Pithy Movie Ratings for Busy Culture Watchers

I have been seeing a few movies lately, but there really hasn't been anything that has really been worth taking a lot of time to review. Still, for those of you who want to know, here are quick "Barb giving the thumbs down" to some things that are in theaters right now...



Appaloosa Directed by Ed Harris and starring Jeremy Irons, Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Rene Zellwegger.

Strengths: Ed Harris in cowboy clothes riding horses and acting alpha-male-ish. Priceless.

Weaknesses: Everything else. This one of the recent sporadic revisits to the Western genre is what could correctly be called extraordinarily conventional. But that doesn't make it extraordinary.... There are good actor written and directed pieces like The Apostle and Sling Blade which allow talented actors to go somewhere in character dramas that studio executive driven tent poles aren't allowed to go any more. Then, there are bad actor pieces in which one feels like the actors are being self-indulgent and playing dress up, in which they demonstrate the bitter truth of what we shrug about in Hollywood with the words "He's after all, just an actor."

Appaloosa is that latter thing. Nothing really offensive. Just really nothing. And actually painfully embarrassing to watch Jeremy Irons flail around here in search of something to do.

{NOTE FROM BARB....HMMMMM....I need to practice my pithiness, I think. Let me try again....]



Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings

Strengths: Michael Cera. He's playing that guy from Juno again here, but he does it so well that we're not at the point of thinking that maybe that is the only thing he can do.

Weaknesses: Everything else. Kat Dennings has nowhere near the quirky compelling screen presence of Ellen Page in Juno to cast Cera's awkward nice guy into better relief. She doesn't seem much of an actress, and I'm wondering why with the 80 gazillion young ingenues out there she is getting parts.

What else?.... there is no story here. There are no beats, foreshadows, defining character arcs or turning points, visual images or intriguing notions. There is one really, really crass and disgusting device in which several characters unknowingly chew a piece of gum that has been in a vomit-filled Penn Station toilet. An image that has had revoltingly relentless staying power in my brain.

And for maliciously bestowing that on me when in return I had innocently given the filmmakers two hours of my time and fourteen dollars, I full-throatedly and vehemently PAN this piece of teen-pandering crap.



The Miracle at Santa Anna, directed by Spike Lee

Strengths: It didn't result in any audience members committing ritualized homocides of white men.

Weaknesses: As a piece of cinema this is a complete mess. But worse, it is a reverse-racist, white American male visual lynching that sadly spews only one clear idea: Spike Lee has nothing to say but how much hate he has in his heart. I hope this has been somehow cathartic for him. For us not filled with hate people, it was boring and insulting. I kept sliding out of the story to think about Spike, "poor fellow."

The only miracle in this piece is that it got financed. It has already taken up two hours of my life. I refuse to concede even one more second to the negative that is this film.

Nearly Every Thought I've Ever had in My Head...

This past May, I had the honor of participating in a four day conference in Austin, TX that had the title Transforming Culture. It was organized by the awe-inspiring David Taylor and featured wonderful thinkers as keynote speakers like Jeremy Begbie, Eugene Peterson, and Andy Crouch...all of which had me singing the Sesame Street song when I saw my name on the program beside theirs, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong..."

Anyway..........

I was just ego-surfing this morning (because now that we are past the two job searches for Act One, the Gala, the Story Conference and the Mary: Mother of the Christ script, I have nothing to do!!!), and found that some amazingly zealous and purposeful soul has transcribed the main portion of my comments and posted it here.

Here's a snip:

I love artists. I love creative people. They make me crazy, but they are never boring. And I get bored very easily. I have the sense when I am with artists that I am with people who are living life to the fullest. Even in their despair, it's gritty and real and passionate.

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who are artists and people who are supposed to support them. So, figure out which you are and do it with vigor.

In a study I've done on artists geniuses, I've learned that when God sends a gift of genius He usually sends at least one person who gets that genius. It's like Theo with Van Gogh and Susan Gilbert with Emily Dickenson. You can see this over and over. Somebody was given this gift to save this artist for the rest of us. That might be you. I encourage you then to take that vocation seriously.

I think the subtext for this symposium has been that right now in the Church it’s real hip to support the arts. Everybody is pretty much on board with that. The problem is that we aren’t really sure, though, who is an artist in the sense of those we want to support for the general edification of the Body of Christ in the world.

There are some we want to support in that they are artists for their own catharsis. The art that they are doing is for them to be healed. In that sense we are all supposed to be artists. There's a book called Only the Lover Sings by a philosopher named Joseph Cipher.[NOTE FROM BARB: That's Josef Pieper.] The book makes the case that the modern world is so intrusive that we are losing the ability to see. There's so much coming at us that we're losing the ability to see the presence of God in the details. So we have to become artists because art makes us focus on the details. So whether that's gardening or cooking or whatever it is that we do, everyone has to bring forth beauty somehow. Everyone needs to exercise that creative facility to keep their life vibrant.

But tonight I'm talking about the other sense of artist. I'm talking about the person who's been called to be prophet and priest for the masses of us. Those who have been given powerful talent from God to edify the Church.

