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Book Review: Machine of Death’s “Vegetables”

By Bobby Forand

Nearly everyone spends hours wondering how they are going to die. The collaborators of Machine of Death took this conundrum to the next level by putting together a compilation of short stories all based around a machine that tells people the method of their future demise via blood sample. There are 34 tales of the aftermath of this discovery, each written through the imagination of a different author. “Vegetables,” a story by Rhode Island resident Chris Cox, was chosen out of 675 stories submitted by 626 different writers.

A first person account that is very Palahniukian, Cox takes us into the world of a seeming corporate guy who passive aggressively hates his friends, coworkers and neighbors. It seems like he has benevolence in his heart when he tries to help Frank overcome his fear of vegetables (his method of death), but his approach is just spiteful, leading to a snap and a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Like a lot of the stories in this collection, Cox’s piece is thought-provoking. He is currently in the process of turning his story into a script, hoping to see his words brought to life on the big screen. Cox was kind enough to put his fiction writing away long enough to answer some questions.

How did you come to contribute to Machine of Death? Did you have a hand in the publishing process?

I didn’t have a hand in the publishing process, but I used to keep an eye on fiction market listings, showing what anthologies, magazines and publications were out there seeking writers or stories. Through Ralan.com, I happened upon the submission call for the Machine of Death anthology, and found the premise intriguing. The title of each submission had to denote the way someone in the tale was going to die. I like working from prompts, and wanted to challenge myself with something ridiculously healthy, like vegetables. A short while later I had to have some impacted wisdom teeth removed, and they knocked me out for the surgery. I took the rest of the day off, and was still dopey from the morphine, (not to mention facially deconstructed because the surgeon had hands like coal-shovels). So when I got home and reattached my jaw, I grabbed the laptop, flopped back on the sofa and wrote “Vegetables” while in this strange, cranky and surreal mindset. I gave it a quick edit a day or so later, and then sent it in. They received over 600 submissions all in, so I was quite surprised and happy when they accepted it.

How has getting “Vegetables” published in Machine of Death helped your career?

Since Machine of Death came out, I have been working on several other longer projects – novels and film scripts – and so the effect of having Machine of Death on my list of credits remains to be seen. But being part of Machine in and of itself has been a huge boon – especially as nobody involved with this anthology had any anticipation of how huge it was about to get. Watching this publication from its inception through to release and the global attention has been a trip, to say the least. Fingers crossed this will continue to grow and evolve, for many years to come.

Talk about the process of turning “Vegetables” into a script. What was/has been different from writing the initial story? Are you currently in talks with any production companies? Converting this into a script is interesting because the original story is very, very short and leaves a lot

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to the reader’s imagination. So firstly, I laid out the story chronologically, listing scenes and key / pivotal events, which would form an approximate map of the plot. Then I needed to spend some time with the characters in their own environments because they would all need much more definition and personality to fill out this much airtime. Scripts are very visual too, and when a story has a lot of internal dialogue, you have to be mindful not to stuff all that introspection into a dull stream of narrative. This time around, I really got to know the characters much better than they needed to be known in the original short story. I also got to flesh out their world, see outside and beyond the limits of the scenes the story presented, and build an entire poignantly darkly bizarre world around the events already laid out and established. It’s fun actually – kind of like paint by numbers sci-fi – although, this iteration of the story is going to be darker and more unsettling, by far.

I’m not currently in talks with any production companies, but will most likely look for agent representation soon.

How has living in Rhode Island contributed to your writing?

Great question! Rogue Island is by far the coolest place I have ever lived. I’m a thrill seeker by nature, but be careful what you wish for. Since I moved here from England nine years ago, my first job was at a corporation selling consumer electronics, whose owners subsequently went to jail for stealing about $15 million from internet victims. I worked at a human services place on Mineral Spring Ave, which was a very fulfilling job until we got called in one day and told that the previous night, one of the clients had raped and murdered another one of the clients. Then I worked for a guy assembling grills and

wheelbarrows, driving around various Lowes and Home Depots. But this guy was a shady bastard who wore an ankle bracelet for some prior undisclosed offense, and had to dial into a parole line every time we ventured anywhere near the state line. Only experiences and perspective can contribute to your writing, and RI has given me massive quantities of both.

Has do-it-yourself publishing changed the literary landscape at all? If so, how?

Yes! Traditional publishing has always been a tough gig to break into, and tended to have pretty high standards because of the competitive environment. But since software and ebooks made DIY publishing available to the masses, we now suddenly have this overwhelming proliferation of self-proclaimed authors, very often whose work really isn’t ready for publication yet, and in the worse cases, isn’t even fit to wipe your arse on. When you look at the two ways of getting your book out, self-publishing is very tempting, because you have full control, it gets released much faster and you get the majority of the profit from sales. But on the flip side, you also lack objectivity, may want to skip over the editing

process – big mistake, never do this – and you may not know the first thing about marketing. You’re also going into it with a lot of prejudicial attitudes and proclaimed experts out there stating that all self-published work is crap, which is absolutely not the case. I know at least one fabulous writer who took the self-published route for his last two novels, but he has found all kinds of obstacles through doing this – one being that some review sites won’t even consider reading self-published material.

