Ashley Sings at the Lakers’ Game!
February 27, 2009
Ashley Argota plays Soomi, in “Schooled.”
Here she is belting out the national anthem for The Lakers.
Go, Ashley!!
“Slipping Behind” short doc on education
February 25, 2009
I haven’t seen this film yet although a colleague of mine who gave us
a great quote for “Schooled” is involved with it, Sara Bennett.
There are screenings in NYC on March 5th & 6th if you’re around…
Here’s the note she sent:
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I am really excited to tell you about a new short documentary film, “Slipping Behind,” which looks at the fast-paced, high-stress lives, of many of today’s students.
There will be two free screenings of the film, on March 5 and March 6. I hope you can attend and please tell your friends, your teachers, your principals, and anyone else you think might be interested. (How about posting a copy of the flyer at your school, on your facebook….) There will be a lively discussion following the film and you will be able to give feedback to the filmmaker, Vicki Abeles. I will be helping to facilitate the discussion….
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Details:
7PM
Thursday, March 5 & Friday, March 6, 2009
Dolby Laboratories, Lobby level
1350 Avenue of the Americas
between 54th & 55th Streets
New York City
Screenings followed by facilitated conversation with
Director, Vicki Abeles
& Sara Bennett, Co-Author of The Case Against Homework
RSVP to julie@reellinkfilms.com – Space is limited!
SLIPPING BEHIND is a close-up look at the pressures on today’s students, offering an intimate view of lives packed with activities, leaving little room for down-time or family time. Parents today are expected to raise high-achieving children, who are good at everything: academics, sports, the arts, community-service. The film tackles the tragic side of our often achievement-obsessed culture, with interviews that explore the hidden world of over-burdened schedules, student suicide, academic cheating, young people who have checked out.
SLIPPING BEHIND asks the question: Are the young people of today prepared to step fully and productively into their future?
We hear from students who feel they are being pushed to the brink, educators who worry students aren’t learning anything substantive, and college professors and business leaders, concerned their incoming employees lack the skills needed to succeed in the business world: passion, creativity, and internal motivation. The filmmakers take viewers to schools across the country to talk to teachers, parents, students, and experts including:
Denise Clark Pope, author of Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Mis-educated Students
Madeline Levine, author of the best-seller, The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Materialistic and Unhappy Kids
Deborah Stipek, Dean and Professor of Education at Stanford
Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, an adolescent medicine specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and author of an American Academy of Pediatrics report on the importance of play; and
Sara Bennett, founder of Stop Homework and co-author of The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It.
Wendy Mogel, author of the best-seller, The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children
Please visit our website to pre-order the film and to join the conversation on our bulletin board. www.reellinkfilms.com
3527 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Lafayette, Caifornia 94549
Tel (925) 962-0330
“Eleven Minutes”
February 24, 2009
This awesome doc was co-directed by my good friend
Rob Tate, who edited my first feature, “Snapshots.”
The other co-director, Michael Silditch,
is working with Rob and I to get our new doc TV series off the ground.
It’s about a wildly charismatic criminal defense lawyer from St. Louis.
Anyway, if you have any gay friends and/or big fans of “Project Runway,” make sure they know about “Eleven Minutes.” They’ll love it!
By the way, I’m straight and only mildly interested in “PR,”
but found the film to be a fascinating look beneath the surface
of reality TV buzz… Haunting and fun.
Here’s the letter Rob sent out about it….
====================
“Skillfully crafted, beautifully edited, a working man’s ‘Unzipped.’”
-Ronnie Scheib, VARIETY
“Charming and unexpectedly perceptive. Subtly address[es] our
perceptions of filmed ‘reality.’”
-Aaron Hillis, VILLAGE VOICE
“Lively and suspenseful. ‘Eleven Minutes’ captures that brisk,
intoxicating New York atmosphere of smart, no-nonsense
professionalism.”
