Even though I still managed to get a lot of quality footage in Panama, I decided to include another aspect of the film that I could work on while I was in California. Considering Santa Cruz is surrounded by many big players in the contemporary “Bean-to- Bar” movement, I decided to request interviews with industry professionals from various chocolate companies. These interviews ended up being very telling as to the way the industry works and what the craft chocolate makers are looking for from the cacao producers. So I was able to conduct a total of 9 formal interviews with professionals in the chocolate industry.
1.) Todd Masonis, the Co-founder of Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, Ca. The Dandelion Chocolate shop was bustling with action the day I visited. I was able to find a quite corner in their bean sorting room to conduct the interview. Even though the lighting was terrible, it was the only place where the ambient noise was at a suitable enough level for an interview. Todd sat on a stack of fermented and dried beans as we discussed, chocolate labeling trends, how they source their beans, the science of chocolate and much more. Todd is one of those people who has truly mastered his craft.
2.) Maya Schoop-Ruttern , also known as “Chocolate Maya” located in Santa Barbara, Ca. Her selection of fine chocolate bars is testament to the fact that, all chocolate is not equal. During our interview, we covered various topics including; how she sources her chocolate, what consumer trends she is noticing, ways to improve the chocolate supply chain, cacao genetics and the Heirloom cacao preservation. Maya also hosted a private chocolate tasting where her passion for educating the public was apparent.
3.) Tom Neuhaus owner of Mama Ganache in San Luis Obispo, Ca. Tom is a professor in the Food Science and Nutrition Department at Cal Poly, (my alma mater) and a self proclaimed “foodie” He teachers the Cal Poly Chocolates class a production course that truly implements Cal Poly’s Learn by doing philosophy. He has been working with cacao farmers in West Africa for years. In the interview we covered, consumer trends in chocolate, the future of chocolate, what makes “fine chocolate,” how the producer is effected by the consumer demand and much more.
4.)San Francisco, Ca. I did three formal interviews with representatives from the Yellowseed team. They are a start up company that is trying to change the current supply chain of cacao to better represent both the farmers and buyers best interests. I interviewed two representatives that work directly with farmers in South America and one women, Amanda, who is the founder. I was hoping they would fit into my film by giving consumers of chocolate and the audience a positive outlook as to what the future of chocolate may be. The conditions for the interviews were less than ideal. We were in a community workspace with a lot of other start up companies.
5.)Sunita De Tourreil, The Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto, Ca. I filmed with Sunita on three separate Occasions. As a former biologist turned chocolate connoisseur, Sunita is highly educated and opinionated on the craft chocolate market. She owns a tiny little shop in Downtown Palo. I captured a public chocolate tasting at her shop, a private tasting for a “Women in Bio” conference, and a private interview with Sunita.
6.) Greg D’Alesandre, bean sourcer for Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, Ca. Greg travels to communities around the globe to purchase the highest quality beans. He works on educating the farmers on best practices so that they can get more from their beans. He provided great on the ground experience about what the cacao farmer wants and needs and what changes the consumer can make to help all parties involved. Greg was a great precesses on camera.
7.) Kjartan Gislason, Co-founder of Omnom chocolate in Iceland. It amazed me how far the chocolate Bean to bar movement has spread. Omnom is one of the newest big players that is getting attention from Bean to Bar leaders in the United States. Since my esteemed colleague, Egill, was already on the ground in Iceland, he graciously conducted this interview for me. Kjartan was able to speak about the Bean to bar movment from a more global perspective, especially in regards to labeling organizations such as “Fair Trade” and how , to him, it seem unnecessary, foreign and impractical.
In Panama, I found a fantastic collaborator and star of the film, Samuel Mullio. His name was on my list of potential characters, so I had a preliminary interview with him right when I arrived in the community. He was very excited about the film, invited us to stay at his home and was right in the middle of cacao production. Samuel is also incredibly knowledgeable about cacao and was able to speak to the global implications as well as the practicalities of farming. He was fantastic on camera. He truly was everything I was hoping for in a character.
The biggest obstacle I ran into was the rain. When I arrived they told me that it had not gone one day without raining in the past 40 days. The trend continued; it rained every single day I was there. Fortunately, it was not all day and since I was staying next to Samuel's home I was able to film with him right when the rain stopped. Another speed bump in the production process was that I had one full day of filming without capturing any audio. I think the shotgun microphone died from the humidity. I was pretty upset about this but it was fortunate that I had made a habit of reviewing my footage each night so I caught it before I filmed the next day. Also, a logistical nightmare was charging my camera batteries!!! I only had two batteries, I should have purchased 20!!! This was by far the most taxing and annoying part of production because the only place I could charge them was over an hour away and it was likely that I would travel there and the power would be out.
I have had some mixed emotions while reviewing my footage. Some of it I get truly excited about, mostly the shots of Samuel in his farm with his family and Juana, his wife, washing clothes with her granddaughters and the children playing in the swimming whole. I am disappointed about the footage at the cooperative when my camera battery died at a crucial part. Also, I feel like some of the industry interviews are terribly lit with big shadows and/or have a lot of background noise. I think I will have to work with color correction on some of the industry interviews and manage the sound mix for a few instances where Samuel is talking in the jungle and there is a lot other noise form birds, rain, chainsaws, roasters, dogs etc.
I honestly have no idea how many hours I have shot. All of my footage is trans coded. I am about 1/3 of the way through logging footage. I have transcribed nearly all of the interviews that just need to be matched with time code and as of now there is no pickup shooting I think I will need to do. I am eager to start piecing it all together!!!
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