Would you pay to know how you will die?

I would most likely pay several times, and then spend the rest of my life trying to prove it wrong. If the stub said old age, I’d go jump off a bridge.

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C’mon, you can fit at least five books in over the summer! But if we get only one, I highly, highly recommend Backbite, by Adrienne Jones.

Any final thoughts?

Oh yeah, lots of them, but I’ll spare you the bulk. When Machine of Death beat out Glenn Beck on the Amazon radar, he commented on his radio show that we have a “death obsessed culture,” and I am somewhat inclined to agree. Death is very cool until somebody you love dies, and then it is the worst thing by far, and makes you want to die yourself. So focus on life, party hard, laugh lots, love love and enjoy yourself as if you were going to die yourself at some point in the future. Because you are. And so am I. And hopefully these events are a long, long way off.

This One Time, at Film Camp

Why would you go on some long, expensive vacation this summer where all you do is stand in line and get treated like crap by bleach-blonde nerf herders with a semester of community college under their belt and more acne than brains? You shouldn’t!

Nor should you ship your spawn off to any number of Walmart-sponsored day camps chaperoned by slack-jawed yokels and creepy Mister Rogers look-a-likes where they will be forced to swim in bodies of urine-tainted water and probably catch lice.

Sleep-away camps are no better. Your kids will just smoke pot and imbibe copious amounts of four loko only to be chopped in half by a masked killer while trying to lose their virginity.

If you really want your summer camp fix, just watch Meatballs, Earnest Goes to Camp, or Camp Nowhere and save yourself a whole mess of aggravation.

Or better yet, send the little scamp over to one (or all) of these excellent film and art programs happening all over Rhode Island this summer. These are professionally run, quality programs where kids and teens can learn filmmaking, cooking, dance and many other fun and educational arts-related skills.

Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education offers many classes and certificate programs for kids and teens throughout the summer, including classes in animation, digital video production, and a Young Artist Program where artists ages 7 and up participate in printmaking, claymation, ceramic sculpture and more.

Where: RISD campus Providence When: Classes begin June 10 Contact: ce.risd.edu

KidsEye™ Summer Camp with Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is in its 15th year! KidsEye is an intensive and fun five-day summer camp held at the University of Rhode Island that exposes young people to the basic elements of the filmmaking process, culminating in a premiere screening of their finished work.

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When: July 8 – 12

Contact: film-festival.org/kidseye.php

RIIFF offers another wonderful teen summer film opportunity for high school juniors and seniors, including those who just graduated. The youth film jury is a program where students will attend

multiple screenings, Q&As and other events during the Rhode Island International Film Festival. It’s not a class, but it is a great way to get young filmmakers involved in critique and discussion.

Where: Multiple locations throughout RI When: August 6 – 11

Contact: film-festival.org/YouthJuryProgram2013.php

URI, Adoption RI and First Star is having the First Star URI Academy for Foster Youth where students entering 9th grade will get full on-campus immersion with a month of academic classes, including media and communication, video game design, web design and videography. Students will receive college credits and have fun learning many different skills such as martial arts, cooking, yoga and painting.

Where: URI Kingston campus When: July 1 – August 3

Contact: Matthew Buchanan: 401-865-6000; firststar.org

VSA Arts Rhode Island is also premiering “Adventures in Video Game Design” with Central Falls Expanded Learning where Central Falls students in grades 7 through 10 will work with a digital media artist and learn how to use computers and digital tools to create their own video game. No prior experience is necessary.

Where: Central Falls

When: July 8 – August 14; Mondays and Wednesdays 12:30 – 3 pm

Contact: Jeannine Chartier , VSA arts RI Director 401-725-0247; programs@vsartsri.org

Andrea Summers, Central Falls School District 401-727-7726 x 21030; Asummers@cfschools.net Hendricken High School will put on a summer camp for boys and girls ages 12 to 16. Programs include New Artist Writer’s Workshop, where students will learn the fundamentals of playwriting or screenwriting through practical demonstrations, guest lectures and hands-on exercises, and Summer Screen, a week-long camp in filmmaking where students will write, produce, edit and star in their own short films. Hendriken’s summer program will also offer Showchoir and Stage workshops.

Where: Hendricken campus Warwick When: July 1 – August 16

Contact: Richard Silva, Director of Arts: arts@hendricken.com

Everett Company’s Summer Arts Program includes film as well as dance and theater. Students will work with professional artists in intense and fun classes, including filmmaking, acting, hip-hop and creative dancing. Students must be at least 10 years old to participate.

Where: 9 Duncan Ave Providence

When: Session one is July 15 – August 2 and Session 2 runs from August 5 – August 23 Contact: 401-831-9479 or everettsummerarts@gmail.com

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many more educational and fun programs for you and your brood to get involved with this summer all over New England Do it!

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Scene & Heard

June is a month for events! Present, twist, animate! Check it out below, and make sure you get involved – it’s gonna be good.

2013 Pell Awards

Trinity Repertory Company announced recently that screen and television actor John Krasinski will be honored with the 2013 Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts. Krasinski is a

Massachusetts native, known for his work on NBC’s hit comedy “The Office,” and the recent film Promised Land with Matt Damon. Krasinski will be honored alongside recently announced Honorees Kate Burton (Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts), Tony Estrella (Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts), Joseph A. Chazan, M.D. (Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts), and Martha Douglas-Osmundson (Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts).

