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John Griffin

The history of champagne in 8 parts


I had the good fortune of spending five days in the beautiful Champagne Region of France to work with an entrepreneur and lover of Champagne, Kristin Smith, on a very personal project of hers called "Champagne Journal." Through Kristin's connections, we visited eight of the major champagne "houses" in the region (i.e. Dom Perignon, Moet, Roederer, Piper-Heidsieck, Duval-Leroy, Krug, Veuve Clicquot) and were able to interview to senior executives about various aspects of champagne. This link takes you to the YouTube page for the Dom Perignon segment, with links to the other Champagne Journal episodes. I invite you to click on any or all of them.

I shot everything in 1080p using two Canon pro HDV cameras, often operating both by myself at the same time. (I no longer shoot in this format, but this series includes a number of nice shots taken in beautiful locations.) Our hectic schedule included shooting some footage in Paris, as well as in Versailles and Chantilly outside the city. In addition to running both cameras, I did my own sound and what minimal lighting I was able to set up with our limited time. Kristin, who appears on camera throughout, completed the project by editing the footage together on her own and mixing in some stock footage and still shots. This was a very ambitious project and undertaking on her part, and it was my pleasure to participate in the production of this web series that she created.


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