It seems to me that we need help to figure out who's who, because every pastor is now freaked out that anyone could come up to them and announce, I'm an Artist. Give me money. Fill in the blank -- money, time, microphone, whatever it is. How do we know how we're supposed to respond to that? Before doing that, though, I'm going to lay out a few ideas about the beautiful. This is the terrain of artists -- the beautiful. And one way to recognize them is that they dwell in this terrain.

There are a few teeny discrepancies in the text (the 20th Century philosopher is Josef Pieper not Cipher...) but overall, the talk is a good summary of the main conclusion s that my life as a Christian, an artist and a former of artists has given to me up to now. Many thanks to the good blogger at Living Palm.

(Note that the talks from the event are going to be published into a book, and I have already submitted my edited talk for inclusion in the text. I will let you all know when the book is out.)

Story Conference Debrief

I'm really tired here and I can't take long as I am meeting dear friend and erstwhile Los Angeles expat Karen Hall for Mass and brunch. But what an amazing two days we just had!

It's hard not to think that we participated in something monumental in the Story Conference. Ten brains - all very sharp and passionate about the question. And everybody really showed up in the sense of being prepared, witty, entertaining, and deeply thoughtful.

Peter Kreeft told me at the end that in all the conferences he has ever attended, this one will be special and rank among the best, particularly because of the Socratic format we used. (Scott! I so wish you could've been there. You would have really loved it. Next time I pathetically whine and plead, you should relent!)

Anyway, we had so much fun because I have rarely been in dialogue with more witty, experienced and profound people. The brilliant thoughts and back and forth were thick and almost too many. I kept wanting to stop the days so that I could move into a corner and consider the ramifications of somebody's thought. But then we were off like a train again.

Now, we look forward to the book, podcasts and magazine articles. Dr. Pat Phalen will be transcribing and editing the event for publication. It will be a monumental task seeing we had about 14 hours of continuous discussion and presentations.

My thought is that anybody whose arena is storytelling will have to regard the book from this event as seminal. And then anybody else who is awake culturally will find it a must read. There is just nothing else like it out there, and if particularly Christians could brood over it, we could move so far past the "Fireproof vs. Sex in the City" facile dualism that we might be able to actually get somewhere as apostles in the culture.

Story Conference Prepping

I'm doing a lot of Flannery reading in preparation for our Story Conference next week. Some of the lines in Habit of Being are so good they make me want to call my older sister and just say them to her. It makes me happy to read her. I thought I'd share some of these lines as I find them.

(Flannery O'Connor, from a letter to Ben Griffith, 4 May, 1955)

"You will observe that I admire my own work as much if not more tan anybody else does. I have read "The Artifical Nigger" several times since it was printed, enjoying it each time as if I had nothing to do with it. I feel this is not quite delicate of me, but it may be balanced by the fact that I write a great deal that is not fit to read which I properly destroy."

"I am interested in making a good case for distortion, as I am coming to believe it is the only way to make people see."

"Thank Mr. S for liking my stories. I am always glad to know that I have a reader of quality because I have so many who aren't. I get some letters from people I might have created myself."

"

See Barb in the Bay Area

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Barbara K. Marsh-Wetherell
Marsh-Wetherell Market Relations
info@marsh-wetherell.com
+1 925 933-1907

INFUSING HOLLYWOOD CULTURE WITH CHRISTIAN VALUES

You Need More Than Christian Values, You Also Need Talent

Danville, CA – (October 8, 2008) – Hollywood has been attacked as foregoing basic Christian and family values for sensationalism. While there are clearly examples of this occurring, the “big picture” is very different. The scripts that are accepted and the movies being made are, for the most part, not selected because they counter Christian and family values, they are selected because of the quality of the writing, the relevancy of the script and the emotional engagement of the storyline. The biggest obstacle to Christian values surfacing on the big screen is not an anti-Christian mindset, but rather a lack of talent. Act One, a non-profit program for grooming Christians to become film and TV executives, is taking this issue head-on.

Ms. Barbara Nicolosi, Founder and Executive Director of Act One, will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday, November 11, 2008 Catholics@Work breakfast forum at Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville, CA 94526. Nicolosi will provide a view of what goes on in Hollywood and what Christians have to do to break into the industry. A full buffet breakfast is served starting at 7:00 am (Mass is offered at 6:30am at the same location.) Cost is $20 for members and $25 for non-members. To register visit http://www.catholicsatwork.org/EventDesc.aspx.

Now in its sixth year, Act One keynotes artistry, professionalism, ethics and Christian spirituality. A screenwriter herself, Nicolosi wrote The Work, for IMMI Pictures in Hollywood, and is co-writing Myriam with Benedict Fitzgerald (The Passion of the Christ) for a Beverly Hills production company.

Nicolosi is passionate about changing the nature of the content of the entertainment Hollywood produces, but she is not taking on the quixotic chore of changing the business model of Hollywood. Good talent will create good work and Hollywood will produce good work. “The goal should not be to make more Christian movies,” said Barbara Nicolosi. “The goal is to make movies people want to watch that happen to include Christian value themes.”