The 17th annual Pell Awards will be held on Monday, June 10, 2013, at 7 pm at Trinity Repertory Company with a cocktail reception to follow next door from 8 – 10 pm at the Grand Hall in the

Providence Public Library. Before the ceremony, a VIP reception will be held at 6 pm in the Ship Room, Providence Public Library, 225 Washington Street, Providence. Tickets for the full event, including the VIP reception cost $500. Tickets for the ceremony and post-show reception cost $250. Keep in mind that ticket availability is limited. Corporate sponsorships are also available. For more information, visit trinityrep.com or call 401- 453-9237.

Twistflix

Twistflix? Does it bear any resemblance to that other company with the “flix” in it? Why yes! Read on and find out why it’s gonna be good for all you indie film makers out there (and actors, directors, writers and anyone else in the film biz).

Boston native Joel Greenberg graduated from Emerson College and currently resides in the Los Angeles, CA, area. During his career, he has directed two feature films and produced four. His films touch upon many genres from drama to thriller to comedy and horror. But, it’s his latest venture put a halt to his filmmaking career so he could help other filmmakers all over the world.

Greenberg is the founder and creator of Twistflix. After being offered several so-called “deals” from Hollywood-based companies to distribute his own works, Greenberg soon realized that the offers

Hollywood had to present him were – in his words – “disgusting … bogus … all for them, nothing for me. Nobody cared that I had name talent in my film. Nobody cared that I shot my film on the red camera. No one cared about anything that filmmakers always think will help them land their big deal. Bottom line is that I made all these movies, and I have no way to show anyone what I’ve made, unless I print a large number of DVDs and sell them myself, which really is a huge risk and most likely, financially, a losing battle,” Greenberg said. Thus, Twistflix was born.

Greenberg moved to Los Angeles in search of the right people who could help him make his vision come alive. Having the bandwidth to be able to do this was just one obstacle he had to overcome, but after about nine months in LA and a ton of meetings, he found his team to help create his vision to make Twistflix a home for independent films, where anyone could see the trailers and subscribers to the network could watch all the available features and shorts. Greenberg said he believes that all quality films are someone’s baby, and as long as they don’t look like or sound like they were made by a second grader with a camcorder, they all deserve a home.

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The site is fully functional, but Greenberg says it’s only in its infancy, and new content is constantly being added. Filmmakers can submit their work directly to the site through the link on the bottom of the homepage (www.twistflix.com). The site offers a unique compensation plan where the film content contributors own a piece of the site’s revenue and are paid by subscriptions. The more subscribers the site gets, the more each filmmaker makes.

Greenberg recently was contacted by some music writers and producers who are behind many of the pop songs you hear on the radio. They ended up writing “The Twistflix Song,” which was recorded by an up-and-coming singer they are currently developing, and it is due to be released this summer. That in itself, Greenberg says, will be a huge marketing push for the company. He also created a coded coupon system that will allow anyone the opportunity to make some extra money. “Anyone can do this,” he said. “A restaurant owner, a police officer, a teacher… anyone who comes into contact with people will be great for this!”

With the coded coupons, you simply hand them out and tell people about the great indie films Twistflix offers. When someone goes to the site, enters your coupon code into the computer, and subscribes to Twistflix, you get paid a commission. The customer has the incentive to enter your code because when they do so, they get free subscription months. And the codes are tracked so that Twistflix knows exactly who to credit for the sale and pay.

Greenberg will be in Boston on June 13 for a Twistflix Dinner Presentation night. For more info, e-mail Greenburg at info@twistflix.com or check out the event on Facebook at

facebook.com/events/135542643303372.

I am Woman – Hear Me Roar! And, Hear Me Create! Animate!

The 2013 edition of Womanimation!, now in its fifth year, comes to the Cable Car Cinema and Café in Providence on Sunday, June 22.

Toni Pennacchia, Creative Director of MergingArts Productions, explains the festival concept. “As the name implies, the festival is a celebration of women in animation, presenting acclaimed animated short film stories created by women from around the world.”

With a vivid mix of styles and techniques – from oil on painting to ink on paper to stop motion – the festival presents whimsical tales of coming of age, kinship, love and loss, nostalgia and journeys into the unknown. It’s a spirited blend of narrative and emotion, both with and without dialogue.

Pennacchia elaborates, “We want to both entertain and challenge the audience, regardless of what films we’re showing. Animation is naturally sort of an experimental style, but these women are really

engaging storytellers offering a unique perspective. On the other hand, it’s not agenda-driven. The films are more personal than political.”

The diverse stories in the program include:

Isabel Herguera’s Bajo La Almohada, from Spain, a bittersweet animated documentary made with voices and drawings from a group of children who live in a clinic in India showing the treasures and dreams the children keep hidden under their pillows.

Bao, from Sandra Desmazières, a French animated short about a boy and his sister who take the train every day and always have a fabulous adventure. But today will be their final journey together.

