There are subtle hints in “Guerrilla Video Primer” — a film released by the local Cascadia Media Collective last November — that their goals are nothing less than revolutionary. One example: the little anarchy “A” written over their logo on the back of the box’s cover art.
Much of the footage contained in the sixty-minute film is scenes of riots, demonstrations and other activist events. Nevertheless, the tactics proposed in the video are entirely legal. Its content ranges from technical instructions for selecting and using a digital camera to reporting and legal advice for those who will be involved in high-risk situations. Scenes from the Cascadia Media Collective’s own films are interspersed with these instructions and serve as examples for potential filmmakers.
University student and UO Survival Center Co-director Marshall Kirkpatrick has worked with the collective for two years. He provided technical assistance for the film and said it shows the thinking behind a part of the activism movement where people usually only see the end product.
“We want to use the video as a tool for organizing and empowerment; to widen the field of activist videographers,” Kirkpatrick said.
Collective founding member Randy Shadowalker, who directed and edited the video, said that the group made it so other people could have the skills to create their own media.
“We’re hoping to take the mystery out of the process,” he said. “If an eighth grade kid wants to start using a video record, we want that information to be there.”

The collective officially started in summer 2000, but Shadowalker and others had been producing a “Cascadia Alive!” television series since August 1996. That program still airs every Wednesday on public access television.
Shadowalker said the decision to create the collective came from a desire “to do more than just be a community forum.” There are five core members in the group, and it has another eight or nine extra volunteers. The collective has a non-hierarchical power structure and is a not-for-profit organization; it relies on donations of time and money to allow group members to work on projects.
Since its release, “Guerrilla Video Primer” has been shown around the country, in places such as New York, Washington, Denver and Arizona. There have also been screenings in Canada. Shadowalker called the feedback “amazing” and said Free Speech TV wants to provide the video to its subscribers as an incentive to join its organization. He added that Witness, a group that trains and equips social activists, co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel, also might start including the film with its video equipment.
The next public screening for the film will take place at the University during the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, Mar. 6 through Mar. 9.
Shadowalker said the motivation behind the collective calling the video “guerilla” was to subvert traditional media outlets.
“Mainstream media tends to call itself independent,” he said. “It’s had a strong use as propaganda by the powers that be. Alternative media can have a chilling effect on the rapid propaganda machine that legitimizes itself. Corporate media will never turn its back on corporate sponsors to any significant degree. When it is confronted with the power of an alternative media, they’re going to change the way they look at journalism in the future; they’re going to be out of date. These movements are growing.”
Local ABC affiliate KEZI-9 news anchor Rick Dancer said he had heard of the Cascadia Media Collective but was not aware of the motivations behind their group. He said he had no problem with guerrilla media, but his only concern regarded potential biases in the reporting process.
“What would concern me is ‘Where are you coming from?’ You’ve got to report both sides of the issues fairly,” Dancer said. “We’re here to educate people with information, we’re not here to persuade them to our opinion.”
However, Dancer said he welcomes competition from the group, and that its effect is positive overall.
“You’ve got to have people who disagree with you,” he said. “If they’re here to give me more competition, I say good, let’s go. That’s what we’re here for.”