In 2009, I wrote a book about James Cameron called The Futurist, in which I detailed the Avatar and Titanic filmmaker’s complicated relationship with technology. Cameron has spent his career on the bleeding edge of science, from the visual effects he helped pioneer to the submersibles he designed and rode to the deepest points in the world’s oceans. But much of Cameron’s storytelling has been devoted to warning against technology’s dark potential, starting with 1984’s The Terminator, in which an artificially intelligent defense network known as Skynet becomes sentient and starts a war between humans and machines.
“It’s not the machines that will destroy us, it is ourselves,” Cameron told me when I interviewed him for The Futurist. “However, we will use the machines to do it.”
I couldn’t help but think of this conversation when I learned this week, thanks to a remarkable piece...
“It’s not the machines that will destroy us, it is ourselves,” Cameron told me when I interviewed him for The Futurist. “However, we will use the machines to do it.”
I couldn’t help but think of this conversation when I learned this week, thanks to a remarkable piece...
- 9/29/2023
- by Rebecca Keegan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There is a scene relatively early in the new "Blue Beetle" movie where its lead character, Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña), is seen with his sister, Milagros (played by Belissa Escobedo), sitting on the rooftop of their family's house. The two are reflecting on all the trials and tribulations they and their family have been through, some of which the audience is privy to. The conversation eventually leads to them fretting about the encroachment of the movie's fictional Kord Industries and how it's been nefariously buying up land across their fictional home of Palmera City, leaving lower-middle-class families like theirs with fewer opportunities to grow. Frustrated, Milagros says to Jaime, "We live on the other side of the tracks, and now they want to take that too." For "Blue Beetle" director Ángel Manuel Soto, who is Puerto Rican, this is a line that he knew would resonate sharply with...
- 8/18/2023
- by Juan Arroyo
- Popsugar.com
Eddie Huang’s Boogie is a basketball movie, but one of its best moments comes courtesy of tennis. Boogie, né Alfred Chin (Taylor Takahashi) comes back to his home in Flushing, Queens, to find his Taiwanese immigrant father (Perry Yung) rewatching, for apparently the gazillionth time, the 1989 French Open match between Taiwanese-American upstart Michael Chang and the heavily favored world No. 1, Ivan Lendl. Chang won that match, which happened the day after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and went on to win the tournament. When Dad repeats his fervent assertion that...
- 3/4/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Rollingstone.com
Lena Waithe, Eva Longoria, and representatives of MacRo and The Black List have selected Sahar Jahani and K.C. Scott as the winners of The MacRo Episodic Lab powered by The Black List.
The winners, announced at Sundance, will each receive development support and a pilot presentation or sizzle at a budget of up to $30,000.
The Lab was launched on June 6, 2018 with a mission to discover episodic storytellers of color, empower them with creative tools and resources to help launch their careersm and provide industry support to writers from a wide range of backgrounds who typically do not have access to the traditional Hollywood system.
Launched in January 2015 by former William Morris Endeavor (Wme) partner Charles D. King, MacRo is a multi- platform media company focused on the new majority multicultural market and develops, produces and finances film, television, digital content, tech companies and brands driven by people of color...
The winners, announced at Sundance, will each receive development support and a pilot presentation or sizzle at a budget of up to $30,000.
The Lab was launched on June 6, 2018 with a mission to discover episodic storytellers of color, empower them with creative tools and resources to help launch their careersm and provide industry support to writers from a wide range of backgrounds who typically do not have access to the traditional Hollywood system.
Launched in January 2015 by former William Morris Endeavor (Wme) partner Charles D. King, MacRo is a multi- platform media company focused on the new majority multicultural market and develops, produces and finances film, television, digital content, tech companies and brands driven by people of color...
- 1/26/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Lena Waithe and Eva Longoria, along with MacRo and The Black List announced the winners of the The MacRo Episodic Lab Powered by The Black List during the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday.
Sahar Jahani and K.C. Scott were announced as the winners of the initiative started last summer as a way to help discover and advance the work of writers of color in TV.
The mission of the Episodic Lab is to find storytellers of color from a wide range of backgrounds, empower them with creative tools and resources to help launch their careers and provide industry support they wouldn’t typically have access to. More than 3,000 applicants submitted their ideas, which were then reviewed by MacRo and The Black List team. Then 500 scripts made the semi-finals, where the winners were selected by Waithe, Longoria and a group of representatives from MacRo and The Black List.
Also Read: The Black List,...
Sahar Jahani and K.C. Scott were announced as the winners of the initiative started last summer as a way to help discover and advance the work of writers of color in TV.
The mission of the Episodic Lab is to find storytellers of color from a wide range of backgrounds, empower them with creative tools and resources to help launch their careers and provide industry support they wouldn’t typically have access to. More than 3,000 applicants submitted their ideas, which were then reviewed by MacRo and The Black List team. Then 500 scripts made the semi-finals, where the winners were selected by Waithe, Longoria and a group of representatives from MacRo and The Black List.
Also Read: The Black List,...
- 1/26/2019
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
Author Junot Díaz will stay on the Pulitzer Board after a law firm’s investigation of misconduct “did not find evidence warranting removal.”
Diaz has been accused of forcibly kissing a woman, and two other women said he had made angry and derogatory statements to them. He denied the allegations.
Diaz stepped down as chairman of the Pulitzer board in May, but retained his seat while the investigation continued. The Washington, D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly reviewed the allegations over the last five months, interviewing witnesses and reviewing documents and audio. No evidence was found, according to a release by the Pulitzer board, which said Diaz will now resume full duties.
“I am grateful the investigation found the truth,” said a Diaz statement issued after the ruling. “I look forward to returning to the Pulitzer’s important work.” His term expires next year.
Update: The Pulitzer Prize board...
Diaz has been accused of forcibly kissing a woman, and two other women said he had made angry and derogatory statements to them. He denied the allegations.
Diaz stepped down as chairman of the Pulitzer board in May, but retained his seat while the investigation continued. The Washington, D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly reviewed the allegations over the last five months, interviewing witnesses and reviewing documents and audio. No evidence was found, according to a release by the Pulitzer board, which said Diaz will now resume full duties.
“I am grateful the investigation found the truth,” said a Diaz statement issued after the ruling. “I look forward to returning to the Pulitzer’s important work.” His term expires next year.
Update: The Pulitzer Prize board...
- 11/17/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
As documentaries and true-event based movies deliver many of the highlights and some news at the Santiago Int’l Film Festival (August 19-26), Abner Benaim’s much-lauded music documentary “Ruben Blades is Not My Name” is getting a rare multi-territory release across Latin America.
By the end of August, “Ruben Blades…” will have opened in Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Chile, Argentina and the Caribbean are likely to follow. HBO has picked up the docu for the U.S. next year.
A co-production between Benaim’s Apertura Films, Gema Juarez Allen’s Gema Films of Argentina and Ciudad Lunar, Colombia, “Ruben Blades…” has been reaping multiple awards on the festival circuit.
The music docu received its world premiere at SXSW where it proved its commercial appeal by nabbing the 24 Beats Per Second audience prize. It closed Panama’s Iff festival and went on to key fest events across the region,...
By the end of August, “Ruben Blades…” will have opened in Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Chile, Argentina and the Caribbean are likely to follow. HBO has picked up the docu for the U.S. next year.
A co-production between Benaim’s Apertura Films, Gema Juarez Allen’s Gema Films of Argentina and Ciudad Lunar, Colombia, “Ruben Blades…” has been reaping multiple awards on the festival circuit.
The music docu received its world premiere at SXSW where it proved its commercial appeal by nabbing the 24 Beats Per Second audience prize. It closed Panama’s Iff festival and went on to key fest events across the region,...
- 8/22/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Anonymous Content has brought in managers Brooke Ehrlich and Geoffrey Sanford to expand the media rights division formed by partners Howie Sanders and Kassie Evashevski last year. Together, Ehrlich and Sanford ran their own boutique management firm The Sanford Ehrlich Company. They will operate out of Anonymous Content’s Los Angeles headquarters.
“Brooke and Geoffrey are two of the very best representatives of critically-acclaimed material, as well as brilliant screen and television writers and directors,” Sanders and Evashevski said. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Brooke and Geoff join us. “Over the course of their very successful careers, they have displayed savvy and a keen eye for talent that is unquestionable.”
Sanford and Ehrlich stated, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Anonymous Content and work with their incredible clients, and team. We’ve long admired the way they do business and are excited to bring...
“Brooke and Geoffrey are two of the very best representatives of critically-acclaimed material, as well as brilliant screen and television writers and directors,” Sanders and Evashevski said. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Brooke and Geoff join us. “Over the course of their very successful careers, they have displayed savvy and a keen eye for talent that is unquestionable.”
Sanford and Ehrlich stated, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Anonymous Content and work with their incredible clients, and team. We’ve long admired the way they do business and are excited to bring...
- 7/9/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Author Junot Diaz has come forward to address sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced against him in May.
In an interview with The Boston Globe, Diaz adamantly denies the accusations and says that when he heard of them he was “distressed”, “confused”, and “panicked”.
“I was shocked,” said The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao author. “I was, like, ‘Yo, this doesn’t sound like anything that’s in my life, anything that’s me.”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist was accused by three women of past sexual misconduct and harassment. Author Zinzi Clemmons confronted him at the Sydney Writers Festival and later posted on Twitter that he forcibly kissed her several years ago.
Other women followed Clemmons’ lead. Alisa Rivera met with Diaz about cultural identity and claims that Diaz noted her light skin and sided with those who have bullied her. She said the meeting left her in tears. Writer...
In an interview with The Boston Globe, Diaz adamantly denies the accusations and says that when he heard of them he was “distressed”, “confused”, and “panicked”.
“I was shocked,” said The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao author. “I was, like, ‘Yo, this doesn’t sound like anything that’s in my life, anything that’s me.”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist was accused by three women of past sexual misconduct and harassment. Author Zinzi Clemmons confronted him at the Sydney Writers Festival and later posted on Twitter that he forcibly kissed her several years ago.
Other women followed Clemmons’ lead. Alisa Rivera met with Diaz about cultural identity and claims that Diaz noted her light skin and sided with those who have bullied her. She said the meeting left her in tears. Writer...
- 7/1/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Junot Díaz has stepped down as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board, following the organization’s decision to open an independent review of the sexual-misconduct allegations against him, the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Díaz said he welcomed the review and would cooperate fully with it,” said the Pulitzer board in a statement.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author was publicly accused of forcible kissing and sexual harassment one week ago when author Zinzi Clemmons, whose 2017 novel What We Lose earned her recognition as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35,” confronted Diaz at a literary festival in Sydney, Australia. In the days since, more women have alleged that they too were victims of Díaz’s sexual harassment and “misogynistic abuse.”
As a grad student, I invited Junot Diaz to speak to a workshop on issues of representation in literature. I was an unknown wide-eyed 26 yo, and he used it as an opportunity to.
“Mr. Díaz said he welcomed the review and would cooperate fully with it,” said the Pulitzer board in a statement.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author was publicly accused of forcible kissing and sexual harassment one week ago when author Zinzi Clemmons, whose 2017 novel What We Lose earned her recognition as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35,” confronted Diaz at a literary festival in Sydney, Australia. In the days since, more women have alleged that they too were victims of Díaz’s sexual harassment and “misogynistic abuse.”
As a grad student, I invited Junot Diaz to speak to a workshop on issues of representation in literature. I was an unknown wide-eyed 26 yo, and he used it as an opportunity to.
- 5/11/2018
- by Amanda Arnold
- Vulture
Abner Benaim, one of Panama’s leading helmers – whose recent features include 2009 comedy “Chance” and 2014 docu “Invasion” – is attending Iff Panama for the fest’s closing film, “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name,” which world premiered in South by Southwest (SXSW) where it won the audience prize, in the 24 Beats Per Second section.
The trailer, launched in March, has been a viral hit, with over 1 million views on Facebook.
Benaim reveals that the picture has already secured a wide theatrical release in Panama, with distribution deals covering Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia and Argentina and is about to close with Mexico. He says that the producers are currently considering offers from U.S. distributors and digital platforms and from international sales agents.
“Ruben Blades” is a co-production between Benaim’s company, Apertura Films, and Argentina’s Gema Films, run by Gema Juarez Allen, together with Ciudad Lunar in Colombia (“Embrace of the Serpent...
The trailer, launched in March, has been a viral hit, with over 1 million views on Facebook.
Benaim reveals that the picture has already secured a wide theatrical release in Panama, with distribution deals covering Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia and Argentina and is about to close with Mexico. He says that the producers are currently considering offers from U.S. distributors and digital platforms and from international sales agents.
“Ruben Blades” is a co-production between Benaim’s company, Apertura Films, and Argentina’s Gema Films, run by Gema Juarez Allen, together with Ciudad Lunar in Colombia (“Embrace of the Serpent...
- 4/5/2018
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
In today’s roundup, CNN announced it will host a town hall with former FBI director James Comey, and NBC Entertainment promoted Sahara Bushue to senior vice president of alternative programming.