The Other Side, by Jing Li, a surreal Chinese anime-style tale about unawareness of one’s own identity transitioning to the awakening of a stronger ego.

The German animated short, Keller Kind, from Julia Ocker, a Bergmanesque tale where after a woman gives birth to a child, she hides him in the basement.

In Vino Veritas, by Czech animator Aneta Zabkova, a wry look at a woman preparing for a reunion with her girlfriends after 25 years, when everything seeming to go wrong.

Screenings take place throughout the day on Saturday, June 22, along with DJ Madame B spinning tunes from women around the world in a pre-show set prior to the screenings. Screening times are at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 pm, and festival organizers will be in attendance to introduce the program. Due to some

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mature content and themes of the films, the program is recommended for ages 14 and up.

MergingArts Productions is an organization dedicated to cultural programming encompassing film, music and media, reaching out to communities both locally and globally. For more information, contact Toni Pennacchia, Creative Director of MergingArts Productions, mergingarts@gmail.com,

401-359-2576.

As always, stay tuned for more film news and Motif’s film review show called “Take Two” starring Nick Iandolo and me. I get to pick the next one, folks, so look out Nick – this won’t be a sci-fi flick! That’s all for now, folks. Film is rolling.

Take Two: Into Darkness

An Opportunity to Support “These Three

Words”

These three words — nope, not “I love you.” These three words happen to be more along the lines of something more unpleasant, and terribly frightening. They are, “You have cancer.”

These Three Words is also a film exploring how the heart and soul are changed when a life threatening disease takes over.

The film will feature five individuals in various stages of brain cancer, facing the medical and emotional repercussions of diagnosis, including the all too real human will to survive and the challenges of

research, clinical trials and insurance, all from some surprising perspectives. “There is no better time to educate

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to celebrate the research, the doctors and clinicians who help those with this deadly disease,” says Executive Producer Paul A. Roselli, who will lead the production team.

The Rhode Island Film Collaborative (RIFC) will act as the fiscal sponsor for the film. Donations to the film are made to the RIFC. Those funds are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by IRS rules and regulations.

These Three Words, LLC in association with the Rok Bar ‘N’ Grill will also hold a fundraising event and celebration to support the film. The evening will feature a clip from the movie and an original song produced and performed

by brain cancer survivor Ace Diamond and Amber Betz.

Rok Bar ‘N’ Grill owner Brandon Sweet will provide the venue and food for this event. “We care deeply about the impact this disease has on the individuals and their families. We are honored to do our part,” says owner Sweet.

A buffet featuring vegetarian and vegan foods will be among the offerings. A cash bar and valet parking also will be available. The restaurant is handicap accessible for wheelchairs. So, save the date!

It’s Tuesday, June 4, 2013, Rok Bar and Grill, 11 Main Street East Greenwich, RI. The event runs from 4:30 – 9 pm.

For more information, contact Paul A. Roselli at (401) 447-1560 or proselli@cox.net Admission is $20 per individual or $35 per couple.

Rhode Island College Metalsmithing Students

Present Scintilla

Each year, students in Rhode Island College’s

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current students and students who have graduated from the program in the last year. Attendees of Scintilla, this year’s exhibition, will be able to view everything from fine jewelry to larger works of metalsmithing.

During the exhibit opening, which takes place on May 31 at Machines with Magnets, artists will be available to discuss with the viewing audience their work, their processes, and how they developed their concepts. This provides attendees with a unique opportunity to not only view beautiful works of art, but learn about the artists who created them.

Many students of the program credit its success with their professor Dianne Reilly. She challenges her students with projects such as creating a self portrait in the form of jewelry, designing a vessel to hold a tangible object and another to hold an intangible object, and creating a ring that pushes the boundaries of the traditional definition of a ring. Working on interesting assignments like these while learning various metalsmithing techniques allows students to practice their skills and let their imaginations soar. View the fantastic results at the gallery opening on May 31 from 7 to 9 pm at Machines with Magnets, 400 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI. Additional viewing dates are June 1 from 12 to 6 pm and June 3 from 12 to 9 pm.

Rhode Island Film Warriors Fight the Good

Fight

Read the full version of this article here.

There’s a 3 pm crew call, but don’t let that fool you – it’s gonna be a long, long day (night actually). For Rhode Island film warriors Anthony Ambrosino (1st

Assistant Director or AD), Nicholas Delmenico (2nd AD) and Mark Greene (2nd, 2nd AD) it’s par for the

course. These guys from Pawtucket’s The 989 Project production company know what it’s like to roll up their sleeves and get in the filmmaking trenches.

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Today, an unusual Saturday shoot, they’re working on a SAG ultra low budget independent feature titled Mary Loss of Soul (MLoS), a supernatural thriller about a young girl who loses part of her soul, directed by Jennifer B. White.

Anthony had to call a Saturday shoot to get the production back on schedule after being rained out earlier in the week. “When you’re on a tight budget production, every second counts. And if that means we have to add another day, then so be it. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting the film done,” he tells me.

While Anthony works hard to run the set and keep the production on track, Nick works equally hard in the production office, managing the schedules and the call sheets, and making sure that the next day is totally ready to go.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mark ensures that what’s supposed to happen next actually happens.

