Opening Night and Longtime Updates
Wow! Didn’t realize that I haven’t touched this site since January. Sorry about that. Alot has happened. I was laid off from my job (Whoo). My Sister and her husband are pregnant (and due in August) with their first baby. I am working on an Independent film (Politics of Street Crime ). And have been asked to be a part of a production crew for 48 hour Movie at the end of July! Much busier being off of work then when I was on it! LOL
I have to say that being laid off hasn’t been all that bad. Is their suckage…well of course. Less income coming in even with unemployment…and not being able to find a job in your field can be a little disheartening. But in all actuality, it has given me the impetus to work on what has always been my heart and soul – Acting.
As I told you all back in January I started taking an acting class in Royal Oak. Well when the beginning classes were done I signed up for the film class as well as the independent study classes. Well along with the film class I have been working hard on the actual film. I have a role in the film as well as working crew. I am learning many of the aspects of being a production coordinator as well as being on most of the film shoots doing whatever is needed of me at the time. Our goal is to wrap production in September in time to submit our film to Sundance. So it’s pretty exciting stuff!
This weekend we held/are holding a varietal theater show at a black box theater in Detroit – 1515 Broadway. Not only has this been an opportunity to showcase the talent in our group, but we are also utilizing this time to celebrate The Actors Workshop’s Silver Anniversary as well as fund raising for the Film. In July our director will be heading out to California to do some casting for a name actor to be a part of the film. Keep your fingers crossed!
For the 25 show this weekend – I have had 2 major and one supporting role in the 3 theater productions. It’s been a ton of rehearsals, work, time and fun! Opening night went off pretty darn good. We had some small oops’ (not from me of course) but that’s what happens in a live show. Peter was there – and I have to say…nothing made me feel better then to find him after the show, and to see nothing but naked adoration and pride in his eyes. It really made me feel like I might be good at this after all! It was awesome. I had a lot of wonderful compliments, and some really spot on suggestions. Tonight is the close of show – and then it’s back to the film world. But I have LOVED this quick foray into theater. Actually our director is looking to possibly direct a showing of Streetcar Named Desire this fall. I hope I can work with them on that as well….I love Tennessee Williams.
Through my work with The Actor’s Workshop I was introduced to Wes and Roger from BoxTruck Productions and was invited by them to be on their team for the Detroit 48 Hour Movie Project…can you say honored and excited. What will happen is at the end of July our team will be given a genre and some other information – and we will have to write, shoot and edit a film with those parts within 48 hours. All the entries will be shown at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak on the following Wednesday, then onto the Best of 48 Hour Movies which I belive will be held in Atlanta and then the 10 best of the tour will be heading on to Cannes in 2010. So it’s really an excellent and exciting opportunity. And I cannot wait to be a part of all of this.
Whew! Busy, Busy, Busy Bee! But thought I should update you all! Love and miss you – and I’ll try to be better on this!
DJ Spooky Remix “Birth of a Nation”
Last night Pete and I went to the DIA to see Paul D Miller a.k.a. Dj Spooky’s remix of Birth of a Nation. To be honest, I went to keep Pete company, and Pete went mostly because it was Dj Spooky. We didn’t know what we were in for, and for that I am thankful. It was an interestingly moving moment for us. Dj Spooky did a remix on the film Birth of Nation that was made by DW Griffith in 1917. It was utilized until sometime in the 60’s as a recruitment film for the KKK. He utilized music he had composed and sampled himself over 3 large screens to remix the movie, keeping the ideas of the movie the same, but also using title cards he wrote himself to battle with the original ideas of the movie. He chose a subtle shout to create a battleground of thoughts, words and ideas that have stretched across the years. Prejudice and hate, intermingled with a revisionist history propaganda that was used to create hate for years, and what was Dj Spooky doing? One member of the audience during the Q&A afterwards stated: that she was dismayed at what she saw. She wanted to know what he was thinking bring this film to Detroit, to a community that is working to rebuild itself with pride and that is in the middle of a scandal that it hurting its efforts. To bring this movie to an area that had fought for it never to be shown. I liked how he handled it. He could have been extremely standoffish – this is his art and how dare you not understand it. He could have been extremely narcissistic about it and looked at her and said well too bad, you aren’t intelligent enough to understand my vision. However he stated very calmly and succinctly that he wanted to have more dialog with her. Wanted to understand what bothered her so much about this. Because what he was trying to do was to show people an irreverence for history, especially revisionist history to help loosen the power it has over people.
This was an educational evening of epic proportions to me. The idea that we should always know our history so that we don’t repeat it. The idea that we are repeating history all of the time. This propaganda film from 1917…flash forward to Hitler’s Propaganda films during World War II…then flash forward to our current propaganda – Weapons of Mass Destruction, Illegal Immigrants, Alternative Lifestyles. They all repeat each other. What have we learned…what have we taught the next generation…
I commend Paul Millers vision. It is with an open heart and an open mind that we walked into that theater, and I was enriched by it. If it comes to your area on DVD, I heartily urge you to rent it. If it comes to your area live, I highly suggest you go…it is an experience you do not want to miss.
