Red Water -- A treacherous Louisiana river is the setting where divorced couple Sanders (Lou Diamond Philips) and Kelly (Kristy Swanson) forget their differences long enough to search for a new source of energy. The couple is joined -- and later waylaid -- by a pair of crooks named Ice (Coolio) and Jerry (Jaimz Woolvett), who are convinced that a cache of stolen loot rests somewhere at the bottom of the river. Before long, everyone is in danger of being sliced and diced by a rogue freshwater shark.
Who Is Killing Atlanta's Children -- In the early 1980's there was someone killing the children of Atlanta. Eventually a single man was caught and convicted in one one of the largest manhunts in our nation's history. Ever since the case has been closed until four years later two reporters investigate charges that the original investigation was filled with errors and tainted evidence. They seek to find the truth behind the Atlanta Child Murders.
The Fixer -- Jack Killoran is a lawyer who can 'fix' any situation for his wealthy clients, usually by bribing or blackmailing corrupt officials. Killoran runs afoul of some of his clients when he has a crisis of conscience after miraculously surviving a riding accident.
Other Creative Collaborations
Judus -- The made-for-television film JUDAS takes the novel approach of retelling the story of Christ's Passion through the viewpoint of his betrayer, Judas Iscariot (Johnathon Schaech). Depicted as a would-be revolutionary bent on freeing the Hebrews from Roman occupation, Judas believes he's found a political ally in the form of an emerging young prophet named Jesus of Nazareth (Jonathan Scarfe). But after joining Jesus' band of followers, Judas becomes increasingly frustrated by his new friend's rejection of violent rebellion in favor of pacifist spirituality and eventually betrays him to the Roman authorities and their sadistic viceroy Pontius Pilate (Tim Matheson). A daring psychological exploration of one the most reviled figures in religious history, this TV movie is the first to gauge Judas Iscariot as a real and complex human being struggling with his own spiritual and moral conflicts.
Dungeonmaster -- First shot in 1983 but not released until 1985, this low-budget, amateur fantasy is about Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron), a computer whiz who takes on the forces of evil in the guise of Heavy Metal (Blackie Lawless), the leader of an eponymous L.A. band, and Mestema (Richard Moll) the black magician who forces Paul into seven separate confrontations with powerful enemies, much in the manner of Hercules and his challenges (each confrontation directed by a different individual). The nasty Mestema is holding Paul's girlfriend Gwen (Leslie Wing) hostage, giving him all the more reason to meet these challenges, armed with his computer and nothing more. And all this happens in a mere 73 minutes of running time -- counting the long credits -- or about 10 minutes a challenge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
John Waters was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1946. For those of you who don't know, Maryland can be a pretty strange place to grow up. Luckily for John, 1960's Baltimore had a few saving graces. Here he would meet the men and women willing to work in front of and behind the camera on his self-written, self-produced and independently financed movies. Although Baltimore has become a bit yuppified over the past 20 years, you can still visit Bob Adams' Fells Point thrift store Flashbacks for an autographed picture of the Egg Man, or check out Waters' Walk of Fame in front of the Senator Theater.
Over a period of more than 30 years, Waters has grown from a local boy making cheap, underground movies to a local man making counter-culture Hollywood comedies. But don't be fooled by the veneer - all of his films are shot on location in Baltimore and with very modest budgets. The star power of his post-Hairspray films demonstrate his influence and clout.
Waters writes all his own films, and the basic elements of filth and debauchery still exist in his screenplays - just in a more palatable fashion. Also present in many of his films are the plastic sincerity and squashed innocence of late 50's and early 60's Americana: Sweet mothers who make breakfast for a family of four versus cheap girls who have babies in the backs of cars.
John is also an accomplished writer and photographer. He has published two volumes of his journalistic exploits, one screenplay collection, and a great big book of pictures he took of his television.
Of course, he is most well known for breaking boundaries of acceptable filmmaking. Drugs, queers, abortion, religion - nothing is sacred in his field of vision. When asked about it, he says "secretly I think that all my films are politically correct, though they appear not to be. That's because they're made with a sense of joy." And perhaps that is why so many people from all around the world take such joy in his movies.
Waters and Divine (then known as Glen Milstead) lived near Baltimore, Maryland as boys, a short distance apart, where they met and became friends. Waters' films would become Divine's primary star vehicle.