TV News
PBS named “Today” alumna Meredith Vieira as host of its new series, “The Great American Read.” The show will explore the country in search of America’s top 100 novels, as well as their authors and fan bases. Its first episode, a two-hour special, will air May 22 at 8 p.m. The series will include appearances by Margaret Atwood, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Junot Diaz, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Green, Gayle King, George R.R. Martin, Shaquille O’Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jason Reynolds, Gabrielle Union, and Ming-Na Wen.
Fox News Channel hired reporter Jeff Paul as a west coast correspondent, the network’s president of news, Jay Wallace, announced Wednesday. Paul currently works as a reporter...
TV News
PBS named “Today” alumna Meredith Vieira as host of its new series, “The Great American Read.” The show will explore the country in search of America’s top 100 novels, as well as their authors and fan bases. Its first episode, a two-hour special, will air May 22 at 8 p.m. The series will include appearances by Margaret Atwood, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Junot Diaz, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Green, Gayle King, George R.R. Martin, Shaquille O’Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jason Reynolds, Gabrielle Union, and Ming-Na Wen.
Fox News Channel hired reporter Jeff Paul as a west coast correspondent, the network’s president of news, Jay Wallace, announced Wednesday. Paul currently works as a reporter...
- 3/28/2018
- by Christi Carras
- Variety Film + TV
Margaret Atwood, George R.R. Martin, Gaye King, Lauren Graham, John Irving, and Bill T. Jones are among those lending their voices to PBS's The Great American Read. PBS CEO Paula Kerger announced the celebs at TCA Tuesday morning, also including Devon Kennard, Diane Lane, Lesley Stahl Junot Diaz. They will share personal stories about their favorite titles for the Nutopia-produced eight-part TV competition PBS says in in service of promoting reading. The Great American…...
- 1/16/2018
- Deadline TV
Valar morghulis. All men must die. Might as well read some excellent books before then.
This summer, George R.R. Martin and a slew of other authors and celebrities will lend their voices and passion to “The Great American Read,” an eight-part PBS television competition that celebrates books. PBS made the announcement at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday.
Much like Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series, ultimately there can only be one victor, and the series will conclude when the public selects “America’s Best-Loved Book” based on votes.
Read More:‘Game of Thrones’ Prequels Won’t Premiere Until At Least 2020, HBO Boss Confirms
Although Martin may seem to have a leg up on the competition, there’s no guarantee that any of his “Game of Thrones” books will even make it to the 100 best-loved novels list for consideration. While his novels may have inspired one of today’s most popular TV series,...
This summer, George R.R. Martin and a slew of other authors and celebrities will lend their voices and passion to “The Great American Read,” an eight-part PBS television competition that celebrates books. PBS made the announcement at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday.
Much like Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series, ultimately there can only be one victor, and the series will conclude when the public selects “America’s Best-Loved Book” based on votes.
Read More:‘Game of Thrones’ Prequels Won’t Premiere Until At Least 2020, HBO Boss Confirms
Although Martin may seem to have a leg up on the competition, there’s no guarantee that any of his “Game of Thrones” books will even make it to the 100 best-loved novels list for consideration. While his novels may have inspired one of today’s most popular TV series,...
- 1/16/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
There's an old Junot Diaz quote that comes to mind whenever I think about what it means for a minority underrepresented in media to finally have their story deemed worthy of gracing your TV screens. "You know how vampires have no reflections in the mirror?" the Pulitzer Prize-winning author asked an audience at the Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ in 2009. "If you want to make a human being a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. "And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn't see myself reflected at all. I was like, 'Yo, is something wrong with me?' That the whole society seems to think that people like me don't exist?...
- 10/26/2017
- E! Online
The Pulitzer At 100 director Kirk Simon on the man Liev Schreiber portrayed in Tom McCarthy's Oscar-winning Spotlight: "You do not mess with Marty Baron!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Kirk Simon has assembled a grand cast (Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, John Lithgow, Martin Scorsese, Yara Shahidi, and Liev Schreiber) plus authors, journalists, composers and photographers (including Paula Vogel, Toni Morrison, David Remnick, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Kushner, John Adams, Carl Bernstein, Nicholas Kristof, Jeffrey Eugenides, Thomas Friedman, Michael Cunningham, John Adams, Michael Chabon, Martin Baron, Junot Díaz, Ayad Akhtar, Robin Givhan, Sheri Fink, John Filo, Nick Ut, and Robert A. Caro) who have won Pulitzers, to create a vivid portrait of the importance of Joseph Pulitzer's brilliant idea to establish the School of Journalism at Columbia University and award prizes.
In The Pulitzer At 100, Helen Mirren has a Long Day's Journey Into Night with Eugene O'Neill Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze...
Kirk Simon has assembled a grand cast (Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, John Lithgow, Martin Scorsese, Yara Shahidi, and Liev Schreiber) plus authors, journalists, composers and photographers (including Paula Vogel, Toni Morrison, David Remnick, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Kushner, John Adams, Carl Bernstein, Nicholas Kristof, Jeffrey Eugenides, Thomas Friedman, Michael Cunningham, John Adams, Michael Chabon, Martin Baron, Junot Díaz, Ayad Akhtar, Robin Givhan, Sheri Fink, John Filo, Nick Ut, and Robert A. Caro) who have won Pulitzers, to create a vivid portrait of the importance of Joseph Pulitzer's brilliant idea to establish the School of Journalism at Columbia University and award prizes.
In The Pulitzer At 100, Helen Mirren has a Long Day's Journey Into Night with Eugene O'Neill Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze...
- 7/18/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Margaret Atwood, author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” would consider adding a famous cameo in the show’s second season. In an interview with Boston Review, Atwood told interviewer and author Junot Diaz (who also edits the publication) that she would love to have rapper, actor and fellow Canadian, Drake, in a cameo. “Wouldn’t it be fun for him to have a cameo in Season 2 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale?'” she proposed. “I’ll drop that notion into the ear of Bruce Miller, the showrunner, and see what he can do with that, because of course the show is filmed in Toronto.
- 7/5/2017
- by Carli Velocci
- The Wrap
“The Handmaid’s Tale” author and noted Toronto resident Margaret Atwood wants Drake, the poster boy fro the 6ix, to make a cameo in season two of the dystopian Hulu series based on her seminal 1985 novel. In a recent discussion with fellow author Junot Diaz published in the Boston Review, Atwood says she hasn’t met rapper […]...
- 7/5/2017
- by Rachel West
- ET Canada
This article originally appeared on Real Simple.
What do you get for the father who has everything? He already has every power tool on the market, season tickets to see his favorite teams, and enough cool techy toys to last him a lifetime. Although he might not fancy himself a big reader, there’s nothing more thoughtful, or personal, than a book picked just for him.
The great thing about giving books as gifts is that even the father who thinks he’s learned it all can still explore a new world, learn more about his favorite hobby, or be...
What do you get for the father who has everything? He already has every power tool on the market, season tickets to see his favorite teams, and enough cool techy toys to last him a lifetime. Although he might not fancy himself a big reader, there’s nothing more thoughtful, or personal, than a book picked just for him.
The great thing about giving books as gifts is that even the father who thinks he’s learned it all can still explore a new world, learn more about his favorite hobby, or be...
- 6/15/2017
- by Real Simple Staff
- PEOPLE.com
This post originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
Whether he’s reading to kids at the White House, hitting up local bookstores on Black Friday, or giving recommendations to his daughters, President Barack Obama may as well be known as the Commander in Books.
Potus is an avid reader and recently spoke to the New York Times about the significant, informative and inspirational role literature has played in his presidency, crediting books for allowing him to “slow down and get perspective.” With his presidency coming to an end this Friday, EW looked back at Obama’s lit picks over the years...
- 1/19/2017
- by Mark Marino
- PEOPLE.com
Hundreds of writers have signed an open letter condemning the candidacy of Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency. Writers Unite Against Trump Stephen King, Cheryl Strayed, Junot Diaz, Michael Chabon, Jennifer Egan, Tobias Wolff, Dave Eggers, Amy Tan, Richard Russo, Phillip Lopate and Ann Packer are among the writers who […]
The post Writers Unite Behind Open Letter Condemning Donald Trump’s Candidacy; Stephen King & Cheryl Strayed Among Signers appeared first on uInterview.
The post Writers Unite Behind Open Letter Condemning Donald Trump’s Candidacy; Stephen King & Cheryl Strayed Among Signers appeared first on uInterview.
- 5/26/2016
- by Chelsea Regan
- Uinterview
Racebending and genderbending are not new concepts for the Hollywood community. Roles written for women often go to male actors, racially diverse characters from books often become white when they are adapted for the screen. While the trend may be common, author Neil Gaiman has made it clear that if any studio wants to adapt his works, they must stay true to the racial identity of his characters. [Editor's Note: Friendly reminder on why turning white characters in PoC is okay but the opposite is not can be found here.] Recently Gaiman shared his thoughts on "racebending" in an interview with Junot Diaz. Bleeding Cool reports that during the interview, Gaiman brought up two of his books: "Anansi Boys" and "American Gods". Apparently Gaiman refused to the sell the rights to "Anansi Boys" when a producer told him he would have to change the race of the two main characters because "Black people don't like fantasy." Considering the entire book is about two brothers whose father was an African god, their race...
- 11/10/2015
- by Lauren Gallaway
- Hitfix
Neil Gaiman's night had been going according to plan. The world-famous comics and fantasy author had just finished a lengthy, somber, occasionally wry onstage conversation about his new graphic novel, Sandman: Overture. He and interviewer Junot Díaz had spoken eloquently about all the work Gaiman's done on the Sandman comics series over the past 26 years, the passion he's put into novels like American Gods and Coraline, and the ways fatherhood has made him a better writer. The crowd at Brooklyn's Congregation Beth Elohim was eating it up. But just as the evening seemed to be drawing to a close, an emcee reminded Gaiman that he was just hours away from his 55th birthday. That's when his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, surprised everyone by taking to the stage and treating him to a vigorous serenade of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" (get it?) and "Happy Birthday" on ukulele and kazoo. (The Díaz...
- 11/10/2015
- by Abraham Riesman
- Vulture
Some of the country’s most prominent Hispanic and civil rights groups are heading to Rockefeller Center for a 6 Pm rally today to protest Donald Trump’s upcoming hosting duties on Saturday Night Live. Just in time for the event, some 50 prominent Hispanic intellectual and cultural figures — including Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu and writer Junot Díaz — have distributed a letter denouncing the would-be Republican presidential candidate. The manifesto was pos…...
- 11/4/2015
- Deadline TV
America needs immigrants, no matter what Donald Trump thinks, Junot Díaz said at the New Yorker Festival Saturday morning. The Pulitzer-winning writer spoke with fellow author, and immigrant, Aleksandar Hemon, and the pair got into Trump’s controversial opinions regarding the issue. “Without us this is a nation that falls to pieces,” explained the Dominican Díaz, who immigrated to New Jersey from Santo Domingo when he was six years old. “America is as addicted to immigrants as it is addicted to cocaine; you withdraw immigrants from this country, America would just be a shivery, shitting-itself wreck,” he said. Trump’s assertion that all “Latinos are rapists” and his plans for their deportation ignores the “complexity of community,” Díaz said, adding that immigrant communities contribute a “tremendous amount of their life energy to this country,” and they don’t get recognized nearly enough for it. For Díaz, reading is a respite...
- 10/3/2015
- by Katie Levingston
- Vulture
This afternoon, a letter went out to members of the Pen American Center—not an official communique but a letter of dissent, boasting 35 signatories and soliciting many more. It concluded, "We the undersigned, as writers, thinkers, and members of Pen, therefore respectfully wish to disassociate ourselves from Pen America’s decision to give the 2015 Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award to Charlie Hebdo." The list of writers below included Junot Diaz, Peter Carey, Rick Moody, Joyce Carol Oates, and Wallace Shawn. (Most of this story was published before the letter was sent, and has been updated to reflect the developments.) To look at the letter (which appears in full below), the signatories, and the potentially vast list of undisclosed recipients, it's hard to believe nothing of this new campaign existed a week ago. This past Sunday, the day after a calamitous earthquake in Nepal and the...
- 4/29/2015
- by Boris Kachka
- Vulture
I must have met E.O. around the winter of ‘96. He was that kid from around the way that was in Spike Lee’s Clockers. We’d catch each other in the heights here and there but not often enough. Years later I decided to make my own short film. I sent Elvis the script. He was down. We shot with a few hundred dollars on the Canon Xl (the Excalibur of its time) on the stoops, brownstones and rooftops of Harlem, New York.
The film had some sweet humble success with festivals all things considering. I still don’t know how best to direct actors but Nolasco always had that razor sharp focus when it came to his craft. He made it seem effortless but I knew it came from years of discipline. He’s gone on to work with some of the best and after a few pilots that weren’t picked up, ABC will debut "American Crime," an anthology series based on class, race & gender politics created by Academy Award-winner John Ridley, on March 5th. Fast forward, 2015, there’s nothing like seeing your homeboy’s billboard on Sunset and Vine.
