We felt horrible for Hillman Curtis today, who couldn't shake a cough during his presentation at the Y Conference. The designer/filmmaker laughed (and coughed) it off, but it didn't matter--he didn't have to say much once he started running the clips.

You're definitely familiar with Curtis' Designer Series of web films; we often find ourselves cueing up one of those portraits when we need a few breaths of fresh Glaser in the middle of the day. He's not just an expert interviewer, either--"Quaaludes," he joked when asked how he gets his subjects to open up--a montage he cut of Mark Romanek's videos set to different music is better than most editing in the music video industry today. Soon there'll be even more to love: Curtis is currently delving into these pristine little short narratives that are dramatic, emotional and absolutely gorgeous.