Photo credit Jeff Woodward.

501 (see three) ARTS and Highways Performance Space present Who’s Hungry -Santa Monica, part of an ongoing series of experimental tabletop puppet plays that give a voice and face to hunger, with four performances on Fridays and Saturdays from January 27 to February 4, 2012.  The plays, produced and written by Dan Froot, designed and directed by Dan Hurlin, with music by Amy Denio (a Meet The Composer commission), aim to raise awareness of the lives of those of us who, on a daily basis, must choose between life’s basic necessities – food or rent, food or medicine, food or bus fare. The upcoming production weaves together the stories of five homeless and/or hungry residents of Santa Monica, California, incorporating puppetry, dance, music, and text.

501 (see three) ARTS & Highways Performance Space Present

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica

Experimental Puppet Theater

Putting a Face on Food Insecurity

With Four Performances on Fridays & Saturdays
January 27 to February 4, 2012

JUST ADDED: A 5th Show on Sat. 1/4 at 5:00pm [details here]

LOS ANGELES, CA – October 24, 2011 – 501 (see three) ARTS and Highways Performance Space present Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica, part of an ongoing series of experimental tabletop puppet plays that give a voice and face to hunger, with four performances on Fridays and Saturdays from January 27 to February 4, 2012.  The plays, produced and written by Dan Froot, designed and directed by Dan Hurlin, with music by Amy Denio (a Meet The Composer commission), aim to raise awareness of the lives of those of us who, on a daily basis, must choose between life’s basic necessities – food or rent, food or medicine, food or bus fare. The upcoming production weaves together the stories of five homeless and/or hungry residents of Santa Monica, California, incorporating puppetry, dance, music, and text.  Nightly shows start at 8:30pm. General admission tickets are $20, students and seniors are $15. Highways Performance Space at the 18th Street Arts Center is located at 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310-315-1459; http://highwaysperformance.org).  For more information on Who’s Hungry, please visit http://danfroot.com/repertory/.

“This project is about people’s lives – people who, at times, happen to go without food,” says Froot, “They have some truly beautiful, moving and hilarious stories that might otherwise go untold.”

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica Synopsis -
In Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica, the performers serve the audience a visual and narrative feast.  The 90-minute puppet theater adaptation tells the oral histories of five very different homeless and hungry Santa Monicans, through five 15- to 20-minute segments, woven together much as a chef weaves a succession of flavors into a cohesive multi-course meal.  Overall, the project incorporates a range of puppetry styles in order to give each of the five stories its own aesthetic treatment. Presented on a specially built 24-foot dinner table, the audience views the action from one side, as if they are banquet guests.  Incorporated into the evening are Delft china, Matchbox cars, televisions, rod puppets, as well as puppets inspired by Japanese Bunraku, and much more.

Joining the audience at the table are:
- Angel – who tumbled into homelessness after a prominent career as an interior designer
- Sharon – a caseworker for an addiction recovery agency and recovering heroin addict herself
- Chris – an original member of the notorious 1970s surfing/skateboarding crew known as the Z-Boys
- Mike – who endured an eviction from subsidized housing while undergoing a dire health crisis
- Chanel – who headed to New York City when the World Trade Center towers collapsed, feeling the need to run down the street in fear with her fellow New Yorkers

The production will feature four puppeteers and three musicians.  The highly collaborative cast, performers with rich puppetry, dance, and acting backgrounds, includes Zachary Tolchinsky, Rachael Lincoln, Sheetal Gandhi, and Darius Mannino. Original scores have been commissioned from the award winning Seattle-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Amy Denio (a Meet The Composer commission), to be performed live.  Denio’s work merges jazz, experimental folk, ska, and funk with a range of instruments including, but not limited to, many that are in scale with the puppetry such as toy pianos, ukuleles, and bongos.  Denio will lead a small ensemble, choreographed and staged in the space to interact with the puppeteers and the puppets/objects themselves. Collaborating with Denio in the ensemble are musicians Mike Flanagan and Daniel Corral.

"Sharon" puppet designed by Dan Hurlin. She's a Bunraku-style puppet, operated by three people simultaneously: one on feet and/or arm, one on one or both arms, one on head/torso. Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

The inaugural set of Who’s Hungry puppet plays premiered in West Hollywood in 2008 with narrators from that area.  This new Santa Monica installment in the series takes the experimental strategy of the project to a new level, primarily by inviting the local community narrators into the heart of the creative team. These narrators have collaborated with Hurlin and Froot throughout the process – from story adaptation through construction, rehearsal and performance.

“The project allows each of these individuals to clearly imprint their agency onto the play, deepening it,” says Hurlin, “While they may not have complete control over their lives, we wanted them to have control of their own stories.”

Robert Coughlin, one of the community narrators from the West Hollywood pilot project, reflected on sharing his story with the Who’s Hungry audience: “I’m just so grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to have some clarity and to pull back from my own life.  I get to detach from all that and use it as a tool, and not let it consume me any longer.  I get to build from it; not let it bring me down.  It’s beautiful.”

Object Theater –
Object Theater, a sub-category of puppetry, is a performance style that utilizes the animation of objects – found and/or constructed – for theatrical effect.  A theater of objects goes beyond merely “containing objects” – practitioners of the genre employ the rich functional and symbolic values inherent in objects as potent tools for the theater.  Froot felt that combing puppets with the materiality of Object Theater – bridging theater, visual art and puppetry – was the perfect way to tell these stories for, among other things, the intimate environment and endless creative potential to create a vast range of sensibilities from intense depth to whimsy, from realism to poetry.

“This form of puppet theater creates a very close, communal experience since the audience must sit together, near the action, in order to see these small objects,” says Froot, “It also puts the audience in an empathic role, more so than live theater with human actors – when we watch object theater, we must engage and project ourselves onto the puppets and objects with an active imagination.”

Food Insecurity –

The USDA classifies those who at times go hungry because they cannot afford enough food as having “very low food security.” According to the USDA, around one in six Americans had a hard time putting food on the table at some point last year. That’s roughly 49 million people (14.5% of the population). This figure is virtually unchanged from the previous year.

“To clarify, though, we’re not making a statement about world hunger, or even about hunger in the U.S. per se,” says Froot, “The project is more about who is going through your recycling bins… we want to help them tell their stories.”

left-to-right: Dan Froot (producer/playwright), Amy Denio (composer) and Dan Hurlin (designer/director) Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

Dan Froot, Producer / Playwright –

Dan Froot’s work has toured internationally since 1983. Awards include a Bessie (New York Dance & Performance Award) and a City of Los Angeles Artist Fellowship. He has worked with Yoshiko Chuma, Ping Chong, David Dorfman, Mabou Mines, Ralph Lemon, and Victoria Marks, among others. He teaches at UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures / Dance.

Dan Hurlin, Designer / Director –

Dan Hurlin received a United States Artists Fellowship, two Obie awards, a 2001 Bessie, and a 2004 Alpert Award. His puppet theater work tours internationally. He has performed with Ping Chong, Janie Geiser, and Jeffrey M. Jones, and directed works by Lisa Kron, Holly Hughes, and John C. Russell among others. Hurlin currently teaches dance and puppetry at Sarah Lawrence College.

Amy Denio, Composer –

Amy Denio is a multi-instrumentalist composer and singer based in Seattle, WA. Her music has been heard at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Seattle Opera House, Detroit Institute of Art, and the Venice Biennale, among many other venues. She tours as a soloist as well as with her projects Tiptons Sax Quartet and Kultur Shock.

Highway’s Performance Space –

Highways Performance Space is Southern California’s boldest center for new performance. Now in its 23rd year, Highways continues to be an important alternative cultural center in Los Angeles that encourages fierce new artists from diverse communities to develop and present innovative works.  Recently described by the Los Angeles Times as “a hub of experimental theater, dance, solo drama, and other multimedia performance,” Highways promotes the development of contemporary socially involved artists and art forms.

501 (see three) ARTS –

Who’s Hungry is a project of 501 (see three) ARTS, an independent artist-run non-profit corporation supporting the creation and production of original dance, music, theater and interdisciplinary performance works by its members. The company is dedicated to redefining the role of the performing arts, artists and audiences in a globalized world through innovative approaches to artistic production.

Supporters –

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica was commissioned in part by Vermont Performance Lab and was developed in part during a creative residency at Vermont Performance Lab. The project is supported in part by awards from the National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America Program; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; UCLA Center for Community Partnership; Southwest Oral History Association; The MAP Fund; a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation; The Jim Henson Foundation; a Performance Practice and Research grant from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts; and a grant from Meet The Composer’s New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program, leadership support for which is generously provided by MetLife Foundation.  Additional support is provided by ASCAP, BMI Foundation, Inc., Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Jerome Foundation, mediaThefoundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation and the Virgil Thomson Foundation, Ltd.  The score is commissioned through Meet The Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program, which is made possible by generous support from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund.

“This is not didactic victim art, some sort of pity party,” says Froot, summing up the production, “It’s not about feeling sorry for anybody – each of these people is sharing their unique oral history with us, their lives – with dignity and a fair amount of humor.”

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Rachael Lincoln in rehearsal for "Who's Hungry - Santa Monica," with Delft Buddha by Dan Hurlin Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

Hybrid Cinema

For Immediate Release:

LOS ANGELES, CA – December 29, 2011 – Hybrid Cinema, The Colburn School and the California Dance Institute (CDI) are pleased to announce the Los Angeles premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:00pm.  Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, directed by Bob Hercules, is the first film to chronicle how the legendary Joffrey Ballet revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet.  The Los Angeles premiere will include a Q&A immediately following the screening moderated by Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, with panelists Leslie Carothers-Aromaa, Artistic Director of the Colburn School’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, Carole Valleskey, Founder and Director of CDI, Francoise Martinet Moriarty, former Joffrey dancer from the company’s earliest days in the late 1950s, and Jodie Gates, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Dance Festival, Associate Professor of Dance at UC Irvine and former Joffrey principal dancer.

General admission tickets are $20 and will go on sale the first week of January.  The Los Angeles event follows the film’s world premiere, which will be held at Dance On Camera Festival January 27th in NYC at Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center.  Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School is located at 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Public parking is available at lots adjacent to the school and limited street parking is also available within the area.  For more information, please visit http://www.joffreymovie.com/

Joffrey Ballet Dancers April Daly & Fabrice Calmels 2007 Photo courtesy Joffrey Ballet

Synopsis –
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
Director: Bob Hercules
Country: USA, 2012, 90min.
This insightful documentary, executive produced by Harold Ramis and Jay Alix and produced by Una Jackman and Erica Mann Ramis, examines the dynamic trajectory of the groundbreaking American ballet company – The Joffrey Ballet – which daringly combined traditional ballet and modern dance at a time when it was not routinely accepted. Weaving together a wealth of archival footage, behind-the-scene photos and interviews with former and current Joffrey star dancers, director Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man) documents the struggles and achievements of the Joffrey from its newfound beginnings in 1956 to the Company’s present international success. The film features rare excerpts from many seminal Joffrey works including Astarte, Trinity and Billboards, as well as breakthrough collaborations with choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Leonid Massine, Laura Dean, and Kurt Jooss. Founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino and a host of ballet notables, including Gary Chryst, Trinette Singleton, Helgi Tomasson, Kevin McKenzie and more, are featured in the film. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin, the film is a rich chronicle of a ballet company that continues to reinvent itself, raise the bar and invigorate audiences worldwide.  See list of full credits at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1829041/fullcredits.

Gerald Arpino's "Light Rain" Photo credit: Herbert Migdoll

Distribution –
Following the film’s world premiere in NYC in late January, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance will embark on a U.S. tour through Spring 2012 with stops not only in Los Angeles but also in Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Aspen, St. Louis, and many other cities. Special one-off events with Joffrey alumni and limited theatrical engagements are planned. The documentary will then have a VOD/DVD/digital release in June of 2012 through New Video.

Simultaneous Screenings –
The film will also simultaneously premiere in theaters around the country via simulcast through Emerging Pictures network of theaters on the weekend of Saturday, January 28th. A pioneering project, this marks the first time a film has simulcast its world premiere out of a major festival (learn more here).  Audiences at screenings across the country will be able to participate in a Q&A session from the New York City world premiere through a live Twitter feed.  Visit http://www.emergingpictures.com/2011/12/19/joffrey for updates on exact theater locations.


Multimedia – The Expanded Joffrey Story –
Hybrid Cinema is also releasing multimedia companion projects with exclusive content for fans wishing to further explore the Joffrey legend beyond the film.  The first of these initiatives is a series of digital photobooks called Joffrey Maverick Moments.  Each new edition will be available for free from the film’s website and Facebook page.  The digital photobooks are based on themes and time frames found in the film with photos accompanied by quotes from Robert Joffrey, his friends and associates, as well as alumni interviews that provide further insight and background into the Company. Future Joffrey Maverick Moments may explore such themes as Joffrey’s Nutcracker through the years, Joffrey’s psychedelic rock ballet Astarte, Arpino’s most well regarded ballets (The Clowns, Trinity, Olympics, Round of Angels, Light Rain), and more.  Hybrid Cinema has started releasing a series of audio podcasts with exclusive new interviews of Joffrey alumni.  These podcasts utilize the SoundCloud platform and are available through the film’s Facebook page for fans only.  The multimedia companion projects will be released over the next few months, through the premieres and leading up to the DVD release in June.  Regular content, including film clips, bonus outtakes, and blog articles, is also available on the film’s website and YouTube channel.


