Staff
Michele Blanchard - President/Creative Director
michele@perimeterproductionsltd.com
Robert C. Hammel - Director/Producer
bob@perimeterproductionsltd.com
Caitlin Hammel - Associate Producer
caitlin@perimeterproductionsltd.com
Biographies
After earning her MA in Russian History, Ms Blanchard taught at St.
Olaf and Macalester Colleges. Later she applied her
well-developed research and writing skills to the freelance market and
founded Blanchard and Associates, a Consulting and Communications firm.
Michele’s writing has covered all forms of media: printed
brochures, executive speeches, live training programs, corporate
meetings, advertising copy, and employee communications. Her research
skills allow her to examine the problem and supply the client with
solutions. She developed a Journalism curriculum on copyright
law, Taking Issue, for Jostens Printing and Publishing that was hailed
by the Journalism Education Association as "the best thing ever done on
the subject." She also rewrote and edited the textbook, A Framework for
Quality, for Paradigm Publishing International.
Since merging Blanchard and Associates with Perimeter Productions in
1992, she has specialized in creating exciting, informational programs
that communicate through humor and a unique worldview. A program
developed for Best Buy used twelve songs in styles ranging from rap to
reggae to present information about a new data entry system. The
award-winning videos she researched and wrote for Paradigm Publishing
on such topics as effective teaching, telephone manners, computer
skills, and office procedures are being used in the classroom today, as
effective and entertaining as when they were first produced. Working
with the Survival Skills Institute, Michele developed a video and
integrated it into Survival Skills Institute's Black Parenting
curriculum. The video became the essential teaching tool of the program.
She has produced and written award winning work for Fortune 500
Companies and Non-Profit Agencies, including: A Day in the life of a
Bank, a training program for Wells Fargo, Investing in our Future a
marketing film for Scholarship America; and American Express
–
The Company of Choice an orientation film for American
Express.
In the educational marketplace, she has researched, written and
produced award winning programs for McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall, and
EMC/ Paradigm, including The Computer Education Course, Effective
Teaching, The Phone Zone, and The Electronic Office.
Ms Blanchard works one on one with clients to create a speech, a
script, or a communication plan. While producing Good Kids –
Bad
Choices a documentary on parenting, sponsored by Target Corporation,
she identified and interviewed more than fifty subjects, including
experts, parents, and teenagers as well as gaining the cooperation of
the Hopkins School District, the YMCA, and First Avenue Night
Club. From this raw material, she shaped a highly informative
half hour show that has won five International Film Festival Awards,
including a Cine Golden Eagle. She is currently developing a follow up
documentary series on teenagers for broadcast television.
Trained in theater as a Director/Designer, Mr. Hammel worked
professionally at a number of regional theaters including Arena Stage
in Washington DC before shifting his focus to film. Mr. Hammel has
served as an Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Editor and Graphic
Designer on a wide array of Documentary, Educational, and Corporate
Films. Before founding Perimeter Productions over fifteen
years
ago, he held high level positions at a number of film production
companies as General Manager and Executive
Producer. This
experience has given him the broad view of a generalist and the precise
skill of a craftsman; enabling him to solve complex communication
problems by developing new and exciting solutions, and executing these
concepts in the most expeditious and creative way possible.
His wide ranging work in corporate communications include: Welcome to
the Library, a visitor center presentation for the Minnesota Historical
Society and a Cine Golden Eagle Award winner; Bank Manager, Best
Practices, a training program for Wells Fargo; Welcome to
Hawaii,
a point of purchase program for Duty Free Shops - Hawaii; The
Power of Information, a General Motors Videowall for the National
Automotive Dealers Association Trade Show; and Beyond the Horizon, an
incentive meeting for Ameriprise Financial’s nationwide sales
force.
After he created the video program A New Season, for the Minnesota
Banker’s Association, the Executive Director stated:
“A New
Season is a real masterpiece. The content, artistry, and
professionalism give the video tremendous impact.”
Over 70
international awards attest to Mr. Hammel’s professional
capabilities.
He is an innovator in staging multidisciplinary film and live
performance events, pushing the limits of technology to create a new
communications experience. Still Life and A Chording Too are
videowalls integrating live musical performances. Produced in
collaboration with composer Mary Ellen Childs, these works were
showcased at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Walker
Art
Center in Minneapolis. Still Life was hailed as "a virtuoso
demonstration of videowall technology, integrating imagery with audio,
humor, charm, and artistic balance" in the journal Audiovisual
Communications.
Recently, Perimeter Productions has moved into the area of
documentaries with Good Kids -- Bad Choices. The program is
distributed by Target Stores. Currently in development is a
documentary on gay and lesbian youth, a documentary on the Big Woods
and a documentary series on the Industrial Revolution.
Mr. Hammel has served on the Board of Directors of the Southern Theater
Foundation, on the Minneapolis Arts Commission and is listed in
Marquis’ “Who’s Who in Media and
Communications”, the National Register’s
“Who’s
Who in Executives and Professionals”, and Global Register's
“Who's Who in Executives and
Professionals”.
Caitlin
Hammel graduated with honors from the University of Chicago in 2001
with a double major in Cinema/Media Studies and English. She began at
Perimeter Productions as a video production assistant, and has since
developed her skills as a production coordinator on shoots for Best
Buy, Target, and Ameriprise. She is now an Associate Producer/Editor at
Perimeter in charge of editing on Final Cut Pro, scheduling, booking
crews, supervising edits and managing the budget on various projects.
Currently, she is shooting and editing the documentaries “The
Three Bonnies,” with dancer Denise Armstead, and
“Solo,” a documentary on the upcoming performance
by the
six McKnight Dance Fellows from 2006-2007. She was the writer, editor,
graphic designer, and associate producer of the documentary
“Best
Practices” which won an honorable mention at the Columbus
Film
Festival.Caitlin is also involved in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul theater community, both as an actress and as a teaching artist. At the University of Chicago, she has worked as a Coordinator for the University Theater’s School Partnership Program, an outreach program offering mentoring and theater training to schools in South Chicago. Caitlin currently works part-time as a teaching artist with Steppingstone Theater and Youth Performance Company.