“Coffee literally changes the way we see, think, and interact with other people. BUT FIRST is our way of exploring this through two of our favorite mediums, film and dance.”
– Erin Brown Thomas (director), Mike Esperanza (choreographer)
BUT FIRST was made as part of San Francisco Dance Film Festival’s annual Co-Laboratory program in collaboration with the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron’s Dancing Laboratories. A filmmaker and choreographer are paired together for one week to make a short dance film.
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Directed by Erin Brown Thomas
erinbrownthomas.com
Choreographed by Mike Esperanza
baredanceco.com
Featuring Tiffanie Carson, Erin Love, Sarah Housepan
Creative Producer / Co-Producer: Lindsay Gauthier
lindsaygauthier.com
sfdancefilmfest.org
Co-Producer: Christy Bolingbroke
nccakron.org
Director of Photography: Tyler Clark
tylerclarkcinematographer.com
Production and Costume Designer: Inda Blatch- Geib
Editor: Erin Brown Thomas
Sound Design: Mike Esperanza
Line Producer: Dave Hayward of Red Point Digital
redpointdigital.com
2018 Co-Laboratory with NCCAkron
In its sixth year, the Co-Laboratory went National!
Dance Film SF partnered with the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron in Ohio to bring filmmakers and choreographers together from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.
In Akron, the artists participated in a nine day Dancing Lab: Screendance residency, with three days of Workshopping and Pre-production, three days of Production, and three days of Post-Production. Both teams came away with a finished dance film that screened at the 2018 Festival. NCCAkron was excited to be co-producing with us as part of their process oriented approach to advance dance and choreographic craft.