It was a long and exhausting 13-hour day for the cast and crew of MLoS, but these Rhode Island film warriors will be back on Monday, bright and ridiculously early, to do it all over again.

Scene and Heard

It’s an a-MAY-zing month for the film industry – actually an amazing time in general for the local film world, especially indie film. There’s so much going on that I have to take a deep breath and really think about what I want to tell you first. The process of talking with people, visiting sets and interacting with these visionaries is exhilarating (and exhausting!). Rhode Island is a hotbed of activity of right now. Never thought that about Little Rhody? Well think again – we’ve got everything from soup to nuts here – and what an inimitable smorgasbord in between. Soup, nuts … and apples? Remember the old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Good, because you’re about to get a serving of those sweet, delicious fruits in a documentary designed to educate you about their origins in RI, from sunny orchards to right there in your retro lunch box. For the past several years, Americans have been turning away from highly processed foods in favor of fresh whole foods picked when they are ripe, tasty and at peak nutritional value. Informed consumers are buying produce from farmers markets and local produce stands, and availing themselves of seasonal pick-your-own opportunities.

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continue to succeed in a business that is inherently risky and fraught with economic uncertainty. Growers have to balance the traditional approaches that were handed down to them from their parents and grandparents with the realities of today’s business climate. The film follows apple growers over a 10-year period to show how this historically significant way of life in Rhode Island, which seemed on the brink of extinction, has managed to survive. Watch as Rhode Island farmers respond to changing

technology and markets with resourceful adaptation. Get your sneak peek of the story about the apple in Rhode Island at the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, Rhode Island, on May 23, 2013. See the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBo0_P6-1mw. Doors open at 6:30 pm, the film is at 7:30 pm, and there is a Q&A after the film. Contact producer, Alex Caserta, at alexcaserta@gmail.com or

401-943-5228, or the director, Rocco Michaluk at rifilm@gmail.com. For more information, visit their website at vanishingorchards.org.

Hmm … apples and now baseball? Is this an Americana edition of Scene and Heard? Nope, it’s RI’s documentary about that lovable pastime we call baseball. The Balls to Prove It is a documentary film about a baseball fanatic who catches piles of foul balls. Eric Sutcliffe’s deep and unquenchable life-long love of baseball and his uncanny ability to predict where a foul ball will be hit garnered him a haul of 224 balls last year while attending a mere 32 games at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. You do the math! This is a rare treat for anyone passionate about our national pastime, and even baseball haters will enjoy this film about a real guy with an simple passion taken to a level of analysis and fandom unseen before! The film is scheduled to premier after a game at McCoy Stadium this summer, and we’ll let you know exactly when to go see it. Meanwhile catch the trailer here:

vimeo.com/59858349. The film was produced by Muriel Productions, LLC, Dan Becker and Murray Scott, and stars Eric Sutcliffe. The music in the film is provided by Torn Shorts, that awesome band that just won the WBRU 2013 Rock Hunt!! Congrats guys, you deserve it.

Clamcakes, chowder and film? YES! Well, I for one can’t think of a better combo than that. Films, food and fun is to be had at Rhode Island’s first South County Film Festival. Films from all over the world in all genres will be served up by founders of the festival, Ann Mulhall, Skip Shea and William Smyth. Mulhall is a well-known casting director and owner of LDI, and has been casting both principal and background performers for feature films, independent films, television, corporate video and

commercials for the past 11 years. Shea is an award-winning, well-known talented filmmaker, writer, director, artist and actor from Uxbridge, MA, and has just taken first place for Microcinema in the Jersey Gore Film Festival, Best New England Film at the Mass Indie Film Festival for Choices, and Audience Award for best Regional Short for Children of the Asylum. Smyth is also a seven-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker and photographer, with over 15 years of experience in television production. His work has appeared on Discovery Health, The Hallmark Channel, MTV and TV Nation. He also shot the critically acclaimed horror-short Microcinema for director Skip Shea.

FILMMAKERS – deadline for entry is June 15, 2013. Join the filmmakers and the film aficionados after the last screenings for a traditional RI style clambake. Yum! Can’t think of a better way to spend the evening. All info is available here for both filmmakers and attendees: www.so-coriff.com. Hope to see you there!

Okay people – you all know the 48 Hour Film Projects are all over the universe right now. Boston just had theirs (saw some hilarious RIers/Bostonians in those) and now it’s Providence’s turn. I’ve done it with Peppered Productions, and last year it was a blast. This year, the 48 runs from July 12 through 14. For those of you who don’t know what a 48 is, beware. Participants receive their genre, tag line, and prop on one evening, and then commence to write, cast, shoot, edit, score and hand in their films all in

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48 hours. The films are then shown at a local theater venue complete with Q&As with the filmmakers and awards. If you have never joined a 48 team, I suggest you’ve got to ride that roller coaster at least once and experience the thrill! Check out the website for the Providence 48 here

www.48hourfilm.com/en/providence and view the teams. Join up either as cast or crew – it’s a hoot! Box(ing) office draw – famed director Martin Scorsese has reportedly agreed to help produce a movie about the life of Rhode Island boxer Vinny Paz. Scorsese will be an executive producer on the project, which is being spearheaded by East Greenwich native Chad Verdi of Woodhaven Films. Verdi bought the rights in 2009 to make the movie about Paz, the boxing champion who overcame a broken neck suffered in a car accident, to again fight for a world title in 2002. Scorsese directed the acclaimed 1980 boxing film Raging Bull, about the life of former middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta. Verdi says the working title of his movie, which is scheduled for release in 2016, is Bleed for This: The

Vinny Paz Story. The film is slated to be shot in RI and possibly will star a RI a-lister. We’ll let you

know more as the story develops.