Director Bob Hercules –
Bob Hercules is an award-winning veteran producer/director (Forgiving Dr. Mengele, Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, Senator Obama Goes to Africa).  The co-founder of Media Process Group, his work has been seen widely on PBS, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and the Independent Film Channel (IFC). He has also directed commercials for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Alzheimer’s Association, McDonald’s Corporation, Gap Clothing Stores and the Obama For President Campaign.  His documentary, A Good Man, co-directed by Gordon Quinn, chronicles the intense creative journey of Bill T. Jones – a 2010 Kennedy Center Honors recipient and two-time Tony® Award winner for Best Choreography.  It premiered on November 11, 2011 on PBS’ celebrated series American Masters.


The Joffrey Ballet –
For more than a half-century, The Joffrey Ballet’s commitment to taking world-class, artistically vibrant work to a broad and varied audience has created a solid foundation that continues to support the Company’s unprecedented capacity for achieving important “firsts.” Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residences in New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a brilliant new facility, Joffrey Tower, in the heart of America – Chicago, Illinois. The Company’s commitment to accessibility is met through the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history, an innovative and highly effective education program including the much lauded Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.

Co-founded in 1956 by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey and dancer Gerald Arpino, who would become the organization’s principal choreographer, The Joffrey Ballet began as a DIY dance company of six dancers touring the United States in a borrowed station wagon. What started as a childhood dream quickly grew into one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies. Together, Joffrey and Arpino transformed the face of dance by merging classical ballet technique with bold new perspectives for edgy new ballets that challenged conventions. Aggressive touring took the Company from school auditoriums across America’s Heartland, to the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, on to Russia for a month-long tour during the height of the Cold War, and beyond.  They also garnered extensive media attention for their daring originality, which included appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the cover of Time Magazine, and in major motion pictures such as Save the Last Dance and Robert Altman’s The Company (which is based on the Joffrey).

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces, and contemporary works. The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater and Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway. The Joffrey Ballet has become one of the most revered and recognizable arts organizations in America and one of the top dance companies in the world. To learn more, please visit http://joffrey.org/.


The Colburn School/Zipper Hall –

The Colburn School’s mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education in an optimal learning environment. Founded in 1950, The Colburn School was established as a small preparatory school in connection with the University of Southern California’s School of Music. The School became an independent, nonprofit institution in 1980 through the generous support of its benefactor, Richard D. Colburn. In 1998, The Colburn School moved to its current location on South Grand Avenue. One of LA’s most popular performance halls, the intimate 435-seat Zipper Hall at The Colburn School is home to many arts groups from the greater Los Angeles area, including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Pacifica, Southwest Chamber Music, Monday Evening Concerts, Lark Musical Society, and Piano Spheres. For more information, please call 213-621-4514 or visit http://www.colburnschool.edu.

The California Dance Institute –

California Dance Institute (CDI) is an in-school and after-school arts education program for low-income elementary school children that encourages discipline, self-expression and the pursuit of excellence through dance. CDI is the newest affiliate of the world-renowned National Dance Institute, founded in 1976 by New York City Ballet’s Jacques d’Amboise, and the subject of the Academy Award-winning film He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’.  Directed by former Joffrey Ballet principal dancer, Carole Valleskey, the CDI program consists of weekly dance classes in the schools, primarily for 3rd – 6th grade students.  Today the program serves 1,400 students in eight elementary schools in which over 91% of students qualify for the Free Lunch Program (indicating income of less than $33,000 for a family of four). http://www.californiadanceinstitute.org


Hybrid Cinema –
Hybrid Cinema was created by filmmaker and author Jon Reiss (Think Outside the Box Office, Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul) to help filmmakers navigate the ever-changing world of film distribution and marketing.  Hybrid Cinema consults with filmmakers to help them with the new digital era of distribution and marketing by utilizing modern strategies of audience engagement, special theatrical events, as well as innovative merchandising and release patterns.  Hybrid Cinema also supervises film releases. Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance is Hybrid’s second full release of a film following the graffiti documentary Bomb It.  Indicative of the innovative release and audience engagement strategies used by Hybrid, the Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance release marks the first time that a film has simulcast its film festival world premiere throughout the U.S. as the launch of its theatrical release.  Hybrid Cinema orchestrated this pioneering release strategy by, among other things, bringing the participating organizations together for these milestone premiere events.  For more information on Hybrid Cinema, please visit http://www.hybridcinema.com/

Key Links –
Official Movie Site – http://www.joffreymovie.com/
Movie YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/JoffreyMovie
Movie Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/JoffreyBalletMovie
Movie Twitter – http://twitter.com/#%21/JoffreyMovie
Joffrey Ballet Site – http://joffrey.org/

For more information, or to request screeners, images, and interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com

Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

501 (see three) ARTS and Highways Performance Space present Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica, part of an ongoing series of experimental tabletop puppet plays that give a voice and face to hunger, with four performances on Fridays and Saturdays from January 27 to February 4, 2012.  The plays, produced and written by Dan Froot, designed and directed by Dan Hurlin, with music by Amy Denio (a Meet The Composer commission), aim to raise awareness of the lives of those of us who, on a daily basis, must choose between life’s basic necessities – food or rent, food or medicine, food or bus fare. The upcoming production weaves together the stories of five homeless and/or hungry residents of Santa Monica, California, incorporating puppetry, dance, music, and text.

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica
Backgrounder

Telling stories from the lives of five food-insecure residents of Santa Monica, CA
in the medium of experimental puppetry

501 (see three) ARTS and Highways Performance Space present Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica, part of an ongoing series of experimental tabletop puppet plays that give a voice and face to hunger, with four performances on Fridays and Saturdays from January 27 to February 4, 2012.  The plays, produced and written by Dan Froot, designed and directed by Dan Hurlin, with music by Amy Denio (a Meet The Composer commission), aim to raise awareness of the lives of those of us who, on a daily basis, must choose between life’s basic necessities – food or rent, food or medicine, food or bus fare. The upcoming production weaves together the stories of five homeless and/or hungry residents of Santa Monica, California, incorporating puppetry, dance, music, and text.  Nightly shows start at 8:30pm. General admission tickets are $20, students and seniors are $15. Highways Performance Space at the 18th Street Arts Center is located at 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310-315-1459; http://highwaysperformance.org).

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica Synopsis -
In Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica, the performers serve the audience a visual and narrative feast.  The 90-minute puppet theater adaptation tells the oral histories of five very different homeless and/or food-insecure Santa Monicans, through five 15- to 20-minute segments, woven together much as a chef weaves a succession of flavors into a cohesive multi-course meal.  

Who’s Hungry is the brainchild of award-winning playwright, composer, choreographer and performer Dan Froot, an associate professor in UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures / Dance. Working in close collaboration with Froot is Dan Hurlin, a nationally acclaimed puppet artist who is designing and constructing the objects and sets, as well as directing.

Overall, the project incorporates a range of puppetry styles in order to give each of the five stories its own aesthetic treatment. Presented on a specially built 24-foot dinner table, the audience views the action from one side, as if they are banquet guests.  Incorporated into the evening are Delft china, Matchbox cars, televisions, rod puppets, as well as puppets inspired by Japanese Bunraku, and much more.

Joining the audience at the table are:
• Angel – who tumbled into homelessness after a prominent career as an interior designer.
Her story literally sets the scene for the evening, as puppeteers enact an intricate, energetic dance, laying out eight settings of tableware painted blue and white in the delicate style of Delft china.  This is followed by the choreographed manipulation of dozens of other Delft objects: a sandwich opens to become a laptop computer, a tree emerges from a trap door in the table, a Range Rover drives from plate to plate, pursued by a tow truck.  Meanwhile, a barrage of recorded voices gossip about Angel’s gradual rise to prominence as an interior designer and her precipitous tumble into homelessness.  Her story is characterized by direct object manipulation and a kinetic whorl of movement set to Amy Denio’s percussive score.  Angel’s story finds the physically agile puppeteers zipping around, under, on top of the 24-foot table, and through its trap doors.

• Sharon – a caseworker for an addiction recovery agency and recovering heroin addict herself. 
Her story zeros in on her 20-yard walk across the parking lot from a courthouse to a van that will take her to an 18-month lock-down rehab program (“the longest walk I ever took”).  It is performed by three fully visible puppeteers operating a 36-inch high Bunraku-style figure.  The character’s inner monologue is spoken live – the production’s own version of a Tayu, the traditional narrator in Japanese Bunraku puppet theater.  It details a suspended moment of dizzying terror and rage as the character faces the painful abyss of life without mind-numbing drugs.  There are no other puppets or set pieces in this Beckett-inspired void, allowing the audience’s focus to rest on the puppeteers’ subtle manipulation of the figure.

• Chris – an original member of the notorious 1970s surfing/skateboarding crew known as the Z-Boys
.
Shunning the fame and fortune sought by his compatriots, Chris lived a spartan life, surfing the world in search of the perfect wave.  His near-death confrontation with relentless 20-foot Hawaiian waves while night-surfing is portrayed by two-dimensional rod-puppet surfer against an undulating toy theater-style wave machine.  The simple narrative is played out visually.  Far out on an ocean reef, the character loses his board in the pounding surf and exhausts himself to the point of hallucination as he swims in circles for hours trying to find it.  Instead of sea creatures, the water is alive with liquor bottles, electric guitars, skateboards, and other icons that have defined him.  The text is a defiant paean to independence and self-reliance, embedded in a suite of Denio’s original punk songs.

• Mike – who endured an eviction from subsidized housing while undergoing a dire health crisis
.
Mike’s lighthearted optimism is challenged by a corrupt housing system.  His story tells of a social services caseworker who engineers Mike’s eviction from government subsidized housing as Mike endures a dire health crisis.  The creators employ an ironic telling of Mike’s story – a 1950s-style sitcom depicted by shadow puppetry.  Think: a cross between The Dick Van Dyke Show and Eraserhead.  Two full-scale rabbit-eared TV consoles (pink!) are lowered onto the table.  Their screens are made of rear-projection material, and use overhead projectors as light sources.  Black-and-white room interiors are projected as “sets” behind Hurlin’s laser-cut shadow puppets.  Two puppeteers operate the puppets underneath each TV set.  The punchy, fast-paced script is voiced by the puppeteers on a recording, complete with canned laughter.  The live musicians play the show’s theme song and transition music between scenes.

• Chanel – who headed to New York City when the World Trade Center towers collapsed, feeling the need to run down the street in fear with her fellow New Yorkers.

Chanel, born and bred in Brooklyn, is living in Atlanta GA when she hears news reports of the World Trade Center towers collapsing.  She feels it is her place to be “running down the street in fear” with her fellow New Yorkers.  Chanel hops into her car and barrels north on the interstate, thus beginning her desperate odyssey.  The table is transformed into a variety of landscapes in several different scales, navigated by a white car (in matching scale).  With her radio broken and only one CD to listen to on the 12-hour ride, Chanel has a conversation in her mind with her brother, who lives in Brooklyn. She hasn’t heard from her brother since the day started, and her concern prompts her to retell a traumatic childhood story about she and her brother being chased through the woods after a fist fight with a group of racist kids.  Invisible inlaid magnets propel the car through spooky pine barrens while a voice narrates a scene of racist violence in the woods behind a reform school. In another scene, a long conveyer belt moves the road faster and faster beneath the car, as the character’s psyche, and the vehicle itself, begin to fall to pieces.

The production will feature four puppeteers and three musicians.  The highly collaborative cast, performers with rich puppetry, dance, and acting backgrounds, includes Zachary Tolchinsky, Rachael Lincoln, Sheetal Gandhi, and Darius Mannino. Original scores have been commissioned from the award-winning Seattle-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Amy Denio, to be performed live.  Denio’s work merges jazz, experimental folk, ska, and funk with a range of instruments including, but not limited to, many that are in scale with the puppetry such as toy pianos, ukuleles, and bongos.  Denio will lead a small ensemble, choreographed and staged in the space to interact with the puppeteers and the puppets/objects themselves. Collaborating with Denio in the ensemble are musicians Mike Flanagan and Daniel Corral.


Who’s Hungry – West Hollywood (2008) –
The inaugural set of Who’s Hungry puppet plays, created by Froot and Hurlin, premiered in West Hollywood in 2008 with three hungry and homeless narrators from that area.   The first installment of Who’s Hungry consisted of three short “toy theater” plays that premiered at The Great Hall in West Hollywood’s Plummer Park, and has since been presented at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (Burlington, VT) and Great Small Works’ 9th International Toy Theater Festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse (Brooklyn, NY). Toy theater is a miniaturized form of puppet theater performed on tabletop-sized stages.  Excerpts from the 2008 Who’s Hungry – West Hollywood triptych, which includes “What the Fireman Said,” “Dawn by Me,” and “Eight Days Without a Dog,” can be viewed in streaming video at http://vimeo.com/album/167845.

The new Santa Monica installment in the series takes the experimental strategy of the project to a new level, primarily by inviting the local community narrators into the heart of the creative team. These narrators have collaborated with Hurlin and Froot throughout the process – from story adaptation through construction, rehearsal and performance.

Who’s Hungry Artist’s Statement –
I believe that bringing diverse groups of people together to listen to each other’s stories is an end in itself.  Life stories have the power to dispel fear, challenge one’s values, and inspire compassion.  There is urgency in the impulse to tell these particular stories, considering that one out of every 30 Santa Monicans is homeless on any given day, and that many more are food-insecure.  “Food insecurity” is defined in a report by the National Research Council as existing “whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain.” Even at its most local, food insecurity is the nexus of so many systematic social predicaments: healthcare, education, unemployment, trade policies, the housing market and so much more.  I want to stop seeing hunger as an issue, and begin understanding, from the perspective of the street, forces that come between the world’s abundance and so many of the people around me.

I also believe that the way a story is told is as important as the story itself.  My collaborators and I want our work to be judged as much for its artistic achievement as for its social impact.  Our intent is to bear witness to our neighbors’ otherwise untold stories, rather than to compose broad statements about “hunger in America.”