LatinoBuzz: Do you recall that first moment you wanted to be an actor?
Elvis: I can honestly say that...that moment of wanting to be an actor, was a moment that found me. After many early years of dancing, it was not until I arrived at George Washington High School, where I was faced with the options of what I wanted as my extra curriculum studies. Now, the only thing on that list that came close to dancing was "Introduction to Theatre". I said "well maybe I can get to dance in this class"... (Not So). It was my drama teacher Robert Stonebridge who after the first few weeks in his class he saw something in me, that I of course did not see in myself. He challenged me to play the role of Bill Starbuck in the play The Rainmaker. From that moment on, I found my voice, my body felt something magical and new, I felt comfortable, I finally was introduced to a new form of expression, the freedom of expression, the art to play. That was the moment and I never looked back. Thank You Mr. Stonebridge.
LatinoBuzz: What was the most discouraging moment you have ever experienced?
Elvis: That's a good question. I feel that the times I've had experience those moments, it has been when I've allowed outside voices to try and deter me from my path, my passion. Those voices can be very discouraging and destructive to one's journey. Today, I make sure to listen to the voice inside me, the voice of the heart, the voice of my passion, my truth.
LatinoBuzz: Who has been the biggest influence in your life and work?
Elvis: That's a long list, however I'll narrow it down to this many... My mother, my father, who have taught me the importance of hard work in a very dignified way. My aunts and uncles, who have taught me the value of family, music, dance and history. My good friend Robert (Fileo) Lewis, who has taught me the power of unconditional love. My brothers and sisters, especially my younger brother Yanko "Valentin", who is always, and I mean always busy and relevant, I'm telling you that kid don't stop. Work wise...Spike Lee, Darnell Martin, John Ridley...And tons of many, many more...
LatinoBuzz: What's your take on the ‘Whitewashing’ Hollywood has been accused of lately?
Elvis: The Whitewash of Hollywood is not new but the broader conversation that we are having about it is. The fact that people of color are not the only ones involved in the public conversation about it, is new. That's a good thing for everyone involved. Diversity in film and television benefits society as a whole.
LatinoBuzz: You did a one-man show based on Junot Diaz’ Purlizter Prize awarded ‘The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ – you didn’t find that daunting at all? We are talking a very celebrated novel.
Elvis: Oscar Wao? Daunting? Nah! When this project was brought to my attention, I was immediately in and up for the challenge. I, at that time (2010) had already read Junot Diaz' previous works, had read The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao two times, therefore I was of fan, a fan of the book and of Junot’s work. Now, having said that, to sit in a stuffy New York City basement at a theatre on 36th street with the great director Elise Thoron for two whole weeks (lost count of the hours) and together work on the adaptation of this magnificent, extraordinary and compelling Pulitzer prize winning novel...Ok, I think we can now revisit that word... ‘daunting”... Lol. We were able to narrow it down to an hour and 10 minutes and tell the beautiful story of Oscar De Leon and Yunior and audiences loved it. Truly a pleasure to take on this story on stage.
LatinoBuzz: I always have to ask this: Your dream role, dream director, dream co-star.
Elvis: Dream Role? I would say, playing Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Directors? Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Lee Daniels. Co-Star? Will Smith.
Do the social media lovin’!
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1Fozjcx
Twitter: @Eonolasco
Airing times and schedule for American Crime can be found here: http://abc.go.com/shows/american-crime
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
The film had some sweet humble success with festivals all things considering. I still don’t know how best to direct actors but Nolasco always had that razor sharp focus when it came to his craft. He made it seem effortless but I knew it came from years of discipline. He’s gone on to work with some of the best and after a few pilots that weren’t picked up, ABC will debut "American Crime," an anthology series based on class, race & gender politics created by Academy Award-winner John Ridley, on March 5th. Fast forward, 2015, there’s nothing like seeing your homeboy’s billboard on Sunset and Vine.
LatinoBuzz: Do you recall that first moment you wanted to be an actor?
Elvis: I can honestly say that...that moment of wanting to be an actor, was a moment that found me. After many early years of dancing, it was not until I arrived at George Washington High School, where I was faced with the options of what I wanted as my extra curriculum studies. Now, the only thing on that list that came close to dancing was "Introduction to Theatre". I said "well maybe I can get to dance in this class"... (Not So). It was my drama teacher Robert Stonebridge who after the first few weeks in his class he saw something in me, that I of course did not see in myself. He challenged me to play the role of Bill Starbuck in the play The Rainmaker. From that moment on, I found my voice, my body felt something magical and new, I felt comfortable, I finally was introduced to a new form of expression, the freedom of expression, the art to play. That was the moment and I never looked back. Thank You Mr. Stonebridge.
LatinoBuzz: What was the most discouraging moment you have ever experienced?
Elvis: That's a good question. I feel that the times I've had experience those moments, it has been when I've allowed outside voices to try and deter me from my path, my passion. Those voices can be very discouraging and destructive to one's journey. Today, I make sure to listen to the voice inside me, the voice of the heart, the voice of my passion, my truth.
LatinoBuzz: Who has been the biggest influence in your life and work?
Elvis: That's a long list, however I'll narrow it down to this many... My mother, my father, who have taught me the importance of hard work in a very dignified way. My aunts and uncles, who have taught me the value of family, music, dance and history. My good friend Robert (Fileo) Lewis, who has taught me the power of unconditional love. My brothers and sisters, especially my younger brother Yanko "Valentin", who is always, and I mean always busy and relevant, I'm telling you that kid don't stop. Work wise...Spike Lee, Darnell Martin, John Ridley...And tons of many, many more...
LatinoBuzz: What's your take on the ‘Whitewashing’ Hollywood has been accused of lately?
Elvis: The Whitewash of Hollywood is not new but the broader conversation that we are having about it is. The fact that people of color are not the only ones involved in the public conversation about it, is new. That's a good thing for everyone involved. Diversity in film and television benefits society as a whole.
LatinoBuzz: You did a one-man show based on Junot Diaz’ Purlizter Prize awarded ‘The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ – you didn’t find that daunting at all? We are talking a very celebrated novel.
Elvis: Oscar Wao? Daunting? Nah! When this project was brought to my attention, I was immediately in and up for the challenge. I, at that time (2010) had already read Junot Diaz' previous works, had read The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao two times, therefore I was of fan, a fan of the book and of Junot’s work. Now, having said that, to sit in a stuffy New York City basement at a theatre on 36th street with the great director Elise Thoron for two whole weeks (lost count of the hours) and together work on the adaptation of this magnificent, extraordinary and compelling Pulitzer prize winning novel...Ok, I think we can now revisit that word... ‘daunting”... Lol. We were able to narrow it down to an hour and 10 minutes and tell the beautiful story of Oscar De Leon and Yunior and audiences loved it. Truly a pleasure to take on this story on stage.
LatinoBuzz: I always have to ask this: Your dream role, dream director, dream co-star.
Elvis: Dream Role? I would say, playing Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Directors? Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Lee Daniels. Co-Star? Will Smith.
Do the social media lovin’!
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1Fozjcx
Twitter: @Eonolasco
Airing times and schedule for American Crime can be found here: http://abc.go.com/shows/american-crime
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 3/4/2015
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
As the summer has wound down things got even hotter over at Urban Film Festival, which kicks off Sept 17-21st with this year seeing its strongest presence of Latino content to fill the void the New York International Latino Film Festival behind two years ago. So we decided to show the short filmmakers that feature Latino talent in their films some love in a new edition of ‘LatinoBuzz: Shipwrecked’ to see what they cannot live without! They are given a choice of a Film, Book, Companion from a film and an Album to be stranded with (we’ll deal with logistics another time).
Janine Salinas Schoenberg – "Jenny & Lalo"
Film: ‘Amelie’ - Because it's all I ever want to see when I'm having a bad day.
Book: ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ because few books have ever made me both laugh out loud and sob hysterically.
Album: A mix of my husband Adam Schoenberg's music because it both moves and inspires me. Perfect for island solitude!
Companion: Maria Elena from ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ because she would be fun, spontaneous, and crazy enough to help us survive!
Adel L. Morales – "Missing Grandma"
Album: ‘Paid In Full’ by Eric B. & Rakim. I remember running to Moody’s Record Shop on White Plains Road in the Boogie Down the day after I heard Marly Marl drop it on Wbls for the first time. I picked up the 12-inch single of “Eric B. Is President” (the album didn’t drop right away) and was immediately blown away by the art on the label: a giant brown hand coming down from the skies to drop off pyramids on a nearly deserted earth. I knew from the jump that Rakim was bringing a higher level of thought to the hip-hop game. His conversion to the Nations of God’s and Earths gave him a preacher-like authority, as he stood for my positive energy than anyone before him. The man was a pioneer and a lyrical genius. He was using internal rhymes in his songs while cats were still struggling with end rhymes. Eric B’s beats were dope & got insanely better on their follow-up album, “Follow the Leader.” After I ran home and played that track a bunch, I flipped it over to listen to the B-side, which was “My Melody” and I damn near had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe my ears! Did this Mc and DJ, with the hottest track in the streets, put an even hotter track on the B-side? It was like finding a gold nugget in a riverbed. The greatest rap duo ever in my book.
Book: ‘Random Family’ by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is a fascinating true story of two couples set in the Bronx during the mid-1980’s to late-1990’s. Despite the accurate portrayal of the lives and the cycle of poor choices made by uneducated people, there is a tiny glimmer of hope for the next generation. It makes me hope that someone’s child will eventually figure a way out of the messes created by inner city issues, like the high school drop out rate, teen pregnancy, and drug dealing. It describes in great exactness the time period in which I grew up in the Bronx and allows me to appreciate the courses I travelled to navigate those dangerous waters.
Companion : Sancho Panza from ‘Don Quixote.’ He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty literally or figuratively. He is often the voice of truth when his partner would rather hear anything but. But, it is the ability to keep his master safe from enemies, as well as from himself that seals the deal for me.
Film: ‘Adrift in Tokyo’ by Satoshi Miki is one of my favorite films of all time. I would chose this one to take with me if I was stranded on an island because it encompasses some of the things that I find essential to enjoying life on this planet. Miki is able to do this in both dramatic and comedic ways. It is about making connections with the world around us and with the people in it. Spending time getting to know someone often feels like a lost art in today’s faster-paced world. Characters learn to express emotion and not hide behind “manliness.” They atone for sins they’ve committed and attempt to right the wrongs of their past. This film reminds me that happiness can be found in the tiniest moments of pleasure and this film delivers tons of them as the laughs are frequent and come from the silliest places at the weirdest times.
Jess Dela Merced – "Hypebeasts"
Album: ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ had a lot of influence on me growing up and even more so today. I fall into many daydreams listening to it, imagining scenes to match or pretending some of the songs were soundtracks to my life. All her lyrics are starting to ring true as I grow older and the messages are always getting clearer with each listen. It's one of those albums that you can only fully comprehend once you're old and wrinkly.
Book: ‘Catcher in the Rye’ will always be my favorite book. I identify with Holden so much, not sure if that's a good thing, but if I could make any movie in the world, it would be an adaptation of that book. One day I will find the loophole to get to the rights!
Film: ‘Coming to America’ because I need to stay happy on that island and would probably reenact it word for word to keep myself entertained. Also so I can listen to Sexual Chocolate and Soul Glo repeatedly.
Companion: Any character Robin Williams has played. I guess Genie for obvious reasons.
Daniel Pfeffer – "Milk & Honey"
Album: If I was stranded, I'd bring Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme’ for it's timeless effect, so whenever I was losing hope of rescue, I'd put that on to calm my nerves, and let me know it all doesn't matter in the end, because the beauty is within and all around you.
Book: My book would have to be ‘Drown’ by Junot Diaz, because it would let me remember where I'm from, the metro area, and what it feels like to have immigrant parents.
Film: I love so many films, but I think one that is just poetry in motion for me would be Spike Lee's ‘He Got Game’. Whenever I was feeling homesick I'd just watch that. Plus the soundtrack is so good on it from the classical to the hip hop, I could be forever entertained!
Companion: No matter where I am in the world, I'd have to ask Shailene Woodley to come along so we could plan a film together, in case we were ever rescued and brought back to civilization.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo – "Hermanas"
Film: I think it would need to be a good comedy, either "Dr. Strangelove," The Pink Panther" or maybe "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam - something absurd to keep me laughing – oh wait, I guess if I have to choose one then it’s The Pink Panther can’t get enough of Peter Sellers!
Book: 1984 by George Orwell to remind me of what the world I left behind is becoming and to make me appreciate the absence of “big brother,” the internet and all the noise of everyday life.
Album: It’s not easy to choose an album but if I had to choose one it would be one of my favorites from childhood, That’s the Way of the World by Earth Wind and Fire. It will keep me busy dancing and singing the nights away in paradise.