His earlier film works included Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, sometimes referred to as the Trash Trilogy. These films pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship and indeed, many felt, good taste. A particularly notorious final segment of Pink Flamingos, simply added in as a non sequitur to the end of film, featured, in one take, a small dog defecating and then crossdressing actor Divine eating the dog feces.
Waters' early films were all shot in the Baltimore area with his regular team of local actors (the Dreamlanders) who starred in most of his films, including Divine, Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and others. His early films were among the first picked up for distribution by New Line Cinema. His films often premiered at the Charles Theatre.
His 1981 film Polyester starred Divine opposite once-teen-idol Tab Hunter. His films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray, Cry-Baby and Serial Mom still retain his trademark inventiveness. The film Hairspray was turned into a hit Broadway musical, which swept the 2003 Tony Awards.
Waters' most recent film, the NC-17 rated A Dirty Shame, is a move back towards his earlier, more controversial work.
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Michael Urban was born on the tornado swept plains of Bartelsville, Oklahoma. As a young child his family relocated to Bogota, Colombia, for a few years before settling in Miami, Florida. Because he was a poor test taker in high school, Urban attended Florida State University where he majored in German Language and Art History. After winning a scholarship, he went on to complete his studies at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany, and upon graduation moved to Los Angeles. After writing the world's worst screenplay, he realized he was in need of additional studies. Urban applied to and was somehow accepted into the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies screenwriting program. It was there he met directing fellow Brian Dannelly and the two became writing partners.
Urban and Dannelly have written several projects together and recently completed Runner Up, their second project to be produced Single Cell with Dannelly attached to direct.
In 1959 as Ray Charles was embarking on his first Big Band tour he asked Joe Adams, a friend from his radio days, to join him on tour for a month. Adams said yes, and has been with the Ray Charles organization ever since—although until this day he says he was never “officially” hired.
Two years prior, Joe had retired from a successful career in radio and television and had recently completed a two-year run on Broadway in “Jamaica” alongside Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban.
Adams always aspired to be a radio announcer, but knew there was not much possibility for a black man to have a career as a radio announcer at the time. He taught himself the art of public speaking by speaking out loud in vacant lots and later tutored actors preparing for roles at major motion picture studios.
He began his radio career with several Hollywood stations in the mid-1940s. He received his first on-air opportunity at Santa Monica station KOWL. Within two years he had moved from 15 minutes of airtime a day to a five-and-a-half hour show and the number-one rated deejay show in Los Angeles.
In 1947 he moved into television with his two name-sake shows: “Adams Alley” and “Joe Adams Presents,” produced for CBS affiliate station KLAC-TV in Los Angeles. During these early days of television, Adams’ two shows were among the most popular shows at the time. His format of using top named stars and musicians made him one of the television pioneers of that era. The musical themes for Joe’s two broadcast shows “Take the A Train” and “Smada” (Adams spelled backwards) were recorded by Duke Ellington.
Adams has appeared in more than 26 motion pictures. His two most notable roles were Husky Miller in “Carmen Jones” and as Frank Sinatra’s psychiatrist in “The Manchurian Candidate.”
“Joe has over four decades of experience in the entertainment industry. His expertise as an arts manager, musician, on-air radio and television personality and Broadway actor is dead-on with what we teach here at Columbia,” says Dr. Eric V.A. Winston, Interim Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Columbia College. “I met Joe several years ago and had the pleasure of working with him while at Wilberforce University in Ohio. With Joe’s help and support, Ray Charles donated $2 million to Wilberforce to establish two endowments. In May, Columbia will graduate approximately 2,000 students many of whom will seek employment in the entertainment industry. I think having Joe here at this time to give our students a first-person account into this very diverse industry is of great benefit to our students.”
As an arts manager in Ray Charles’ various organizations, Adams has many roles and responsibilities. As Mr. Charles’ business manager he had a reputation as a shrewd negotiator and personally negotiated all of Ray’s business deals including his award-winning series of commercials for Pepsi Cola. In his role as Vice President/CEO of RPM International, he oversees the business activities of the parent company as well as Ray Charles Enterprises, which includes the activities of the Ray Charles Orchestra and the Raelettes.
For a brief period after joining the Ray Charles organization, Adams briefly held the position of Executive Vice President of Queen Booking Company, which was once the largest African American owned booking agency in the United States.