“Hollywood is a major force in shaping Pop Culture,” said Alison Yount, president of Catholics@Work. “Understanding how Christian values can have an impact on Pop Culture, working from within the industry as opposed to trying to apply force from the outside, will gives us a perspective on how we can alter our own thinking about how to get things done in our own work places.”

Nicolosi is a screenwriter and a member of the Writers Guild of America. She has recently co-written Mary, Mother of the Christ with Benedict Fitzgerald (The Passion of the Christ) which will be distributed by MGM. She has produced several plays with the critically acclaimed Actors Co-op Theater Company in Hollywood, including award-wining productions of Fools by Neil Simon, Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, and Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
A media columnist for the National Catholic Register, Nicolosi was the recipient of Catholic Press Awards in 2000 and 2002. She is the co-editor with Spencer Lewerenz of the 2005 Baker Books publication, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture.

ABOUT CATHOLICS@WORK
Catholics@Work is committed to fostering fellowship and connectivity among Catholics facing the realities of life in today’s workplace environment. The monthly breakfast gatherings are a unique opportunity for Catholics to:
• grow in their understanding of the Catholic faith,
• be encouraged to apply the principals of their faith in the everyday workplace,
• and, to network with other Catholic business professionals.

The breakfast series is held at Crow Canyon Country Club, Danville, California, on the second Tuesday of the month nine times per year (February-June, September-December). The event starts with a buffet breakfast followed by a speaker or panel discussion and runs from 7:00-8:30am. The event offers a great way to network with people who look for purpose and leadership in their lives. There is time prior to the beginning of each speaker’s presentation to interact with other attendees, to share faith, and business and personal information. Mass is offered at 6:30am for those who wish to attend before breakfast at the same location. Managed by Catholic business professionals, Catholics@Work breakfast events are open to all, regardless of faith or occupation, who want to explore the issues of actively living one’s beliefs in the workplace.

For more information visit www.catholicsatwork.org or call +1 925-683-5263.
###


Catholics@Work is a trademark of Catholics@Work. All other brand and product names are registered trademarks, trademarks or servicemarks of their respective holders and are gratefully acknowledged. All specifications subject to change without notice.

The Duchess Lacks Pedigree

It looks lovely.  So, lovely, you almost forgive the fact that this is a one note tragedy about a lovely, and intelligent young woman who is crushed under the injustice and occasional brutality of unbridled patriarchy.   

But the costumes are grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  And if it doesn't win best costume than whomever spent two years designing and sewing the hundreds of gorgeous dresses and hats on display here will probably jump off the top of the Paramount arches.

It wasn't a mess.  It just didn't go very many places.  It wasn't a story so much as like watching a long drawn out train wreck screeching along the track until you hit the climactic screaming marital rape scene that finally succeeds in breaking the heroine's will to virtue.

The movie seemed to me to be a thinly veiled look at the Princess Di story.  As such, it felt creepily voyeuristic to me.  Ralph Fiennes seemed to have spent hours mastering Prince Charles' strained awkwardness as he selfishly insists that he needs his mistress to live under the same roof as his wife and children.  You could hear Di's soft voice echoing off the theater walls:  "From the beginning there were three of us in this marriage."  There was another line in which a character proclaimed, "Everyone in the world loves the Duchess, except the Duke."

Keira Knightly does well as a manikin for the gorgeous costumes.  Not so well as an actor.  I was never sure what her character was really making of her predicament.  I wasn't sure if she was shrewd or clueless, heroically resolute or coweringly impotent.

In the end, I stood in the parking lot of the Director's Guild and asked my friend, "So, do we recommend this movie?"  She shrugged at me and said, "Well, I wouldn't sit through it again."  I had to agree.  So, it isn't a pass, but it isn't a recommend either.  It's just kind of there.

File Under: Only Fools Are Scandalized

:::BREAKING NEWS:::

Joe Eszterhas joins the Act One Storytelling Conference October 17 & 18! 

Act One Presents:
"Storytelling for the 21st Century"
October 17 &18
9:30 am- 5:00 pm
Historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Cinegrill
7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Cost: $125 for both days

Come sit at the feet of some of the greatest thinkers and storytellers of our
time. Our panelists will present meaningful topics based on art, story, ethics,
and entertainment. A round table discussion by our panelists will further
explore the nature of story in today's age.

Confirmed Panelists include:

Dr. Peter Kreeft, renowned philosopher and author of over 50 titles, including
Socrates Meets Jesus
David Mc Fadezean, Executive Producer, Home Improvement, What Women Want
Barbara Nicolosi, Act One Founder, Screenwriter, VP Development, Origin
Entertainment
Armando Fumigalli, professor, Catholic University of Milan
Karen Hall, writer on several shows, inlcuding, M*A*S*H, Judging Amy, Hill
Street Blues, and Moonlighting
Dean Batali Executive Producer, That 70's Show, writer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bobette Buster Creative Executive and International Story Consultant
Chris Riley, Screenwriter and Author, The Hollywood Standard
Bill Marsilii, Screenwriter, Deja Vu
Chuck Slocum, Assistant Executive Director, Writer's Guild of America
And…Joe Eszterhas, Journalist, Author, Screenwriter, Jagged Edge, Basic
Instinct, Showgirls

Due to the intimate nature of the venue, seating is limited, and we will be sold
out soon!