Companion: Ellen Ripley from Alien because with her there I would be sure to eventually get off the island although 1984 will make me want to stay put, oh the dichotomy of life!
Javier Melero De Luca – "Silencio Chino"
Ok, the question puts me in survival mode, not in a curatorial one. I am going to need entertainment to cope with solitude on an island!!
Film: ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ So many IMDb people could not be wrong. It would remind me that a lot of men dream of being on an island anyway. ("The Lives of Others" if the previous was not available).
Companion: Someone hot and resourceful like Lara Croft, I could try and hit on her, maybe even have an offspring.
Book: No doubt, The Lord of the Flies. Deep, insightful, metaphorical and well written. Useful on the island too.
Album: Tough call but I would go for Gently Disturbed by Avishai Cohen. They’re Venezuelan folk music meets Israeli jazz. Just mind-bending. P.S. Can't i just grab mi iPad before crashing on the island???
Geoffrey Guerrero – "J-1"
Album: If I was stranded on a deserted island I would need to have the Buenavista Social club album because their rich Latin rhythms and passionate songs of romance and love would make life more enjoyable and welcoming. And, being stranded in said island, anything with some latin beats and conga drums goes a long way in making life a little easier.
Companion: If I had to choose a companion from the movies it would have to be two companions: Eva Mendez and Gina Rodriguez. After a long day of cutting wood and preparing dinner, there's no other people I would rather have at my side than these 2 gorgeous young ladies. Who knows, maybe I'll get a back massage if I'm lucky.
Book: The one book I must have on this island is Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," because if I'm gonna be stuck on an island I need to know there's a chance I'll survive. Some people say life is all about survival of the fittest and this book is a powerful story of a man stranded on an island for many years and by some miracle he survives and escapes the island in one piece. Which I think we'd all agree would be the ideal situation if stranded on such an island.
Film: "Amores Perros" or "Rabia."
Dennis Shinners – "Barrio Boy"
Film: "Stand By Me", "Titanic", "The Empire Strikes Back" (original release) or the "Alien" box set, just keeping the first two films. They are all about friendship and survival.
Album: I'd love to cram a ton of music onto an iPod, but if not allowed, it would be Prince's "Purple Rain". Why? Well, it's Prince's "Purple Rain"! Probably my favorite album of all time, though it's really tough to narrow down a favorite, let alone a fave Prince record. I'd try to sneak The Cure's "Disintegration", U2's "The Joshua Tree", Biggie's "Ready to Die" and a Jobim record (for sunset listening) by customs too.
Book: I've got way more music than books so I might trade this for a Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Peter Gabriel or Smashing Pumpkins album, but at the risk of sounding cliche or obvious, "The Catcher In the Rye". This way I'll always have a piece of New York City with me.
Companion: Samwise Gamgee from "Lord of the Rings". He's beyond loyal and cooks too, which will come in handy.
Albert Espinosa – "Pitahaya"
Album: ‘Great Escape’ by Blur because each song is incredible.
Film: ‘Good Will Hunting’. The Death of Robin Williams deeply affected me profoundly.
Book: ‘Tuesdays with Morrie.’ This book changed my life.
Companion : Leo of the series ‘Red Band Society’. Red band society, Fox's series is like my life as a child. It’s my autobiography. I am very happy for the coincidence between the release of the series and the festival.
Laila Petrone Peynado – "Your Love"
Album: Anita Baker – ‘Giving You the Best that I Got.’ I love her voice and each song on this album has accompanied me through different stages of my life. If I had been a singer, I would have been honored to have had her voice and career.
Book - Paulo Coelho – ‘Eleven Minutes.’ You're right there with the protagonist. The storyline, the way it is written, compels you to imagine it visually.
Film : ‘Mo' Better Blues.’ It's a movie I can watch over and over again, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and the soundtrack by the amazing Branford Marsalis Quartet and Terence Blanchard is just wonderful.
Companion : Marcello Mastroianni. Marcello was one-of-a-kind actor and I could spend hours talking to him about his experiences working with some of the most influential directors and movies of our time.
Wu Tsang - "You're Dead to Me"
Album : I'm not into albums much, but I'd have several of my favorite underground DJ's, like DJ Total Freedom, Nguzunguzu and Juliana Huxtable create an original mix for me. My island soundtrack would feature lots of traditional Banda music, which I love. I've shot several of my films in Mexico, and Banda always brings me back, like a snapshot of a moment in time. Maybe I could have my mix delivered to the island by drone.
Book: A written retrospective on Rainer Werner Fassbinder would be ideal. I figure if I can't watch movies at least I can read about them and visualize them in my mind, on a loop. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is my favorite. It's considered to be Fassbinder's masterpiece, but I'm always drawn to characters who let their hearts rule their heads. It's that blend of realism and romanticism, loneliness and love that would inspire and buoy me with no other constant but the waves lashing the shore.
Companion: My favorite character is always changing. But this week it's Sarah Linden from ‘The Killing.’ I guess I can relate to her troubled lonely existence. She's super flawed but also so powerful and talented, and deep down has a lot of heart and passion buried under that tough facade. I think we'd enjoy coping with our existentialism and creating our own mythology together on that island.
Jonathon Dillon – "Celluloid Dreams"
Album: Without a doubt, Louis Armstrong "The Definite Collection". I can say without a doubt Louis Armstrong is one of my favorite musicians of all time. When I hear that deep raspy voice I can't help but let all my worries fade away and transport to what life must have been like in the '30s.
Film: People laugh when I say this, but the film I define as one of the most perfectly executed pieces of cinema created is "Back to the Future." Head to tails, frame by frame, everything has purpose and continually pushes the story. Although Zemeckis has gone on to do other projects that he has received more acclaim for (i.e. "Forrest Gump"), I feel like I always watch "Back to the Future" and see something else he did that I didn't catch before that makes me stop and marvel at the film as a whole.
Book: Would graphic novels count? I grew up looking at comic books before I could even read, the visual imagery said it all, and the artwork would be just spell binding. I actually wanted to be a comic book artist as a kid, but then realized I couldn't sketch to save my life. I would lean towards Frank Miller's "Wolverine" or even Alan Moore's "Watchmen." If it had to be a book I'd probably want something on "How to Survive on an Island"....
Character: This is tough, and maybe I'm cheating, but the first feature I did the lead female protagonist was Katherine Parker (played by Rebecca Welsh). She was strong, independent, and above all, a survivor. I've always loved films with strong female characters, hence probably why I fell in love with this one from the moment of reading her on the page. And as they say, you are only as strong as the woman next to you. Honorable mention would obviously go to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"), and just about any of James Cameron's heroines.
Check out these filmmakers and many others at www.urbanworld.org
Written by Juan Caceres , LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
Janine Salinas Schoenberg – "Jenny & Lalo"
Film: ‘Amelie’ - Because it's all I ever want to see when I'm having a bad day.
Book: ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ because few books have ever made me both laugh out loud and sob hysterically.
Album: A mix of my husband Adam Schoenberg's music because it both moves and inspires me. Perfect for island solitude!
Companion: Maria Elena from ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ because she would be fun, spontaneous, and crazy enough to help us survive!
Adel L. Morales – "Missing Grandma"
Album: ‘Paid In Full’ by Eric B. & Rakim. I remember running to Moody’s Record Shop on White Plains Road in the Boogie Down the day after I heard Marly Marl drop it on Wbls for the first time. I picked up the 12-inch single of “Eric B. Is President” (the album didn’t drop right away) and was immediately blown away by the art on the label: a giant brown hand coming down from the skies to drop off pyramids on a nearly deserted earth. I knew from the jump that Rakim was bringing a higher level of thought to the hip-hop game. His conversion to the Nations of God’s and Earths gave him a preacher-like authority, as he stood for my positive energy than anyone before him. The man was a pioneer and a lyrical genius. He was using internal rhymes in his songs while cats were still struggling with end rhymes. Eric B’s beats were dope & got insanely better on their follow-up album, “Follow the Leader.” After I ran home and played that track a bunch, I flipped it over to listen to the B-side, which was “My Melody” and I damn near had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe my ears! Did this Mc and DJ, with the hottest track in the streets, put an even hotter track on the B-side? It was like finding a gold nugget in a riverbed. The greatest rap duo ever in my book.
Book: ‘Random Family’ by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is a fascinating true story of two couples set in the Bronx during the mid-1980’s to late-1990’s. Despite the accurate portrayal of the lives and the cycle of poor choices made by uneducated people, there is a tiny glimmer of hope for the next generation. It makes me hope that someone’s child will eventually figure a way out of the messes created by inner city issues, like the high school drop out rate, teen pregnancy, and drug dealing. It describes in great exactness the time period in which I grew up in the Bronx and allows me to appreciate the courses I travelled to navigate those dangerous waters.
Companion : Sancho Panza from ‘Don Quixote.’ He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty literally or figuratively. He is often the voice of truth when his partner would rather hear anything but. But, it is the ability to keep his master safe from enemies, as well as from himself that seals the deal for me.
Film: ‘Adrift in Tokyo’ by Satoshi Miki is one of my favorite films of all time. I would chose this one to take with me if I was stranded on an island because it encompasses some of the things that I find essential to enjoying life on this planet. Miki is able to do this in both dramatic and comedic ways. It is about making connections with the world around us and with the people in it. Spending time getting to know someone often feels like a lost art in today’s faster-paced world. Characters learn to express emotion and not hide behind “manliness.” They atone for sins they’ve committed and attempt to right the wrongs of their past. This film reminds me that happiness can be found in the tiniest moments of pleasure and this film delivers tons of them as the laughs are frequent and come from the silliest places at the weirdest times.
Jess Dela Merced – "Hypebeasts"
Album: ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ had a lot of influence on me growing up and even more so today. I fall into many daydreams listening to it, imagining scenes to match or pretending some of the songs were soundtracks to my life. All her lyrics are starting to ring true as I grow older and the messages are always getting clearer with each listen. It's one of those albums that you can only fully comprehend once you're old and wrinkly.
Book: ‘Catcher in the Rye’ will always be my favorite book. I identify with Holden so much, not sure if that's a good thing, but if I could make any movie in the world, it would be an adaptation of that book. One day I will find the loophole to get to the rights!
Film: ‘Coming to America’ because I need to stay happy on that island and would probably reenact it word for word to keep myself entertained. Also so I can listen to Sexual Chocolate and Soul Glo repeatedly.
Companion: Any character Robin Williams has played. I guess Genie for obvious reasons.
Daniel Pfeffer – "Milk & Honey"
Album: If I was stranded, I'd bring Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme’ for it's timeless effect, so whenever I was losing hope of rescue, I'd put that on to calm my nerves, and let me know it all doesn't matter in the end, because the beauty is within and all around you.
Book: My book would have to be ‘Drown’ by Junot Diaz, because it would let me remember where I'm from, the metro area, and what it feels like to have immigrant parents.
Film: I love so many films, but I think one that is just poetry in motion for me would be Spike Lee's ‘He Got Game’. Whenever I was feeling homesick I'd just watch that. Plus the soundtrack is so good on it from the classical to the hip hop, I could be forever entertained!
Companion: No matter where I am in the world, I'd have to ask Shailene Woodley to come along so we could plan a film together, in case we were ever rescued and brought back to civilization.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo – "Hermanas"
Film: I think it would need to be a good comedy, either "Dr. Strangelove," The Pink Panther" or maybe "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam - something absurd to keep me laughing – oh wait, I guess if I have to choose one then it’s The Pink Panther can’t get enough of Peter Sellers!
Book: 1984 by George Orwell to remind me of what the world I left behind is becoming and to make me appreciate the absence of “big brother,” the internet and all the noise of everyday life.
Album: It’s not easy to choose an album but if I had to choose one it would be one of my favorites from childhood, That’s the Way of the World by Earth Wind and Fire. It will keep me busy dancing and singing the nights away in paradise.
Companion: Ellen Ripley from Alien because with her there I would be sure to eventually get off the island although 1984 will make me want to stay put, oh the dichotomy of life!
Javier Melero De Luca – "Silencio Chino"
Ok, the question puts me in survival mode, not in a curatorial one. I am going to need entertainment to cope with solitude on an island!!
Film: ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ So many IMDb people could not be wrong. It would remind me that a lot of men dream of being on an island anyway. ("The Lives of Others" if the previous was not available).
Companion: Someone hot and resourceful like Lara Croft, I could try and hit on her, maybe even have an offspring.
Book: No doubt, The Lord of the Flies. Deep, insightful, metaphorical and well written. Useful on the island too.
Album: Tough call but I would go for Gently Disturbed by Avishai Cohen. They’re Venezuelan folk music meets Israeli jazz. Just mind-bending. P.S. Can't i just grab mi iPad before crashing on the island???
Geoffrey Guerrero – "J-1"
Album: If I was stranded on a deserted island I would need to have the Buenavista Social club album because their rich Latin rhythms and passionate songs of romance and love would make life more enjoyable and welcoming. And, being stranded in said island, anything with some latin beats and conga drums goes a long way in making life a little easier.
