Dennis Spielman

Get to know several of the merchants along Norman’s Lindsey Street in this Introduction to the Food of Lindsey Street. They share why they love the street, what visitors can expect, how the construction has been hurting them, and why you should come out and support Lindsey Street.

This video is first in a series highlighting several of Lindsey Street’s restaurants. In this video is Doug Kennon, Joe and Rebecca Sparks, Jeri Sieber, Kristen Mccall, Stephen Henkel, Darrol Ray, Andrew Marsh, Inderjit Singh, and John Trobare. Stay turned to Uncovering Oklahoma as individual videos about these places will be released over the next several days.

Support for this video provided by the Norman Art Council’s We Art Lindsey Street initiative and viewers like you.

Dusty Gilpin leads a tour of Tree and Leaf, a youthful lifestyle brand in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District. Dusty walks through his store sharing how Tree and Leaf started, what they do to support the community, the artists they host during Live on the Plaza, and what they care about.

The day before I filmed this video, I interviewed Dusty for my art documentary, which I’m going to admit I had to borrow a memory card from him in order to film it. Such an amateur mistake, I know. On the serendipitous side, I hadn’t featured Tree and Leaf on Uncovering Oklahoma yet and since I had to return his SD card to him, why not do a video about his business while I was there? It all worked out. I now have a spare memory card that stays in my bag.

Instead of the normal interview I do with businesses owners, Dusty and I decided to do a tour like MTV’s Cribs. I’m getting better at working with people on these tour videos. While I enjoy the authenticity people reveal from themselves in a first take, next time, two takes to see what happens.

I also made a shorter, square 1:1 version for social media.

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This was the first time I made a square video. Or maybe this is the second time? Whatever. There’s a square version that’s less than a minute for people.

Oklahoma City’s urban core original and authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant, Iguana Mexican Grill, features fresh, made from scratch foods every day. Marc Dunham, Laura Rene, and Ross Davis talk about the food of this Automobile Alley restaurant, along with their specialty cocktails, the new remodel, and more.

This video is awesome. Go watch it. Then get some food.

Last night I filmed Amanda Zoey Weathers and Tessa Raven Bayne trace out their mural, Plains Pioneers, on the McKinley Park Community Center in this two-minute time-lapse from two-hours of work. Running the projector was Stephen Tyler. This was my first time-lapse video, which will be part of a larger documentary on Oklahoma City’s art scene.

Follow Uncovering Oklahoma on this caffeine crawl highlighting eight of Norman’s independent coffee shops. People from Second Wind, Cool Beans, The Screen Door, Michelangelo’s, Syrup, Gray Owl Coffee, Waving Wheat, and Crimson & Whipped Cream share their stories, their passion for coffee, and discuss the coffee scene in Norman, Oklahoma.

With eight places featured in a 20-minute video, I separated each place onto their own video for those wanting to know about a particular place. You can watch those videos here.

This project took me a little over a month to complete. I filmed the first interview back on January 26th. During the process, I had to reshoot one interview, visit places on different days, and schedule delays with owners. Plus, toward the end, I decided to add two more places that I was thinking of saving for another story instead.

Despite the setbacks from the size of this project, I’m thrilled with how well it turned out. I worked to make sure each coffee shop’s video felt unique because the places are different from one another. The OU Norman bells can be heard in one interview. Overall, the reception for this video was been positive.

Am I going to do a Coffee of Oklahoma City? Not any time soon. There’s like two to three times the amount of coffee shops. That might be too big.

I hope you enjoy it! Right now, I’m working on my new art documentary and the Food of Lindsey Street so stay tuned for those.