are with ingenuity, hard work, and patience, who've dedicated their lives to farming their hand-planted vineyards, season after season, storm after cold snap after glorious break in the clouds. And in the seasonal rhythms they must work alongside -- which recur year after year, but which are still a roll of the dice because the weather rarely cooperates -- I think I caught on film the thing that has kept farmers going everywhere, whatever their crop: a kind of fundamental but unsentimental connection to the land, and an uncompromising drive to bring something up out of it.
Since I produced this piece without any industry backing, I've been free to tell this soggier, yet truly inspirational Oregon tale the way it should be told.
I hope you enjoy it.
Bio info
Matt Giraud is a director, design strategist, and award-winning columnist whose work has appeared in Fortune, Northwest Palate, Imbibe, and Willamette Week, among other publications, and as commentary on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He's also Creative Director of Gyroscope Creative, a multi-faceted design and communications strategy firm based in Portland, Oregon. For his work on behalf of various non-profit organizations, he was awarded the Mayor's Spirit of Portland Award in City Council Chambers.
To see more of Giraud's film and video work, visit the Gyroscope Pictures page on Vimeo.
To contact Matt, write to: contactmatt@lifeinvine.com
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While Life in Vine focuses on a rollercoaster year in Oregon vineyards, it's more than just a wine story. The documentary was independently produced over three years from more than 50 hours of footage, and much of the work -- producing, writing, shooting, editing, making lumpy sandwiches for the crew -- was done by me. It makes for embarrassingly short closing credits, of course, but it's also an indication of how dedicated I've been to this project.
What kept me going through rain and sunburn wasn't the romance of the vineyards I shot in (though as you'll see, they are all beautiful places) or a misty-eyed love of wine (though I have written a thing or two about it). What kept me shooting was the suspicion that there had to be something, well, real behind all the glitzy, coffee table book marketing most consumers associate with a glass of wine.
I'm glad to say I found it: real people who've reached where they are with ingenuity, hard work, and patience, who've dedicated their lives to farming their hand-planted vineyards, season after season, storm after cold snap after glorious break in the clouds. And in the seasonal rhythms they must work alongside -- which recur year after year, but which are still a roll of the dice because the weather rarely cooperates -- I think I caught on film the thing that has kept farmers going everywhere, whatever their crop: a kind of fundamental but unsentimental connection to the land, and an uncompromising drive to bring something up out of it.
Since I produced this piece without any industry backing, I've been free to tell this soggier, yet truly inspirational Oregon tale the way it should be told.
I hope you enjoy it.
Bio info
Matt Giraud is a director, design strategist, and award-winning columnist whose work has appeared in Fortune, Northwest Palate, Imbibe, and Willamette Week, among other publications, and as commentary on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He's also Creative Director of Gyroscope Creative, a multi-faceted design and communications strategy firm based in Portland, Oregon. For his work on behalf of various non-profit organizations, he was awarded the Mayor's Spirit of Portland Award in City Council Chambers.
To see more of Giraud's film and video work, visit the Gyroscope Pictures page on Vimeo.
To contact Matt, write to: contactmatt@lifeinvine.com
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