To register for the event or for more information, please
visit www.actoneprogram.com or https://public.serviceu.com/registration/default.asp?OrgID=9286&EventID=3572571&OccID=117230909&


If you have questions about attending the event, contact tj@actoneprogram.com
<mailto:tj@actoneprogram.com>

If you would like more information on being an event sponsor, contact
vicki@actoneprogram.com <mailto:vicki@actoneprogram.com>

Almost ready to come up for air...

I submitted probably my rewrite today. I think the thing is much stronger than it was two weeks ago. Hopefully, the producers will agree and I will have a break for a bit.

It was cool to see that the production company has entered a listing for the project here. I can't say a lot about the project yet. I can say it has some wonderfully profound theological moments that hearken back to The Passion of the Christ in style.

I have two or three other projects which could be listed up on IMDB, but for some reason the producers are cagey about doing that. Now, that I'm really up there, I've become obsessed with getting the others up. This is that Hollywood disease, I think. But, as we say in the biz, it is an honor just to have a listing.

We have our top candidate for the next CEO of Act One visiting us Thursday-Saturday, and as I will be shepherding hm around the most, I can't see getting back to regularly scheduled blogging before next week. Please keep this job search in your prayers.

I'm not even sure I remember HOW to blog. Hopefully, it's like riding a bike.

Honestly, ever since I discovered Facebook this past summer, I am spending a lot more time there than here. If you want a day by day, what's up with Barb N, accounting, get a Facebook account and message me to be my friend.

I'm loving my two days a week teaching at Pepperdine. The kids are really smart and we have great discussions. I am hearing from the students one by one how much they like the class. I am really liking teaching it and I will probably do it again next semester. The class is Intro to Cinema, and it is a new one for me to teach. I have to say, in all, you know, humility, the approach I am taking with the class is, well, devastatingly brilliant. You know, in all humility. But really, I think the students are actually changing in the whole way they look at movies, and by the end of the class, they will have a whole new set of objective standards by which to measure a movie. And I LOVE Pepperdine. It runs like a clock. And everyone has been so nice to me. Niceness to Barb hasn't eggzackly been the ubiquitous commodity this summer, so maybe that makes it even more, well, nice.

In heaven, I will teach this class to the critics who review movies for the Christian world... Although that might be purgatory for them. Ah, but a necessary purgation.

I am grateful and excited that current favorite actress Katee Sackhoff has signed on to play a lead in the new Dick Wolf pilot Lost and Found for NBC. I am mainly excited because it meant she pulled out of the four spots she was going to do on the highly perverted and disgusting Nip/Tuck. A whole bunch of us are praying for Katee who has said she is a Christian, and we have taken this as a sign of Divine Intervention. It doesn't look like the NBC pilot will be that big a stretch for Katee. As I read it she's going to be playing a bad-ass, LAPD detective who gets kicked downstairs to the cold case department for bucking the system. And her car is named Starbuck... But anyway, at least she won't be prostituting herself. She'll have a much better life and career avoiding the likes of Nip/Tuck. (Katee was replaced on the perverted gig by the rather famously trampish Rose McGowan. Resteth my caseth.)

I saw the new film from Steve McEveety/MPower American Carol and laughed quite hard at about four different moments. This is more than I have done at any movie since Enchanted. It isn't art, or great storytelling, but I had a good time. If you are a political conservative, parts of it are sheer catharthis. A liberal friend of mine was shocked and horrified by the film. Which might mean $100 million in red state cash funneling into Mpower soon.

Act One's 10th Anniversary Gala is October 11. We are honoring Chuck Slocum, and Alcon Entertainment. Contact info@actoneprogram.com if you want to come or send money. We have some COOL auction items which we will probably be sending out an advance bidding notice about. (I'm talking autographed posters from the cast of The Godfather awesome!)

The Storytelling for the 21st Century Conference is all set to go on October 17-18. Besides the great Peter Kreeft, we have European cinema luminary scholar Armando Fumagali, from the Catholic University of Milan. We have David McFadzean (creator of Home Improvement, producer What Women Want), Bobette Buster (world renowned script analyst, and founder of the Development Program at USC Film School), Chuck Slocum (#2 guy at the Writers Guild of America), Dean Batali (Writer/producer, Buffy, That 70's Show), Karen Hall (writer/producer The Brotherhood, Judging Amy), and several more. It's going to be the smartest two-day seminar on visual storytelling in the history of the world. No, I don't think I am exaggerating. If this kind of thing is your cup of tea, there are still observer seats available. Contact vicki@actoneprogram.com

Where's Waldo?

Sorry I have been AWOL everyone. In about a six week period I went from being hapless and unemployed to having three jobs. I suddenly find myself trekking out to Malibu Tuesday and Friday mornings to teach Intro to Cinema at Pepperdine University. I have also been interim managing Act One and heading up the job searches for a couple of senior staff positions.

And then there is the little matter of the insanely rushed page one rewrite that I was hired to do on a very cool feature project that I will hopefully be able to talk about soon.