Companion: If I had to choose a companion from the movies it would have to be two companions: Eva Mendez and Gina Rodriguez. After a long day of cutting wood and preparing dinner, there's no other people I would rather have at my side than these 2 gorgeous young ladies. Who knows, maybe I'll get a back massage if I'm lucky.
Book: The one book I must have on this island is Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," because if I'm gonna be stuck on an island I need to know there's a chance I'll survive. Some people say life is all about survival of the fittest and this book is a powerful story of a man stranded on an island for many years and by some miracle he survives and escapes the island in one piece. Which I think we'd all agree would be the ideal situation if stranded on such an island.
Film: "Amores Perros" or "Rabia."
Dennis Shinners – "Barrio Boy"
Film: "Stand By Me", "Titanic", "The Empire Strikes Back" (original release) or the "Alien" box set, just keeping the first two films. They are all about friendship and survival.
Album: I'd love to cram a ton of music onto an iPod, but if not allowed, it would be Prince's "Purple Rain". Why? Well, it's Prince's "Purple Rain"! Probably my favorite album of all time, though it's really tough to narrow down a favorite, let alone a fave Prince record. I'd try to sneak The Cure's "Disintegration", U2's "The Joshua Tree", Biggie's "Ready to Die" and a Jobim record (for sunset listening) by customs too.
Book: I've got way more music than books so I might trade this for a Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Peter Gabriel or Smashing Pumpkins album, but at the risk of sounding cliche or obvious, "The Catcher In the Rye". This way I'll always have a piece of New York City with me.
Companion: Samwise Gamgee from "Lord of the Rings". He's beyond loyal and cooks too, which will come in handy.
Albert Espinosa – "Pitahaya"
Album: ‘Great Escape’ by Blur because each song is incredible.
Film: ‘Good Will Hunting’. The Death of Robin Williams deeply affected me profoundly.
Book: ‘Tuesdays with Morrie.’ This book changed my life.
Companion : Leo of the series ‘Red Band Society’. Red band society, Fox's series is like my life as a child. It’s my autobiography. I am very happy for the coincidence between the release of the series and the festival.
Laila Petrone Peynado – "Your Love"
Album: Anita Baker – ‘Giving You the Best that I Got.’ I love her voice and each song on this album has accompanied me through different stages of my life. If I had been a singer, I would have been honored to have had her voice and career.
Book - Paulo Coelho – ‘Eleven Minutes.’ You're right there with the protagonist. The storyline, the way it is written, compels you to imagine it visually.
Film : ‘Mo' Better Blues.’ It's a movie I can watch over and over again, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and the soundtrack by the amazing Branford Marsalis Quartet and Terence Blanchard is just wonderful.
Companion : Marcello Mastroianni. Marcello was one-of-a-kind actor and I could spend hours talking to him about his experiences working with some of the most influential directors and movies of our time.
Wu Tsang - "You're Dead to Me"
Album : I'm not into albums much, but I'd have several of my favorite underground DJ's, like DJ Total Freedom, Nguzunguzu and Juliana Huxtable create an original mix for me. My island soundtrack would feature lots of traditional Banda music, which I love. I've shot several of my films in Mexico, and Banda always brings me back, like a snapshot of a moment in time. Maybe I could have my mix delivered to the island by drone.
Book: A written retrospective on Rainer Werner Fassbinder would be ideal. I figure if I can't watch movies at least I can read about them and visualize them in my mind, on a loop. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is my favorite. It's considered to be Fassbinder's masterpiece, but I'm always drawn to characters who let their hearts rule their heads. It's that blend of realism and romanticism, loneliness and love that would inspire and buoy me with no other constant but the waves lashing the shore.
Companion: My favorite character is always changing. But this week it's Sarah Linden from ‘The Killing.’ I guess I can relate to her troubled lonely existence. She's super flawed but also so powerful and talented, and deep down has a lot of heart and passion buried under that tough facade. I think we'd enjoy coping with our existentialism and creating our own mythology together on that island.
Jonathon Dillon – "Celluloid Dreams"
Album: Without a doubt, Louis Armstrong "The Definite Collection". I can say without a doubt Louis Armstrong is one of my favorite musicians of all time. When I hear that deep raspy voice I can't help but let all my worries fade away and transport to what life must have been like in the '30s.
Film: People laugh when I say this, but the film I define as one of the most perfectly executed pieces of cinema created is "Back to the Future." Head to tails, frame by frame, everything has purpose and continually pushes the story. Although Zemeckis has gone on to do other projects that he has received more acclaim for (i.e. "Forrest Gump"), I feel like I always watch "Back to the Future" and see something else he did that I didn't catch before that makes me stop and marvel at the film as a whole.
Book: Would graphic novels count? I grew up looking at comic books before I could even read, the visual imagery said it all, and the artwork would be just spell binding. I actually wanted to be a comic book artist as a kid, but then realized I couldn't sketch to save my life. I would lean towards Frank Miller's "Wolverine" or even Alan Moore's "Watchmen." If it had to be a book I'd probably want something on "How to Survive on an Island"....
Character: This is tough, and maybe I'm cheating, but the first feature I did the lead female protagonist was Katherine Parker (played by Rebecca Welsh). She was strong, independent, and above all, a survivor. I've always loved films with strong female characters, hence probably why I fell in love with this one from the moment of reading her on the page. And as they say, you are only as strong as the woman next to you. Honorable mention would obviously go to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"), and just about any of James Cameron's heroines.
Check out these filmmakers and many others at www.urbanworld.org
Written by Juan Caceres , LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 9/10/2014
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
Michael Hastings, the BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone journalist who was killed in a June car accident, will receive the Norman Mailer Award for Emerging Journalist from the Norman Mailer Center, the center announced on Thursday. Maya Angelou and Junot Diaz also will be honored at the center’s annual benefit on Oct. 17. Also read: Michael Hastings’ Family Chides Media for Inaccuracies, Guards His Legacy Diaz, whose “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” won the 2008 Pultizer for fiction, will receive the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing. Angelou will be given the Mailer Lifetime Achievement award. Rolling Stone editor Will Dana will present.
- 9/26/2013
- by Sara Morrison
- The Wrap
Author credits Star Trek, 'over-active imagination' as a child and science fiction as springs for bestselling book
Pulitzer prize-winning author Junot Díaz has laid bare the inspirations behind parts of his celebrated 2008 novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in a series of annotations to the text posted on a social media site that lets rap, rock and poetry fans share their passions.
The site, Rapgenius.com, taps into fans' enduring thirst for knowledge about the inspirations of their creative heroes, and enables users to post song lyrics, poems or passages of prose and to "collaboratively annotate" them.
Díaz's prize-winning novel follows the life of Oscar de León, a boy growing up as a Dominican immigrant in New Jersey who is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy novels, and is also falling in love. Diaz took to Rapgenius.com to share the backstory to one of the book's footnotes,...
Pulitzer prize-winning author Junot Díaz has laid bare the inspirations behind parts of his celebrated 2008 novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in a series of annotations to the text posted on a social media site that lets rap, rock and poetry fans share their passions.
The site, Rapgenius.com, taps into fans' enduring thirst for knowledge about the inspirations of their creative heroes, and enables users to post song lyrics, poems or passages of prose and to "collaboratively annotate" them.
Díaz's prize-winning novel follows the life of Oscar de León, a boy growing up as a Dominican immigrant in New Jersey who is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy novels, and is also falling in love. Diaz took to Rapgenius.com to share the backstory to one of the book's footnotes,...
- 7/25/2013
- by Liz Bury
- The Guardian - Film News
Close to 100 New York-based Latino film & media arts professionals attended the New York Latino Film Summit on Friday evening, June 21, evening and all day Saturday June 22, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, to engage in an open dialogue concerning the current and future state of U.S. Latinos in multimedia. By reevaluating and adopting comprehensive strategies that address critical issues, their professional insight and dedication proved to be an invaluable response to build a community to serve us all.
The purported trillion dollar purchasing power of Latinos in the United States bestowing a tremendous power as consumers of media has not yet increased the number of Latino cultural producers in this country. There are not yet enough Latino film directors, screenwriters, critical writers, programmers, and funders to create a consistent flow of product to a developed audience looking for a “Latino” film experience.
Simultaneously, independent filmmaking in Latin America is reaching new heights. The amount of projects coming out of the region continues to increase and the films are receiving international acclaim at top tier film festivals. So, what is going on?
The Summit culminated with a number of concrete initiatives, action points that to be implemented to advocate for a greater understanding of Latino cultural and geographical diversity, the richesse of stories, and a determination not to be defined and limited by labels.
Multimedia makers
The word Multimedia is used to include advertising, television, feature films, webisodes, and even literature, comic books, cartoons, animation and any other sort of media, new or old.
Beginning with Friday evening’s introduction and kick-off, a freely associated discussion of the meaning of “Latino” began a stimulating give-and-take amongst the participants aimed at pinpointing the solutions to the obstacles that stand in the way of creating meaningful and innovative Latino media content and a vibrant U.S.-based Latino film community.
The roundtables on the following day attempted to tackle such questions as:
Who has access to a film career? How can we democratize access to filmmaking? What stories are we telling? Are we limiting the stories Latinos can tell? Who is documenting our cinema? How are film festivals programming our films? How can we create more critical content on Latino films and filmmakers?
The spirit of the meeting reminded me of that of the Art House Convergence (now in its 6th year) or even of the founding of Ifp East and West so many years ago. The enthusiasm and intelligence shared among all the participants energized all of us.
What follows are my notes and sometimes my own thoughts as a well organized process took place to cull out the five major issues needed in order to develop further a strong, vibrant Latino multimedia community.
New York Latino Film Summit: Changing Our Paradigms
Day 1: Friday, June 21, 6pm – 8pm
Summer Solstice today marks a new beginning.
Today, what defines Latinidad exceeds the traditional categories imposed on the Latino identity. The opening session asked participants to question how we define ourselves, how we are defined by others, who validates our authenticity, and what it means to appropriate the label.
The Amphitheater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center was filled to capacity. The audience of writers, actors, directors, producers, festival programmers, executives, and interested individuals bandied about the words heritage, language, community, diversity, the need to identify while still being “American”, the need not to identify to maintain one’s own unique individuality, the understanding among selves, the diversity among selves, even the Jewish part of Latino spoke up. Junot Diaz, (Omg! My idol! If you have not yet read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, then run to your nearest bookstore or go to Amazon now and order it! Its depiction of the Dominican Republic under Trujillo and the hero’s journey well deserves its Pulitzer and Booker Prizes!) standing in the back of the amphitheater, spoke of the need to identify in Latino solidarity, in spite of all the differences, in order to be heard by the rest of the world. Latino is a general strategic identity. The outside world recognizes it. It in no way negates all the other identities each one of us carries within us.
Other ideas coming out of the discussion:
• Latino serves as a bridge to filmmaking. It does not follow the Hollywood model at all.
• There is a duality of Latino: one’s own self-perception and others’ view of Latino.
• How can we rethink the Latino identity to rebuild the old into a new system?
• How to increase the Latino without appearing un-American?
• How do we move forward?
• There is a lack of community, even in the community.
Day 2: Saturday, June 22, 10:30am - 8pm
On rising this morning—at 4am, -- I am excited, anticipating today, and thinking about last night, I came up with my own thoughts and feelings on the issue. I bring the Pov of an outsider, and a “Latino manquee”, so to speak, as a once Spanish Jew who, when expelled from Spain in 1492, did not go to the New World, but instead went over the Pyrenees, “with nothing but the clothes on our back”, to France whence we were invited to the Duchy of Lithuania, and where we spent the next 400 years becoming “Ashkenazic” Jews. Speaking as an outsider I would define Latino as “everyone originating some generations ago (more or less with Hispanic last names) in the New World in areas not first colonized by the Anglos, French, or Germans, but by the Spanish and Portuguese, and not totally indigenous”
Access and Accessibility 10:30am - 12pm
Who has access to a film career?
By teaching reading and writing via filmmaking as storytelling to the young, both in school and out of school, we will raise the next generation of filmmakers and multimedia makers. Literacy began and still begins with pictures. Every child knows about moving pictures and wants to make him/her self part of them. Our form of alienation today is that we see ourselves as actors in stories not our own or we retreat into realities we create for ourselves, thinking that they are our private domain. We need to share the stories to become “real” to ourselves and to the rest of the world. Silence is not golden; it’s suicide.
Today access comes with the simplest digital toy: a mobile phone, iPad or simple point and shoot camera. Anyone can make a film.
How can the audience get access to the work of Latino media makers?
By creating a Latino circuit of festivals, distributors and exhibitors who share information, marketing ideas, existing materials, prints and advertising, dubbed and subtitled soundtracks, press coverage and tools for community outreach.Creating a sustainable circuit of branding festivals with films or for films, distribution, exhibition, press.Placing product in movies, at events, in advertising...Corona beer, Chilean and Argentinian wine, Dominos Pizza, Contadina, Coca Cola, Univision, Televisa, Panama hats, Galapagos conservation, Easter Islands tourism, Earthquakes preparedness, quinoa...