-Kevin Thomas, LA TIMES
“Superbly crafted. Our grade: A-”
-E! Online
“Insufferable, 1.5 apples”
-Neil Rosen, NY1
Please friends, show your love and see my feature doc now out in
theatres and on HERE TV
If you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, or Phoenix, see
it in your local theatre (it’s at the QUAD on 13th Street here in
NYC). If you’re anywhere else, check your cable listings for HERE TV.
It’s a little film in a big big world, and I can’t guarantee it’ll
still be around in a week, so… just go and tell me what you think.
More info at
www.jaymccarrolldocumentary.com
and http://www.heretv.com/
Lots of love,
Rob
“Slumdog Millioniare” Dodges Death Bullet, Wins Oscar
February 23, 2009
“Slumdog Millioniare” almost went straight-to-video,
and instead went straight to cleaning up at the Oscars….
From the LA Times, Feb 12:
“It was Warners that acquired (through its now-defunct Warner
Independent Pictures specialty division) the U.S. rights to “Slumdog
Millionaire.” After seeing the movie, the studio decided it had no
interest in releasing it. (If Fox Searchlight hadn’t jumped at the
chance to handle the movie here, Warners was considering taking
“Slumdog” straight to video.)”
———————-
I think this shows (at least) 2 things:
– how amazingly subjective the film business is
– how tiny the gap can be that separates extreme success and extreme failure
So how does a filmmaker handle these severe crosswinds?
– Numbers. More spins at the wheel, make success more likely.
– Quality choices. Fundamentals exist.
Learning them and riding them boosts success rate.
– Don’t take it personally. That goes for failure AND success.
In theory, outcomes are essentially neutral. Just focus on the next step.
– And Make it Count. When luck does break your way, and it will,
unleash the beast….Gracefully. Do whatever you can to turn
the break-through into a streak, and the streak into a dynasty.
My favorite role models for this are:
John Wooden, the UCLA college basketball coach,
and
Anson Dorrance, the University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer coach.
Primal CALL for MAVERICK Student Filmmakers!
February 20, 2009
** I’m spreading this blast around the web to find students for the Beta Session of my On-Line Mentorship Program. It’s something I’ve been pumped up to do ever since I was at NYU, and this might be a great time to launch. We’ll see!
===========================================
Let’s get you to the next step of your career – whether that’s directing short film experiments or finishing a killer outline for a feature.
The On-Line Guerrilla Filmmaking Mentorship Program launches a 4 week Beta Session on March 16th. Students joining the program will be personally guided in creating 2 short film experiments, 1 larger short, or maybe moving forward on a feature. Students can get support in: writing, producing, directing, editing, and even marketing their work.
The connections happen 4 times per week, on-line, via: web cam, conference calls, e-mail groups and/or chat rooms. Each student will be given in-depth attention to set concrete personal goals – a process they can turn into a habit, keeping them masterfully productive the rest of their lives. Every week, students will share work and receive gracefully honest feedback – and then set new goals for their next step. All this happens among a small number of inspired peers – an electric group atmosphere that’s both competitive and genuinely friendly.
Mentorship will be led by Brooks Elms, a fellow maverick, award-winning independent filmmaker with 20 years of experience in the trenches. Brooks’ IMDb Page. Plus, help from carefully selected assistants and guest speakers.
We welcome students from all over the world to apply for the program. They just need access to the web, the ingenuity to get their hands on a camera and editing software, and the ambition to move forward to the next level of their career, no matter what.
If you want more information on this thrilling Beta Program, and/or to join Brooks’ mailing list for updates on the full fledged program, (and his own professional work,) please shoot us an e-mail. Brooks(at)BrooksElms.com.
By the way, the Beta Session only costs $1! Before we’ll feel 100% comfortable charging our premium prices, we want to put this puppy on its feet, get feedback, and fine tune it. So apply now and maybe you can help us shape what could be the start of a legendary new film school experience!
Interview: Digital Production Buzz
February 20, 2009
http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/Archives/index.php
Scroll down to: January 29th, 2009
** CORRECTION: in their notes they say I’ve been a teacher — that’s not true. But while researching “Schooled” I did volunteer at the Play Mountain Place school in LA, and sat in on their staff meetings for a year, so maybe that’s where they got that idea.
