Clarina Nichols: Frontier Freedom Fighter

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Clarina Irene Howard Nichols was an influential speaker and newspaper editor who devoted her life to improving the lives of women. In the 1850s, she joined a small group of courageous ladies to launch the women’s rights movement. Born to privilege, Clarina Nichols left the comforts of her native Vermont and moved her family to rugged Kansas Territory, joining John Brown to stop the spread of slavery. But her real passion was women’s rights. At a time when most women had no more legal rights than slaves, she lobbied male legislators to give women some of the basic rights they enjoy today.

Frontier Freedom Fighter tells how Clarina Nichols overcame personal setbacks to become one of the country’s earliest champions of women. Biographer Diane Eickhoff has brought the story of this remarkable woman to life for the first time.

AudioCD: 1 hour 15 minutes, click to Order; 2004 produced by Aaron Barnhart.

Sound design, voice and music editing by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Six thousand Africans die every day from AIDS, another 40 million go hungry, and millions more perish from conflict. Yet, Africa sends $15 Billion a year to the rich nations of the West . . . WHY? And why are many now calling for complete cancellation of Africa's debt.

In 2005, AFSC sponsored a U.S. speaking tour featuring youth activists from across Africa. The Student Campus Tour program was presented on February 11, 2005, at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park.

DVD: 1 hour 52 minutes; 2005 produced by Rainbow Sound.

Video and music editing by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound; camera, Jim Rothwell

A Few Appropriate Remarks...Lincoln At Gettysburg
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The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the American Civil War, leaving 51,000 casualties in its wake. When a new national cemetery was to be dedicated, renowned orator Edward Everett was to give the keynote address. Lincoln, due to his reputation for being too witty or frivolous at solemn occasions, was asked to follow with a few appropriate remarks. Everett later wrote to Lincoln, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes."

Documentary: 34 minutes, 2000 Kaw Valley Films. Prod. by Jim Whitefield.

Sound design, editing and original music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Documentary: 60 minutes, 1997 KCPT Ch.19 (PBS). Written & hosted by C. W. Gusewelle. Produced by Michael Murphy and Randy Mason.

Sound design, music & FX editing, add'l original music and mix by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound

Award: Best Documentary, 1998 Mid-America EMMY Awards

Timesweep

A diverse group of people accompany a local historical society on a tour of an old abandoned film studio. Soon after entering, they trigger a deadly time warp that scatters the survivors throughout the building. Efforts to escape are hampered by walls that disappear, mirrors that become paths to other dimensions, giant killer cockroaches, a ghost office from the '20s, a disoriented cop from the 1968 Chicago riots, and a lethal acidic fog that shrouds the outside of the structure. They wind their way down to a subway tunnel, fighting back alien invaders and a huge carnivorous beast. But can they unlock the secret to escape...in time?

Feature film: 84 minutes, 1987 The Shriek Co. Starring Michael Fountain, Kevin Brief, Pam DeBord, Greg Anderson, Martin English. Written by John Thonen. Produced and directed by Dan Diefenderfer. Distributed worldwide by Corey Films and Manley International.

Original music by Kriss Avery.

Bears...Symbols of Wilderness

Documentary film: 25 minutes, 1995. Distributed by Pyramid Films.

There is still wilderness...in the far reaches of the forests and tundra of North America where black, brown, grizzly and polar bears roam. But if we allow this wilderness to disappear, what will we truly lose? Not only these magnificent creatures, but benefits for all the creatures of the earth, including mankind.

Original music, sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Touched

Short feature: 50 minutes, 1997 touchfilms. Prod. by Ed Stencel. Dir. Jørn Threlfall.

Sound post, ADR, Foley and mix, by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Premiere Award, 1998 Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee • featured at Berlin Film Market & Int'l Filmfest Emden.

UFOs: The Hidden Truth

Unidentified Flying Objects have been recorded in various forms since the creation of man: drawn crudely on Stone Age murals...chiseled in Egyptian stone...noted in the journals of ancient like Alexander the Great...even described in the ship's log of Columbus. How should Christians view these growing evidences of contact from beyond?

