Casual Space 62: NASA's Dan Jacobs on the International Space Station and CineSpace, an International Film Festival
It seems like Dan Jacobs was made for his role as the International Relations Manager for NASA's Gateway Program and the International Space Station. Within his NASA career, Dan has found a perfect balance between both space and politics, and that's a good thing.
As a liaison between the scientists and engineers and non-scientists and the general public – Dan works to interpret ideas, then putting them into technical agreements that benefit 19 countries, 240+ astronauts who have traveled to the International Space Station, and the 2,700+ research investigations that the laboratory has completed since 2000.
10 Fun Facts About CineSpace:
- This year marks the 5th annual competition for Cinespace and in those 5 years, there's been more than 1,700 films submitted
- More than 55 countries have submitted from around the world!
- Two people within the competition have seen every single film! Everyone sees some, and everyone judges them.
- Richard Linkletter is the celebrity judge (from School of Rock) and helps select the winners.
- Out of 15 finalists, 9 traveled from around the world to come to the award event!
- Visitors center will soon be showing the films
- Anyone can make a film- even Beth!
- There's no rules about subjects, or topics, or genres, so there's films that are narratives, documentaries, comedies, music videos, abstract films, they just have to meet the 10% quantity of including NASA imagery.
- Some NASA imagery has never been seen, ever- even by the judges!
- NASA has created an archive that's open to the public and anyone can now see it, and enjoy it, or use it for this film competition!
More information on CineSpace: http://cinespace.org/
CineSpace, a short film competition, is a collaboration between NASA and Houston Cinema Arts Society that offers filmmakers around the world a chance to share their works inspired by, and using, actual NASA imagery
About Dan Jacobs:
Dan Jacobs has lead, managed, and supported negotiations with NASA's Space Station International Partners. Dan has worked to manage international team members at Johnson Space Center and overseas, reviewing numerous agreements to obtain new spacecraft, barter for Space Station modules, provide astronaut flight opportunities, resolve major disagreements, set new policies, and create science cooperation.
The value to the U.S. Government of these agreements totals greater than $9B. As the Executive Liasion to the Greater Houston Partnership, Dan represented NASA/JSC to the City of Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP, equivalent to Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center, and International Trade Organization for Houston), the Texas Medical Center, and innovation/entrepreneurial organizations throughout the city. He helped identify and pursue opportunities for partnership with JSC with new innovation organizations in the fields of medical device technologies, life sciences, robotics and automation, advanced manufacturing, software development and internet of things, all in support of NASA's critical technology needs for future missions.
Dan has created concept for international short film competition of films that use NASA imagery, resulting in the formation of the CineSpace Film competition. This event was designed together partnership with Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) to develop the competition and to screen finalists and winners at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival and film festivals around the country. Academy Award-nominated director Richard Linklater serves as judge and selects the winners, and in the last 5 years since the film competition began, CineSpace has received almost 1600 films from 60 countries.