RIers winning awards all over the place! A native Rhode Islander who studied creative writing and film at the University of Rhode Island won a film festival contest for screenplays focusing on the state. Rachel Smith’s Fix You Up is the winner of the Rhode Island International Film Festival’s ‘‘Spotlight on Rhode Island’’ competition.

Her screenplay tells the story of a workaholic transplant surgeon who cares more about the organs she operates on than the people they belong to. When an injury sidelines her from work, she meets a musician who prompts her to question aspects of her life.

Smith was raised in Scituate. She developed the screenplay while at The London Film School. This was the second year screenwriters were invited to submit works that feature Rhode Island’s geography and demography as main characters. Congratulations to Rachel, and we look forward to the production of Fix You Up.

Enter Michael Reed all the way from LA – to appear on the set of Normal – the amazingly creative script by Lenny Schwartz and directed by Richard Marr-Griffin of Scorpio Film Releasing. Former RI A-lister, Reed is definitely someone who has the chops and looks of someone who could be a future favorite genre actor, as you can see in his earlier films, such as The Disco Exorcist, Nun of That and The Dark Feed. The film just wrapped last week, and I wanted to chat with Michael, who appears in the lead role in the film. The character Reed plays in Normal is “Jim” a darkly depressing chap who appears normal, but is anything but. This is Reed’s sixth feature film with Scorpio Film Releasing and director Griffin, but it’s the first time they had to fly him out from Los Angeles to work on a film. He relocated to the west coast about a year and a half ago with his wife Sarah Nicklin (also a co-star in Normal), and subsequently missed several of Richard’s films. Reed was thrilled to come back and work with familiar peers on cast and crew, but also some new faces as well, such as Ben Royer, Patrick Keefe and Elyssa Baldassari. He knew for a few years that Normal was written with him in mind.

”I was so happy that the script got green-lit and I was able to reconnect with so many great people and work on an amazingly creative script by Lenny Schwartz,” Reed said. He added, “Shooting a feature film in 10 days has it challenges. Typically when one hears that you’ll be shooting a feature in a short amount of time, it’s a slightly scary feeling – especially when you’re in almost every scene. A lot of work and preparation goes into shooting a feature, and we were lucky to be working the majority of scenes on a sound stage where we built our own apartment building set. This allows for a lot of material to be

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shot in one day without lugging a ton of gear and people around from location to location. Another daunting task was the amount of dialog I had in this picture. Extensive dialog doesn’t typically frighten me, but this was the first time I had to keep a laser focus on what I was doing at all times. Also, I’m not the type of actor who reads the script a thousand times and rehearses extensively. I like to keep things fresh and not kill the character with over-rehearsal or script memorization. Because of the

professionalism of the cast and crew, their incredible readiness and most importantly, being backed by a wonderful director who knows exactly what he wants, I was able to remain focused and relaxed during the entire shoot.”

Thanks, Michael, for sharing your experience with us at Motif Magazine! We wish Michael and Sarah safe travels back to LA and we look forward to the release date of Normal for its RI premier. We will keep you updated on that event as well. You can also learn more about Michael and his work at michaelreedactor.com.

This past week also featured student screenings at all levels. The annual GiveMe5 event, a teen filmmaker showcase produced by the State Film & Television Office in cooperation with numerous local film and educational institutions (see www.giveme5ri.com for details). The teen work was, overall, refreshing and interesting. Work from schools all over the state was screening, including Portsmouth, Westerly, Woonsocket and Providence. Highlights included fun time-lapse work by Portsmouth HS, an intriguing film that explored what you would do if you could stop time, comic ruminations on the perfect way to dispose of a dead body, one woman’s jump into Parkour, and a striking silhouetted dance

performance. Kudos to all the talented teens around RI who made that happen!

RISD also showcased the work of its intrepid seniors. RISD’s FAV (Film, Animation, Video) showcases are reliably stunning when it comes to animation, and this one did not disappoint.

Whimsical and striking images were presented and brought to life. These ranged from explorations of intimate moments to musings on quantum theory and its ramifications for the universe. But when it came to storytelling, the live action pieces took the night, with a few gentle musings about choosing your future (Pussyfooting by Jess Paek, Santulna by Namrata Desai), creepy horror (13akers dozen by Paul Bertolino), and a rousing homage to canibalism (Donner Party: The Musical by Andrew Migliori). Congrats to the FAV graduates on their hard work and mesmerizing results.

By the way, don’t forget to catch me with Nick Iandolo, who usually disagrees with me, in our film review show for MoTiV. We will review Star Trek Into Darkness this week on Take Two.

That’s a wrap.