Funding and Training: Is needed not only for filmmaking, but for also distribution and international licensing and sales. The discussion created a list of options, under the headings of challenges.
Public Funding
What are the strengths: PBS, Itvs, Ford Foundation, Nea, Latino Public Broadcasting grant money one does not have to pay back and they bestow a seal of approval upon the project.
What are the challenges: They are restricted by the fiscal year, by who has access, and by their lack of lack of outreach into the communities.
Private Funding
· Global film initiative
· Wealthy individuals
· Equity funds
Training and networks of solidarity training
Class and access, formal schooling vs. other forms of training.
Professional networking
Distribution
Strengths:
· Can raise monies
· Access
· Money
· The deal
· Legitimizes
Challenges:
· Expensive
· Lack of screens
· Only 3% of films get into theaters
· 1% of programming in theaters is split among U.S. indies, docs and features and foreign language films.
· Lack of organizational cohesiveness
· Highly trend given.
. I think the model of Affrm (for African American theatrical film distribution via the African American film festivals) plus using Emerging Pictures to reach non-theatrical venues in museums, libraries and other 4walled spaces, plus art house theaters would be viable especially if there were a “body of work” rather than just a single film.
· Non-theatrical circuit needs an organizational strategy of the Latino film community.
· Additional revenue streams, audience development, greater visibility are needed.
· Shorts have great interest at universities.
· Parity of funding, exposure on tv, etc, If Latino is 13% , then funding, distribution, and training should be 13%.
And not parenthetically, 50% of that should go to Latinas (gender parity).
Storytelling and Narratives
What stories are we telling? Are we pushing the envelope? Are we limited by our own narratives? Are we limiting the stories Latinos versus Latin Americans can tell?
• Latin American films have greater interest in Europe than Latino stories. And they are very different from each other.
• What about this oft cited “universality of stories? Question the formulas which labs and classes provide. Learn the rules and then bend them, like learning the dance steps, beats and rhythms in order to create new variations of the themes which are, nevertheless, universal.
• Alex Rivera, filmmaker who did Sleep Dealer noted that he changed genre to tell a typical border-crossing story and made it science fiction.
• Film is a collaborative art, there is a need for people to read scripts, Proofing your scripts! Have someone else proof them!
• There seems to be a lack of creativity in scripts. Self doubt creates a lack of creativity.
• There is a need for mentoring, for a salon and for workshops for scriptwriting particularly for Latino screenwriting labs and social networking, a workshop where each person gets 10 minutes to try out his\her project.
There is a lack of critical writing about Latino films. The only consistent writing is LatinoBuzz, Chicana from Chicago, about.com, NBC Latino, Huffington Post.
There is a lack of government funding of films except for the ever dwindling Nea. However, discussions are now underway with the government regarding using Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other crowdfunding platforms to accept investments as well as gifts.
Validation and Audience Development
Who is validating our cinema? Who is documenting our cinema? How are we programming our films and directors? How can we create more critical content on the films and filmmakers? How do we engage audiences in a more effective way?
There is a lack of knowledge of U.S.-Latino films.
The closest thing to a catalog of U.S.-Latino films was created by Lava.
Latin American Video Archives (Lava) opened in the late 80s and closed in 2006 for lack of funding. It contained 3,000 tapes. It created a database, and was set to go online as a searchable database of Latin American and Latino cinema. Listing over 9,000 titles produced by and about Latin Americans and Latinos, it became a distributor for the educational and consumer markets and for film festivals. The physical archive still exists as does the database on a hard disk drive.
FilmFinders (the company I founded in 1988) also tracked U.S.-Latino, Latino and every other film in the international film market from 1988 to 2009, totaling 60,000 titles with details including rights sold.
Latino film festivals also have databases of films and of participants from the public as well as publicists for Latino films. Those festival databases and those festivals’ skills in outreach could be used throughout the year if they would see the value in this for their own festivals.
Out of this comes the idea to create a central database with critical information.
The educational and non-theatrical market is an unknown market. Finding the academic department where the film belongs is somewhat complicated. A film could show on campus and bring in $3,000. A school or university could also buy the film on dvd for $300. The trick is in finding the proper professor to pitch, preferably one who would bring in the filmmaker as well to speak of the experience. Moreover, professors will write about the film too and so the life of the film can continue to be a vital part of the study program or the body of literature cited in the course of study. The professors might be in Latin American studies, anthropology, political science, or any other departments at a university or college.
An example in academia of interest in Latino film which might be useful in going forward in educational distribution is the Film Festival Research Network (Ffrn). Kansas based member Tamara L. Falicov, Associate Professor/Department Chair of the Department of Film and Media Studies at the
University of Kansas was quoted in a LatinoBuzz blog dealing with Latino production from the Spanish point of view. She can be reached at tfalicov [at] Ku.edu, 785-864-1353
Plenary Session Wrap Up
1st session:
Felipe Tewes, HBO Latino, reiterated Junot Diaz's advice to embrace general identity for strategic purposes without diluting individual identities.
Action
Create community and spaces for cross-pollination.Create a monthly salon for sharing...Create a resource directory/database.Create a film collaborative.Create a cinema club.
2nd Session: Storytelling
Lack of mentorship and developmentCreate an umbrella encompassing a salon, with biweekly or monthly script reading.Create a Latino fund.Create Facebook Page...or Linked InCreate co-production event.
3rd Session: Distribution and funding bodies are broken.
Look at models of Emerging Pictures, Affrm, and create a festival-distribution-exhibitor circuit
Look at educational distribution and other forms of non-theatrical distribution to universities, colleges, libraries, special interest groups.
4th Session: Validation
Lack of knowledge of U.S. -Latino films
Lack of critical writing
LobbyingArchivingMicro cinemaNetworkingWriting networking...cinema tropical and Latino buzzLatino film history/information
In one year this group meeting will reconvene to see what has developed. Meanwhile, here are the points of action with volunteers committing to work on them. I am on the database committee.
Call to Action
For those of you who were not able to attend, the participants of the last session signed up for the action groups, If you would like to sign up, please email and name which group(s) you choose to join. Send your email to: newyorklatinofilmsummit [At] gmail.com.
The committees are:
- Organizing Committee. The group in charge of general coordination and communication, as well as planning future Summit events.
- Information Committee. The group that will coordinate databases and communication in social media, as well as creating fluid networks of information inside and outside the group.
- Salons. This group will organize Professional events (please choose one from below)
a) Screenwriters
b) Producers
c) Work-in-progress screenings
d) Non-Theatrical/ Educational Distribution
- Workshops. Organizing specific workshops for the professional advancement of the group.
- Mentorships. Creating mentorship programs both for the members of the group, as well as for younger generations.
- Lobby/Advocacy/Activism. Creating strategies for the advancement and visibility of the professional and social causes of the group.
- Microcinema/Cine-Club. Creating a on-going cine-club with the hopes of documenting and presenting the history of Latino Cinema in the U.S., and serving as a curatorial platform for the exhibition of Latino works.
The summit organizing committee consists of: Andrea Betanzos (Assistant Director, Cinema Tropical), Carlos A. Gutiérrez (Co-founder and Director, Cinema Tropical), Paula Heredia (director/editor, Heredia Pictures), and Lucila Moctezuma (Production Assistance Program Manager, Women Make Movies.
The purported trillion dollar purchasing power of Latinos in the United States bestowing a tremendous power as consumers of media has not yet increased the number of Latino cultural producers in this country. There are not yet enough Latino film directors, screenwriters, critical writers, programmers, and funders to create a consistent flow of product to a developed audience looking for a “Latino” film experience.
Simultaneously, independent filmmaking in Latin America is reaching new heights. The amount of projects coming out of the region continues to increase and the films are receiving international acclaim at top tier film festivals. So, what is going on?
The Summit culminated with a number of concrete initiatives, action points that to be implemented to advocate for a greater understanding of Latino cultural and geographical diversity, the richesse of stories, and a determination not to be defined and limited by labels.
Multimedia makers
The word Multimedia is used to include advertising, television, feature films, webisodes, and even literature, comic books, cartoons, animation and any other sort of media, new or old.
Beginning with Friday evening’s introduction and kick-off, a freely associated discussion of the meaning of “Latino” began a stimulating give-and-take amongst the participants aimed at pinpointing the solutions to the obstacles that stand in the way of creating meaningful and innovative Latino media content and a vibrant U.S.-based Latino film community.
The roundtables on the following day attempted to tackle such questions as:
Who has access to a film career? How can we democratize access to filmmaking? What stories are we telling? Are we limiting the stories Latinos can tell? Who is documenting our cinema? How are film festivals programming our films? How can we create more critical content on Latino films and filmmakers?
The spirit of the meeting reminded me of that of the Art House Convergence (now in its 6th year) or even of the founding of Ifp East and West so many years ago. The enthusiasm and intelligence shared among all the participants energized all of us.
What follows are my notes and sometimes my own thoughts as a well organized process took place to cull out the five major issues needed in order to develop further a strong, vibrant Latino multimedia community.
New York Latino Film Summit: Changing Our Paradigms
Day 1: Friday, June 21, 6pm – 8pm
Summer Solstice today marks a new beginning.
Today, what defines Latinidad exceeds the traditional categories imposed on the Latino identity. The opening session asked participants to question how we define ourselves, how we are defined by others, who validates our authenticity, and what it means to appropriate the label.
The Amphitheater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center was filled to capacity. The audience of writers, actors, directors, producers, festival programmers, executives, and interested individuals bandied about the words heritage, language, community, diversity, the need to identify while still being “American”, the need not to identify to maintain one’s own unique individuality, the understanding among selves, the diversity among selves, even the Jewish part of Latino spoke up. Junot Diaz, (Omg! My idol! If you have not yet read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, then run to your nearest bookstore or go to Amazon now and order it! Its depiction of the Dominican Republic under Trujillo and the hero’s journey well deserves its Pulitzer and Booker Prizes!) standing in the back of the amphitheater, spoke of the need to identify in Latino solidarity, in spite of all the differences, in order to be heard by the rest of the world. Latino is a general strategic identity. The outside world recognizes it. It in no way negates all the other identities each one of us carries within us.
Other ideas coming out of the discussion:
• Latino serves as a bridge to filmmaking. It does not follow the Hollywood model at all.
• There is a duality of Latino: one’s own self-perception and others’ view of Latino.
• How can we rethink the Latino identity to rebuild the old into a new system?
• How to increase the Latino without appearing un-American?
• How do we move forward?
• There is a lack of community, even in the community.
Day 2: Saturday, June 22, 10:30am - 8pm
On rising this morning—at 4am, -- I am excited, anticipating today, and thinking about last night, I came up with my own thoughts and feelings on the issue. I bring the Pov of an outsider, and a “Latino manquee”, so to speak, as a once Spanish Jew who, when expelled from Spain in 1492, did not go to the New World, but instead went over the Pyrenees, “with nothing but the clothes on our back”, to France whence we were invited to the Duchy of Lithuania, and where we spent the next 400 years becoming “Ashkenazic” Jews. Speaking as an outsider I would define Latino as “everyone originating some generations ago (more or less with Hispanic last names) in the New World in areas not first colonized by the Anglos, French, or Germans, but by the Spanish and Portuguese, and not totally indigenous”
Access and Accessibility 10:30am - 12pm
Who has access to a film career?
By teaching reading and writing via filmmaking as storytelling to the young, both in school and out of school, we will raise the next generation of filmmakers and multimedia makers. Literacy began and still begins with pictures. Every child knows about moving pictures and wants to make him/her self part of them. Our form of alienation today is that we see ourselves as actors in stories not our own or we retreat into realities we create for ourselves, thinking that they are our private domain. We need to share the stories to become “real” to ourselves and to the rest of the world. Silence is not golden; it’s suicide.
Today access comes with the simplest digital toy: a mobile phone, iPad or simple point and shoot camera. Anyone can make a film.
How can the audience get access to the work of Latino media makers?
By creating a Latino circuit of festivals, distributors and exhibitors who share information, marketing ideas, existing materials, prints and advertising, dubbed and subtitled soundtracks, press coverage and tools for community outreach.Creating a sustainable circuit of branding festivals with films or for films, distribution, exhibition, press.Placing product in movies, at events, in advertising...Corona beer, Chilean and Argentinian wine, Dominos Pizza, Contadina, Coca Cola, Univision, Televisa, Panama hats, Galapagos conservation, Easter Islands tourism, Earthquakes preparedness, quinoa...
Funding and Training: Is needed not only for filmmaking, but for also distribution and international licensing and sales. The discussion created a list of options, under the headings of challenges.
Public Funding
What are the strengths: PBS, Itvs, Ford Foundation, Nea, Latino Public Broadcasting grant money one does not have to pay back and they bestow a seal of approval upon the project.
What are the challenges: They are restricted by the fiscal year, by who has access, and by their lack of lack of outreach into the communities.