Everything about this project is small: these are local narratives, embodied in small-scale handcrafted worlds.  Skilled puppeteers animate handheld objects; a band of three musicians sets the tone for each play.  Our audiences too will be small: each performance will accommodate a maximum of 90 people. This intimate gathering of economically diverse audiences from neighborhoods surrounding the show’s venues is one of the project’s main purposes.  Foregoing the anonymity of larger groups, our audiences will huddle together for optimal viewing of the miniature objects.  Immediately afterward they will be invited to participate in facilitated discussions between the artists and community narrators, as well as representatives from local social service agencies, and fellow audience members.

– Dan Froot, Who’s Hungry Producer/Playwright

Key Terms:

Object Theater –

Object Theater, a sub-category of puppetry, is a performance style that utilizes the animation of objects – found and/or constructed – for theatrical effect.  A theater of objects goes beyond merely “containing objects” – practitioners of the genre employ the rich functional and symbolic values inherent in objects as potent tools for the theater.  Froot felt that combing puppets with the materiality of Object Theater – bridging theater, visual art and puppetry – was the perfect way to tell these stories for, among other things, the intimate environment and endless creative potential to create a vast range of sensibilities from intense depth to whimsy, from realism to poetry.


Food Insecurity –

The USDA classifies those who at times go hungry because they cannot afford enough food as having “very low food security.” According to the USDA, around one in six Americans had a hard time putting food on the table at some point last year. That’s roughly 49 million people (14.5% of the population). This figure is virtually unchanged from the previous year.

“To clarify, though, we’re not making a statement about world hunger, or even about hunger in the U.S. per se,” says Froot, “The project is more about who is going through your recycling bins… we want to help them tell their stories.”

left-to-right: Dan Froot (producer/playwright), Amy Denio (composer) and Dan Hurlin (designer/director) Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

Creative Team:


Dan Froot, Producer / Playwright –

Dan Froot’s work has toured internationally since 1983. Awards include a Bessie (New York Dance & Performance Award) and a City of Los Angeles Artist Fellowship. He has worked with Yoshiko Chuma, Ping Chong, David Dorfman, Mabou Mines, Ralph Lemon, and Victoria Marks, among others. He teaches at UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures / Dance.

Dan Hurlin, Designer / Director –

Dan Hurlin received a United States Artists Fellowship, two Obie awards, a 2001 Bessie, and a 2004 Alpert Award. His puppet theater work tours internationally. He has performed with Ping Chong, Janie Geiser, and Jeffrey M. Jones, and directed works by Lisa Kron, Holly Hughes, and John C. Russell among others. Hurlin currently teaches dance and puppetry at Sarah Lawrence College.

Amy Denio, Composer –
Amy Denio is a multi-instrumentalist composer and singer based in Seattle, WA. Her music has been heard at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Seattle Opera House, Detroit Institute of Art, and the Venice Biennale, among many other venues. She tours as a soloist as well as with her projects, the Tiptons Sax Quartet and Kultur Shock.

Cast:


Rachael Lincoln –
Dancer and choreographer Rachael Lincoln has performed with Jo Kreiter Flyaway Productions, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Kim Epifano, Scoot Wells and Dancers, The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Jess Curtis, wee dance, The Joe Goode Performance Group, and Project Bandaloop.  Her work has been presented at Sophiensaele Theater (Berlin), Theater Artaud (San Francisco), Middlebury College, UCLA, The San Francisco International Dance Festival, The Dublin Fringe Festival, The Bytom Dance Festival (Poland), and The Indonesian Dance Festival (Jakarta). She also teaches classes and workshops in modern technique and improvisation.

Sheetal Gandhi –
Sheetal Gandhi is perhaps best known for her work in Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion (Oceane/principal dancer, original creator of the role). She also appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay Dreams on Broadway, as well as in regional theater, commercials, and numerous dance productions. The dancer and choreographer not only incorporates elements of traditional Indian dance into pieces she creates for California Contemporary Dancers, but also weaves in global culture.  She also teaches modern and West African dance technique.

Darius Mannino –
Darius Mannino is an actor, puppeteer, and director dedicated to the creation of new, original, ensemble-driven theatrical works. Performance credits include trembler.SHIFTER (REDCAT); Disfarmer (St. Ann’s Warehouse, NY; MASS MoCA and Institute for Contemporary Art, MA); Oh My Tiger and Ocean Flight (Highways Performance Space); Circle Course (REDCAT and Kathmandu International Theatre Festival, Nepal); Mycenaean (BAM Next Wave Festival, NY); Invisible Glass (REDCAT); Moby Dick and Short Stories (Perseverance Theatre, AK).  Recent directing credits include distancedisplacement (Ishyo Arts Center, Rwanda).  Mannino received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

Zachary Tolchinsky –
Zachariah Tolchinsky is a recent graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His credits include: Crime and Punishment (Vgik International Theatre Festival) and Richard III (Essen, Germany). As a puppeteer, he has worked in Scotland and in the US. Credits include: Cut the Strings (Barclays Bank) and The Last Rights of Baron Von Zirner (Princeton University).  Tolchinsky is originally from Phoenix, AZ.

Ensemble:

Daniel Corral –
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Corral has accompanied avant-garde puppetry across the USA, had his music performed by an orchestra riding the Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel, been featured at a USC faculty concert of original player piano music, displayed his multi-movement music boxes at galleries in Los Angeles, and composed for films and dance performances.  He also composes, arranges and plays for Timur and the Dime Museum and collaborated with designer Caitlin Lainoff on a puppet opera for The Dime Museum. He recently founded Free Reed Conspiracy.

Mike Flanagan –
Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and SoCal native Mike Flanagan has played venues including the Walt Disney Concert Hall (for Glenn Branca’s Hallucination City), the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry (with traditional Irish pub band Paddy’s Pig), Royce Hall (bard for The Yes Men), and the House of Blues (fronting rock band Willoughby).  Flanagan composed and was the musical director for the ‘80s musical The Next Big Thing and has written music for film and television. He toured the world with Giant Ant Farm, teaches guitar and mandolin, and missed his annual haircut last year. He also plays in Nellie Bly and the children’s folk band the Hollow Trees.

501 (see three) ARTS –

Who’s Hungry is a project of 501 (see three) ARTS, an independent artist-run non-profit corporation supporting the creation and production of original dance, music, theater and interdisciplinary performance works by its members. The company is dedicated to redefining the role of the performing arts, artists and audiences in a globalized world through innovative approaches to artistic production.  501 (see three) ARTS’ community partners are Hunger Action Los Angeles, OPCC and SaMoShel.

Highway’s Performance Space –

Highways Performance Space is Southern California’s boldest center for new performance. Now in its 23rd year, Highways continues to be an important alternative cultural center in Los Angeles that encourages fierce new artists from diverse communities to develop and present innovative works.  Recently described by the Los Angeles Times as “a hub of experimental theater, dance, solo drama, and other multimedia performance,” Highways promotes the development of contemporary socially involved artists and art forms.

Vermont Performance Lab –
In July 2011, Vermont Performance Lab hosted Froot, Hurlin, and Denio for a two-week residency to develop Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica to rehearse the plays, construct the puppet theaters, record the musical score, and share the work in process with local audiences.  The artists worked at the recording studios of Guilford Sound and the hall of the Broad Brook Grange where they rehearsed and held workshop performances of Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica on a 24-foot long dining table for audiences of 30-35 people.

Supporters –

Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica was commissioned in part by Vermont Performance Lab and was developed in part during a creative residency at Vermont Performance Lab. The project is supported in part by awards from the National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America Program; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; UCLA Center for Community Partnership; Southwest Oral History Association; The MAP Fund; a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation; The Jim Henson Foundation; a Performance Practice and Research grant from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts; and a grant from Meet The Composer’s New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program, leadership support for which is generously provided by MetLife Foundation.  Additional support is provided by ASCAP, BMI Foundation, Inc., Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Jerome Foundation, mediaThefoundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation and the Virgil Thomson Foundation, Ltd.  The score is commissioned through Meet The Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program, which is made possible by generous support from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund.


Quotes:

“This project is about people’s lives – people who, at times, happen to go without food.  They have some truly beautiful, moving and hilarious stories that might otherwise go untold.” – Dan Froot, Who’s Hungry Producer / Playwright

“This is not didactic victim art, some sort of pity party — It’s not about feeling sorry for anybody – each of these people is sharing their unique oral history with us, their lives – with dignity and a fair amount of humor.” – Dan Froot, Who’s Hungry Producer / Playwright

“This form of puppet theater creates a very close, communal experience since the audience must sit together, near the action, in order to see these small objects. It also puts the audience in an empathic role, more so than live theater with human actors – when we watch object theater, we must engage and project ourselves onto the puppets and objects with an active imagination.” – Dan Froot, Who’s Hungry Producer / Playwright

“The project allows each of these individuals to clearly imprint their agency onto the play, deepening it. While they may not have complete control over their lives, we wanted them to have control of their own stories.” – Dan Hurlin, Who’s Hungry Designer / Director

“I’m just so grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to have some clarity and to pull back from my own life.  I get to detach from all that and use it as a tool, and not let it consume me any longer.  I get to build from it; not let it bring me down.  It’s beautiful.”  – Robert Coughlin, one of Who’s Hungry’s Community Narrators (West Hollywood)

“When artist Dan Froot first approached us about giving voice to the often voiceless who deal with hunger and poverty – using the arts of theatre, music, puppetry and oral history – we were intrigued. And when, on opening night, the lights went down and the performance began, we were transformed.” – Andrew Campbell, City of West Hollywood Cultural Affairs Administrator

“Who’s Hungry is a visionary project that breaks new ground in thinking about the relationship between art and politics. Complementing and complicating the touching portraits of people’s hardships is the witty and deft choreography in which we see the motions of both puppets and puppeteers. Together their movements gesture towards the possibility of a world dedicated to the communal support of all its members, a world in which the question “who’s hungry?” would receive a prompt and compassionate response.” – Susan Leigh Foster, Ph.D., renowned Dance Studies scholar and UCLA professor

“Who’s Hungry opens up the full spectrum of the lives of homeless and hungry people — the humorous side and the triumphs large and small that make life worth living, as well as sadness and desperation. This play goes much further to humanize the situation of poor people than dreary photos that try to get you to donate money. When you see this performance you’ll realize just how much we all have in common and that the fact that you live in a house and someone else can’t afford to, doesn’t have to be a barrier to the communication necessary between both sides to implement solutions to poverty.” – Frank Tamborello, Executive Director, Hunger Action Los Angeles

Links:


•    Who’s Hungry Official Site – http://danfroot.com/repertory/
•    Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica Blog – http://whoshungrysantamonica.blogspot.com/
•    Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica Images – http://tinyurl.com/WHSMpics
•    Who’s Hungry – Santa Monica Promotional Video – http://youtu.be/vlm3kVnOf6U
•    Who’s Hungry Info Sheet – http://tinyurl.com/WHSMInfoSheet
•    Highways Performance Space -  http://highwaysperformance.org
•    Tickets – http://tinyurl.com/highwaysWHSMtickets


Publicity Contact:

For more information, high res images, and interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Rachael Lincoln in rehearsal for "Who's Hungry - Santa Monica," with Delft Buddha by Dan Hurlin Photo credit: Jeff Woodward

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FROM OVER 18 COUNTRIES BATTLE FOR
“WORLD’S BEST PARTY ROCKER DJ” TITLE AT THE 

RED BULL THRE3STYLE WORLD FINALS

IN VANCOUVER B.C. DECEMBER 13 – 17, 2011

– DJ Big Once From Chicago to Represent the U.S. in Premier DJ Competition –

Featured Headliners include: Z-Trip, DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, DJ Nu-Mark’s Signature Toy Set,
The Rub (Cosmo Baker and DJ Ayers), Stone Throw Records’ Peanut Butter Wolf and
Legendary Producer Just Blaze 


SANTA MONICA, CA  – November 22, 2011 – Who’s the best party rocker DJ on the planet? The Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals aims to answer that question when eighteen national champion DJs converge and compete in Vancouver from December 13 – 17, 2011 for the coveted title. To earn a spot in the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals, hundreds of DJs from around the globe battled it out in regional and national qualifiers. At each stage the rules remain the same: 15 minutes to rock the crowd with a set that incorporates at least three genres of music and keeps partygoers on their feet, and the judges impressed.

Representing the U.S. is 30-year old DJ Big Once (see photo to the left), who was crowned the national champ on November 10, 2011 in Las Vegas, NV after an intense battle between eleven of the country’s DJs.  Big Once, from Chicago, impressed the judges and crowd with his seamless mix of electro, dubstep, and rock. “I designed the set to be really interactive,” he explained.  “I opened strong and finished strong and I had some weird things in the middle to keep it interesting.” Looking ahead to Vancouver, Big Once will be mixing up a special set that is sure to be memorable and stand out among the competition.

THE CONTENDERS & JUDGES
The Red Bull Thre3Style weeklong judging panel will include Canadian DJ stalwart Skratch Bastid, 2003 DMC Champion and MTV Canada resident DJ Dopey, and the 2010 Thre3Style Champion DJ kARVE of France. They will be tasked with evaluating originality/creativity, track selection, technical skills, stage presence, and audience response for each of the competitors listed below:

Robert Moreno – Argentina
DJ Perplex – Australia
Javier Rossell – Bolivia
Nedu Lopes – Brazil
Hedspin – Canada
DJ Byte – Chile
DJ PHO – Columbia
DJ Ken K – Denmark
Supa – France
DJ Dippy -– India
DJ 8 Man – Japan
DJ Spell – New Zealand
FMC – Norway
Thomas Young – Peru
BITCODE – Spain
DJ Bazooka – Switzerland
DJ Big Al – United Kingdom
DJ Big Once – United States of America

THE HEADLINERS
Headlining each night is a wide range of DJ icons, including The Rub (Cosmo Baker and DJ Ayers), Stone Throw Records’ Peanut Butter Wolf, legendary producer Just Blaze, a special performance of DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, DJ Nu-Mark’s signature Toy Set, and a Red Bull Thre3Style World Final set by Z-Trip.