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Rhode Island Film Warriors Fight the Good

Fight (full version)

There’s a 3 pm crew call, but don’t let that fool you – it’s gonna be a long, long day (night actually). For Rhode Island film warriors Anthony Ambrosino, Nicholas Delmenico, and Mark Greene, it’s par for the course. These guys from Pawtucket’s The 989 Project production company know what it’s like to roll up their sleeves, get in the filmmaking trenches, and go, go, go all day!

Today, an unusual Saturday shoot, they’re working on a SAG ultra low budget (under $200K)

independent feature titled Mary Loss of Soul (MLoS), a supernatural thriller about a young girl who loses part of her soul while vacationing at her family’s lake house. Years later, the entire family is haunted by a malevolent spirit – none more so than the unbecoming 15-year-old Mary (played by Disney XD actress Kaylee Bryant). Her family races against time and the supernatural to restore her soul before they lose Mary forever.

With a Hollywood cast, Secret Service-like radio walkie-talkies, and all the trappings of a major motion picture, from racks of equipment and props to trailers and craft services, you would think you’ve stepped onto the set of a Mark Wahlberg film.

Writer/Director/Producer of MLoS, Jennifer B. White, is helming this project. She’s a remarkable artist with a solid-steel resolve and a gregarious nature (ideally suited for this line of work). This is her baby and she’s going for broke making this film worthy of Hollywood and beyond. She’s even using her own house as one of the main sets!

The film is slated for an August 2013 release with an eye on Sundance.

Backing her is her business partner and MLoS producer Stewart Huey – a man she couldn’t live without on this project. You can see the respect and loyalty they have for each other when they’re in the room together. And together, they’re making a great movie that the studios had better stand up and take notice.

“I’m living in the chaos [literally] and filming in the chaos!” she tells me while reminding the crew to be careful as they haul heavy movie-making equipment from room to room. Her house is virtually covered

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in Ramboard sheets and movers’ blankets – it looks like a Hollywood set meets Home Depot.

There is so much more to say about this remarkable artist and I invite the reader to check out Rosemary Pacheco’s exhilarating profile on her as part of her Women Behind the Camera series!

White will be the first one to tell you that she couldn’t do what she does without her amazing crew and wonderful cast. This extends to Anthony, Nick and Mark, most assuredly. Anthony is the 1st AD

(Assistant Director), Nick is the 2nd AD and Mark is the 2nd, 2nd AD (that’s not a typo!).

Here’s what these guys do day in and day out …

While White focuses on directing the actors and camera people, getting those precious shots that make a great film, Anthony directs everybody else. He runs the set, which includes the crew, PAs and

anything else you can think of. It is the job of an AD to make sure the job of the director is unfettered by all the crazy logistics that have to happen while she is doing her job.

In fact, the whole reason they’re shooting on a Saturday is because the fickle New England weather rained them out on a lot of important outdoor shots, so Anthony had to call a Saturday shoot in order to get them back on schedule. “When you’re on a tight budget production like this, every second counts. You can’t let rain stop you from getting the shots. And if that means we have to add another day, then so be it. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting the film done on time and on budget,” he tells me as he and Nick go over the call sheet for the day’s scenes.

Walking around the set, I got a chance to actually see Kaylee Bryant getting into her apparition makeup as Mary’s disembodied soul – an eerie, spectral all-white motif from wig and body suit to dance shoes. She’s a talented and committed young actress, “Getting her soul on,” as she jokes before the camera starts rolling. Visiting with her mother, Kristina, in the green room, she tells me what it’s like to have a child star, “She’s a driven artist, but it’s a bit weird. However, she’s a great kid!”

Rain that day wasn’t the only issue the AD had to deal with. From the creative side, Anthony also sometimes has to serve as a mediator in order to settle differences of opinion and keep everyone on the same page.

Here’s one example. A fight scene was shot early on during principle photography; however, the DP (Director of Photography), Matthew Boyd, felt that what they had wasn’t good enough. So he made his case to both White and Anthony and they all agreed that it should be reshot.

The problem is with less than a week to go before principle photography wraps, they have to somehow reschedule this complicated shot – a logistical nightmare in the film business.

And that’s where Nick comes in. As 2nd AD, he prepares for what’s to come tomorrow. And down in the

production office in the basement of White’s home, this is his domain. Nick, along with the UPMs (Unit Production Managers), Ellen Vander Wyden and Jil Sacco, are the behind-the-behind-the-scenes people making what happens upstairs in front and behind the camera possible. They handle the money, travel arrangements for the actors, a million other logistics and of course, scheduling. With this new wrinkle to an already super crowded schedule on the day’s call sheet, Nick now has to figure out when and where to add time and resources for the fight scene reshoot.

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They all laugh but it is true. He also added, “A lot of planning and re-planning, and then a ton of improvising. Thinking on your feet is a job requirement in this business.”

He and Anthony should know. They co-wrote and produced an award-winning indie film back in 2010 called Sleather, with Anthony directing. That was no rinky-dink amateur production; it was a seven-year project with two years of shoots and reshoots (mostly on the weekends); a ton of negotiating with local business for props, sets and resources; and a ridiculous amount of improvising in order to make it work – like getting the whole damn crew to literally hand-lift an unattended car out of the way in order to get the shot!