And then emotionally it has been exactly what Anne of Green Gables meant by the term "Jonah" summer. A few times I found myself considering having "Et tu Brute?" tatooed on my forehead. But there is tremendous consolation in my Mother's thesis that people are rarely malicious. They are just much more focused on themselves than anything else, and to forget that and take creepy, schizo acting out personally is really just breeding infectious crazy-making. Obnoxious comment I am tempted to write borrowing from Amadeus, "I absolve you mediocrities."

It all means I have been too tired or too grim to blog.

It's a shame because I have seen some movies like Henry Poole Was Here (mostly thumbs up for a sweet little movie that could have had a better script but is still appreciably better than the Facing the Giants style Christian schlock) and Mama Mia (total embarrassment as a story, but it was fun watching Meryl Streep do ABBA).

I also laughed a lot at the upcoming David Zucker satire American Carol. I found it ideologically cathartic.

I saw Wicked again, this time with my friend Laura from Washington. That's three times for me and I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

I have pictures and travel commentary to post from my family's vacation to the rip-snorting sexy hot spots of the Gettysburg and Antietem battlefields. (I apologize to all of you who have been holding your breath to see my inspired photos of the sunken lane at Antietem....)

I still have a polish due on another script. If I get that done this week, look for blogging got continue in earnest next week.

On Art and Healing the World

[NB FROM BARB: A friend sent me this and asked me to post it. I don't personallyhave any experience with this group but it sounds great to me.]


Subject: Artists on Call: A Diaspora of Hope

Greetings. At the risk of clogging your email, I wanted to ask for your
help in reaching artists, educators, social workers and even medical
personnel with an exciting project that is developing at BuildaBridge.

I am writing you because of your support for BuildaBridge's mission of
bringing hope and healing to the most vulnerable of our world's children in
the tough places of the world--through the arts.

I am asking you to forward the attached flyer to artists, and others who
understand the power of arts for transformation.

Most of you know that BuildaBridge has worked in many parts of the world
since 1997. We have learned much over the years and provided excellent
opportunities for arts-integrated service. Last month we returned from
Guatemala working with 200 children in a slum of Guatemala
(http://www.buildabridge.org/weblog/1279.html). Our Arts for Peace camp was
a continuation of our partnership in the country that began last
Thanksgiving. During this time we refined our arts camp for kids based on a
theme, with a very defined class structure and ritual focused on dealing
with trauma, peace-making, and hope. It was excellent.

Over the past months we have received requests for similar arts camps for
kids from different parts of the world. So we thought: What could happen if
there was a diaspora of artists from all over the world bringing artistic
hope and healing in the tough places of the world.

Artists on Call: A Diaspora of Hope is such a project. In November, this
fall, we plan to lead teams of artists to Guatemala, Haiti and Kenya,
engaging as many as 50 artists in teams to these countries. Each country
has its own unique challenges, each country has many children who suffer
from trauma, a lack of education and adequate health care, and a lack of
hope.

While we are beginning with a call to send 50 artists this Thanksgiving, our
ultimate goal is to register 1000 artists world-wide who would give at least
a week of their lives to bring hope and healing through artistic creativity.
We have an excellent start with 150 artists already registered and 30
artists who have inquired within the past several days for Diaspora 2008.

Thank you for sharing this with artists and educators, social workers,
creative arts therapists, and medical personnel who you may know who
understand the effectiveness of arts-based service.

Nathan


Dr. J. Nathan Corbitt, President
BuildaBridge
205 West Tulpehocken Street
Philadelphia, PA 19144
610-656-3499 (cell)
www.buildabridge.org

Enjoying Southern California

My friend Laura and I have been making our way up and down Southern California this week taking in the sights, the shows, and probably too much great food.

Under the category, "Southern CA is one of the most paradise-ish places on earth" are these photos of Laguna Beach.






Here's Laura about to propose we set out for a lovely lunch overlooking the ocean at the newly restored, famous Laguna Hotel. Excellent.



Then, we were on to the San Diego Zoo. We had wonderful good fortune as we got there at feeding time and got to see pretty much every animal. Sometimes they are hiding in their paddocks because of heat or sloth. But it was a cool day so the animals all seemed to be out in the open, playing and well, working out, zoo animal style.




And then there was the tiger laying right next to the glass...














Panda mommy nursing her baby panda!!! Top that National Zoo!





Yeah, I think maybe it's a rhinoceros butt. But it's hard to tell. In election years it is very hard to tell one ass from another in Southern CA.

Act One Story Conference News

----------------------------------FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE---------------------------------

ACT ONE STORYTELLING CONFERENCE DRAWS BIG NAMES
MEDIA CONTACT: vicki@actoneprogram.com | (323) 464-0815

HOLLYWOOD | AUGUST 13. Bringing together the sharpest minds in Hollywood to talk about the nature of story wasn’t enough; Act One had to grab the sharpest mind in academia, too.

Boston College professor of philosophy Dr. Peter Kreeft, a prolific author and one of the foremost Catholic philosophers in the United States, has been confirmed as one of several keynote speakers at the Act One “Storytelling for the 21st Century” Conference this fall. Kreeft’s many books range in topic from philosophy overviews to imagined dialogs between Socrates and Jesus, and Act One is excited for what he brings to the Conference table.

