aac films :: about

aac films tells stories; yours and sometimes our own. We believe that in telling those stories that are often overlooked, brushed aside or ignored, we can foster connections between people, and if connections can be made, then we can find ways of building with others, both personally and institutionally. If we can find ways of building, we can change our world. We use art to foster change. Our goal is positive, sustainable social change/justice, not profit. To that end, we don't make a dime from what we do. We do this for love.
See the change? Be the change. Now more than ever.

press kit:
Need all of our info in an easy-to-carry package? Download our press kit. (2mb, pdf)

who is aac films?

leslie g stewart :: producer/director/editor/animator/interviewer/videographer
Leslie G Stewart runs aac films and while she occasionally gets help from a few folks, everything from concept to videography to editing to designing this site is done by her.

Leslie is an educator, videomaker, editor, artist, activist, and web designer/developer. Originally from Cambridge, MA, she worked as an educator and advocate in the social services field for 11 years, and has been a web designer/developer in the new media field since 1997, running her own web design/development and computer training consultancy, impermanentmedia, since 1999.

Film/video is one of Leslie's first loves and she believes that art and activism aren't mutually exclusive, so she decided to return to videomaking after a 10 year absence, starting with the independentChicago interview series as a way of shining the light on indie/underground artists, and people working for real, lasting change in their communities, particularly those empowering youth.

Leslie has taught youth programs in multimedia and video production for Girls Get Digital, Street-Level Youth Media, and the Alternative Schools Network in Chicago. She served on the board of directors for Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center, where she was also a volunteer instructor for their weekly screen print workshop from 2004 - 2007.

Leslie has been a presenter at the following conferences:
2008 Allied Media Conference, Detroit, MI: Co-facilitator of the Furture of Film and Video Online workshop
2007 Allied Media Conference, Detroit, MI: Facilitator of the Sell Without Selling Out workshop
2004 Child Care Business Expo, Chicago, IL: Facilitator of the ABCs of Computers workshop
2003 Child Care Business Expo, Chicago, IL: Technology Specialist for the Transitioning from Home-based to Center-based Business panel.

Phylum Sinter :: composer/music
_begin biography_

Who i am: C.Todd. I record music under the moniker Phylum Sinter.

Where I'm from: Detroit, MI.

Background information: I've always been interested in playing and writing music, my first performance was at age 7 for a school assembly -- playing "Greensleeves" and "Die Loreli" on a Casio keyboard. Since that age i picked up the marimba, drums, hammer dulcimer and clarinet on my own, eventually becoming fixated on guitars around age 12. Soon after I had formed my first few bands, mostly playing industrial and new wave music. My first solo project was called Glt+cH, incorporating my fascination with causing machinery to mess up. This project eventually ended up being #1 on mp3.com's regional charts in the genre from 1998-1999. When mp3.com was bought out, I decided to quit using it as my outlet, went on hiatus and eventually wandered further into experimental electronic music.

How the name came about: In 2001 I decided on the name Phylum Sinter, as I had become enamored with getting to the core of what motivates things and the largest aspect of "why?" possible. With that in mind, i began asking myself what I wanted to give to people with my music. The list became too long and broad spectrum, but the one unifying aspect was related to fueling some cause, energizing people to do something; anything at all. From there the name "Phylum Sinter" came about; phylum being a seed-bearing subset of species [the seeds being the songs?] and sinter being 'to sinter' meaning to scorch or concentrate, to turn into fuel. In this way, I hope output may be fuel for another.

How I got involved: Like mentioned in the background information, music always came naturally for me. When I started to get serious with the idea of performing and releasing music, my parents were nice enough to support me, funding a home studio first based on a 4-track recorder and cheap microphones, eventually [by around the time I was doing Glt+cH] moving up to a Roland VS-1680 hard disk recorder. I have been self taught throughout, drawing most of my understanding from classical music, geometry and harmonic resonance.

How it's made: These days almost all Phylum Sinter tracks are produced on a three year old laptop running Reaktor, Max/Msp, FL Studio, and Sound Forge. Many percussion sounds are taken from field recordings done with a stereo condenser microphone attached to a minidisc recorder. These sounds are molded into drums inside the computer. I also pull source material from circuit bent instruments. The nucleus of a track is often automatic, usually with nothing more than a basic scene set-up, what am i wanting to convey? what textures do i want to work with? etc. in mind. From there, those ideas and somehow [usually at this point memory becomes blurry and time stops] generate a collection of melodies, synthesizers, a percussion set, and modulation schematics [think rube goldberg machines with sound as the object] set up inside Reaktor and FL Studio. After this, there is a gestation period before it is arranged into a song, often building more patterns and recording many drafts of the song in the process. From there, I'll export the waves into Soundforge, and do my post-production, and end by mastering of the track.

Ambitions: I'd just like to be able to make music all my life, to use it as a platform to relate with other people all over the world. That is the most rewarding aspect for me. Music breaks down barriers, and can transmit a sense of understanding beyond simple ideas. Ideally i'd like to make a career out of producing music, and am currently working on a few different projects to be released in 2006. I've been playing live shows too, and would love my music to allow me to see the world.

Influences: Always had a hard time placing direct influences. For me it seems everything i've come across has been an influence. The subconscious influence is all pervasive. Often books i'm reading and movies generate motivation to write something particular. I can recall dreams that have influenced me, but I'm sure my daily walk into my bathroom is just as influential.