THE SCHEDULE
The first four nights of the calendar are knock-out stages, with the winner of each advancing to the Red Bull Thre3Style World Final on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at Commodore Ballroom.  See complete schedule of events below.  All venues are in Vancouver, B.C.

Night 1 – Tue., Dec. 13, 2011 [9:00pm] – Bar None:
Australia vs. Bolivia vs. Brazil vs. Norway

Headliners:
- The Rub
- Smalltown DJs
- The Boyscouts

Night 2 – Wed., Dec. 14, 2011 [9:00pm] – Venue Nightclub:
Argentina vs. Canada vs. India vs. Spain

Headliners:
- Peanut Butter Wolf
- Skratch Bastid
- The Freshest Crew

Night 3 – Thu., Dec. 15, 2011 [9:00pm] – Fortune Sound Club:
Columbia vs. Denmark vs. Japan vs. Switzerland vs. UK

Headliners:
- Just Blaze
- Team Canada DJs
- The Goodfellas

Night 4 – Fri., Dec. 16, 2011 [9:00pm] – Five Sixty:
Chile vs. France vs. New Zealand vs. Peru vs. USA

Headliners:
- DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock
- DJ Dopey
- Faction Soundcrew

Night 5/FINALS – Sat., Dec. 17, 2011 [9:00pm] – Commodore Ballroom:
Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals featuring winners from Nights 1-4.

Headliners:
- Z-Trip
- DJ Nu-Mark
- Vinyl Ritchie

TICKET INFORMATION
For all ticket information, please go to www.redbull.ca/thre3style

PARTY ROCKIN’ AUDIO: MIXCLOUD
Who is the best party rocker DJ in the world?  You be the judge.  Check out www.mixcloud.com/RedBullThre3Style to follow the globe’s best DJs and listen to their Red Bull Thre3Style sets.

THE HISTORY OF RED BULL THRE3STYLE
The Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals in Vancouver is a homecoming of sorts. The original concept of Red Bull Thre3Style began five years ago as a Tuesday night experiment at a small club in Kelowna, BC. In 2010, the event first went global and changed the face of modern DJ battles. From the USA to Japan to New Zealand, 10 countries from around the world held deep-heated events to determine who the best party-rocking battle ambassador would be. Ultimately these warriors of the one’s and two’s came together in Paris, France at the end of the the year and flexed every musical muscle in their body at the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals. In the end it was Paris’ own DJ kARVE who wowed the judges with his impressive collage of hip-hop head-nodding electro-rocking tunage. If last year’s event was anything to go by then the 2011 Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals is guaranteed to send the international DJing scene spinning like a record on a turntable.

FOLLOW US
Follow us on Twitter: @redbullcanada | @redbullVAN | @redbullthre3style | #rb3style
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RedBull  | www.facebook.com/redbullthre3style
For more info, articles, video and photos, visit www.redbull.ca/thre3style

GLOBAL SPONSOR MINI OFFERS ACCESS AND RIDES
Music fans looking for a way to the event need look no further than Facebook.  MINI Canada’s Facebook page will be running contests for a free ride to the event and access to the World Final competition.  Winners will be picked up from their Vancouver location in an all-new MINI Countryman and delivered to the front door of the finals to experience the event.

Fans interested in entering the contest for a ride and access to the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals can visit the Thre3Style tab on MINI Canada’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MINICanada

RED BULL CONTENT POOL:  FREE FOR EDITORIAL USAGE
Through the Red Bull network, hi-res video and still images are captured and made immediately available for editorial use for all media channels including television, film, print, mobile, and digital. The content is centrally located in the Red Bull Content Pool for media partners at www.redbullcontentpool.com

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For all media inquiries, please contact:

Lynn Tejada (née Hasty)
Green Galactic PR
213.840.1201
lynn@greengalactic.com

Nyla Hassell
Red Bull Communications
nyla.hassell@us.redbull.com

For Immediate Release:

The Recently Resurrected William Castle Productions Presents

House on Haunted Hill:

A William Castle Annotated Screamplay

Complete with Emerg-O!

To Be Released on October 31, 2011

LOS ANGELES, CA – October 6, 2011
 – Due out on October 31, 2011, William Castle Productions proudly presents House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay. The book features legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s authentic working script from his 1959 classic thriller with original formatting and Castle’s own hand-written notes.  This collector’s item even comes with a new twist on Castle’s famous theater gimmick, Emerg-O. The 248-page book includes a foreword by acclaimed director Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling, Matinee), hailing the book as “an important artifact.” It also includes an introduction by William’s daughter, Terry Castle, who shares her personal thoughts on this seminal piece of film history. A critical perspective of the film by writer and illustrator Charlie Largent is also included as well as a special welcome from William Castle himself. The Screamplay will be available in print for $24.99 via Amazon and select retailers through the recently resurrected William Castle Productions (ISBN-13: 978-0578092928). For more information please visit http://williamcastle.com/blog/william-castle-productions.

House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay cover art by Charlie Largent

“It’s not that often that you find a script from this period surviving with annotations,” writes Joe Dante in the introduction, “And that’s what makes reading this script such a pleasant surprise; you can actually imagine what it was like to be there, reading the script on the set with the actors, and coming up with artistic decisions on the spot.”



House on Haunted Hill – the movie – 

House on Haunted Hill remains a classic chiller to this day. Produced and directed by William Castle and written by Robb White, the shocker is beloved not only for Castle’s suspense-filled direction but what came to be known as “The Gimmick,” carnival sideshow trickery that both scared and delighted the audience. The original film stars the inimitable Vincent Price and features the classic gimmick Emerg-O – an inflatable glow in the dark skeleton attached to a wire that floated over the heads of the uproarious audience during the final moments of the film to parallel the action on the screen.

In the film, eccentric millionaire playboy Fredrick Loren (Price) and his fourth wife Annabelle have invited five strangers to a “party” at the House on Haunted Hill, a spooky old mansion with a murder-laden history. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn ten thousand dollars each. Loren even provides loaded guns as party favors. As the night progresses, the guests are trapped inside the foreboding house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors.

House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay –

The Screamplay features the House on Haunted Hill script’s original formatting, maintaining the integrity of the authentic screenplay replete with Castle’s own hand-written notes. In addition, the book cover imitates the leather-bound binders that Castle used for every movie. William Castle Productions, in keeping with the spirit of “The Gimmick,” presents this book with a print version of Emerg-O – simply flip through the pages and scare yourself silly!

The annotated script “pulls back the curtain on the film,” writes Charlie Largent on the artifact, “Castle’s copious notes shine a light on both his own working methods as the director and Robb White’s as the screenwriter … It’s the closest thing we’ll ever have to an alternate director’s cut of this seminal spookfest.”

William Castle –

Born in New York City in 1914, William Castle made horror films in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s and lived his life scaring the living daylights out of people with the numerous horror films he produced and/or directed.  Macabre (1958), House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Tingler (1959), 13 Ghosts (1960), Mr. Sardonicus (1961), Homicidal (1961), Straight Jacket (1964), and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) are a few of his classic credits, the second and third films starring Vincent Price in career-defining roles. In addition to directing and producing, he also made many appearances in films (his own and others) such as Shampoo (1975) and The Day of the Locust (1975).  He also appeared in a non-speaking part in Rosemary’s Baby as the grey-haired man lurking outside the phone booth while Mia Farrow attempts to get in touch with her obstetrician.

Castle is perhaps best known, however, for the marketing strategies he developed to get his fans into theaters. In addition to the tingled butts of movie-goers at The Tingler screenings and insuring moviegoers against death by fright for Macabre, he also created “Illusion-O” a ghost viewer/ghost remover for 13 Ghosts, a “Punishment Poll” for Mr. Sardonicus, and Homicidal audiences were introduced to “Fright Breaks” and the “Coward’s Corner.”  He also introduced audiences to new film making and viewing techniques such as “Percept-O” and “Emerg-O.”

At 15, he began his career on Broadway, securing his first acting role by passing himself off as Samuel Goldwyn’s nephew.  He began his directing career at the age of 18 with a stage production of Dracula before graduating to work as an assistant to director Orson Welles, doing much of the second unit location work for Welles’ noir classic, The Lady from Shanghai (1947). John Goodman’s character in Matinee (1993) was based on Castle. His 1976 autobiography, Step Right Up, I’m Gonna Scare the Pants Off America, was reprinted in 1991 with a foreword by John Waters, who eulogized Castle thusly, “Without a doubt, the greatest showman of our time was William Castle.  King of the Gimmicks, William Castle was my idol.  His films made me want to make films.  I’m jealous of his work.  In fact, I wish I were William Castle.” Castle died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on May 31, 1977.

William Castle Reads to Ghouls - concept art by http://www.kleeproductions.com

Robb White –

Born in the Philippines, Robb White was a preacher’s son who held a wide variety of jobs before landing in the Navy during World War II. He became a prominent Hollywood scriptwriter when he teamed up with William Castle on House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts, Homicidal, Macabre and The Tingler from 1958 to 1961. In addition to screenplays, he also wrote television scripts and dozens of novels, mostly adventure stories aimed at younger readers.   Notable among the novels he prolifically penned are The Lion’s Paw (1946), Deathwatch (1972), Up Periscope (1956), Flight Deck (1961), Torpedo Run (1962), and The Survivor (1964).

Terry Castle –
Terry Castle, the real life daughter of cult filmmaker William Castle, grew up in Los Angeles with a dad who made a living scaring the wits out of moviegoers everywhere. Although he was internationally famous, to her he was always just dad, though a larger than life one at that.  While she was growing up in the 1960s her father taught her interesting life skills such as the best recipe for fake blood, the proper way to hold an ax, and how to act out the most terrifying of ghost stories. After working as a writer and producer for years for CNN, Travel Channel, and Nickelodeon/MTV-Networks, she worked with Dark Castle Entertainment (Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis’ production company named after her father).  At Dark Castle she co-produced and consulted on the remakes of two William Castle films to make the plots even more frightening: House on Haunted Hill (1999) and Thir13en Ghosts (2001). Her soon to be released book, FearMaker: Family Matters, is an homage to her father (he’s a ghost writer on it actually!).  Horror is in her blood, as she carries on her father’s wicked tradition of scaring innocent souls everywhere.

William Castle Productions –
Since the 1950s, William Castle Productions (WCP) has been dedicated to scaring audiences with dozens of film and television releases.  The production company is best known for films Rosemary’s Baby (1968), House on Haunted Hill (1959), and The Tingler (1959). Dormant for a number of years after Castle’s death in 1977, the production company has been re-animated in recent years by the ghost of William Castle in collaboration with his daughter Terry Castle.  In addition to the recently released From The Grave: The Prayer (2011), William Castle Productions will soon release another new book, FearMaker: Family Matters written by Terry Castle.  Additional new film, television, theater, and DVD projects are also currently in the works.

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For more information, a copy of the book, photos, or to arrange an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 and lynn@greengalactic.com.

Book Stats:



House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay



From William Castle, Screenplay by Robb White
Publisher: William Castle Productions
Category: Performing Arts / Screenplays
October 31, 2011
paperback • 248 pages • $24.99
ISBN-13: 978-0578092928
8.5″ x 11″ (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
Cover Art by Charlie Largent
Distributed by Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/HOUSE-HAUNTED-HILL-Annotated-Screamplay/dp/0578092921/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317928131&sr=1-2-spell

William Roper (Photo courtesy SASSAS)

The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) concludes its series of summer events with sound. at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook: Alex Cline, Lady Noise and William Roper on Sunday, October 16, 2011. The concert features new compositions by percussionist Alex Cline, experimental collective Lady Noise and brass specialist William Roper. These new SASSAS commissions will be played by more than 30 Los Angeles area musicians arrayed in different locations across the historic topography of the Overlook. The concert begins at 3:00pm at the apex of the Overlook and concludes 90 minutes later in the Safine Rabines-designed pavilion next to the park visitor center. The event is free. Street parking is available along Jefferson Blvd., but come prepared for a steep climb up the Overlook stairs. Parking at the top of the hill is $6.00. Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is located at 6300 Hetzler Road, Culver City, CA 90232.

SASSAS Concludes its 2011
Series of Summer Concerts with
sound. at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook:
Alex Cline, Lady Noise and William Roper
In Culver City, California
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 3:00pm

Free Concert Features Over 30 Los Angeles Area Musicians

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 27, 2011 -  The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) concludes its series of summer events with sound. at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook: Alex Cline, Lady Noise and William Roper on Sunday, October 16, 2011. The concert features new compositions by percussionist Alex Cline, experimental collective Lady Noise and brass specialist William Roper. These new SASSAS commissions will be played by more than 30 Los Angeles area musicians arrayed in different locations across the historic topography of the Overlook. The concert begins at 3:00pm at the apex of the Overlook and concludes 90 minutes later in the Safine Rabines-designed pavilion next to the park visitor center. The event is free. Street parking is available along Jefferson Blvd., but come prepared for a steep climb up the Overlook stairs. Parking at the top of the hill is $6.00. Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is located at 6300 Hetzler Road, Culver City, CA 90232. For more information on the venue please call 323-960-5723 or visit http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22790. For more information on SASSAS and this event please visit http://www.sassas.org/sound/2011/october.shtml.

The Baldwin Park Scenic Overlook is unique in the greater Los Angeles area and California State Park system. A historically complex site, the Overlook offers 360 degree views of the Los Angeles Basin as it resides at the juncture of industry and parkland / preserve. Adjacent to the location of the 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam break and just north of an active oil field, the park was the site of a decade long development battle which was successful in fending off a 230-home development, but failed to stop the flat topping of the hill. Parts of the park have been regraded and “in certain ways the land still looks as though it’s recovering from the earlier violence.” (Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times).

