THE FLIGHT OF THE  GOSSAMER CONDOR

 DVD available at  http://www.gossamercondor.com
 VHS Video Withdrawn from distribution 
 New DVD now available online!

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Link for Public Performance Rights License -  
 PLTW curriculum

30th Anniversary DVD available now!

Ben Shedd Director/Producer/Writer/Designer
Company President, University Faculty, Speaker, & Scholar

 Biography   Academy Award winning filmmaker  Ben Shedd has been a professional film & video  director producer writer since 1970. He has  been producing and creating award winning
 films and videos of social and intellectual  interest  since he began his production  career.

 NOVA science series  Ben shares a Peabody  Award for the second season of the Public  Television NOVA® science series.  He was a member of the original production team and worked on the very first production in 1972 and was a director, producer, and writer during NOVA's 2nd and 3rd seasons in 1973-1976.

THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR    Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd, producers of THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR film, received the 1978 Academy Award® Oscar® for Best Documentary Short Subject. The film tells the story about history's first successful human powered airplane - designed by inventor Dr. Paul MacCready and his team from Aerovironment, Inc. and flown by pilot Bryan Allen. 

The Gossamer Condor airplane won the coveted 50,000 pound Kremer Prize for human-powerd flight and fulfilled the age old dream of flying by our own power. Today, the Gossamer Condor aircraft is on display in the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, where it hangs in an honored place beside the Wright Brothers first airplane and the Apollo 11 moon capsule. 

THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR was the first production of Shedd Productions and producers Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd received numerous international awards , including an Oscar®, for the film. This 27 minute award winning science education film is  available on the newly remastered and digitally restored 30th Anniversay Edition DVD from this web link.

GIANT SCREEN FILMS  Since 1985, filmmaker Ben Shedd has been designing, directing, and producing giant screen IMAX & OMNIMAX type science films, including SEASONS, TROPICAL RAINFOREST he FORT WORTH FLYOVER II and DANCING IN THE SKY.  These elegantly produced giant screen films have gotten excellent reviews and have played in theaters around the world. 

Ben Shedd's film productions have been supported by substantial grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the NOVA series public television funders. His films have received forty international awards and are distributed world-wide in five film and video formats, including Laser Disc and Digital Video Disk.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING & PUBLIC LECTURES   In addition to his production work, Ben Shedd was the 1989/1990 PNM Foundation Endowed Chair Professor of Media Arts in the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico where he originated and taught six production courses in two semesters. For ten years, Ben was an Adjunct Associate Professor at his alma mater, the world famous University of Southern California's School of Cinema/Television , where he created and taught a course called Producing the Nontheatrical Film and Video with Mitchell Block. Ben has also taught film and video courses at the California Institute of the Arts, the Art Center College of Design and Boise State University, and he has given numerous lectures on film producing and directing throughout the world.

Ben has two university degrees in film and video production: a Master of Arts graduate degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema/Television and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio/Television/Film from San Francisco State University.  

RESEARCH IN GIANT SCREEN DESIGN   In 1989, Ben was one of four recipients of the Alden B. Dow Creativity Residential Fellowship, where he researched the similarities and differences between small screen productions and giant screen 70mm filmmaking. Ben has published and presented several articles and essays about making giant screen frameless films and digital designs, and is developing a theory and book called EXPLODING THE FRAME.

Ben Shedd was an Artist-in-Residence in the Princeton University Visual Arts Program Atelier during Spring 2004.  He was a Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science, Princeton University for 6 years from 1998 through 2004 and a Visiting Fellow at the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University during the 1997/1998 academic year doing research on large scale display media design and informal science education. Ben's work at Princeton has been featured in several Princeton University articles including: Shedd Lives Life IMAX Size, Wall Comes to Life, Imaginations Drive Wall and Into the Great Wide.

Ben Shedd was the Capstone Speaker at the IEEE InfoVis 2003 Conference, presenting his vision of design for future wall size computer screens.  He has consulted with the MITRE Corporation about wall-size computer displays.

Ben was Co-Chair - with Idaho State Representative Jana Kemp - of the Idaho Film Task Force to develop film and media production tax incentives and workforce training support for the state of Idaho to encourage increased film production business in the state.  Appointed by Roger Madsen, Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, the year-long Task Force developed Statewide Media Strategies to improve production in Idaho. Information about the new Idaho Media Incentives are on the Idaho Film Bureau web page. 

In 2006-2007, Ben has leaped into High Definition Production with WideEye Productions, Inc.  He developed and directed the new Widescreen DVD documentary GREEN IS THE COLOR OF MONEY, about one of the world's most energy efficient, high performance buildings - the Banner Bank Building in Boise, Idaho.  The DVD was awarded the 2007 Best in Show/Contemporary Issues from the Accolade Competition, cited because "the production illustrates the power of a documentary to foster technological change."  The DVD is available at www.deepgreen.tv.  The Banner Bank Building has received the Environmental Design + Construction's 2007 Excellence in Design Award - Excellence in Commercial Design.

World Premiere online of The Making of PLEO: Behind the Scenes for UGOBE. Produced in High Definition by Shedd Productions, Inc. and WideEye Productions, Inc. at www.pleoworld.com/discover/videos

Ben's wife Janine Boire is the Executive Director of the Discovery Center, Idaho's Hands-On Science Center.  