Private Funding
· Global film initiative
· Wealthy individuals
· Equity funds
Training and networks of solidarity training
Class and access, formal schooling vs. other forms of training.
Professional networking
Distribution
Strengths:
· Can raise monies
· Access
· Money
· The deal
· Legitimizes
Challenges:
· Expensive
· Lack of screens
· Only 3% of films get into theaters
· 1% of programming in theaters is split among U.S. indies, docs and features and foreign language films.
· Lack of organizational cohesiveness
· Highly trend given.
. I think the model of Affrm (for African American theatrical film distribution via the African American film festivals) plus using Emerging Pictures to reach non-theatrical venues in museums, libraries and other 4walled spaces, plus art house theaters would be viable especially if there were a “body of work” rather than just a single film.
· Non-theatrical circuit needs an organizational strategy of the Latino film community.
· Additional revenue streams, audience development, greater visibility are needed.
· Shorts have great interest at universities.
· Parity of funding, exposure on tv, etc, If Latino is 13% , then funding, distribution, and training should be 13%.
And not parenthetically, 50% of that should go to Latinas (gender parity).
Storytelling and Narratives
What stories are we telling? Are we pushing the envelope? Are we limited by our own narratives? Are we limiting the stories Latinos versus Latin Americans can tell?
• Latin American films have greater interest in Europe than Latino stories. And they are very different from each other.
• What about this oft cited “universality of stories? Question the formulas which labs and classes provide. Learn the rules and then bend them, like learning the dance steps, beats and rhythms in order to create new variations of the themes which are, nevertheless, universal.
• Alex Rivera, filmmaker who did Sleep Dealer noted that he changed genre to tell a typical border-crossing story and made it science fiction.
• Film is a collaborative art, there is a need for people to read scripts, Proofing your scripts! Have someone else proof them!
• There seems to be a lack of creativity in scripts. Self doubt creates a lack of creativity.
• There is a need for mentoring, for a salon and for workshops for scriptwriting particularly for Latino screenwriting labs and social networking, a workshop where each person gets 10 minutes to try out his\her project.
There is a lack of critical writing about Latino films. The only consistent writing is LatinoBuzz, Chicana from Chicago, about.com, NBC Latino, Huffington Post.
There is a lack of government funding of films except for the ever dwindling Nea. However, discussions are now underway with the government regarding using Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other crowdfunding platforms to accept investments as well as gifts.
Validation and Audience Development
Who is validating our cinema? Who is documenting our cinema? How are we programming our films and directors? How can we create more critical content on the films and filmmakers? How do we engage audiences in a more effective way?
There is a lack of knowledge of U.S.-Latino films.
The closest thing to a catalog of U.S.-Latino films was created by Lava.
Latin American Video Archives (Lava) opened in the late 80s and closed in 2006 for lack of funding. It contained 3,000 tapes. It created a database, and was set to go online as a searchable database of Latin American and Latino cinema. Listing over 9,000 titles produced by and about Latin Americans and Latinos, it became a distributor for the educational and consumer markets and for film festivals. The physical archive still exists as does the database on a hard disk drive.
FilmFinders (the company I founded in 1988) also tracked U.S.-Latino, Latino and every other film in the international film market from 1988 to 2009, totaling 60,000 titles with details including rights sold.
Latino film festivals also have databases of films and of participants from the public as well as publicists for Latino films. Those festival databases and those festivals’ skills in outreach could be used throughout the year if they would see the value in this for their own festivals.
Out of this comes the idea to create a central database with critical information.
The educational and non-theatrical market is an unknown market. Finding the academic department where the film belongs is somewhat complicated. A film could show on campus and bring in $3,000. A school or university could also buy the film on dvd for $300. The trick is in finding the proper professor to pitch, preferably one who would bring in the filmmaker as well to speak of the experience. Moreover, professors will write about the film too and so the life of the film can continue to be a vital part of the study program or the body of literature cited in the course of study. The professors might be in Latin American studies, anthropology, political science, or any other departments at a university or college.
An example in academia of interest in Latino film which might be useful in going forward in educational distribution is the Film Festival Research Network (Ffrn). Kansas based member Tamara L. Falicov, Associate Professor/Department Chair of the Department of Film and Media Studies at the
University of Kansas was quoted in a LatinoBuzz blog dealing with Latino production from the Spanish point of view. She can be reached at tfalicov [at] Ku.edu, 785-864-1353
Plenary Session Wrap Up
1st session:
Felipe Tewes, HBO Latino, reiterated Junot Diaz's advice to embrace general identity for strategic purposes without diluting individual identities.
Action
Create community and spaces for cross-pollination.Create a monthly salon for sharing...Create a resource directory/database.Create a film collaborative.Create a cinema club.
2nd Session: Storytelling
Lack of mentorship and developmentCreate an umbrella encompassing a salon, with biweekly or monthly script reading.Create a Latino fund.Create Facebook Page...or Linked InCreate co-production event.
3rd Session: Distribution and funding bodies are broken.
Look at models of Emerging Pictures, Affrm, and create a festival-distribution-exhibitor circuit
Look at educational distribution and other forms of non-theatrical distribution to universities, colleges, libraries, special interest groups.
4th Session: Validation
Lack of knowledge of U.S. -Latino films
Lack of critical writing
LobbyingArchivingMicro cinemaNetworkingWriting networking...cinema tropical and Latino buzzLatino film history/information
In one year this group meeting will reconvene to see what has developed. Meanwhile, here are the points of action with volunteers committing to work on them. I am on the database committee.
Call to Action
For those of you who were not able to attend, the participants of the last session signed up for the action groups, If you would like to sign up, please email and name which group(s) you choose to join. Send your email to: newyorklatinofilmsummit [At] gmail.com.
The committees are:
- Organizing Committee. The group in charge of general coordination and communication, as well as planning future Summit events.
- Information Committee. The group that will coordinate databases and communication in social media, as well as creating fluid networks of information inside and outside the group.
- Salons. This group will organize Professional events (please choose one from below)
a) Screenwriters
b) Producers
c) Work-in-progress screenings
d) Non-Theatrical/ Educational Distribution
- Workshops. Organizing specific workshops for the professional advancement of the group.
- Mentorships. Creating mentorship programs both for the members of the group, as well as for younger generations.
- Lobby/Advocacy/Activism. Creating strategies for the advancement and visibility of the professional and social causes of the group.
- Microcinema/Cine-Club. Creating a on-going cine-club with the hopes of documenting and presenting the history of Latino Cinema in the U.S., and serving as a curatorial platform for the exhibition of Latino works.
The summit organizing committee consists of: Andrea Betanzos (Assistant Director, Cinema Tropical), Carlos A. Gutiérrez (Co-founder and Director, Cinema Tropical), Paula Heredia (director/editor, Heredia Pictures), and Lucila Moctezuma (Production Assistance Program Manager, Women Make Movies.
- 7/5/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
by Brett White
Collider has posted a new, lengthy interview with Joss Whedon from this week's Saturn Awards (where "Avengers" picked up a few trophies). The Marvel mastermind talks about pretty much everything you would want him to talk about, from "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to "Avengers 2." Most notably, he touches on a subject that I just wrote about yesterday. Female superheroes. And how we need more of them on the big screen.
When asked if more heroic women were heading to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joss responded with a resounding "Yes." See? All caps means resounding!
"I do try to make sure that the women in the movies aren't window dressing, that they have something to say and something to do," says Whedon. "And I've got some people in mind. Marvel's got some great characters, so why not draw on them." Joss is, of course,...
Collider has posted a new, lengthy interview with Joss Whedon from this week's Saturn Awards (where "Avengers" picked up a few trophies). The Marvel mastermind talks about pretty much everything you would want him to talk about, from "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to "Avengers 2." Most notably, he touches on a subject that I just wrote about yesterday. Female superheroes. And how we need more of them on the big screen.
When asked if more heroic women were heading to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joss responded with a resounding "Yes." See? All caps means resounding!
"I do try to make sure that the women in the movies aren't window dressing, that they have something to say and something to do," says Whedon. "And I've got some people in mind. Marvel's got some great characters, so why not draw on them." Joss is, of course,...
- 6/28/2013
- by Splash Page Team
- MTV Splash Page
Joss Whedon wants to see more female superheroes in film.
The Avengers writer-director has complained about Hollywood's refusal to centre its movies around powerful women.
"Toymakers will tell you they won't sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, 'You see?' It can't be done'," he told The Daily Beast.
"It's stupid, and I'm hoping The Hunger Games will lead to a paradigm shift. It's frustrating to me that I don't see anybody developing one of these movies. It actually pisses me off.
"My daughter watched The Avengers and was like, 'My favourite characters were the Black Widow and Maria Hill', and I thought, 'Yeah, of course they were'.
"I read a beautiful thing Junot Diaz wrote, 'If you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves'."
Whedon...
The Avengers writer-director has complained about Hollywood's refusal to centre its movies around powerful women.
"Toymakers will tell you they won't sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, 'You see?' It can't be done'," he told The Daily Beast.
"It's stupid, and I'm hoping The Hunger Games will lead to a paradigm shift. It's frustrating to me that I don't see anybody developing one of these movies. It actually pisses me off.
"My daughter watched The Avengers and was like, 'My favourite characters were the Black Widow and Maria Hill', and I thought, 'Yeah, of course they were'.
"I read a beautiful thing Junot Diaz wrote, 'If you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves'."
Whedon...
- 6/6/2013
- Digital Spy
It's no secret that Joss Whedon loves female heroines. He loves a good female ass kicker and has created some iconic characters such as Buffy, Zoë, and Echo to prove it. Who doesn't like to see a strong female character in the movies?! I do. I know a lot of you do, but for some reason the studios don't think that we do. That's why we don't see more female superhero films, and this pisses Whedon off. During a recent interview with The Daily Beast, the filmmaker vents his frustration saying,
I was raised by a hardcore feminist. I was also much smaller than my brothers and bullied a lot, so I identify with the feeling of helplessness.
Toymakers will tell you they won’t sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, You see? It can’t be done.
I was raised by a hardcore feminist. I was also much smaller than my brothers and bullied a lot, so I identify with the feeling of helplessness.
Toymakers will tell you they won’t sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, You see? It can’t be done.
- 6/6/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Robert Downey Jr. isn't signed up for any more sequels, but his director definitely wants him back for "Marvel's The Avengers 2."
Last month, Downey, his producing partner/wife Susan Downey, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Disney Studios boss Alan Horn and "Iron Man 3" director Shane Black sat down to lunch to celebrate their latest box-office bonanza, but also ostensibly to talk about Downey's deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
There's nothing on the books concerning Downey and "Iron Man 4" and he's reportedly still in negotiations about a second and third Avengers movie.
In an interview promoting his Shakespeare passion project, "Much Ado About Nothing," the man who helped carry "The Avengers" to over $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales didn't mince words about Downey's potential return.
"He is Iron Man," director Joss Whedon told The Daily Beast. "He is Iron Man in the way that Sean Connery was James Bond.
Last month, Downey, his producing partner/wife Susan Downey, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Disney Studios boss Alan Horn and "Iron Man 3" director Shane Black sat down to lunch to celebrate their latest box-office bonanza, but also ostensibly to talk about Downey's deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
There's nothing on the books concerning Downey and "Iron Man 4" and he's reportedly still in negotiations about a second and third Avengers movie.
In an interview promoting his Shakespeare passion project, "Much Ado About Nothing," the man who helped carry "The Avengers" to over $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales didn't mince words about Downey's potential return.
"He is Iron Man," director Joss Whedon told The Daily Beast. "He is Iron Man in the way that Sean Connery was James Bond.
- 6/5/2013
- by Ryan J Downey
- NextMovie
“If you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.” -- Junot Diaz It's frustrating that we've arrived at an age where superhero movies dominate the box office, and yet Hollywood is still afraid to put a female superhero front and center in her own movie. The closest we've come in recent years has been with Wonder Woman, arguably the most recognizable female superhero worldwide, but even her iconic pop-culture status hasn't helped get a movie or a TV show off the ground. If you asked a Hollywood executive about the lack of female superheroes, they'd probably tell you it's complicated and we're getting there, but the real truth is that they just don't think female...
Read More...
Read More...
- 6/5/2013
- by Erik Davis
- Movies.com
by Brett White
The Daily Beast sat down with Joss Whedon to discuss his new film, "Much Ado About Nothing," and got him to talk a bit about a subject that's very near and dear to Whedon's (and this here Splash Page editor's) heart: female superheroes in film. When asked why there was a lack of female superheroes in film, the "Avengers" director readily provided an answer.
"Toymakers will tell you they won't sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, 'You see? It can’t be done.' It's stupid, and I'm hoping 'The Hunger Games' will lead to a paradigm shift. It's frustrating to me that I don't see anybody developing one of these movies. It actually pisses me off. My daughter watched 'The Avengers' and was like, 'My favorite characters were the Black Widow and Maria Hill,...