Also confirmed as speakers:

- World renowned lecturer and University of Southern California film professor Bobette Buster.
- Television writer and producer Karen Hall, who’s credits include critically acclaimed shows “Judging Amy,” “Northern Exposure” and the final episode of “M*A*S*H”.
- Dean Batali, writer and producer of such hit shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “That ‘70s Show”.
- Screenwriter, Founder of Act One and Vice President of Creative Development at Origin Entertainment Barbara Nicolosi.
- Plus more to come!

“Many of us will have to wait a bit longer to sit at the feet of Socrates or Jesus, so for this conference we got the next best thing,” said Vicki Peterson, conference coordinator. “Our speakers are world-renowned for their expertise in stories, and their combined insight into art and contemporary culture is sure to engage.”

Act One’s Storytelling Conference will focus on high level discussions about the nature of story, its effects on the masses and just why people love stories in the first place. Each speaker will present a 20 minute lecture followed by a round table discussion that will challenge the audience to deepen their thinking about just what it means exactly to tell a story.

Whether you’re a writer working on a script, a pastor working on a sermon, or an executive looking for the next great story, Act One’s Storytelling Conference will help you hone your craft.

Details
When: Oct. 17 and 18, 9am-5pm
Where: Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood CA
Cost: $125
To register, email vicki@actoneprogram.com

For more info, go to www.ActOneProgram.com or check out our conference page on Facebook

Act One, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that has trained Christians of all denominations for careers in mainstream film and television for the past ten years. Stressing artistry, excellence, professionalism, and Christian spirituality, Act One prepares students to pursue careers marked by personal integrity and professional excellence, in writers rooms, on sets, and in studio and network offices. The end goal is not to produce explicitly religious entertainment, but movie and TV projects that respect and serve the global audience, combining mastery of craft with great depth and meaning. Over ten years, Act One has amassed a vast alumni network of writers, producers, directors and entertainment executives who are dedicated to producing excellent work for a global audience.

Not Much to Wine About

Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater desperate to slake a strange new thirst for the Napa Valley golden wine that is the heart of this quirky little movie.

Bottle Shock won't get the attention that Sideways did, because it is not as outrageously crass as that prior movie, but it actually has a better and bigger story. I'm not sure that the film makers were completely aware of this fact, however, because they spend an awful lot of screen time diddling around with mostly draggy and often irrelevant character moments. But the movie for me was ultimately saved by the charming and "triumphy of the human spirit" story elements which are based on real events.

The movie relates the story of how the Napa Valley wine industry was born, taking the Valley's vineyards from the expensive hobby - almost fetish - of some California farmers and idealists to the triumphat introduction to the global wine stage that occurred when Nappa vineyards defeated the dominant French wine industry at a 1973 blind wine tasting held outside of Paris. There is a lot of time wasted in the film in broken family-father/son angst and interracial romance, and in scratching heads over the weirdness of the 1970's, but the movie manages to ascend these sidetracks to make for an enjoyable piece of entertainment that has something for the mind, something for the heart, and the sparkle of deep reds, golden whites and purple grape laden vineyards.

As with Sideways, I enjoyed everything in the movie about wine and winemaking. The whole wine thing in movies, seems to me to be a metaphor for the human nature thing. Our love and appreciation of something like wine demonstrates powerfully that men are not beasts, and that there is something called the beautiful that exerts a powerful draw on us.


Similar to a movie like The Perfect Storm, Bottle Shock is almost entirely about an arena and the people who inhabit it. Who are these people who slog away in the hot sun of Nappa, mortgaging everything they have to buy one more set of barrels all to get the most perfectly clear Chardonnay? The character stories the film makers manufactured here to satisfy the Hollywood formula of small world foreground story aren't particularly profound, but they work as part of the backdrop of the whole Valley life and culture.

Alan Rickman is perfect as the British wine snob who loves French wines, but loves wine itself more - which allows him to get past his disdain of the roughshod California ranchers to really experience the beauty and wonder of what they are bottling in Nappa. The other main draw of the film is the look and sweep of Nappa itself - the vines wrapping around gentle hillsides, the sun's rays finding a ripe purple clump of grapes, the lush perfection of a deep red vintage being poured into a glass. It's nice.

The theme of the movie is expressed by Bill Pullman who plays a struggling Nappa rancher, obsessed with developing the perfect Chardonnay. He says to his young intern (slight paraphrase) "We don't water the vineyards too much, because it makes the vines have to struggle. Vines that struggle produce a tough grape and then a full-bodied, complex wine." Very cool.

There is really nothing here people need to be afraid of - a quick out of wedlock tryst, and maybe one or two curse words - but both are appropriate in context.

Bottle Shock has a gentle, quirky aura. It's texture is alternately light and then surprisingly affecting. The aftertaste is pleasant and satisfying. You'll want to stock this one in your cellar.

Attention Authors and Writers...

[NOTE FROM BARB: My good friend Bobette Buster is one of the folks participating in this telesummit. She truly is one of the best in the business as a script analyst and writers coach. I don't know about the other folks. Sorry about the formatting. The file they sent me was problematic.]

