Directed and edited by Ben Churchill, The Tommy Edison experience allows sighted people a glimpse into the world of Tommy Edison.
Tommy Edison, who has been blind since birth and is known as the Blind Film Critic, uses humour to answer the most common questions about living without sight.
Is The Tommy Edison Experience about changing the way people see or perceive being blind?
When we started the series in 2011 that wasn’t the goal, but we’ve noticed it’s one of the outcomes of doing the series.
What was the most difficult challenge you had to overcome in production, and how did you go about it?
One of the earliest challenges was getting Tommy to look directly into the camera. We solved this problem using sound by having Ben speak from directly behind the camera.
From start to finish, how long did it take to complete this project?
This is an ongoing series which began in 2011. Each episode takes 3-5 days to complete.
Are there any web series, other than your own that inspire you?
When we began the series, we were inspired by Grace Helbig’s “DailyGrace” and Greg Benson’s Mediocre Films.
Please tell us a quirky and/or interesting fact about yourself or team that’s unrelated to your web series?
We met in 1997 when we both worked at a radio station in Connecticut. Eventually we started creating videos in 2007 but didn’t publish this series until 2011.
How many people worked on this project?
For the majority of the episodes, we are the only the two people who work on the series. Occasionally, we hire additional crew members to run cameras and sound.
How do you reach your audience?
The series is available on YouTube, Amazon, and Hulu. We share the latest episodes using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
Tommy Edison on the web:
Tommy Edison/The Blind Film Critic Website
Tommy Edison on Facebook
Tommy Edison on Twitter
Tommy Edison on Instagram
Tommy Edison on Tumblr