In 1958 he was the first African American to receive the “Golden Globe” award for Outstanding New Actor. Adams is the recipient of several awards and honorary degrees. A special educational facility is being built in his and his wife’s name at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where a performing arts center is also being built in memory of Ray Charles.
Tony D'Souza was born and raised in Chicago. He earned Masters degrees in writing from Hollins University and the University of Notre Dame, and served three years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, where he was a rural AIDS educator.
Tony’s internationally award winning fiction has appeared in magazines and journals such as The New Yorker, Playboy, Tin House, Stand, The Literary Review, The Black Warrior Review, Iron Horse, and many others, and is forthcoming in McSweeney's and Subtropics. In 2000, he was chosen by Writers of the Americas as one of seven young fiction writers to represent the United States at the first US-Cuban writers’ conference since the Revolution, held in Havana. The National Endowment for the Arts named Tony as a 2006 literature fellow in prose. His first novel, Whiteman, chronicles the daily struggles of an African village during a time of war, as well as the increasing psychic and cultural isolation of the lone foreign relief worker who lives in it. The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair heralded Whiteman as one of the most anticipated novels of the year, Nerve Magazine nominated it for Best Sex Scene of the Year, and it has debuted to widespread critical acclaim.
Dr. Billy Taylor encompasses that rare combination of creativity, intelligence, vision, commitment and leadership. Playing professionally since 1944, Dr. Taylor got his start with Ben Webster's Quartet on New York's 52nd street and then moved on to be the house pianist at Birdland where he performed with Jazz masters, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Since the 1950s, he has been leading his own Trio, as well as performing with the most influential jazz musicians of the twentieth century. During his career, which has spanned nearly six decades, Dr. Taylor has composed over three hundred and fifty songs, including "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free," as well as works for theatre, dance and symphony orchestras.
In addition to his performance career, Dr. Taylor is a regarded educator, receiving his Masters and Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and serving as a Duke Ellington Fellow at YaleUniversity. Dr. Taylor holds over twenty- two honorary doctoral degrees, is the recipient of two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, Grammy nominations and a host of prestigious and highly coveted prizes, such as the National Medal of Arts, the Tiffany Award, a Lifetime achievement Award from Downbeat Magazine, and, election to the Hall of Fame for the International Association of Jazz Educators.
Columbia Student Katrina Relief Team Reports on their Spring Break Experiences in Waveland, Mississippi
While thousands of college students were sunning and slacking on spring break, 28 Columbia College Chicago students caravanned to Waveland, Mississippi to assist in the continuing relief efforts.
Senior film and video student Holly DeRuyter conceived the idea and worked with Community Collaborations International to set up the grass-roots relief effort. She worked with staff in Columbia’s Student Affairs division recruiting students and arranging the trip.
Holly and fellow documentary student Erika Valenciana filmed the entire experience.
You are invited to the documentary DVD and listen to students’ stories of human connection and the importance of civic engagement.
“This experience has made me realize that the things we go through in our day to day lives mean nothing compared to what some people go through. Before complain about anything, I stop and think about the strong, brave, unexplainable people I met down in Waveland and knowing what they went though, makes whatever problem I am about to complain about worthless. I say to myself, ‘so what if I am a bit cold right now, I am lucky enough to at least know that I will be in a warm apartment soon.’ I know there are people who have to sleep in tents and have to live in devastation for a long, long time. How can any of our problems even compare to their problems?” – Steve Mura, Music Business Management major
This experience changed my life tremendously. Today it’s hard for me to take anything for granted. I used to complain about ‘everything,’ when I really don't have anything to complain about. When I met the locals who pretty much lost everything (including family members) they seemed so humble. I'm sure they endure their moments but they brighten my days there and days to come. They thanked me for helping them, but it’s really me who owes them the thanks for helping me.” – Omega Stewart, Television major
“I saw first-hand that the media doesn't portray everything. We had never heard of Waveland before going down there, but we soon learned it was called Ground Zero for the storm. Katrina may be out of the news now, but that doesn't mean her impact is over. The trip also made the disaster more personal because of all the hopeful people I met.” – Emily Rehm, Music Business Major
“The greatest joy in life is truly helping others that are desperately in need. I have never felt more satisfied as I did after returning to Chicago. I will never watch from the sidelines again, I will get involved.” – Alan Baker, Broadcast Journalism major
TERKEL SCHOLARSHIP GOES TO FILM STUDENT FOR "THE TRACTOR BUILDER" DOC
Community Media Workshop praises ‘Terkelian’ voices at NBC-5, Sun-Times, and Residents Journal.