Documentary: 74 minutes, 1993 New Liberty Films and Video. Directed by Brian Barkley.

Sound FX and music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Finalist, 1994 Telly Awards • 3rd Place, 1993 KAN Festival

The Country Club Plaza

The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City is not an ordinary shopping center...it is in so many way remarkable! Primarily the vision of J.C. Nichols, it is one of the most beautiful shopping areas in the nation. Statues, fountains and decorative artwork provide a stunning backdrop for classy stores and special events like the Plaza Art Fair, the Duck Derby, and the famed Christmas lighting display outlining the enchanting Spanish architecture.

Nearby points-of-interest: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Community Christian Church (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) and Loose Park, where the battle of Westport took place in 1864.

Documentary: 40 minutes, 1998 Kaw Valley Films. Directed by Jim Whitefield.

Sound design, music and FX editing, mix by Kriss Avery.

Yosemite

Located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains and approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island, Yosemite National Park is a combination of steep, narrow valleys, alpine meadows and deep blue lakes, impressive waterfalls and giant sequoias, the oldest and largest living things on earth. Rock climbers come from all over the world to test the vertical cliffs. Off these same cliffs hang glider enthusiasts launch themselves into space. In Yosemite Valley there are the well-known massive chunk of granite. El Capitan and Half Dome, plus Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America.

Documentary: 24 minutes, 1986 Craighead Films

Original music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Bronze Apple, 1987 National Educational Film & Video Festival • Red Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival.

Petticoat Pioneers

Celebrate the accomplishments of women who braved the challenges of westward expansion. Like the shy petticoats comprised of layers upon layers of sturdy cloth hidden from the view of a polite society, generations of these women, through determination and will, created layers and layers of social progress. They endeavored to ensure that their children were educated, and their communities organized and thriving. From Sacagawea (guide to Lewis & Clark) to pioneers, teachers, Daughters of the American Revolution and the railroad's Harvey Girls, this video portrays the women who helped build a nation.

Documentary: 52 minutes, 1998 Kaw Valley Films. Executive producers, Jane and John Mallinson.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

All Aboard! Passenger Trains In America Click to purchase

For over 100 years, passenger trains in America were our link with the outside world. This imaginative video is a tribute to those trains. Filmed in color, with superbly blended musical score, two award winning cinematographers have captured exceptional railway vistas.

Featured are the Union Pacific 3985, 844, and E9's, Nebraska Zephyr, the Norfolk & Western 611, Frisco 1522, and Southern Pacific 4449, plus excursion specials, dinner trains, tourist lines, the Denver & Rio Grande Ski Train, and Amtrak from coast to coast. Seated next to the locomotive engineer, you'll take an exciting cab ride on the Southwest Chief!

Documentary: 58 minutes, 1995 Kaw Valley Films. Produced by Wendel Craighead; written/directed by Jim Whitefield.

Music and sound editing by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Finalist, 1996 Telly Awards • Honorable Mention, 1995 Columbus Film Festival

The Happy Guy

Civilization is collapsing. One man, desiring immortality, videotapes himself with the hope it will be discovered by a hi-tech future civilization. Years later, at the hands of a jealous madman, he has become the sole method of entertainment for the somber human race. He has become The Happy Guy.

Short film: 29 minutes, 1997 Pollen Productions, in association with Moonrise Films. Written and directed by John Niernberger. Dir. of Photography, Andrew Wegst. Music by Wayne Frost.

Sound FX and music editing, mix by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Lights On Prize, 1998 Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee

The Frontier Forts of Kansas Click to purchase

During the 19th century, the presence of military forts in what is now the state of Kansas helped to change the West forever. These forts were established on the Great Plains to protect traders on the Santa Fe Trail and fold seekers and emigrants on the Oregon-California Trail. Later on, they protected settlers, railroad builders, and the railroads themselves.

Dragoons, cavalry, Indians, Buffalo Soldiers, battles, daily life in the fort, the Civil War, buffalo, stagecoaches, railroads...all aspects of this turbulent chapter in American history are included in this production.

