Living in the Big Empty | Obsidian Van Zant

Co-Producer, Videographer, Gaffer and Editor: Tyler McPherron
Client: KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting

This is an excerpt from “Living in the Big Empty,” a nationally distributed HD documentary I shot, edited and co-produced while working at KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting, the PBS station in Reno, Nevada. “Living in the Big Empty” is one of the best things I have ever done and I am extremely proud to say that played a major role in every aspect of the production of this program.

Losly based on “Passing Through” by Richard Menzies, this show takes the viewer to the heart of the Great Basin Desert to examine what kind of people choose to live in a place typically seen as a “wasteland.” This excerpt features the amazing story of Obsidian Van Zant, daughter of Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder. As the child of a self-proclaimed spiritual leader and architect of Thunder Mountain Monument, Obsidian had an unusual childhood, to say the least.

Living in the Big empty won a 2009 Communicator Award and a 2009 Telly Award.

To watch the program in its entirety, go to KNPB’s website.