Sean Patrick Fahey, a senior film student at Columbia who will receive a $1,500 scholarship as part of the Studs Terkel Award to a student for a distinguished documentary or journalistic project at the Community Media Workshop’s April 19 awards ceremony.
“I've really enjoyed Columbia,” says Fahey, 29, who recently completed the rough cut for “The Tractor Builder.” “I've been fortunate with the latitude they've given me. I'm not rational or linear, but I do good work and they've let me do it my way.” The subject of the film is Tom Karl, a Peoria-area native living on the family farm who designed, built, and now uses a tractor that he can operate with his head and right hand using joysticks as a workaround to his muscular dystrophy. Karl is Fahey’s uncle.
The scholarship Fahey will receive—which comes with a check that can be used as the honoree chooses—honors a student project, nominated by a faculty member, that takes risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern. The awards honor those who go the extra mile in sourcing stories and thoughtful treatment of context.
“’The Tractor Builder’ is a very good example of celebrating an ordinary… person’s extraordinary accomplishments,” stated Peter Hawley, the faculty member who nominated Fahey.
Fahey, who is from Peoria, says he gained a lot of life experience during time off and at other schools before finishing up at Columbia. He has worked on a fishing boat in Ireland, tending bar in Spain and France, and other odd jobs elsewhere including a year in Toronto. He plans to finish up a final cut of “The Tractor Builder” and take it on the festival circuit later this year.
Credits for the documentary include: Sean Fahey: Director/Producer; Andy Patch, DP; Tom Clayton, 2nd unit DP; Jeremiah Hammerling, Videographer; Lisa Clausen, AC; Jeremy Frye, AC; Dan Mulholland, Gaffer. Jerem Sloan, an assistant editor at Avenue Edit, is working with Fahey to edit the final piece.
Workshop honors area reporters
In addition to Fahey’s award, the Workshop will honor Mark Brown, principal news columnist at Chicago Sun-Times, Renee Ferguson, general assignment and investigative reporter at NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV channel 5 in Chicago, and Editor Mary Johns and the rest of the team at Residents Journal newspaper, published by, for, and about current and former public housing tenants.
“These are newspeople to make journalists proud,” said Thom Clark, president of Community Media Workshop, which works with Terkel, the prize-winning author of a dozen books that feature the voices of ‘ordinary folks’ to select the award winners. Terkel is expected among some 200 people at the Studs Terkel Awards event, which is a fundraiser for Community Media Workshop, from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario. Individual tickets are $85.
Terkel Awards highlight reporters who take risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern, from housing to neighborhood safety and beyond. The awards honor journalists for going the extra mile in sourcing stories and thoughtful treatment of context. The awards reward a body of work rather than a single article or series, and go to journalists at any stage of their career.
"The Studs Terkel awards inspire our students," said Nancy Day, chair of the Journalism Department at Columbia College Chicago, which hosts Community Media Workshop. "Each year, the winners show students what we're talking about in the classrooms about the crucial watchdog and spotlight functions of journalism, yapping about waste and fraud, shining light into dark corners that should be covered but too often are not. We emphasize covering community, going out and finding out what is actually happening and then challenging official sources."
Connecting journalists and the community, Community Media Workshop promotes news that matters. Founded in 1989, the 501c3 provides communications training to other nonprofits, serves as a channel of nonprofit news to journalists, and builds relationships between these two groups to diversify the voices in the news media. Since 1993 the Workshop has been based at Columbia College Chicago. More information is available at www.newstips.org.
Enjoy an elegant, friendly soiree that brings together media, community and nonprofit movers and shakers and celebrates the work of:
Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times
Renee Ferguson, reporter for WMAQ-TV/NBC5
Mary Johns and the Editorial Team at Residents' Journal
Amy Franceschini is a pioneer in the burgeoning field of net art, an art form that is created, circulated and experienced through the Internet. She is the founder of Futurefarmers, an art and design collaborative dedicated to expressing environmental and community interests through digital media. In "Shaken and Stirred," Spark checks out her latest piece, "Fingerprint Maze," at Pond gallery.