Documentary: 31 minutes, 1997 Kansas Forts Network.

Music and post sound by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: 1st Place/Educational - Open Division, 1998 KAN Festival • Honorable Mention, 1997 Columbus Film Festival

We Proceeded On...The Expedition of Lewis and Clark
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One of the most significant and dramatic explorations in American history, the journey of Lewis and Clark stands as a true epic in documented exploration of the West. From 1804 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery on an 8,000 mile journey into the unknown. Starting at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, they traveled by foot, boat and horseback all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. Complete with diary excerpts, encounters with Indians, and footage of this beautiful yet threatening landscape.

Documentary: 32 minutes, 1991 by Kaw Valley Films.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Bronze Apple, 1991 National Educational Film & Video Festival • Blue Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival

West

As the history of the United States lengthens, and as we begin to take a closer look at the past, we can see great moments when people did something out of the ordinary, something beyond the limits of normal activity: a 900-mile trek to Santa Fe...a 2,000 mile journey to Oregon.

Shown regularly at the National Frontier Trails Center in Independence, Missouri.

Documentary: 17.5 minutes, 1990 Missouri Department of National Resources.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: 2nd Place, 1992 KAN Festival

George Washington Carver Click to purchase

Born into slavery and reared during Reconstruction, George Washington Carver struggled through poor health, poverty and prejudice to become a great benefactor, not only to his people but to his country as well. Carver is known in history books as the peanut man." But his work as a creative scientist stretches far beyond that endeavor. Here is the story of Carver's life, a life that should not be forgotten, for it is full of hope, meaning and inspiration.

Documentary: 29 minutes, 1984 Kaw Valley Films.

Original music by Kriss Avery.

Pear

Lost health restored. This film can be an effective countermeasure against any and all outrages on Nature's ordinances that man can possibly perpetrate.
Unsolicited testimonial:

I have watched your film for six weeks and every symptom of the disease is gone, the old vigor having returned. Now I know that PEAR is the greatest power on earth which puts life and force into whatever it touches. Why, I feel I could do a good man's work in the mines without fatigue: Several of the boys under my care here were in the same fix, and got cured by your wonderful motion picture. We have also tried your Pulmonary Syrup and Infallible Worm Destroying Lozenges, and were very satisfied with the result. GLH, Rector, Baltimore

Short film: 40 minutes, 1998 Pear Productions. Written and directed by Gary Huggins. Music by Jeffrey Ruckma. Soundtrack CD also available.

Sound editing, mix by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Prairie Storm

Short film: 12 minutes, 1995 Don Maxwell.

The quiet prairie stretches under a vast sky, barely aware of the stealth of distant clouds. With the coming of a summer thunderstorm the sky and earth meet in an electric eruption. Can peace survive the onslaught?

Sound editing and mix by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Top Prize/tie, 1996 Hamburg International Short Film Festival • 1st Place, 1997 Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee

KSU Student Recruitment Promo

Promo video: 12 minutes, 1996-99 Kansas State University. Directed by Jim Kinser.

Sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Bronze Reel, 1999 ITVA (International Television Association) • 1st Place Gold, 14th National AAA (Admissions Advertising Awards)

The National Parks of Utah

Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion...each a part of the Colorado Plateau. Upon seeing this landscape for the first time, a 19th century traveler wrote in amazement:

"There are scenes of magnificent disorder...scenes of savage grandeur beyond all description. Frenzied elements have strewed such bewildering spectacles of mighty shapes that southern Utah must always be that land sought by explorers of the strange and marvelous."

Documentary: 34 minutes, 1990 Kaw Valley Films.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound. Music comprised of excerpts from Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition"

Award: Silver Apple, 1990 National Educational Film & Video Festival

Railroads 4: The Golden Age (1880-2916) Click to purchase

By 1900 five different railroads had reached the Pacific Ocean...the land was being invaded by a spider web of rails...254,000 miles of track by 1916. No other industry so dominated the American scene in the time of barons such as Vanderbilt, Gould, and Morgan. It spurred major improvements, the telegraph, air brakes, automatic couplers, standardized time and more. George Pullman improved comfort onboard, Fred Harvey transformed the restaurants. It inspired songs, books, plays and movies. But then came cars, trucks, buses and airplanes...