Ben Shedd is listed in WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA since 1982 and in WHO'S WHO IN ENTERTAINMENT for his film work.

In  1994, filmmaker Ben Shedd developed a manifesto for his company's production work.

SHEDD PRODUCTIONS, INC.  MANIFESTO The films we create at Shedd Productions, Inc. are:  gender neutral non-aggressive multicultural thought-provoking intellectually encouraging role-model expansive economically neutral non-elitist non-abusive cognitively healthy in world view inspiring self-affirming physically accurate experientially accurate future-minded fun invigorating appealing to multigenerational audiences made with a 10 year shelf life worth seeing twice and present ideas which take off and soar in the audience's imagination.

THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR DVD at www.gossamercondor.com.

30th Anniversary Edition DVD - newly remastered and digitially restored - available September 1, 2007.  

[VHS video withdrawn from distribution]

Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd, Producers

Rave film reviews about THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR video:

"Wonderfully uplifting, cheering and amusing." Charles Champlin, The Los Angeles Times

"From a flight of fancy to a magnificent obsession, the creation, evolution, and successful flight of a human powered aircraft are detailed in this absorbing production that closely follows the wavering course of the Gossamer Condor and the resolute perseverance of its inventor, Paul MacCready... enthralling." American Library Association Booklist

"A film to set you soaring." Media and Methods magazine

The historic flight of the Gossamer Condor is featured as one of the Millennium Moments in the National Geographic magazine February 1998.

This family film is the inspiring true life story of an historic landmark event in the world of flight and was filmed as it happened. 

The Academy Award winning documentary THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR DVD for home/private use is available at www.gossamercondor.com

Running Time: 27:15 minutes.       UPC 6-89076-37757-7

Ordering Public Performance Rights License DVD for classroom use:

Link for Public Performance Rights License for schools, libraries, and PLTW curriculum

For TV presentation or other distribution, contact Shedd Productions by email at sheddprods @ aol.com.  [Please remove spaces email address.]

List of Links on this page:

THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR DVD

THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR Video withdrawn from distribution.

Link for Gossamer Condor Public Performance Rights License and PLTW copies 

Email: sheddprods @ aol.com  [Please remove spaces to use email address - Spam deterent]

List of films and videos by Ben Shedd 

Gossamer Condor Inventor  Dr. Paul MacCready Aerovironment web page 

List of grants supporting films by Ben Shedd 

List of forty international awards for Ben Shedd's films

SEASONS 1570 Giant Screen film web page 

TROPICAL RAINFOREST 1570 Giant Screen film web page 

Excerpts from reviews for films and videos by Ben Shedd 

Academic Vita and University teaching

Educational links: College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico , University of Southern California's School of Cinema/Television, California Institute of the Arts, Art Center College of Design, University of Southern California's School of Cinema/Television, San Francisco State University Cinema Department

Listing of numerous lectures on film production, design, and creativity presented by Ben Shedd 

Alden B. Dow Creativity Residential Fellowship

Several articles, papers, and essays on the theme Exploding The Frame! written by Ben Shedd (including: Vision 2005 paper, Designing Effective Giant Screen Films GSTA 99 Symposium presentation, Designing for the Dome essay, Potentials for Expanding Scientific Literacy through Giant Screen Films Liberty Science Center White Paper, and MaxImage! Newsletter Essays, plus transcripts from STC 1992 and ISTC 1995 panel discussions on Considering Giant Screen Theaters as Traveling Exhibits and Special Venue Films for Science Centers & Museums: What Makes Them Unique? )

EXPLODING THE FRAME 1993 paper 

Current work at Princeton University Department of Computer Science as Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer 

Three articles from Princeton University newspapers: Shedd Lives Life IMAX Size , Wall Comes to Life , Imaginations Drive Wall.

Ben Shedd, Capstone Speaker at the IEEE InfoVis 2003 Conference

Idaho Film Task Force  2006 Media Incentives at Idaho Film Bureau web site.

Janine Boire Executive Director of the Discovery Center, Idaho's Hands-On Science Center.  

High Definition Production WideEye Productions, Inc 

New Widescreen DVD documentary GREEN IS THE COLOR OF MONEY, 

The 2007 Best in Show/Contemporary Issues from the Accolade Competition, 

The Banner Bank Building has received the Environmental Design + Construction's 2007 Excellence in Design Award - Excellence in Commercial Design.

Pleo HD Making Of..Video

Link to a suggested book list

Link to Amazon.com 

Shedd Productions, Inc. - an Associate of Amazon.com and Amazon.com Advantage program 

About Amazon.com Associates

Academy Award and Oscar are a registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  IMAX is a registered trademark of the IMAX Corporation. NOVA is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Amazon.com is a registered trademark of Amazon.com. Pleo is a registered trademark of UGOBE.  National Geographic is a registered trademark of the National Geographic Society. Other trademarks registered to their respective owners.  Revision 08/07/07

Thanks to Google.com for having a fabulous cache system which made it possible to rapidly recover all these web pages when they were lost in a digital windstorm.