SASSAS invited each composer to make a field recording at the Overlook and respond to it with a new work focusing on percussion (Cline), electronics (Lady Noise) and lip reeds (Roper). The field recordings will be available for public download on the SASSAS website at www.sassas.org beginning October 1st. These commissions build on a tradition initiated in 2010 when SASSAS invited 3 composers to create new works commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the City of West Hollywood.

The concert begins at 3:00pm at the top of the Overlook with William Roper’s Fanfares and Arhoolies for lip reed instruments and percussion. Fanfares and Arhoolies uses the noisy, ostentatious form of the fanfare as a frame for Arhoolies or plantation field hollers, songs that were outlets for southern laborers, often slaves, to express themselves while working. Playing instruments as diverse as conch shells, bovine horns, Wagner tuba and French horns are Kevin Brown, Ray Burkhart, Clifford Childers, Dan Clucas, Steve Durnin, James Ford, Loren Marsteller, Joseph Mitchell, and Michael Vlatkovich.

Lady Noise describe their yet to be titled work as “Washes of white noise, whistling, and breath. The drone of chatter through wind…Collated histories of grasses, planes, pumping jacks, and dry lips mingle under a blanket of smog. A melancholic psychic overload of the hot air indeterminate.” Located in the garden amphitheater, their ensemble includes the members of Lady Noise (Kelly Coats, flute; Kathleen Kim, violin; Gabie Strong, electric bass; and Sandy Yang, electric guitar) in addition to Jesse Appelhans, Aisling Cormack, James Hamblin, Julia Holter, Janet Kim, Stefan Scott Nelson, Ron Russell and Jonathan Silberman.

Alex Cline (Photo courtesy of SASSAS)

The four parts of Alex Cline’s Overlook , “Origins,” “Growth,” “Conflict,” and “Balance,” are titled based on the subject headings in the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook visitor center educational materials. According to Cline, “Overlook takes inspiration from both sounds and other sensory elements of the site as well as extra-musical elements that pertain to the site’s history and current status, including material relating to and evoking the Tongve indigenous peoples of the area and to post-industrial development around the region.’’ Concluding the concert in the Overlook pavilion, Cline will be joined by Christopher Allis, Trevor Anderies, Erin Barnes, Joseph Berardi, Germaine Franco, Dave Shaffer and Rich West.

Artist Bios:

Percussionist-composer Alex Cline has been a mainstay on the jazz and new music scenes of Los Angeles for over thirty-five years. Combining colorful and sensitive percussion sounds with a drumming foundation based in the jazz tradition, Cline is recognized for his contributions to the music of such artists as Vinny Golia, Julius Hemphill, Bobby Bradford, Horace Tapscott, Wadada Leo Smith, Charlie Haden, and countless others. His work as a composer and bandleader has been documented on recordings with his groups, the Alex Cline Ensemble and Alex Cline’s Band of the Moment. Cline was included in Michael Bettine and Trevor Taylor’s book Percussion Profiles among twenty of the “world’s most creative percussionists.”  Most recently Cline has re-envisioned the Chicago Art Ensemble’s 1969 album-length masterpiece “People in Sorrow” for a performance at REDCAT for an all-star ensemble.

Lady Noise, founded by artist Gabie Strong, is the free-form sound collaboration between Kelly Coats (flute), Kathleen Kim (violin), Gabie Strong (bass) and Sandy Yang (guitar and drums).  Lady Noise performances draw on visual elements to create an atmosphere of sound and landscape. Compositions are explored between modes of structure and improvisation, creating spaces of interplay and entropy. Disrupting conventional spatial formations of live sound performance, the group freely shapes the area reserved for hearing and language to present the listening audience with the aching beauty of amplified harmonic decay.

Lady Noise has performed at the UC Riverside Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts; The Japanese American National Museum with OMAYUMI, Steve Irvin, and Alan Nakagawa for RED FLAT; at LACE with Raquel Gutiérrez for GUTTED; The Collective Show; Human Resources; and the Liz Glynn designed Verse | Chorus | Verse amphitheater at the 2011 Art Los Angeles Contemporary fair.

William Roper (Photo courtesy of SASSAS)

William Roper is a composer, performer and visual artist. He has fulfilled commissions from Dance L.A., the Gloria Newman Dance Theatre and has a long list of collaborations with recognized artists in video, theater, performance and dance. His compositions have been performed by such groups as the California E.A.R. Unit, TaiHei Ensemble, Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble, and the Cal Arts Cello Ensemble. As a performing artist, Roper has appeared in North America, South America and Europe as soloist and in ensembles as diverse as free improvisation groups to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has released ten CDs as a leader or co-leader on Asian Improv Recordings, Nine Winds, ArtShip Recordings, and Tomato Sage Recordings.

sound. 2011 is produced by Cindy Bernard in collaboration with Scott Benzel, Gregory Lenczycki, Jorge Martin, Renee Petropoulos, Joe Potts, Dawson Weber, Board of Directors; Danny Gromfin, Board of Advisors. sound. is a project of The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) and is supported in part through grants from the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Good Works Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. William Roper’s work received special support from a CCI / Durfee Artist Resource for Completion grant.

SASSAS (The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves as a catalyst for the creation, presentation, and recognition of experimental art and sound practices in the Greater Los Angeles area. In addition to producing sound., SASSAS archives recordings from the series at www.sassas.org/concerts and www.youtube.com/sassasdotorg.

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

After a 5 year hiatus, underground performance party pioneer Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) returns to the limelight with I Am Vegetable at the Premiere Events Center (aka Lot 613) in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8, 2011.  I Am Vegetable is a delectable interactive costume party that merges theater, story telling, music, performance art, and dancing with imaginative sets that integrate the audience with the action.  The event soundscape incorporates dubstep, electro/breaks, house, tech house, and ambient/downtempo with a tasty DJ line-up that features John Kelley, Shayn, Trevor + Travis Wyse, Petey, and more. The creative brains behind I Am Vegetable are musician and event director Teo Castro and costume designer Mikiko Nagao, who have collaborated on creative underground events since the 1990s.  I Am Vegetable runs from 9:00pm to 3:30am. Tickets range from $20 to $40. Premiere Events Center/Lot 613 (http://www.lot613.com) is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. 

Underground Performance Party Pioneer
Dream Circus Theatre Presents
I Am Vegetable
A Wildly Costumed Interactive Theatrical Dance Event
At Premiere Events Center (Lot 613) in Downtown LA
Saturday, October 8, 2011

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 16, 2011 – After a 5 year hiatus, underground performance party pioneer Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) returns to the limelight with I Am Vegetable at the Premiere Events Center (aka Lot 613) in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8, 2011.  I Am Vegetable is a delectable interactive costume party that merges theater, story telling, music, performance art, and dancing with imaginative sets that integrate the audience with the action.  The event soundscape incorporates dubstep, electro/breaks, house, tech house, and ambient/downtempo with a tasty DJ line-up that features John Kelley, Shayn, Trevor + Travis Wyse, Petey, and more. The creative brains behind I Am Vegetable are musician and event director Teo Castro and costume designer Mikiko Nagao, who have collaborated on creative underground events since the 1990s.  I Am Vegetable runs from 9:00pm to 3:30am. Tickets range from $20 to $40. Premiere Events Center/Lot 613 (http://www.lot613.com) is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, please visit http://www.dreamcircus.com or call 310-853-3075.

Attendees are encouraged to wear vegetable-themed costumes and bring their favorite organic vegetables for the communal soup that will be served all night long. The event will be streamed live at http://www.stickam.com. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend. A limited number of advance tickets can be purchased for $20-25 at http://fla.vor.us/1100057-I-AM-VEGETABLE-tickets/I-AM-VEGETABLE-Los-Angeles–.html. On the day of event, tickets are $30 with vegetable costume and organic vegetable for the communal soup, $40 “plain jane.” Street parking is free.  $10 secured valet parking will also be available. Please also see DCT’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/dreamcircus.theatre as well as the event page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=247783768584432

I Am Vegetable welcomes Fud-gee Bear and Electric GrassHopper back from a Deep Hi Bear Nation. Climbing out from the underground city of Zion, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, they will bring magic, mystery and fantasy back into our world once again.  Event attendees will be transported into a world where they can mingle with roaming I Am Vegetable characters in elaborate costumes, get a scrub down in the make-believe “Vegetable Wash,” and wander down the interactive “Vegetable Brick Road” (a floor with interactive screens and projections) on their way to the “Veggie Voyeurism Museum” (a “green light” district of steamy vegetables).

In the “Market Membrane” front room, a farmer’s market-themed area, guests can enjoy dubstep/electro breaks DJ sets, VJs, theatrical performances, and a costume contest. The outside “Mushroom Garden,” is a place for attendees to sit, lounge, drink, and eat.  More DJs, VJs, an ambient room, and photo booth will be set as a soup bowl.  Out back, attendees will find the “Psycho-Ponics Ward,” a black-lit room with house/tech DJ sets, VJs and theatrical performances with a backdrop of vegetables hooked up to tubes. The upstairs area houses the chill zone known as “The Refrigerator” with VJs and ambient music.

Interactive characters will roam throughout the event space.  Examples include the “Mr. Snails” characters (like the Mr. Smiths from the Matrix movies) – Secret Service snails who try to capture veggie attendees – and “The Garlic Informant,” who saves the veggies from the Mr. Snails.

The event is a vehicle to launch nutritional vegetable awareness and support the organic health movement for sustainable living.  Organic local food companies will be participating.

Featured DJs by Event Area:

Market Membrane - a vegetable marketplace full of sinful, carnal delights features dubstep/electro breaks with:
- John Kelley (Ball of Wax / Moontribe) - site
- Shayn Almeida (Intetech / Deep LA) – site
- Bartek (Quade / Ball of Wax) – site
- SuneviL LovechiLd – site
- Petey (Technique) – site

Psycho-Ponics Ward – veggie crazed madness, with padded walls and black lights, is hosted by Fade Dra and features house/tech house with:
- HAWT DJs Mikey + Eddie B. (HAWT Music) - site
- Frank Fader (Dogtown DJs) – site
- Ben Annand (Moontribe / Tropical) – site
- DJ Xian Fayette (I Am)
- DJ M*Linss (Dogtown DJs)

The Mushroom Garden - outside chill area features ambient/downtempo with:
- Imagika – site
- Trevor + Travis Wyse (Green Sector) – site
- Maggie (Moontribe) – site
- Kevin Chills (See Thru Sound) – site

Click here to watch Dream Circus Theatre in action.

Teo Castro, Co-Founder Dream Circus Theatre / Producer / Writer
Party planner, performer and legend in the L.A. underground circuit, Teo Castro runs Dream Circus Theatre with his wife, Mikiko Nagao.  The collective organizes the legendary “I Am” series of themed events that merge theatrical performances and electronic music into party environments. Castro and Nagao also created a street music and clothing company called Stoner Generation. He worked with Bill Manspeaker (Green Jello), Lou Maglia (former president of Island Records), and Art Jaeger (former executive at Capitol Records) in executive and production capacities at QTOPIA Event Center in Hollywood, which later became the Vanguard. For Insomniac Events, he created Dream Circus Village at Electric Daisy Carnival.  Other organizations and artists he has worked with over the years include Red Bull, M-Audio, Native Instruments, Magic (Las Vegas), Jane’s Addiction, Snoop Dog, Lollapalooza LLC, Coachella Music Festival, Burning Man, Cirque du Soleil, Dance with Films, House of Blues, Charlie Armstrong (Paramount Pictures), and PF Chang’s.

Mikiko Nagao, Costume Designer / Event Creator –
Mikiko Nagao is an innovative costume designer who has worked on commercial, film, television, and theater projects for the past 10 years. With her husband Teo Castro, she runs Dream Circus Theatre.  She has created custom designs for over 100 productions including costumes for stilt walker clowns, medieval soldiers, angelic space gods, large monsters, Victorian characters, and more. Past large-scale productions include creating costumes for Dream Circus Theatre’s 2003 tour of 35 cities with Lollapalooza.  Nagao studied at Bantan Design Fashion Institute (Tokyo) and Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (San Francisco and Los Angeles).  http://MKOCostumes.com

Dream Circus Theatre –
Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) was initially involved in the local underground scene in the mid 1990s, the first in the Los Angeles area to merge theatrical performances such as fire dancers, aerialists, performance artists, and art installations in a DJ dance party environment.  DCT is known for their innovative series of event/parties called “I Am” – costume, themed parties, which fuse all the elements mentioned above. DCT has self-produced, created and written over 100 original events and shows.

Castro, Nagao and/or Dream Circus Theatre have been featured in news and entertainment media around the world including the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, KCRW, KPFK, KROQ, KLOS, MTV, CNN, FNN, CBS-TV, Bad Boys, MTV, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine (Asia).

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

West of Rome Public Art
With Arto Lindsay and Rirkrit Tiravanija Present
Trespass
A Parade, Party & Public Call to Action
In Downtown Los Angeles
October 2-3, 2011

Trespass is Part of the Official Opening Weekend Celebration
Of the Getty-Sponsored, Region-Wide Initiative
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 14, 2011 [updated 9/19/11] – On Sunday, October 2, 2011, the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles will erupt with Trespass, a parade where artists and residents will rally together to engage in art, music, dancing, floats, community activism, and performance. The parade is just one component of Trespass – a collaborative project between Arto Lindsay, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and West of Rome Public Art (WoR) that also includes a party and a T-shirt project with call-to-action slogans.  As part of Trespass, many Los Angeles art luminaries, including John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Rubins, and Jeffrey Vallance, were asked to produce statements – personal calls to action expressing political or social concerns – which will be worn on T-shirts at the October 2nd parade. Many of the participating artists will also join in with performative pieces. Trespass continues into Monday evening, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration at Union Station (800 North Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012) featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists to benefit nonprofit West of Rome. For more information, please visit http://trespassparade.org.