While playing video games one day with a friend, Franceschini imagined getting inside her own fingerprint and finding her way around within its twisting grooves as one would a labyrinth. Her latest piece provides just such an experience. A scanner takes an image of a participant's print, which is then modeled into a virtual, three-dimensional maze and projected onto a wall. The participant can then enter into the labyrinth of his or her own fingerprint as though it were a topiary maze. Franceschini has plans to save these mazes and allow others to try them out via the Web.
In addition to founding Futurefarmers, Franceschini helped to start Atlas, an online magazine, in 1995. She has taught at art and design in schools across the Bay Area, including Stanford University. She has shown at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Cooper-Hewitt, the National Design Museum and Transmediale in Berlin, and was invited, along with Futurefarmers, to participate in the 2000 Whitney Biennial.
Tuesday, Open House for Documentary Center – Fall Courses. Troubleshooting: Equipment. Sign up for a consultation.
Time: All Day
Location: Doc Center, 1104 S. Michigan, room 407
Wednesday, Audio Recording Problems? (Doc Week) – Sign up for audio consultation. Register for Sound Doc class
Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Doc Center, 1104 S. Wabash, room 407
Wednesday, The Best of Doc: 2001–05 (Doc Week) Top student docs. Sponsored by Viva Doc! Reception, Screenings and Awards
Time: 6 to 9 p.m.
Location: 1104 S. Wabash, room 402
Thursday, Doc Week Master Class: Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Stevie). Sign up during class for one on ones
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Location: Doc Center, 1104 S. Wabash, room 402
Thursday, The Weather Underground (Doc Week) – Special guests: Bernardine Dorhm, Bill Ayers and filmmaker Bill Siegel
Time: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Location: Film Row Cinema. 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor
Friday, Lunch and Shmooze with Doc Pros (Doc Week) – hosted by Viva Doc
Time: 11:30 to 1 p.m.
Location: Doc Center, 1104 S. Wabash, Room 407
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble? (CJE), conducted by Jon Faddis, continues its 2005/2006 season with a Salute to New Orleans at HotHouse, April 6 at 6:00 p.m. Admission is $15 Tickets at Door.; From the Windy City to New Orleans with Love at Rubloff Auditorium, April 7 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $35 adult/$12 student/$5 Columbia students.
“This is truly a special time for the CJE,” said artistic director and conductor Jon Faddis. “In a continuing effort to support the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans, we welcome a wonderful group of Crescent City musicians and educators to Chicago. Then, later in the month, one of my dear friends and colleagues, Dr. Billy Taylor, comes out of retirement to join us for a spectacular evening of big band arrangements of some of his great compositions.”
At HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo, on April 6, the CJE focuses on the music of New Orleans, the history of the city and the future of the area and its people. The CJE hosts jazz masters and instructors from the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp as well as the Camp’s founder and director Jackie Harris, who has been working at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center since being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Joining the effort to support the musicians and residents of the area is Phoebe Jacobs, jazz advocate, executive vice president of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. and personal friend of the Armstrong’s.
From the Windy City to New Orleans with Love, April 7 at Rubloff Auditorium, 220 South Columbus Drive, celebrates the relationship between Chicago and New Orleans. The jazz masters and instructors from the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, along with Jackie Harris and Phoebe Jacobs, return for another evening of stellar music. The Summer Camp was established in 1995 to honor Armstrong and perpetuate the legacy of jazz. The annual three-week program hosts musicians from ages 10 – 20 in daily master classes in vocals, composition and jazz history. Jon Faddis served as artist-in-residence for the program in 2002, and Faddis and the CJE are supporting efforts to make sure the program continues in 2006 and beyond.
The Camp’s faculty, under the leadership of saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, is a Who’s Who of New Orleans jazz royalty. Joining Professor Jordan in the Windy City will be clarinetist Alvin Batiste, trumpet master Clyde Kerr, Jr. and vocalist Germaine Bazzle. The program will include Duke Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite” and Alvin Batiste’s arrangements of “The Missy Strut” and “Coltrane’s Countdown.”
“Together as a group for the first time since Katrina struck last August, this weekend in Chicago will be more than sharing our musical heritage; it will be a beautiful reunion of colleagues, kindred spirits and good friends,” explained Jackie Harris.
