Pad, Tamra, Jim, and Robert
Director James Chambers makes his feature-length documentary debut with Citizen Change. Originally from Los Angeles, he graduated from San Francisco State University in 1974, with a degree in English Literature. After a 30-year career with the federal government, he returned to school in 2005, enrolling in the Multimedia Arts program at Berkeley City College. While taking courses in digital video production and editing, he began a project that would serve as the genesis for Citizen Change.
Film credits include camera work for Robert Philipson’s music video Ma Rainey’s Lesbian Licks and Philipson’s documentary T’aint Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s, both of which were official selections of Frameline and other prestigious film festivals. He served as Assistant Director on a segment of Philipson’s documentary Take the Gay Train. He provided the audio for Randy Yip’s narrative feature Genuine Pretense. In addition, he has produced, directed, shot and/or edited numerous promotional videos for nonprofit agencies, jazz and blues artists, and ballet dancers.
Chambers lives in Oakland with his partner of 31 years, Eric Hsu. They married in 2008, during the period that same-sex marriage was legal in California, before the passage of Proposition 8.
Chambers credits his video production and editing education at Berkeley City College with providing a solid foundation for his work as a filmmaker. “I loved attending Berkeley City College,” he says. “The mix of students was wonderful. It was a joy to experience the interaction between young filmmakers and older students returning for a second career. The diversity at BCC, whether it be of race, gender, or sexual orientation, created a vibrant learning environment.” He adds that ”Unlike some film schools, where there is a fierce competitive mentality, the students at BCC were encouraged to collaborate, working on each other’s projects and establishing lasting bonds.”
Chambers also credits the teaching staff at BCC for the success of the program’s students. “ I can’t imagine a better group of instructors in the art of filmmaking,” he says. “Their hands-on, real world approach is what I would recommend to an aspiring filmmaker.”
To this day, Chambers continues to work with filmmakers he met while at BCC. “Even while at BCC, a group of us formed the Videots, a group that meets monthly to support each other in our artistic pursuits,” he says. “The primary production team on Citizen Change is drawn from this group.”
Director of Photography Tamra Seal graduated from Tufts University and is now enrolled in San Francisco Art Institute’s MFA program. Primarily a sculptor, Seal learned video production at Berkeley City College and has incorporated video into her sculpture. She is a charter member of the Videots.
Editor Pad McLaughlin is a Teaching Assistant at Berkeley City College. Among his numerous credits, he produced, shot and edited the 2011 film I’m Just Like You: Children With Psoriasis, which has been selected by PBS to be included in the package of films available for programming by local PBS stations. He has been active with the Videots for several years.
Camera operator and audio technician Robert Philipson has produced and directed numerous films, including Ma Rainey’s Lesbian Licks, Take the Gay Train and T’aint Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s. A poet, essayist, stage critic and academic, Philipson was a charter member of the Videots.
Film credits include camera work for Robert Philipson’s music video Ma Rainey’s Lesbian Licks and Philipson’s documentary T’aint Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s, both of which were official selections of Frameline and other prestigious film festivals. He served as Assistant Director on a segment of Philipson’s documentary Take the Gay Train. He provided the audio for Randy Yip’s narrative feature Genuine Pretense. In addition, he has produced, directed, shot and/or edited numerous promotional videos for nonprofit agencies, jazz and blues artists, and ballet dancers.
Chambers lives in Oakland with his partner of 31 years, Eric Hsu. They married in 2008, during the period that same-sex marriage was legal in California, before the passage of Proposition 8.
Chambers credits his video production and editing education at Berkeley City College with providing a solid foundation for his work as a filmmaker. “I loved attending Berkeley City College,” he says. “The mix of students was wonderful. It was a joy to experience the interaction between young filmmakers and older students returning for a second career. The diversity at BCC, whether it be of race, gender, or sexual orientation, created a vibrant learning environment.” He adds that ”Unlike some film schools, where there is a fierce competitive mentality, the students at BCC were encouraged to collaborate, working on each other’s projects and establishing lasting bonds.”
Chambers also credits the teaching staff at BCC for the success of the program’s students. “ I can’t imagine a better group of instructors in the art of filmmaking,” he says. “Their hands-on, real world approach is what I would recommend to an aspiring filmmaker.”
To this day, Chambers continues to work with filmmakers he met while at BCC. “Even while at BCC, a group of us formed the Videots, a group that meets monthly to support each other in our artistic pursuits,” he says. “The primary production team on Citizen Change is drawn from this group.”
Director of Photography Tamra Seal graduated from Tufts University and is now enrolled in San Francisco Art Institute’s MFA program. Primarily a sculptor, Seal learned video production at Berkeley City College and has incorporated video into her sculpture. She is a charter member of the Videots.
Editor Pad McLaughlin is a Teaching Assistant at Berkeley City College. Among his numerous credits, he produced, shot and edited the 2011 film I’m Just Like You: Children With Psoriasis, which has been selected by PBS to be included in the package of films available for programming by local PBS stations. He has been active with the Videots for several years.
Camera operator and audio technician Robert Philipson has produced and directed numerous films, including Ma Rainey’s Lesbian Licks, Take the Gay Train and T’aint Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s. A poet, essayist, stage critic and academic, Philipson was a charter member of the Videots.