PINE STREET INN VIDEO

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Pine Street Inn, one of Boston’s largest providers of shelter and support for the city’s homeless population. In recognition of this milestone, and to give back to the community, we here at Indresano Studios have embarked on a documentary project with the Pine Street Inn in an effort to highlight the important work the Pine Street Inn provides to the city of Boston. The goals of this project are to give voice to Boston’s homeless community and to spread awareness of the resources still needed to support and re-house the city’s homeless population.

A moving quote from a Pine Street Inn Guest

The team’s first objective was to collect stories. The most effective way to humanize the issue of homelessness is to spread personal stories, experiences, and words.

The Indresano Studios team strategizes how to best capture these personal stories

Our team had the opportunity to interview three homeless men, John, Ray, and Jamil, on the first day of the shoot. In the interviews, our team learned details about each man’s past that led them to homelessness, their struggles to find housing and their hopes and goals for the future.

A behind the scenes glimpse at the video shot
Our media pipeline allows us to monitor and rate clips as they are happening
The Indresano Team got the chance to interview a former Pine Street Inn guest in his new home

The team’s 4th interview of the day was with Nelson, the director of the Pine Street Inn’s Outreach Program. The Pine Street Inn has multiple vans traveling Boston 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help bring the Pine Street Inn’s support to people in need, rather than leaving them on their own to secure transportation to the shelter.

Nelson, Director of Pine Street Inn’s Outreach Program

Our team also had the distinct privilege of accompanying the outreach team on a particularly snowy night. Members of the outreach team supplied blankets, hot food, and other forms of support to members of Boston’s homeless community.

A homeless man receives a blanket and a ride to the Pine Street Inn from the snowy Boston night
Mike, an Outreach worker with Pine Street Inn, talks to a man to ask if he wants a ride to the Pine Street Inn shelter.

As this project progresses, we hope to bring further updates to our readers. For now, it’s back to work on the Pine Street Inn’s 50th anniversary video!

To see more of our video production work, check out our website at www.indresano.com/video

MEDICINE WHEEL PRODUCTIONS – HAND IN HAND

Hand in Hand is an ambitious project of building rapport and extending the circle of friendship to include two often misunderstood groups of people – police officers and young adults. This project is the brainchild of Quincy native and visionary artist Michael Dowling. For over 22 years, he has spearheaded the well respected non-profit organization called Medicine Wheel Productions as its founder and artistic director. Mr. Dowling’s commitment to the positive transformation of troubled youths through art and community building has won him extensive recognition.

Michael Indresano, a board member of Medicine Wheel, did not hesitate to create a powerful video documentary that celebrates commonality and inclusion, further addressing hot-button social/racial issues that dominate our national conversation today.

Filming the the video took place for a few months and required countless hours of post production. Michael and his team were instrumental in organizing all the interviews, documenting the workshops through video, photographing the portraits, editing the footage together, and acted as technical consultant to all matters relating to video and photo. The video creation process started with a dedicated team of professionals bringing together their diverse skill set and industry know-how into conceptualizing a story. Many hours of brainstorming took place at our 33 A Street studio in South Boston. Michael Indresano led the team as director overseeing the entire creative process. With over 22 years of award-winning photography expertise, he is no stranger to the world of visual story telling. A true seasoned professional and master of detail, Michael directed the camera crew and lighting technicians with precise angles and adjustments; infusing every shot with a consistent degree of thought, emotion, and impact, further driving the message with vigor and determined vision.

The final video release was launched at the Medicine Wheel Turning The Wheel Annual Fundraiser at the Nixon Peabody law firm to exuberant applause. Attendees of the event included Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, Boston City Councilor at large Ayanna Pressley, Community Affairs Liaison for the Boston Redevelopment Authority Mark McGonagle (MW Chair of the Board of Directors), Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Nora L. Baston, Vice President at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Karen Young, Community Involvement Director for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Janelle Woods-McNish, Executive Director of South Asian Arts Council Amit Dixit, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump, along with many more prominent high profile public officials and loyal Medicine Wheel supporters voicing their support for this project.

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Nixon Peabody where the Turning The Wheel Annual Fundraiser took place.

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Boston Police Commissioner William Evans sits down with us for an interview.

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Chairman of the Board of Directors at Medicine Wheel Mark McGonagle addresses some of the finer points.

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Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Nora L. Baston.

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Medicine Wheel Director of Advocacy Richie Dinsmore talks about the Hand in Hand project.

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Daniel Morrison Fellow Shane Hampton preps for an interview as Michael directs the scene.

Special thanks to all members on the Medicine Wheel Board of Directors, the Host Committee, and the Medicine Wheel participants for their continued commitment and support. 

Host Committee: Suzanne Bump (State Auditor), Linda Dorcena Forry (State Senator), Robert Lewis Jr. (President & Founder of The BASE), Julie Burros (Chief of Arts and Culture City of Boston), Paul McDevitt (President of Modern Assistant Programs, Inc), Anita Walker (Executive Director of Massachusetts Cultural Council), Karen Young (Vice President & Chief Inclusion Officer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care), Constance Cervone & Janet Deegan (Cervone & Deegan Associates), Janelle Woods McNish (Director of Giving & Services Harvard Pilgrim Health Care), Paul Regan (Regan Associates), Ed Condry (Vice President of JJ Bodner).

Medicine Wheel Board of Directors: Michael Dowling (Founder), Mark McGonagle (Chairman), Dennis Pellecchia (Treasurer), Rick Winterson (Clerk), Jane Bowers, Maureen Dahill, Barbara Loftus, Roberto Valdez, Susan Nalband, Michael Indresano, Amit Dixit, Roy Rider.

Advisory Board: Ruth Raphael

The Boston Police Department Participants: Nora L. Baston (Deputy Superintendent), Skye Robinson, Janine Busby (Detective), Mark Bordley, Alexander Reyes, and many more.

Medicine Wheel Members: Richie Dinsmore, Gregory Variste, Shane Hampton, Annina Ibrihim, Kawanza Butler, Noel McKenna, Anna Dinaburg White, and many more.