Trespass is part of the opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 – a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. As a catalyst for change, Trespass collaborates and interacts with a high-octane roster of important local artists, the resident Downtown population, and the architecture in the area.  The project invites Los Angeles to gather and occupy the streets of our city as an act of community activism in this time of world turmoil and change. Provocative performance artists, philosophers, musicians, sound wizards, and dancers will rise up and speak out in spectacle to create an unforgettable moment in the cultural life in the streets of Downtown L.A. Trespass strives to convey and reiterate, in a creative way, the importance of free speech as the most powerful and effective vehicle for implementing change.

Sunday, October 2 – Trespass –
Highly influential contemporary artists, the youth of our time, and the public will engage in a symphony of creativity and free speech as Trespass takes over Downtown L.A. on Sunday, October 2nd, with music, dancing and performance. Arto Lindsay will create bold and loud sound experiments, responding to the activity and architecture of Downtown Los Angeles. Additional performers on the parade route will include ACE, Scott Benzel, Nancy Buchanan, Vaginal Davis, Dawn Kasper, KILLSONIC, Joel Kyack, Sylvère Lotringer, Ann Magnuson, My Barbarian, Alex Segade, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and more TBA. Many parade walkers and performers will wear T-shirts with the slogans about free speech, reciprocity, and civic participation, as an act of alternative messaging in the street. The October 2nd portion of Trespass is part of opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time, as swarms of culture seekers flock to the area on a day when dozens of area museums and institutions offer free admission.

For those participating, the parade formation begins at Art Platform – Los Angeles (L.A. Mart, 1933 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007) at 11:00am on October 2nd. The parade will quietly make its way north through the staging area with the main spectacle beginning around noon at the Herald-Examiner Building at Broadway and 11th (1111 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015). The parade will continue through the heart of the historic Broadway Theater District to First Street. Trespass then takes a left on First Street to the Grand Avenue cultural corridor with a finale by KILLSONIC and ending reception at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) as well as at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). The length of the parade, including vehicles and performers, will span approximately one long city block and will involve a rolling closure of streets over more than 25 blocks. See the parade map at http://trespassparade.org/when-and-where.

Updated Additional List of Parade Performers –
Dewey Ambrosino, Raul Paulino Balthazar, Dola Baroni, bodycity, CollectiveCollective, Stephanie Diamond, Corey Fogel, !mpact people, James Brandon Lewis Trio, JETS a group organized by CHAMPIONS, Monica Rodriguez Medina, Mobile Mural Lab, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Milena Muzquiz, Newspaper Reading Club, Anna Oxygen, Pedestal & the All-Girl Band, QW##R <3, Christopher Reynolds, Kenny Scharf, Alex Segade, Sir Richard’s Condom Company, Niko Solorio, South Gate High School, Stella Adler Acting Studio, and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles.

Monday, October 3 – Trespassparty –
Trespass will continue into Monday, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration for West of Rome at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. The party kicks off at 9:30pm featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists such as iconic underground figure Ms. Vaginal Davis who will act as MC/host and legendary singer and pioneer in the queer core movement Phranc. The rhythms of Trespass will permeate into the evening as musician Arto Lindsay performs a unique piece composed for the occasion. Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will engage the audience in a continuation of the collective experience of social awareness stemming from the parade. The evening also features special guest DJ JD Samson of Le Tigre and MEN. A $200 donation is required for entrance to the party, which will feature a signed limited edition recipe by Tiravanija revealing both his artisan pizza creation in collaboration with Pizzanista and vodka drink created specially for Trespass. Kanon Organic Vodka and Singha Beer are the evening’s liquor and beer sponsor respectively. For a $1,000 donation, starting at 7:00pm, a limited number of guests will enjoy a gourmet dinner in Union Station’s historic Fred Harvey Room with a recipe by Tiravanija especially executed for the occasion as well as first access to the silent auction of unique artwork by Barbara Kruger. To purchase tickets, please visit: http://trespassparade.org/party.

Participating Trespass Artists –
In addition to Lindsay and Tiravanija, participating artists include: Eleanor Antin, Edgar Arceneaux, Lisa Anne Auerbach, John Baldessari, Scott Benzel, Walead Beshty, Andrea Bowers, Nancy Buchanan, Chris Burden, Vaginal Davis, Sam Durant, Charles Gaines, Cheri Gaulke, Amy Gerstler, Piero Golia, Matt Greene, Julian Hoeber, Alex Israel, Glenn Kaino, Dawn Kasper, Mike Kelley, Chris Kraus, Barbara Kruger, Joel Kyack, Suzanne Lacy, Liz Larner, William Leavitt, Sharon Lockhart, Ann Magnuson, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Dave Muller, T. Kelly Mason, My Barbarian, Yoshua Okón, Jorge Pardo, Renee Petropoulos, Stephen Prina, Gustavo Raynal, Steve Roden, Nancy Rubins, Sterling Ruby, Aaron Sandnes, Jim Shaw, Susan Silton, Stephanie Taylor, Diana Thater, Kaari Upson, Jeffrey Vallance, Marnie Weber, Pae White, Terry Wolverton…

Public Participation–
The public is encouraged to participate in Trespass by embracing free speech and creative action, either officially or unofficially. To march in the parade or volunteer at the event, please sign-up at: http://trespassparade.org/parade-enrollment. Participants are also encouraged to engage in the event by purchasing a printed Trespass T-shirt with a slogan that resonates with them to wear at the parade.

Trespass T-Shirts –
Trespass commissioned 60 Los Angeles-based artists to produce a statement – each expressing a call to action – printed on American Apparel T-shirts in English and in Spanish and worn as part of the parade. The T-shirts are being sold online to benefit the project. Visit the Trespass online store in advance of the parade to purchase a T-shirt at http://store.trespassparade.org/category/t-shirts.

Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 –
Trespass’ parade is a Pacific Standard Time opening weekend event. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 is a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world.  Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial years after World War II through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 1970s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multimedia installations; from the films of the African American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman’s Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese American design to the pioneering work of artists’ collectives.  Initiated through $10 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time involves cultural institutions of every size and character across Southern California, from Greater Los Angeles to San Diego and Santa Barbara to Palm Springs.

Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Trespassis the only Pacific Standard Time event held in an outdoor public space featuring new contemporary works from a number of important Los Angeles artists celebrated in the region-wide collaborative project as well as emerging artists from the present. http://pacificstandardtime.org/participants

Trespass Partners –
Trespass’ community partners include the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time as well as American Apparel, Art Platform – Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Chapman Lofts, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, Downtown Properties Holdings, LA Inc., MAK Center for Art and Architecture, The Metabolic Studio, Metro, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), The Orpheum Theatre, ANJAC, REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), Sheppard Mullin and s(o)ul.  Media partners include ForYourArt and LA Weekly.  Trespassparty is a Pink Cloud Production.

Arto Lindsay–
Arto Lindsay’s musical career has often involved collaboration with artists. These have ranged from working with Jean-Michel Basquiat on his artist break for MTV to a performance at The Kitchen with Vito Acconci called “Women’s Business” to a parade during Carnival in Salvador, Brasil with Matthew Barney entitled De Lama Lamina. Recent projects of his include collaborations with Dominique Gonzalez Foerster and Philippe Parreno. In April 2008, Lindsay presented I Am a Man, a parade in Frankfurt featuring dancer Richard Siegal, artist/musician Nico Vascellari, percussionist Marivaldo Paim, and students of the Städelschule. In 2009, Lindsay presented Multinatural (Blackout) a parade at the Venice Biennale. He has also presented parades in New York and Berlin. In 2010, Lindsay collaborated with Rirkrit Tiravanija on a parade in Paris for Nuit Blanche. http://www.artolindsay.com

Rirkrit Tiravanija–
Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work defies media-based description, as his practice combines traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching, and other forms of public service and social action. Tiravanija was the winner of the 2010 Absolut Art Award and the 2005 Hugo Boss Prize, awarded by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He has also been awarded the Benesse Prize by the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Japan and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lucelia Artist Award. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rirkrit_Tiravanija

West of Rome Public Art–
Los Angeles-based West of Rome Public Art (WoR) is an innovative nonprofit art organization dedicated to the realization of artists’ projects, exhibitions, and public interventions that encourage dialogue and community interaction outside of the frame of galleries and museums. Founded in 2005, WoR has curated and produced many notable exhibitions including Women in The City featuring Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman and Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley and Michael Smith’s A Voyage of Growth and Discovery, and Marnie Weber’s Eternity Forever. Functioning without a permanent exhibition space, WoR is not anchored to any specific location and is therefore free to explore a diversity of urban spaces for its projects. Each show, installation or event takes place in a uniquely chosen site, sometimes off the beaten track, sometimes in the middle of a high traffic street. These unorthodox exhibition sites are dictated by circumstance, time and the nature of each project, and for a designated period of time, become places of discovery for both the casual passer-by and the attentive art visitor. http://www.westofrome.org

January 2012 –
In January 2012, West of Rome Public Art will present Trilogy, a series of new performances curated by WoR’s Founder Emi Fontana, as part of Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival. Inspired by the legacy of the Los Angeles Woman’s Building, WoR’s series will begin with a piece by Andrea Fraser dealing with issues of identity and diversity in political dynamics inside feminist groups from the 1970s. A new site-specific piece by Vaginal Davis is a poetic meditation on feminist whimsy and gender queerness. Mike Kelley will contribute to the discourse, exploring the influence that the aesthetics of the Feminist Movement has had in his practice. The January festival will transform Southern California over an eleven-day period from January 19th through the 29th. Performances and projects will be located at institutions and sites throughout Southern California in close proximity to more than two-dozen Pacific Standard Time exhibitions.  The Performance and Public Art Festival is organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA>< ART.

For more information, to request images, or arrange interviews please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Inaugural Zeitgeist Media Festival 2011
Brings Socially Conscious Art

To The Music Box in Hollywood
Sunday, September 11, 2011


With Additional Global Events: 9/9/11 to 9/11/11

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 25, 2011 – The inaugural Zeitgeist Media Festival (ZMF), uniting the world through socially conscious art, happens in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at The Music Box in Hollywood… and around the world on the same weekend!  The not-for-profit festival features music, visual and interactive art, poetry, comedy, and theatrics including a concert featuring forward-thinking artistic powerhouses such as world musician Natacha Atlas, El Willy & the Wolves with special guest guitar legend Billy Gibbons, violin virtuoso Lili Haydn, Ben Stewart’s Hierosonic, and the social comedy of Rick Overton (MC) and Lee Camp.  The Zeitgeist Media Festival runs from 2:00pm to 10:00pm and is an all ages event.  In addition to $40.00 per ticket, attendees must also contribute a small canned/sealed food donation to gain entrance. The Music Box is located at 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. For more information on the venue, please call 323-464-0808 or visit http://www.themusicbox.la.  For online tickets, please visit http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=8104. This is a Non-Profit/At Cost Event, where the ticket price reflects the expenditure of the event itself.  For additional information on the Zeitgeist Media Festival, please see http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org.

ZMF is a global, multimedia event working to utilize the Arts as an avenue to create sustainable values in the pursuit of a better world. The event features a magical 3,000 square foot rooftop “living garden” environment, which will house fine art, video projections, and more music with the help of LA’s Dream Circus Theatre. Notable artists with work in the rooftop garden include Banksy and Mear One. Interpretative live painter Norton Wisdom will also perform in the rooftop garden.  ZMF will also host a regional food drive, in partnership with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, to provide relief to the growing number of people struggling with poverty in LA County. A list of recommended goods can be found here. Several nonprofits will also be on hand at the Los Angeles event with information booths on-site.

From Canada to London to Israel, ZMF expects over 70 parallel events.  In addition to socially conscious art, the global event encourages participants in other regions to also conduct similar, local, resource-based drives for those in need in their respective regions.  The global events are being updated on the ZMF website as they are finalized. A short list can be found near the bottom of this page.  If you wish to follow the global events’ progress on Facebook, please see: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Zeitgeist-Media-Festival/194115850637429. The Facebook page for the ZMF LA event is at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=229754137068117.



LA Performers –
Los Angeles ZMF performers include:

- Rick Overton (MC) – social comedy – site
- Lee Camp – social comedy – site
- Natacha Atlas – world musician – site
- El Willy & the Wolves with special guest Billy Gibbons – site
- Lili Haydn – violin virtuoso – site
- Dream Circus Theatre – rooftop atmosphere and performance – site
- Hierosonic- filmmaker Ben Stewart’s hybrid rock project – site
- Peter Joseph – multimedia, performing “Zeitgeist: Requiem for One” – site
- Norton Wisdom – live visual art – site
- Charles Fleischer – comedy – site
- Garret John LoPorto – “The Wayseer Manifesto” – site
- The Lions – dub reggae musical group – site
- Master Zero – theatrical – site
- The Lost Children of Babylon - “The Protectors of Spiritual Hip Hop” – site
- Heather Donavon – singer-songwriter – site

Performer bios and descriptions of participating organizations are summarized below.

Webcast –
The entire ZMF LA main event will be webcast live for free at http://www.stickam.com (details TBD).

Peter Joseph, the creator of the Zeitgeist Film Series and founder of the “Zeitgeist Movement” who helms the festival, explains, “Since antiquity, the Arts have been a powerful catalyst in the development of the ‘zeitgeist’ of the time. From the awe-inspiring aesthetics of religious art and music throughout the ages to the Renaissance and the dawn of the Age of Reason, the Arts have given way to powerful awareness, often opening the doors for social and cultural evolution. The Arts have continually challenged common beliefs in order to initiate progress. It is no wonder that many of the greatest thinkers and scientists in history have given tremendous credence to its power and utility.”

