A fresh idea in collaborative fundraising will take place on Saturday, August 4, 2012 at a private home in Los Feliz from early afternoon until late night.  Synergy = Music + Sustainability is an innovative, multicultural, experiential event to help raise funds for two dynamic, solution-based nonprofits based in LA: Arts:Earth Partnership (AEP) and NextAid.  Music and arts producer, Jonathan Rudnick (theLIFT/Noise Pop Culture Club/Giant Step co-founder) is at the helm bringing the best talent Los Angeles has to offer to this consciousness-raising event. The fundraiser will run from 4:00 to 11:00pm and is taking place at Synergy House, a beautiful Mediterranean/Spanish historical eco-home with detached studio space and a lagoon pool just east of Hollywood off of Franklin Blvd.  The exact location will be revealed upon ticket purchase.  Tickets range from $20 to $50 and are available at www.synergy-la.eventbrite.com.

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ARTScorpsLA/ACLA Emerging Producers presents Beat the Drum‘s second annual drum festival, Beat the Drum: East Los Meets West Los, to be held on Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 8:00pm, at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood.  Doors open at 6:00pm for picnicking, drum technique demonstrations from South Mexican and Central American traditions, live screen printing and painting, and dancing by the Capoeira Collective in the Ford Theatre Plaza.  At 8:00pm, audience members will be ushered into the venue in a percussive, celebratory parade led by Aztec drumming.  The main event features performances by Atabey (traditional Puerto Rican Bomba), East LA Taiko (Latin, Afro-Cuban, Japanese fusion) featuring drummer Fredo Ortiz of the Beastie Boys, and CAVA (Bolero/Tropical with primal Taiko & Cajon drumming).  Joining East LA Taiko in a groundbreaking collaboration will be Lysa Flores (Alice Bag, El Vez, Jonathan Richman) who will merge her sultry vocals and feminist Chicana lyrics with the power of Japanese Taiko drums.  Tickets are $20-$40; some discounts apply*.  The event will be held at the Ford Amphitheatre located at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068.  For tickets and additional information, please call 323-461-3673 (323-GO-1-FORD) or visit http://fordtheatres.org/en/events/details/id/362 and https://www.facebook.com/BeatTheDrumLA.

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(photo credit: Nabil Elderkin)

Award-winning film Bouncing Cats, the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through hip hop, makes its US television premiere on Documentary Channel Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. (EST/PST). The film, narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn region that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.  The film, produced by Red Bull Media House and directed by Australian filmmaker and photographer Nabil Elderkin, toured the film festival circuit in 2010 and 2011, earning awards along the way at Urbanworld Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival, among others.  Proceeds from the film benefit BPU.

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Breakdance Project Uganda reaches youth in the slums of Kisenyi, Uganda (photo credit: Nabil Elderkin)

Award-winning film Bouncing Cats, the inspiring documentary of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through hip hop, is on the festival circuit making its way around North America along with limited sneak peek screenings and benefit events.  Narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, the story follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn region that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.*  The film, by director Nabil Elderkin, recently won “Best Documentary Feature Film” at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York, “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking” at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and “Audience Favorite Award” at Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival.

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Award-winning film Bouncing Cats is the inspiring documentary of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through the unlikely tools of hip hop and breakdance. Narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, the story follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn country that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.  Poverty, disease, and a brutal, mindless war in the region have divided families, displaced millions and led to the abduction and mutilation of tens of thousands of children resulting in the deterioration of identity and culture. Read the rest of this entry »

Congo in Harlem 2 is the second annual series of Congo-related films and events at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem. This year’s program runs from Friday, October 8 – Saturday, October 23, 2010 and showcases a wide range of films by Congolese and international directors, representing the most important issues facing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) today. Most screenings will be followed by panel discussions, special events, musical performances, and receptions. Congo in Harlem 2 will provide audiences with more than the traditional movie-going experience – it will offer opportunities to celebrate Congolese culture, learn about the ongoing humanitarian crisis, engage in dialogue, and get involved. Read the rest of this entry »

The Los Angeles-based nonprofit, NextAid, along with The White Ribbon Alliance, an international coalition to promote safe motherhood, and Turntables on the Hudson are holding a unique benefit called 5 Alive on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 in New York City, during the week of the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), and WIE (Women: Inspiration & Enterprise) Symposium. Read the rest of this entry »

NextAid, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit harnessing the power of dance music to affect change in the lives of orphaned vulnerable children in Africa, returns to the 25th annual Winter Music Conference (WMC) in Miami with a mega-benefit, “Beats Build Hope,” at the Shore Club on Friday, March 26, 2010. Partnering with LIFEbeat, The Loud Minority, CityDeep, Turntables on the Hudson, Dubspot, and Mixology, this official WMC event will employ NextAid’s mantra of using the beats of our generation to provide hope for the next. Over 20 top international DJs have agreed to graciously donate their time and talent such as The Crystal Method, DJ Rap, and Mark Farina. Funds raised will benefit NextAid, SOIL (Haiti), LIFEbeat and Green Wave. Read the rest of this entry »

Award winning filmmaker Jon Reiss is set to release his new book Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era on March 15, 2010. The book is a primer for filmmaking in the digital era covering distribution of all types of media content – feature films, shorts, webisodes, transmedia, vblogs, etc., and is the first to address the new distribution and marketing landscape facing filmmakers today.
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Believing that everyone deserves a beautiful future, the nation’s leading make-up educational institute, Make-Up Designory (MUD), created the MUD Cares Palette of Eye Colors to benefit NextAid and one of its partners in Africa, the Red Rhino Orphanage Project (RROP). 100% of the sales from the limited-edition four-color eye shadow palette are being generously donated to NextAid to help RROP build a foundation for a better tomorrow. Once the specially commissioned palettes sell out the funds will provide construction of orphans’ homes in a poverty-stricken town 25 miles southeast of Nairobi, Kenya. Lovely superstars Colette, DJ Rap, Eve Falcon, and Samantha James have come on board to help spread the word. Read the rest of this entry »