The Daily Beast sat down with Joss Whedon to discuss his new film, "Much Ado About Nothing," and got him to talk a bit about a subject that's very near and dear to Whedon's (and this here Splash Page editor's) heart: female superheroes in film. When asked why there was a lack of female superheroes in film, the "Avengers" director readily provided an answer.
"Toymakers will tell you they won't sell enough, and movie people will point to the two terrible superheroine movies that were made and say, 'You see? It can’t be done.' It's stupid, and I'm hoping 'The Hunger Games' will lead to a paradigm shift. It's frustrating to me that I don't see anybody developing one of these movies. It actually pisses me off. My daughter watched 'The Avengers' and was like, 'My favorite characters were the Black Widow and Maria Hill,...
- 6/5/2013
- by Splash Page Team
- MTV Splash Page
Providence, Ri (AP) — Academy Award-winning actor and director Ben Affleck has received one of six honorary doctorate degrees from Brown University. Affleck was among artists, writers, scientists and educators to receive the degrees from the Ivy League school at commencement exercises Sunday. He received a doctor of fine arts degree. The Massachusetts native directed, produced and starred in Argo, which won this year's Oscar for Best Picture. Video: ‘SNL' Recap: Ben Affleck Episode Sends Off Bill Hader in Style Others getting honorary doctorates were author and MIT Professor Junot Diaz; retired Stanford University bacteriologist Stanley Falkow; Tougaloo College President
read more...
read more...
- 5/27/2013
- by Associated Press
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Washington, May 27: Ben Affleck was conferred with a doctorate degree from Brown University on Saturday for his achievements in cinema and contributions to humanitarian causes.
The 40-year-old actor, who received the prestigious 'Doctor of Fine Arts (Dfa)' degree, punched his fist in the air after delivering a passionate speech to his fellow graduates, Contactmusic reported.
He was nominated and voted on by the 'Board of Fellows' in September.
The University also honoured Pulitzer-winning author and MIT professor Junot Diaz and four others along with the Oscar winning director.
With this honour, Affleck joined.
The 40-year-old actor, who received the prestigious 'Doctor of Fine Arts (Dfa)' degree, punched his fist in the air after delivering a passionate speech to his fellow graduates, Contactmusic reported.
He was nominated and voted on by the 'Board of Fellows' in September.
The University also honoured Pulitzer-winning author and MIT professor Junot Diaz and four others along with the Oscar winning director.
With this honour, Affleck joined.
- 5/27/2013
- by Rahul Kapoor
- RealBollywood.com
Ben Affleck received an honorary doctorate degree from Brown University today (May 26) during graduation ceremonies in Providence, R.I.
The Academy Award-winning actor was among six artists, writers, scientists and educators selected to be given degrees. The Ivy League school honored Affleck with a Doctor of Fine Arts for his work as a director, actor, writer, and producer. His film "Argo" won this year's Oscar for Best Picture.
Others who received honorary doctorates were author and MIT Professor Junot Diaz, retired Stanford University bacteriologist Stanley Falkow, Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan, medical doctor and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.
Congrats, Ben!
Check out a photo from his big day below:...
The Academy Award-winning actor was among six artists, writers, scientists and educators selected to be given degrees. The Ivy League school honored Affleck with a Doctor of Fine Arts for his work as a director, actor, writer, and producer. His film "Argo" won this year's Oscar for Best Picture.
Others who received honorary doctorates were author and MIT Professor Junot Diaz, retired Stanford University bacteriologist Stanley Falkow, Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan, medical doctor and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.
Congrats, Ben!
Check out a photo from his big day below:...
- 5/26/2013
- by Leigh Blickley
- Huffington Post
Which two Hollywood hotties might star in a new version of Guys and Dolls? It looks like Rihanna and Katy Perry are friends again, and Ben Affleck gets recognized by the Ivy League.
Gwyneth Paltrow donned a stunning Antonio Berardi dress at last night’s Iron Man 3 premiere in Los Angeles. But, um, what’s going on below the belt? Mesh panels on each side of the dress have people wondering whether Paltrow went commando. We’ll give her the benefit of the doubt: Perhaps she’s just debuting a creative new cut of underwear from her clothing line. [Daily Mail] Rumor has it that Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt could be cast for a remake of Guys and Dolls. It’s no secret that they’ve both got some singing and dancing chops. Plus it’d be great if Tatum could sprinkle a little Magic Mike action on there, just for the ladies.
Gwyneth Paltrow donned a stunning Antonio Berardi dress at last night’s Iron Man 3 premiere in Los Angeles. But, um, what’s going on below the belt? Mesh panels on each side of the dress have people wondering whether Paltrow went commando. We’ll give her the benefit of the doubt: Perhaps she’s just debuting a creative new cut of underwear from her clothing line. [Daily Mail] Rumor has it that Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt could be cast for a remake of Guys and Dolls. It’s no secret that they’ve both got some singing and dancing chops. Plus it’d be great if Tatum could sprinkle a little Magic Mike action on there, just for the ladies.
- 4/25/2013
- by Rahsheeda Ali
- TheFabLife - Movies
It is not unusual for institutions of higher learning to issue honorary degrees to people who are at the top of their respective fields. Now actor/director Ben Affleck can add himself to the list of Hollywooders who have received one.
Brown University has announced that Affleck is one of six artists, writers, educators and scientists who will receive honorary degrees at the school's graduation next month. Affleck will be receiving a doctor of fine arts degree.
Others receiving honorary degrees at the May 26 ceremony include Pulitzer Prize-winning author and MIT professor Junot Diaz; bacteriologist Stanley Falkow; Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President RIsa Lavizzo-Mourey; and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.
Affleck's previous educational experience was attending both Occidental College in Los Angeles and the University of Vermont, though he did not graduate from either school.
Do you suppose he'll make us all call him Dr.
Brown University has announced that Affleck is one of six artists, writers, educators and scientists who will receive honorary degrees at the school's graduation next month. Affleck will be receiving a doctor of fine arts degree.
Others receiving honorary degrees at the May 26 ceremony include Pulitzer Prize-winning author and MIT professor Junot Diaz; bacteriologist Stanley Falkow; Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President RIsa Lavizzo-Mourey; and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.
Affleck's previous educational experience was attending both Occidental College in Los Angeles and the University of Vermont, though he did not graduate from either school.
Do you suppose he'll make us all call him Dr.
- 4/25/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Ben Affleck will soon have something else to add to his long list of achievements. Along with novelist Junot Díaz and four other luminaries, the Oscar winner will be receiving an honorary doctorate degree from Brown University during their 245th Commencement on May 26, E! News confirms. According to the college's website, the actor and director will be awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts. Although Affleck is one heck of a speech-giver—as proven by his emotional delivery during the Academy Awards—the school states he won't be the commencement speaker. The celeb's most recent work includes directing, producing and starring in the award-winning film...
- 4/25/2013
- E! Online
In case you missed it, a lot of people are pro-gay marriage right now. It’s kind of the thing. This includes Bill O’Reilly, a noted strong feelings-haver who said recently both that “homosexuals” had the “compelling argument” in this week’s Supreme Court cases and that he doesn’t “feel that strongly about one way or the other.”
This was world-shattering news for Stephen Colbert, who spent his show’s opening monologue working through the Papa Bear Paradox. He started with the flip-flop — “the gayest of all beach sandals” — and ended with goat marriage. America!
Read more:
Stephen Colbert...
This was world-shattering news for Stephen Colbert, who spent his show’s opening monologue working through the Papa Bear Paradox. He started with the flip-flop — “the gayest of all beach sandals” — and ended with goat marriage. America!
Read more:
Stephen Colbert...
- 3/28/2013
- by Adam Carlson
- EW.com - PopWatch
The Burgess Boys, Elizabeth Strout's follow-up to her 2008 Pulitzer Prize–winning book Olive Kitteridge, follows two brothers who've returned to their hometown to help their sister manage her troubled son. Strout set the psychologically rich story in Maine's Shirley Falls, the same fictional hamlet she imagined in her 1998 debut, Amy and Isabelle — only this time she explores how the state's growing population of Somali immigrants is impacting the community. Strout spoke with Vulture about Maine's lack of diversity, writing post-Pulitzer, and novels in the iPhone age.Junot Díaz, also with you in the Pulitzer winners club, has said he imagined he’d have twenty books by now, then realized it’s a lot slower and tougher than that. Do you get frustrated with your pace? It seems to me that I should be able to be faster, at this point, having been writing all my life. I feel some...
- 3/27/2013
- by Zach Dionne
- Vulture
Pulitzer prize-winning author Junot Díaz visited The Colbert Report to discuss immigration reform.
”My thing is every generation of Americans has to answer what we call the ‘Superman Question,”’ Diaz said. ”Superman comes, lands in America. He’s illegal. He’s one of these kids. He’s wrapped up in a red bullfighter’s cape. And you’ve got to decide what we’re gonna do with Superman.”
”Question, on Krypton do they speak Spanish?” Colbert asked. Watch the full conversation below:
Read more:
2012 National Book Awards finalists announced
This is How You Lose Her book review
Stephen Colbert to...
”My thing is every generation of Americans has to answer what we call the ‘Superman Question,”’ Diaz said. ”Superman comes, lands in America. He’s illegal. He’s one of these kids. He’s wrapped up in a red bullfighter’s cape. And you’ve got to decide what we’re gonna do with Superman.”
”Question, on Krypton do they speak Spanish?” Colbert asked. Watch the full conversation below:
Read more:
2012 National Book Awards finalists announced
This is How You Lose Her book review
Stephen Colbert to...
- 3/26/2013
- by Sarah Caldwell
- EW.com - PopWatch
So A$AP Rocky and Skrillex went to the Dominican Republic. An almost two-minute intro highlights kids with guns in crystal clear HD. Rocky speaks some Español, wears the brightest of colors, and starts rooftop-rapping to a faraway Skrillex. America's patron saint of wub-wub does some karate and air-splits. The bros ride mopeds. It's nothing like a Junot Díaz book, and it's not as fun a party as Drake's "Started from the Bottom" clip, but it's … something.
- 3/26/2013
- by Zach Dionne
- Vulture
From a full programme of film and stage adaptations to a new James Bond novel, unpublished works by Rs Thomas and Wg Sebald and a new prize for women writers, 2013 is set to be a real page-turner
January
10th The Oscar nominations are announced unusually early this year. Keep an eye out for a bumper crop of literary adaptations, including David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, the David Nicholls-scripted Great Expectations, as well as Les Miserables, Anna Karenina and The Hobbit.
18th A new stage adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida theatre in London. In the year of the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, his musical version will also feature around the country in both concert and stage performances.
24th The finalists for the fifth Man Booker International prize will be announced at the Jaipur festival.
January
10th The Oscar nominations are announced unusually early this year. Keep an eye out for a bumper crop of literary adaptations, including David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, the David Nicholls-scripted Great Expectations, as well as Les Miserables, Anna Karenina and The Hobbit.
18th A new stage adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida theatre in London. In the year of the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, his musical version will also feature around the country in both concert and stage performances.
24th The finalists for the fifth Man Booker International prize will be announced at the Jaipur festival.
- 1/5/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
AMC Image from “Hell on Wheels.”
The tale of the building of the transcontinental railroad, the steel band that wed the metropolitan East to the frontier West, is among the greatest in American history.
“It was the moon launch of its time,” says Chuck Vollan, assistant professor of history at South Dakota State University — an epic feat of engineering, human effort and national resolve. William G. Thomas, history professor at University of Nebraska and author of the new book “The Iron Way,...
The tale of the building of the transcontinental railroad, the steel band that wed the metropolitan East to the frontier West, is among the greatest in American history.
“It was the moon launch of its time,” says Chuck Vollan, assistant professor of history at South Dakota State University — an epic feat of engineering, human effort and national resolve. William G. Thomas, history professor at University of Nebraska and author of the new book “The Iron Way,...
- 10/26/2011
- by Jeff Yang
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
The New Yorker put cultural figures from across the spectrum in the hot seat this past weekend for their whirlwind festival, playing to intimate crowds from Friday through Sunday. Guests ranged from Steve Martin and Jonathan Franzen to St. Vincent and the "Arrested Development" cast reunion. The Huffington Post attended a smattering of events and compiled the tidbits that inspired us, and more frequently, made us laugh. Read on for the best moments from the festival.
Gazelle Emami/The Huffington Post
The 'Arrested Development' Reunion
It's not surprising that "Arrested Development" was originally meant to be a heavily improvised show. The cast's sharp tongues began flying early into the talk, moderated by Nancy Franklin, TV critic for The New Yorker. The entire cast was present Sunday -- Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, creator Mitchell Hurwitz,...
Gazelle Emami/The Huffington Post
The 'Arrested Development' Reunion
It's not surprising that "Arrested Development" was originally meant to be a heavily improvised show. The cast's sharp tongues began flying early into the talk, moderated by Nancy Franklin, TV critic for The New Yorker. The entire cast was present Sunday -- Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, creator Mitchell Hurwitz,...
- 10/3/2011
- by Gazelle Emami
- Huffington Post
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