The Zeitgeist Film Series –
The award-winning, controversial Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007) obtained over 100,000,000 views during its first year online.  In 2008, the sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum, premiered at the Artivist Film Festival in Hollywood, CA.  As with its predecessor, the award-winning Addendum was a huge viral internet phenomenon obtaining over 50,000,000 views within its first year.

In January 2011, over 300 independent groups around the world hosted theatrical screenings of the third installment, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, in 30 languages across 60 countries.  The headcount for the global premiere was over 50,000 in attendance.  Zeitgeist: Moving Forward may be the widest nonprofit, global theatrical premiere in history with the most languages, countries and locations — ALL with no major distributor but solely on a volunteer and nonprofit basis. This follows on the footsteps of Zeitgeist: The Movie being the most watched documentary in internet history!

The three films have become a cultural film series project, which continue to consider the current “zeitgeist” or “spirit or awareness of the time.”

http://zeitgeistmovie.com
- Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007)
- Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)
- Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011)

Participating ZMF LA Nonprofit Organization (NPO) Partners:

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank –
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a nonprofit charitable organization that has been serving the disadvantaged in the Los Angeles community since 1973.   To fulfill the organization’s mission, the Food Bank sources and acquires food and other products to distribute to needy people through charitable agencies or directly through programs.  The Food Bank energizes the community to get involved and support hunger relief.  The organization conducts hunger education and awareness campaigns.  And it also advocates for public policies that alleviate hunger.  The goal is for no one to go hungry in Los Angeles County.  The Food Bank is at the heart of a charitable food distribution network that includes over 1,000 charitable agency sites throughout Los Angeles County.  The organization partners with Feeding America, the nation’s largest non-governmental, domestic hunger relief organization. As part of this partnership, the Food Bank follows the guidelines put forth by the network and is subject to monitoring. http://www.lafoodbank.com

Inside Out Community Arts –
Through visual arts, performing arts, and media workshops, Inside Out Community Arts promotes healthy interaction among diverse at-risk and underserved Los Angeles middle school and high school youth. Led by both specially trained teams of professional artists and high school age mentors, Inside Out bridges cultural, geographic, socioeconomic, and differently-abled boundaries to support youth in creating and presenting topical theater, art, and media. The organization’s goal is to empower youth with the tools, confidence, and inspiration to make a positive difference in their communities and the world … “from the inside out.” http://www.insideoutca.org

KPFK 90.7 FM –
KPFK 90.7 FM is a member station of the Pacifica Foundation, which consists of five radio stations, over 100 affiliate stations, and the Pacifica Radio Archives, responsible for preserving the voices of artists, activists and progressive journalists since 1949, when the foundation was established by peace activist Lew Hill. To further peace through broadcasting activities, Hill determined that radio sponsored by individual listeners would be the best way to ensure editorial freedom. http://www.kpfk.org

NextAid –
NextAid is a Los Angeles-based humanitarian organization that harnesses the power of music to support sustainable development projects that serve vulnerable children, youth and women in Africa. Through music events and public education initiatives, NextAid provides empowering opportunities for concerned individuals to make a difference. NextAid’s current initiatives benefit youth in Nairobi, Kenya, specifically the Kawangware Vision Centre (KVC).  KVC is a project based in the Kawangware slum of Nairobi, Kenya, run by a community-based youth group, which makes silk-screened gift bags out of recycled paper to sell to local businesses. Recognizing the organization’s potential to make a bigger impact, NextAid has partnered with KVC to build a new “green” workshop and multipurpose facility in order to expand KVC’s operation and serve more youth. On August 12th, International Youth Day, NextAid’s Bids Build Hope Online Auction kicked off featuring over 50 unique items to raise funds for KVC. http://www.nextaid.org

Venice Arts –

Venice Arts’ mission is to ignite youths’ imagination, mentor their creativity, and expand their sense of possibility through high quality, accessible media–based arts education programs. Venice Arts also serves as a catalyst for people of all ages, living in low–income or underrepresented communities, to create and share personal and community stories through photography, film, and multimedia. http://www.venice-arts.org



Additional NPO participants to be confirmed.

Performer Bios:

Rick Overton –
Rick Overton is the son of two musicians — his father was Thelonious Monk’s arranger and a teacher at Julliard, and his mother was in the pop quartet The Chordettes, the girl group famous for the singles “Lollipop” and “Mr. Sandman.”  So, of course, he had no choice but to go into comedy. He has been in over 100 films and countless TV shows (most recently in Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz), but still has time to do his own brand of comedy that combines quick routines with deeper questions, theories, and “quantumplations” about how we all wound up here.  He has an Emmy Award for his writing and just returned from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  In his over 40 years of getting laughs, he’s been a rabble rousing alternative comic since long before being socially aware was an “alternative.” Comics have always led the way in pointing out naked emperors, never more so than in these last few years. He is a Patriot with a true love for the global experiment of America and its founders, as well as a Matriot with a strong love for planet Earth. He loves Human Kind for, among other things, paying his bills. Though he is not as fond of Human Unkind, who are screwing everything up.  According to Overton, “We’re stuck in a brightly lit Dark Age these days with only one smart door to choose in this game show — a Renaissance beats a Dark Age every time.”  The answer, according to Overton, is in good alpha role models — bold souls to defend us from encroaching malice.

Lee Camp –
Lee Camp is a stand-up comic, actor, activist, and writer.  He provided a catharsis for millions of people when he went live on Fox News and called the network a “parade of propaganda and a festival of ignorance.”  He’s a contributor to The Onion and has performed stand-up comedy at events featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore.  He was recently on Showtime’s series The Green Room with Paul Provenza with Roseanne and Bob Saget.  Called one of the best new faces at the Montreal Comedy Festival, he ran for president on Comedy Central’s Fresh Debate ’08 and he has performed comedic commentary on PBS, E! Network, SpikeTV, MTV, and ABC’s Good Morning America. He is also featured in the bestseller Satiristas! with the likes of George Carlin, Bill Maher, and Stephen Colbert.  He is also popular on the college circuit — hundreds of schools across the country have raved about Camp’s unique and fast-paced comedy. He is a regular contributor to New Dissident Radio and The Jeff Santos Show on Revolution Boston Radio and bears a tattoo on his left forearm, a quote from Howard Zinn, which says, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power that can transform the world.”

Natacha Atlas –
Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas has spent more than a decade fusing electronic beats with North African and Arabic music, finding links between seemingly disparate musical genres, exploring new and different sonic settings, and working with a wealth of like-minded collaborators from across the world along the way. Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum ‘n’ bass, R&B, Hindi pop, French chanson, and reggae. Atlas began her career as part of the world fusion group Transglobal Underground. In 1995, she began to focus on her solo career with the release of Diaspora. She has since released seven solo albums and been a part of numerous collaborations. Atlas’ list of collaborators include artists as varied as singers Sinead O’Connor and Sarah Brightman, the avant-garde classical composer Jocelyn Pook, British Asian visionary Nitin Sawhney, and the multi-instrumentalist and musical director of Ana Hina, Harvey Brough. Her version of “Mon Amie La Rose” became a surprise success in France, reaching 16 on the French Singles Charts in 1999. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Conference Against Racism.

El Willy & The Wolves –

El Willy, aka El Willy & The Wolves, is an art derivative drawn from Elwood Francis and Billy F. Gibbons and their infamous alliance within the New City and Williamsburg community of experimental soundscapists.  The communal exchange between the long-standing association of Francis and Gibbons extends into signal and audio bending within a contemporary backbeat driven framework without the exclusion of blues based art forms. To the contrary, the unusual combination is a blend of elements ranging from solid twelve and sixteen bar patterns toward modern surrealist interpretations.  An antagonists’ design termed by observers as “Redneck Tech.”

Lili Haydn –
Before launching her solo career, Lili Haydn established herself as one of the most sought after violinists in Los Angeles playing with the LA Philharmonic, Porno for Pyros, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Victoria Williams, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Roger Waters, Funkadelic, and Jimmy Page. In 1994, she formed her own band and started a two-year stint at the Viper Room in West Hollywood.  By 1997, she had a record contract with Atlantic and released her debut album, Lili.  Since that time, she went on to record three additional, critically acclaimed, major label recordings as a solo artist.  Her last CD, Place Between Places, was a favorite on NPR, and Hadyn performed the single “Strawberry Street” on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and HBO’s Californication.  A humanitarian and activist, she performs regularly for various human rights organizations.  In addition to the previously mentioned artists, she has also played with Brandy, Tony! Toni! Tone!, and No Doubt.  George Clinton calls her “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.”

Dream Circus Theatre –
Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) was involved in the local underground scene in the mid 1990s, the first in the Los Angeles area to merge theatrical performances such as fire dancers, aerialists, performance artists, and art installations in a DJ dance party environment.  DCT is known for their innovative series of event/parties called “I AM” – costume, themed parties, which fuse all the elements mentioned above. DCT has self-produced, created and written over 100 original events and shows. They have worked with numerous organizations and artists over the years including Red Bull, M-Audio, Native Instruments, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, KCRW, KPFK, KROQ, KLOS, MTV, CNN, FNN, CBS-TV, Rolling Stone Magazine, Details Magazine, Time Magazine (Asia), Bad Boys television show, Magic (Las Vegas), Jane’s Addiction, Snoop Dog, Lollapalooza LLC, Coachella Music Festival, Burning Man, Electric Daisy Carnival, Dance with Films, Qtopia, Vanguard, House of Blues, Lou Malia (former president of Island Records), and PF Changs.

Hierosonic –
Hierosonic, filmmaker Ben Stewart’s hybrid rock project, prides itself on raw, energetic performances both on stage and in the studio. Originally conceived in 2002 out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the band’s career has spanned over 9 years and several hundred performances, solidifying the band as a staple within the realm of underground rock music.  Keeping it fresh, the band redefines its rock music heritage with the musical language of industrial and hip hop. With a healthy dose of thought-provoking lyrics, dirty bass lines, and pop hooks, Hierosonic strives for new sounds with a unique familiarity.  The band is widely known for performances with A-list acts such as A Perfect Circle, Incubus, Jane’s Addiction, 30 Seconds to Mars, Audioslave, Filter, Sick Puppies, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, The Used, Cold, Lacuna Coil, and Halestorm.

Peter Joseph –
Peter Joseph, born in North Carolina to a mailman father and a social worker mother, began his creative interests with music at a young age. He moved to New York to attend a conservatory, only to drop out after an inability to afford the tuition. As the creator of the world famous, award-winning Zeitgeist Film Series and founder of the controversial “Zeitgeist Movement,” which seeks to shift our social system into a more sustainable paradigm, Joseph continues to focus on media-related expressions, including music composition, performance, and film production, each with a focus on affecting society for the better. He has lectured around the world on the topics of social sustainably and has been featured in the New York Times, Russia Today, TedX, and many other outlets.

Norton Wisdom –
Since 1979, interpretive performance painter Norton Wisdom has worked with numerous musical ensembles, spontaneously painting images that capture the essence of the moment. He regularly performs live with bands/musicians onstage, creating art inspired by the music. Working on an illuminated Mylar surface, his imagery emerges, evolves and dissolves throughout the performance. He has worked with members of Jane’s Addiction, The Rolling Stones, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, the Grateful Dead, George Clinton, David Navarro, LTJ Bukem, Lili Haydn, Ivan Neville, and DJ Nobody.  He is also deeply connected to the LA improv jazz scene, and specifically to guitarist Nels Cline.   He contributed his creative efforts to the Winter Olympics 2002 (Salt Lake), the opening of the Bellagio Hotel (Las Vegas), and premiere of Cirque Du Soleil (Las Vegas). Museum and festival projects include Coachella, UC Santa Barbara Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum, Skirball Museum, Orange County Art Museum, San Diego Museum, WOMAD World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival, Milwaukee Museum Art, and others.

Charles Fleischer –

Comedian Charles Fleischer is best known as the voices of Roger Rabbit, Benny The Cab, Psycho, and Greasy in Disney and Amblin Entertainment’s film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.   Fleischer’s other voice roles include work on The Polar Express and We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story. On-screen roles include Back to the Future Part II and Gridlock’d.   Roles on television include a recurring role on the 1970s hit series Welcome Back, Kotter as Carvelli, and as Chuck on the hit series Laverne & Shirley.  Fleischer’s stand-up routines are known for an intelligent but unusual take on obscure topics. A musician and songwriter as well, he has performed as a guest with the group Blues Traveler.  Fleishcher writes for film and television plus continues to do stand-up.  He also hosts his own weekly web show, Fleischer’s Universe.

Garret John LoPorto –

College dropout turned sonic drug dealer, best-selling author, YouTube sensation, rabble-rouser, troublemaker, and champion for free-thinkers everywhere, LoPorto is raising an army of the world’s misfits, mavericks, visionaries and pioneers – dubbed “Wayseers” - to help bring greater alignment with the mysterious source of genius known as “the Way.” He uses music, video, books, and social media to call this legion of Wayseers to turn on to what they are, tune in to the Way, and drop out of unhelpful institutions, blazing a trail for what the world really needs. He has been written about in The New York Times, Money Magazine, The London Financial Times, and The Boston Globe, and many other national newspapers. LoPorto and his projects have been featured on national television, including CNN and ABC.

