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passion projects
made with love
2021
2020
A new collection of unused footage from 2015-2020
jam-packed full of good friends, fun places, and grade-A soundbites.
During their first Thanksgiving together, Isabelle meets her boyfriend’s parents and helps prepare dinner. “A Very Oakland Thanksgiving,” directed by Karsten Kaufmann, is a home video portrait shot on mini-DV of a young woman merging into a new family. The film intercuts footage from kitchen meal prep with little trips around the city to feed cows, or to see Alcatraz. Permeating is a slightly anxious, excitable energy, partly due to Isabelle’s introduction and partly due to the whole thing being filmed by Isabelle’s boyfriend. It’s highly personal filmmaking filled with specificity and realness, attuned to small moments (a couple of which revolve around face tuning apps), and enlivened by energetic editing and bursts of music.
- NoBudge.com
2018
“The Crow Video,” by Karsten Kaufmann, is a DIY skate video variation involving a deadly basketball toss and a talking crow. A chilled-out day in the life of four dudes hits a somber blip when they accidentally kill a crow flying through the sky. The responsibility falls on Shane to give it a proper burial (since it landed on his skateboard), and he’s given till midnight to accomplish the chore, before it’s too late. Some cool visuals and nice tunes complement the casual ride, an endearingly amateur snapshot of an age and a vibe. - NoBudge.com
I'm Sorry, Happy Birthday was the winner of the 2018 Visit Seattle Film grant and premiered at the LA Film Festival in 2018.
2017
A group of five friends tour the West Coast in hopes of finding some much needed sun after Seattle's miserable record breaking winter. Join Gabe, Shane, Bradley, & Fitz for some beers, waves and laughs as they enjoy the trip of their year
in Karsten Kaufmann's The Driving Video
2016
A trip down to the Oregon Coast
Inspired by Foster Huntington's The Cinder Cone, and Erick Van Ingen's The Real Maine, The Truckee Video documents a house full of collegiate distance runners training for a summer in the mountains.
Tucked away in the Sierra Nevada's, 6,000ft above sea level, Truckee's claim to fame has always been the Donner Party. But this alpine paradise means something else to the Chico State cross country program. A tradition since 2004, a group of willing athletes migrate east for the summer, work part-time jobs, pay rent, and run. This video attempts to capture just that, along with everything else a summer in Truckee means to me.
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