The Writers Telesummit

What if you could be coached by 24 of the Best in the Business - All without leaving the comfort of your home?

Join us for an Amazing Virtual Writers' Conference!

Imagine spending a full hour with each of 24 world-class writing professionals. Each one dedicated to helping you write regularly, effectively and more profoundly. They want you to sell what you write and have your part in living the writing dream!

When?

Thursday, September 4-Sunday September 7, 2008


24 great sessions. 6 one-hour sessions over four days conveniently scheduled to suit your needs whether you live on the East Coast, the West Coast or anywhere in between. (And if you live elsewhere in the world, all sessions are recorded!)


Where?

Right in the comfort of your own home or office!


Who?


The Writers Telesummit brings together an amazing team of knowledgeable, successful - and genuinely helpful - industry professionals. They will all be in one place, talking directly to you and taking your questions.

This is a not to be missed opportunity. Not only is our roster excellent, but our presenters will be focused on telling you what you need to know to really move your writing career forward. They'ss share the things they wished they had learned starting out. The keys. The very best tips.

Unlike an ordinary writers conference, with The Writers TeleSummit you don’t have to choose between sessions or choose a track. At a regular writers conference you get one or two keynote speakers and then you have to make choices. Here all of our 24 speakers are keynote speakers. You get to hear them all and learn from all of them as they present—and listen to them again at your leisure.

Acclaimed author and creativity coach, Eric Maisel, PhD., has arranged what may be the best writers conference ever put together, to be held as a teleconference and web streaming event from September 4 – September 7, 2008. As a creative person you really must check it out.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=781752

The Writers TeleSummit features 24 world-class professionals in the field. Accomplished authors, agents, publishers, all at your disposal for four days. The cost? Only $295, a fraction of the cost of any other kind of conference of this caliber.

All calls are professionally recorded and available for play back and download. Your registration includes audio downloads of all 24 keynote addresses for the entire four day conference. That's 24 hours of inspiring audio available as in MP3 format included in the low cost of registering. There is also an option for having CD's of all events sent to your door.

There are several great free gifts that are ours to keep when we register. We’ll get four lessons from Eric Maisel's popular Coaching Writers Training, lessons that you can’t get anywhere else. If you wanted them, you would have to pay more than the cost of The Writers Telesummit to join the training. You get them for free when you sign up. We'll also get three professional tips from each presenter, that's 72 tips to jump start our writing/creative careers before the conference even begins. And if we are in the first 50 people to register, we get a free copy of Eric Maisel's E Book "Sleep Thinking." It's an incredible value.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=781752

Our amazing presentations:

0. The Odyssey of the First Novel

. The Odyssey of the Memoir

0. Writing and Selling the Romance Novel

. Writing and Selling the Contemporary Novel

. Writing and Selling the Mystery Series

. Writing and Selling the Children’s Book

. Writing and Selling the Nonfiction Book

. Writing and Selling the Interview Book

. Writing and Selling the Self-Help Book

. Writing and Selling the Illustrated Book

. Writing and Selling the Travel Memoir

. Writing and Selling the Nature Book

. Writing for the Niche Market

. How to Turn Your Expertise into a Bestselling Book

. The Fundamentals of Screenwriting

. The Art of the Spiritual Book

. The Nonfiction Collaboration

. Literary Agent Basics

. Finding the Right Literary Agent

. What Editors Want

. How to Handle Rejection

. Book Publicity Basics

. Branding, Positioning, and Self-Promoting

Our amazing roster:

Rebecca York - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Romance Novel”

. A New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best-selling and award-winning author, Rebecca has written over 115 books. Since 1983, Rebecca has authored or co-authored 85 romances and romantic thrillers, for Berkley, Harlequin, Silhouette, Dell, Kensington and Tor, many with paranormal elements.

. Her KILLING MOON was a launch title for Berkley’s Sensation imprint in June 2003. Seven more books in the series have followed. Her next Intrigue is CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, October, 2008.

. Her many awards include two Rita finalist books. She has two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times: for Series Romantic Suspense and for Series Romantic Mystery. Romantic Times recently honored her as a Pioneer of Romance.

Cindi Myers - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Contemporary Novel”

0. Writing as Cynthia Sterling, Cindi wrote seven historical romances for Berkley and Kensington before turning to contemporary fiction.

. Cindi has published more than 30 romances and women’s fiction titles, among them MY BACKWARDS LIFE, LEARNING CURVES, THE RIGHT MR. WRONG, and A SOLDIER COMES HOME.

. Almost half a million copies of Cindi’s books have been published around the world. Her books have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, and Greek.

Camille Minichino - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Mystery Series”

. Bestselling author of the periodic table mystery series, whose titles include THE OXYGEN MURDER, THE LITHIUM MURDER, THE CARBON MURDER and THE NITROGEN MURDER.

. Camille also created a second mystery series based on her lifelong love of miniatures. Writing as Margaret Grace, her titles in this series include MURDER IN MINIATURE and MAYHEM IN MINIATURE.