That’s what it takes!

And the result was a film that they are immeasurably proud of, and that experience gets them here working on another potentially great movie with an incredibly talented director, crew and cast – like Kaylee Bryant (Disney’s Kickin’ It), Nick Mancuso (Under Siege, Wild Palms) José Zúñiga (Twilight), Catherine Black (American Psycho), and many more.

So after a few soirées between the director, DP and Anthony, Nick manages to lock down a working day and time for the reshoot with a back up – and to top it off, the weather looks perfect for those days. On to the next thing!

As I walked around with unfettered access to the entire production, I occasionally crossed paths with Mark Greene. The job of the 2nd, 2nd AD is to make sure that what’s supposed to happen next actually

happens. If Nick is Anthony’s right-hand man, then Mark is his left. I’ve seen Mark grab branches with leaves to bring to the lighting people so they can use to break up the light and make a nighttime shoot look like it’s in the middle of the day. I’ve seen him running interference between departments, making sure the right equipment was in the right place at the right time. And I’ve seen him quietly, but

assuredly, wrangling the crew like only he can, freeing Anthony to focus on the director’s needs. “I do what they tell me,” Mark humbly says to me, but he’s way more valuable to this production than he lets on.

Anthony has such faith and trust in Nick and Mark (and all his crew) that he doesn’t even wear the customary Secret Service-like earpiece to his radio, instead opting to keep the volume down. “I need to focus on what’s going on here at the set, so I leave it up to my army to handle everything else.”

Then he gets back on the radio and quietly announces, “Rolling, rolling,” after White says, “Action.” Just before lunch at 9 pm – yes, that’s right, 9PM – MloS has another mishap. The cast’s youngest member, Anne Bex (who plays Mary’s little sister, Sophia), slips and falls on the stairs while leaving the set after finishing a scene she was in. She was accompanied by her mother who made it clear that Anne was all right, but needed some food and rest.

Anthony went into full AD mode here, projecting what it might take to have to reschedule the remainder of Anne’s scenes and how that would affect the rest of the shoot. But it’s not just logistics he was

concerned with. Being a father, he immediately went to check on Anne and saw to it that her needs were met and her mother felt comfortable with how they were being taken care of.

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After a nice catered Chinese food lunch (where I got to sit with the jovial and charming make-up and wardrobe women, Julie Le Shane and Sarah Lynn Bys, respectively), I passed by the green room where Anthony was enjoying Anne’s rendition of “Tomorrow” (from the musical Annie, coincidentally) She was back and ready to go! At 8 years old, this little girl was such a trooper. She even kept telling Anthony how much she wanted to get back to work!

On to the next thing!

As the night progressed (after an even longer week), with the end in sight, it’s only normal that people’s patience can get taxed and frayed.

Jennifer takes me aside for a moment and tells me, “You can’t take the human out of it. We’re all artists – even the most technical people among us. And as an independent filmmaker, you have to wear many hats. It’s not like Iron Man or other big budget Hollywood films with layers and layers of money and layers and layers of people to handle everything. I’m at the top, but I’m also at the bottom.”

And this level of involvement can sometimes really challenge a director’s mettle. That’s when an AD like Anthony is needed most.

Late into the evening, there was to be a dolly shot on Mary (Kaylee) in the bedroom as she is Skyping with one of her off-screen friends. Boyd would ride the dolly running the RED Epic camera all the way into the room getting the shot. It would take two guys to push it with Nick feeding the cables as they go. On the monitor it looked great, except for one thing: the damn noise. In order to get the dolly track to fit from the hallway into the bedroom, the ACs (Assistant Camera personnel) had to narrow the track somehow. This caused the dolly to squeak like crazy as they were filming the scene.

What was called for was a good old-fashioned can of Pledge to grease up the dolly tracks. But there was none to be found. In fact, the “Pledge Incident” got so heated that White had to take a few moments to chill away from the set while someone ran out and got some.

That’s when Anthony took it upon himself to use his smartphone to get on the Internet and find a Lemon Pledge commercial that he broadcasted over the radio. That lightened things up.

And when White returned to her director’s chair, once the shot got rolling again, Anthony played the commercial in her ear. At first she was surprised, and then she started cracking up. It was all good from there.

Anthony’s job is not only to keep the whole production running smoothly, but also to keep people from losing their minds!

Well done.

Topping out at around 3:30 am, the crew was exhausted from a long, long night’s work. And even though most of the crew put in a 12-plus hour day (super commendable), Anthony, Nick and Mark’s day started way before and ended way late.

With a, “That’s a wrap people,” Anthony calls it a night.

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For the Rhode Island film warriors, they stay to the bitter end and never say die.

Nicholas Iandolo is a freelance writer from Boston, MA. He is also the author of two books on screenwriting: Cut The Crap and WRITE THAT DAMN SCREENPLAY! and Cut The Crap and PITCH THAT DAMN SCREENPLAY!, as well as the Sci-Fi eBook series NLV (a.k.a. New Las Vegas). He also hosts Motif Magazine’s Take 2 with Rosemary Pacheco on MoTiV. Follow him on Twitter @cutcrapwrite, email: nick@tenthsphere.com.

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