Documentary: 35 minutes, 1992 Kaw Valley Films.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Awards: Bronze Apple, 1992 National Educational Film & Video Festival • Finalist, American Film & Video Festival

Head Game

A marital breakup forces a couple into playing escalating head games resulting in a terrible confrontation that becomes another kind of head game...to the last innocent victim.

Short: 4 minutes, 1998 DH Productions. Directed by David Hodes.

Sound design, original music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Award: Lights On Prize, 1999 Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee

The Branson Scenic

Documentary: 30 minutes, 1996 Kaw Valley Films.

Sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Award: Honorable Mention, 1997 Columbus Film Festival

The Rhine

Take a journey down one of the world's most beautiful rivers...from the high mountains of Switzerland, to the flat fields of Holland. In between there is a big lake, a mighty waterfall, and scores of castles. The Rhine is a river of transportation, industry, and agriculture. It is also a river of history, legend and music. According to 19th century author Victor Hugo:

It is as swift as the Rhone, deeply embanked like the Meuse, winding as the Seine, royal as the Danube, mysterious as the Nile, spangled with gold like a river of America, and covered with fables and phantoms like a river of Asia.

Documentary: 29 minutes, Kaw Valley Films.

Original music by Kriss Avery, and excerpts from Richard Wagner.

The Flint Hills of Kansas Click to purchase

Home of the big beef steer...last remnant of the tall grass prairie. The rich bluestem grasses of the Flint Hills have made this 10,000 square-mile area one of the best cattle grazing regions in the world. The Santa Fe and Oregon trails, and the Pony Express passed through here. Indians and Buffalo...cattle drives and cattle towns...railroads and roundups...rock fences and rustling...windmills and pasture burnin'...all blend or contrast with the quiet, serene beauty of the rolling hills.

Documentary: 29 minutes, 1988 Kaw Valley Films.

Award: Finalist, American Film & Video Festival

Glacier/Waterton Lakes

Canada and the United States are represented in this historical and present-day overview of one of America's most remote national parks. It is a wilderness area of incomparable beauty...complete with tall mountain, dangling waterfalls, abundant wildflowers and wildlife. Travel "Going to the Sun Road," a spectacular roadway that cuts through the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Documentary: 24 minutes, 1987 Kaw Valley Films.

Music by Kriss Avery.

San Francisco

The history of San Francisco from its small beginning to what many have called the most beautiful and exciting city in the country. "This production nicely combines vintage photographs and portraits with picturesque live action shots to enhance viewers with captivating sights of San Francisco, from the imposing Alcatraz complex to lush Golden Gate Park."

Documentary: 25 minutes, 1987 Kaw Valley Films.

Music and sound post by Kriss Avery.

The Secret's Out

PSA: 1992-93, Kansas Department of Travel and Tourism. Produced by Jerry Jones.

Original music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Lawrence: Freestate Fortress

Docudrama: 30 min. KU Film Dept. Directed by Mike Gunter.

Sound remix by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

Award: Winner - Open Division, 1998 KAN Festival

Our State Is Your State, Too

Promo: 12 min. Kansas Film Commission

Original music by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound

Documentary: 74 minutes. 1999 Shades of Gray, Inc. Directed by Tim DePaepe.

Sound dailies synchronization, Rainbow Sound.

Irrigation

Looking out the window of an airplane, have you ever wondered what the circles on the ground were...or why there are circles? The story of irrigation from ancient to modern times recounts the use of water...from dams and aqueducts to sprinklers and the "Big Gun"...to overcome insufficient rainfall for growing crops.

Documentary: 32 min. 1995 Kaw Valley Films.

Original music, sound post by Kriss Avery, Rainbow Sound.

UD'95

A movie theatre bathroom turns predator. Better to zip and run!

Short: 3 min. 1995 Tilingo Productions. Directed by Ed Stencel.