. Has a Ph.D. in physics from Fordham University, is on the staff of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has written wildly popular articles like “Experimental Very High Pressure Equation of State and Thermophysical Properties of Liquid Ta and W” and “Thermophysical Properties of Liquid Tantalum and Molybdenum” and further demonstrated her range by penning MEMOIR: THE BOSTON BRAVES.

Sheree Fitch - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Children’s Book”

. Sheree is a multi award-winning writer, speaker, and educator and the author of twenty-three books in a variety of genres. Since the publication of her first book, TOES IN MY NOSE (Doubleday 1987), she’s traveled the globe as a visiting author, writing instructor, and literacy educator.

. Sheree is one of Canada’s best-known and best-loved children’s book authors. Her books for children include THERE’S A MOUSE IN MY HOUSE!, IF I COULD WEAR MY SNEAKERS, NO TWO SNOWFLAKES, THE HULLABALOO BUGAGABOO DAY and many others

. Sheree received the Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work inspirational to Canadian children and two honorary doctorates for her contribution to Canadian literature and issues affecting women and children.

Ed Hooks - our speaker on “Writing for the Niche Market”

0. Ed has been a theatre professional for three decades and teaches acting to both animators and actors. His books include THE ACTOR’S FIELD GUIDE, ACTING STRATEGIES FOR THE CYBER AGE, THE ULTIMATE SCENE AND MONOLOGUE SOURCEBOOK, and ACTING FOR ANIMATORS.

. Ed has taught for many companies, including Disney Feature Animation (Burbank, Orlando and Sydney, Australia), Ubisoft, Blue Sky, DreamWorks/PDI, Lucas Learning, Animal Logic, Rising Sun Pictures, Microsoft (X-Box/Fasa Studios), Big Idea, Scanline Productions (Munich Germany) and Crystal Dynamics and twice instructed at The Ringling School of Art and Design (Sarasota, Florida).

. Last year Ed taught in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ed’s newest book is ACTING IN ANIMATION: A LOOK AT 12 FILMS.

Cathleen Rountree - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Interview Book”

. Author of the bestselling interview series ON WOMEN TURNING 30, ON WOMEN TURNING 40, ON WOMEN TURNING 50, ON WOMEN TURNING 60, and ON WOMEN TURNING 70

. An entertainment critic, film critic and movie lover who wrote THE MOVIE LOVER’S CLUB and who writes for Documentary Magazine, Film Arts Magazine, GreenCine, and many other publications

. Cathleen is also the author of THE WRITER’S MENTOR: A GUIDE TO PUTTING PASSION ON PAGE, a book for – and beloved by – writers.

Jennifer Louden - our speaker on “Writing and Selling the Self-Help Book”

. Created the internationally known and bestselling Comfort Queen line of books, including THE WOMAN’S COMFORT BOOK, THE COUPLE’S COMFORT BOOK, THE PREGNANT WOMAN’S COMFORT BOOK, and COMFORT SECRETS FOR BUSY WOMEN

. Prolific author whose other books include THE LIFE ORGANIZER: A WOMAN’S GUIDE TO A MINDFUL YEAR and whose articles appear regularly in Body + Soul Magazine

. An in-demand speaker and a leading spokeswoman for women’s well-being, she has appeared on the Oprah Show, Later Today, MS-NBC, Fit TV, and more than a hundred local news shows in most major markets.

Bobette Buster - our speaker on “The Fundamentals of Screenwriting: Finding the Story in Your Script”

0. A world-renowned lecturer on “What’s the Big Idea? The Art and Craft of Feature Film Development,” a course which she created as an Adj. Professor at the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program, while working as a Hollywood creative film executive with Tony Scott, Larry Gelbart and Ray Stark.

. An in-demand worldwide workshop leader and lecturer who for the past dozen years had been visiting faculty at the University of Milan, La Femis in Paris and the Media Business School in Rhonda, Spain, as well as the creator of the Origination Lab for Screen Training Ireland, guest lecturer at Pixar Studios, advisor at the Sundance Lab for Latin American Writers and speaker and advisor to film programs in Mexico, Cuba, Germany, The Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Japan.

. During each of the past ten years, one of the Top Ten Box Office films has been from a student of Bobette’s. Her students are now major Industry players, writers/directors, executives and producers and have been nominated for or won the top awards in Europe and Hollywood, including the Emmys and Oscars.

Janet Rosen - our speaker on “Literary Agent Basics”

. Janet is a senior agent at the prestigious Sheree Bykofsky Associates Literary Agency, where she represents a wide range of nonfiction.

. Former president of the NYC chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, former associate book editor at Glamour Magazine, and – hold on to your hats – stand-up comedienne, appearing at some of NYC’s better and seedier clubs.

. Specializes in the areas of business, health and fitness, humor, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, psychology, religion and spirituality, self-help, dating and relationships, and current affairs.

Roccie Hill - our speaker on “The Odyssey of the First Novel”

. Roccie has worked as the executive director of several non-profits, among them Earthshare of California, The Housing Trust of Santa Clara, and The Leakey Foundation. She is currently the executive director of Guide Dogs of the Desert.

. Her first published novel, THREE MINUTES ON LOVE, ran the gauntlet of over 100 rejections before finding its home at The Permanent Press and its publication October, 2008.