The Lions –
Many of The Lions met through the LA rare groove outfit Breakestra and have collaborated on various projects throughout the past 10 years. The LA dub reggae collective came together as the result of an impromptu recording session, which included members of not only Breakestra, but also Connie Price and the Keystones, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, Orgone, Sound Directions, Plant Life, Poetics, and Macy Gray (to name a few).  Their live show is a healthy mix of vocal and dub tracks, balancing classic reggae, soul cuts, and new originals, while incorporating the sounds of Ethiopia, Colombia, and Africa. The Lions have performed at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Sunset Junction, El Rey Theatre, The Roxy, Belly Up, Slims, and The Echoplex.  They have supported the likes of Antibalas, Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Aggrolites, Bedouin Soundclash, and Ooklah the Moc.  They were also the backing band on two occasions for reggae legends The Heptones. LA radio stations KCRW, KPFK, and KXLU all support the group.

Master-Zero –
Born from the ethers of the universe, Master-Zero is an inter-dimensional being who views the world as we live in it.  A master of zero is a void, nothing. In that emptiness, there is a place to be open to everything. Master-Zero is a question of what is or isn’t, right or wrong, good or bad. A voyeur of the human condition, Master-Zero embraces music as the portal into reality, the key to unlock the door of this dimension. Singing about what is present in the world of now with electronic beats that pulsate rhythm and subsonic bass, Master-Zero gravitates to the electric guitar to awaken the sirens.  Human theatrics play a part in the story through movement of dance and expression.  Artful scenic designs, along with visual images projected as moving light, create the backdrop to set up a voyeuristic live drama where the story remains the question and in that question is the story.

The Lost Children of Babylon –
The Lost Children of Babylon (LCOB), aka “The Protectors of Spiritual Hip Hop,” are a Philadelphia-based conscious hip hop group founded by Rasul Allahu in the mid-1990s. The group is known for their conscious and spiritual style with lyrics influenced by Nuwaubian philosophy, Islam, and The Nation of Gods & Earths.  They first appeared in 1996 on Jedi Mind Tricks’ Amber Probe EP.  Combining underground hip hop with esoteric ideologies and political zeal, LCOB has released four albums. The first three were released through Babygrande Records — The Equidivium: Where Light Was Created, Words From the Duat: The Book of Anubis, and The 911 Report: The Ulitmate Conspiracy. The latest album, Zeitgeist: The Spirit of the Age, was released by Chamber Musik/LCOB Productions in 2010.  They are also affiliated with Killah Priest, Black Market Militia, The Maccabeez, Wu-Tang Killa Beez, and the Sunz of Man.

Heather Donavon –
Hailing from Atlanta, GA, and raised in Dallas, TX, Heather Donavon is a performing songwriter, studio/session singer, and voice over artist.  She has opened for Keb’ Mo’, Fiona Apple, and Tori Amos.  Her voice has been heard in national TV and radio commercials for brands like Toys R’ Us, Coke Zero (Super Bowl), TJ Maxx, MTV, and Hyundai Elantra.  She has independently released two albums on iTunes.  Her first album, Mosaic, is a compilation of soulful jazz and Spanish classics along with intimate interpretations of her favorite songwriters’ material. Donavon’s second album of piano pop driven melodies, Sense of Me, was co-written with Jonathan Hayes and Bonnie Hayes.  The title track, “Sense of Me,” was awarded “Song of the Year” from the West Coast Songwriter’s International Song Competition and “Honorable Mention” from The Billboard Songwriting Competition. She has performed at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, at Ground Zero in New York City, alongside the San Francisco Glide Ensemble Gospel Choir, and at Agape Church in Los Angeles, CA.

Visual Artist Bios:

Banksy –
Banksy, an internationally known graffiti artist, activist, director, and painter based in England, creates satirical street art and subversive epigrams that combine irreverent dark humor with graffiti using a distinctive stenciling technique. His work gives a voice to the voiceless living in urban environments.  Bansky’s work was born out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. His first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.  In January 2011, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film. Banksy has also self-published several books that contain photos of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own writings.

Mear One –
Mear One, born in Santa Cruz, California, is a Los Angeles-based artist known for his often-political street graffiti art.  He sees himself as a messenger and spiritual warrior using his imagination as a communication device. He is commonly associated with the CBS (Can’t Be Stopped – City Bomb Squad) and WCA (West Coast Artist) crews. As a graphic designer, Mear One designed apparel for Conart, Kaotic, and his own Reform brand. He has done album covers for artists like Limp Bizkit and joined artists Shepard Fairey and Robbie Conal to create a series of anti-war, anti-Bush posters. A well-known street artist and prolific graffiti writer for over 20 years, his partners have included Skate One, Az Rock, Tren, Item, Anger, Yem, and Cisco.

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

The Artivist Collective

Celebrate the Artivist Film Festival’s Winning Films And
Award Honoree Kristen Bell
At the Festival’s Closing Night Ceremony
Saturday, August 20, 2011
-
Artivist Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood
Thursday 8/18 – Saturday 8/20

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 16, 2011 – The Artivist Collective presents its 8th annual Artivist Film Festival August 18, 19, 20, 2011 at the historic The Artivist Collective presents its 8th annual Artivist Film Festival August 18, 19, 20, 2011 at the historic Egyptian Theatre in the heart of Hollywood, California.  This year the closing night awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, August 20th from 6:00 to 10:00PM.  Highlights include the Artivist Awards given to ten films and Artivist Award Honoree Kristen Bell, known for her film (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Burlesque, etc.) and television work (Heroes, Veronica Mars, etc.), as well as her philanthropy (Alzheimer’s Association, Invisible Children, PETA, SCPA, etc.).  Actress Rachel Bilson will present the award to Bell.  Also on hand will be Master of Ceremonies Dan Nainan and presenters Persia White and Marco Antonio Regil.  The closing night ceremonies are complimentary to the press and public (as is the entire festival) but seats are limited and must be reserved in advance. in the heart of Hollywood, California.  This year the closing night awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, August 20th from 6:00 to 10:00PM.  Highlights include the Artivist Awards given to ten films and Artivist Award Honoree Kristen Bell, known for her film (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Burlesque, etc.) and television work (Heroes, Veronica Mars, etc.), as well as her philanthropy (Alzheimer’s Association, Invisible Children, PETA, SCPA, etc.).  Actress Rachel Bilson will present the award to Bell.  Also on hand will be Master of Ceremonies Dan Nainan and presenters Persia White and Marco Antonio Regil.  The closing night ceremonies are complimentary to the press and public (as is the entire festival) but seats are limited and must be reserved in advance.  To do so please visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/193484.  The Egyptian Theatre is located at 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028.  To learn more about the festival please visit http://festival.artivist.com.

This year the festival will present a total of 41 independent narrative and documentary films from around the globe over the course of the three-day festival, which kicks off on Thursday, August 18th at 5:00PM.  Seats for many of the screenings can be reserved in advance by visiting http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/69318.  Advance reservations are highly recommended since most, if not all, screenings and events are expected to “sell out.”  To view the At-A-Glance three-day schedule please visit:  http://festival.artivist.com/film-guide/viewing-schedule.html.  To read a synopsis about all festival films please visit:  http://festival.artivist.com/film-guide.html.

During the closing night ceremony ten Artivist Awards will be presented to films that embody the festival’s mission to strengthen the voice of activist artists – Artivists – while raising public awareness for social global causes.  The evening of August 20th begins at 6:00PM with red carpet arrivals.  The awards presentation commences at 7:00PM and an after-party in the Egyptian Theatre’s courtyard gets underway immediately following the Awards Ceremony.

Ten participating films have been chosen to receive a 2011 Artivist Award in these five categories:

• Human Rights:
- Best Feature:  Because We Were Beautiful (Indonesia, Netherlands), Director Frank van Osch
- Best Short:  Umoja: No Men Allowed (Kenya, Australia), Director Elizabeth Tadic

• Children’s Advocacy:
- Best Feature:  Surfing Soweto (South Africa), Director Sara Blecher
- Best Short:  Grace (Philippines, Switzerland), Director Meagan Kelly

• Environmental Preservation:
- Best Feature:  Spoil (Canada, U.S.), Director Trip Jennings
- Best Short:  The Leaves Keep Falling (Vietnam, USA), Director Julie Winokur

• Animal Advocacy:
- Best Feature: Green (Indonesia, France), Director Patrick Rouxel
- Best Short:  Saving Pelican 895 (USA), Director Irene Taylor Brodsky

• Artivist Spirit:
- Best Feature: Love Hate Love (USA), Directors Don Hardy, Dana Nachman
- Best Short:  Crooked Beauty (USA), Director Ken Paul Rosenthal

- To read more about the films and filmmakers honored with these awards please visit:  http://www.artivist.com/festival/media/press-releases/23675-2011-film-awards.html

The Artivist Film Festival and Awards are dedicated to recognizing activist efforts of filmmakers, specifically in the areas of human rights, child advocacy, environmental preservation, and animal welfare.  Each year the festival also honors celebrity advocates.  Past honorees include Peter Fonda, Olivia Wilde, Hank Azaria, Ted Danson, Alyssa Milano, Daryl Hannah, Matthew McConaughey, Joaquin Phoenix, James Cromwell, Mira Sorvino, Tippi Hedren, Mike Farrell and Ed Begley, Jr.

This year, Artivist proudly welcomes back Petrobras as its Official Community Partner.  Since 2004, Petrobras has supported the growth of the international Artivist Film Festival and Artivist Awards.

KPFK (http://www.kpfk.org) reprises their role as a media sponsor this year.

The festival is also sponsored proudly by Kanon Organic Vodka (http://www.kanonvodka.com) and Hansen’s Natural (http://www.hansens.com).

About Petrobras –
Petrobras, a Brazilian energy company, has a 30 year history of distributing ethanol from sugar cane as fuel for vehicles, and is now committed to increasing the production and exports of ethanol.

At its new research center, scientists are looking for ways to produce ethanol from farming byproducts, which can increase production without the need for more farming land.

Petrobras is the largest funder of Cultural Arts Programs in Brazil, and a partner of hundreds of social, animal welfare, and environmental projects, such as the protection of endangered sea turtles, spinners dolphins and the manatee, as well as initiatives on carbon capture, water protection, biodiversity, and climate change.  As the only company in the energy sector that is part of the Global Compact Board of the United Nations, Petrobras commits its corporate governance to the 10 principles set forth by the United Nations.

Understanding the interdependence between humanity, animals, and the environment is crucial in our global community. By working with individuals and groups, organizations and companies, we can create long-term solutions to our global problems (http://www.petrobras.com.br/en).

About Kristen Bell –
Bell, an avowed vegetarian since age 11, has a long history of working with charitable and NGO-related causes. She traveled to Brazil as a volunteer while a student at New York University.  While there, she helped medics deliver two babies during her work in an underprivileged community. During the time she lived in Michigan, Bell fostered animals from Michigan Humane Society, and she now supports the San Diego-based Helen Woodward Animal Center.

She also advocates for Invisible Children, which works to create awareness of the plight of the people of Northern Uganda, the voter education charity Declare Yourself as well as such well known charitable organizations such as PETA, SCPA and the Alzheimer’s Association. She was a member of the 2007 American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet.

“I believe empathy is our most important impulse. Helping others is what makes human beings great. I am just responding where I see my skills can help meet a current need, and I think we have a duty to protect and love one another. 

Artivist embodies these principles and helps bridge the gap between awareness and action,” says Bell.

Internationally known for her work in Veronica Mars and in the films Burlesque (with Cher and Christina Aguilera) and When In Rome (in which she starred opposite Josh Duhamel), she will next be seen starring in the new Showtime series House of Lies, opposite Don Cheadle, premiering in January 2012.  Soon after, she will be seen in Universal Pictures’ film Everybody Loves Whales, opposite Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski, being released on January 13, 2012.  She also recently wrapped filming Movie 43, for the Farrelly Brothers, which is being released on April 13, 2012.  Currently, Bell is filming the feature film Outrun, for director Dax Shepard.

About Rachel Bilson –
Rachel Bilson’s latest production, her CW pilot Hart of Dixie, will premiere on September 26, 2011.  She also recently wrapped the independent film L!fe Happens opposite Kate Bosworth.  Other film credits include starring as the female lead in Waiting for Forever as well as in Jumper for 20th Century Fox Studios, as well as The Last Kiss, with Zach Braff, which was directed by Tony Goldwyn for Paramount.  She also stared opposite Andy Garcia in a film comprised of a series of shorts called New York, I Love You.   Bilson has also appeared twice as a guest star on the hit television series How I Met Your Mother as well as Josh Schwartz’s Chuck.  Other TV credits include The OC (a series regular for four seasons on the Fox Network) and guest-starring roles on That ’70s Show, Mad TV, 8 Simple Rules, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Artivist Film Festival, Artivist Satellite Festivals, and Awards –
The Artivist Collective (www.artivists.org) presents the only film festival specializing in progressive issues of the environment, social justice and animal rights.  Since its inception in 2003, Artivist Film Festival has screened 400+ films representing more than 60 countries, and has produced film festival tours in Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Lisbon, that have reached more than 35 million people.

Earlier this year, Artivist Film Festival launched a nationwide expansion of its programming with simultaneous screenings in six cities in the U.S., beyond its traditional annual programs in Los Angeles and New York. The other cities included Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Sedona and Washington D.C.

Among the films presented at the Artivist Film Festival over the years have been Academy Award winner Born Into Brothels and Academy Award nominee Super-Size Me as well as the Los Angeles Premiere of critically-acclaimed documentaries God Sleeps In Rwanda, Fast Food Nation, Emmanuelle’s Gift, Zeitgeist, Trudell, Stolen Childhoods, and Regeneration.

The Artivist Film Festival has been publicly endorsed by internationally recognized NGOs such as Amnesty International, Unicef – The United Nations Children’s Fund, HSUS – Humane Society of the United States, Global Green, Greenpeace, by Claes Nobel of the Nobel Prize Family, and by the United Nations Department of Public Information.

For more information, photos, or to arrange an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 and lynn@greengalactic.com.