Alex Face graffiti image from Bomb It 2 (photo credit: Jon Reiss)

Jon Reiss, the director of Bomb It, the global graffiti documentary, and his team, have a lot to announce and celebrate this month.  Starting as early as today – November 1, 2010 – Bomb It can be seen in tens of millions of cable, satellite, and telco Video On Demand (VOD) homes.  In mid-November the Bomb It team will be releasing a free geo-location graffiti and street art application (app) for both iPhone and Android operating systems (tentative release date: 11/22/10).  And Bomb It 2, commissioned as a web series exclusively for the digital broadcast network Babelgum, is rolling out new weekly episodes at http://www.babelgum.com/bombit2.

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

Photo Credit: Randall Montgomery

Award-winning actress and playwright Diz White is set to release her spine-tingling collection of true stories, Haunted Cotswolds, through The History Press this Halloween season. Set in what many consider the most beautiful part of England, White, a Los Angeles-based British expat, recounts the numerous paranormal events that have occurred in the region while simultaneously documenting the Cotswolds’ eerie architecture and fascinating history. Pieced together from both historic and present-day sources, the 96-page paperback book is filled with tales of ghosts, ghouls and the undead from every corner of the Cotswolds, the second most popular tourist destination in the UK. Included are stories of tortured headless kings, stark-raving mad butchering inn keepers, buried alive country squires, burned at the stake nuns, and other undead who walk among us. The author will discuss and sign copies of the book at a Samuel French reception in Studio City on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. (11963 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604; 818-762-0535; www.samuelfrench.com).

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In honor of the 35th anniversary of outrageous cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS), the Million Dollar Theater in Downtown Los Angeles will host a special screening of the film with guest Barry Bostwick in person and an international shadowcast of performers on Saturday, September 25, 2010. The anniversary screening will start with a full pre-show of games and presentations at 10:00 p.m. with the film screening at 11:00 p.m. Bostwick, who stars as Brad Majors in the film, will officiate the madness.  For this special event, the on-stage “all-star” cast, with full costumes and props, will include the best of the best Rocky Horror performers from shadowcasts as far away as Paris, France.  This select group of performers includes many featured in the upcoming Twentieth Century Fox Rocky Horror Picture Show: 35th Anniversary Blu-ray Disc.  Presented by LA’s own Sins O’ The Flesh, the evening is part of SinsCon, the 35th Anniversary Convention of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which runs the three-day weekend of September 23 – 25, 2010 in Los Angeles.  The event is being produced in partnership with the LA Conservancy.

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Photo credit: Benn Glazier

The renowned Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) – a leading artistic force, staunch advocate of civil and human rights and first gay men’s choir to perform for a sitting president (Bill Clinton) – presents the world premiere of “The End of It All” by noted electronic artist and DJ John Tejada, on Saturday, August 21, 2010, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Commissioned by GMCLA and written for choir and electronica, it will feature the composer on electronica.  Also on the program are a selection of great opera choruses, a range of classic contemporary choral works and the GMCLA’s poignant and critically acclaimed Harvey Milk Schools Project, a mix of music and spoken word spotlighting the life of civil rights icon Harvey Milk to promote equality and acceptance and raise awareness about anti-gay bullying in schools.  This marks the choir’s third performance in Disney Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

"Untitled" Roscoe Wilson

Following a successful launch in Beijing, the A&I Gallery in Hollywood will host the North American premiere of Common Ground 2010, an exhibition of fine art digital prints from across the globe, all with an environmental theme. The exhibition of new media work, at the intersection of art, technology, and eco-activism, opens on July 8, 2010 and runs through August 13, 2010. Over 1,000 artists from 40 countries submitted their digital art for consideration. The resulting curated collection contains work from 85 artists. A portion of all proceeds generated from the touring exhibition will benefit non-profit organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, Global Giving, and The Global Environmental Institute. Read the rest of this entry »

image from "North Horizon" by Thomas Freundlich and Valterri Raekallio

Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its month-long presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces the programming for its ninth annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout Southern California in June 2010.  Dance on screen, or “screendance,” is a unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography.  The festival includes this as well as all forms of dance media.  “The hybrid screendance medium is diverse, encompassing a broad range of cinematic styles, exhibition formats, and subject matters traversing global perspectives,” says Dance Camera West founder and director, Lynette Kessler… Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Jesse Freidin

Inspired by Polaroid’s newest spokesperson, Lady Gaga, award-winning Bay Area dog photographer Jesse Freidin – with the help of The Impossible Project (TIP) – created The Doggie Gaga Project, which has become a viral sensation.  Freidin dressed his canine models in five of Lady Gaga’s most celebrated outfits, and photographed them using two packs of Polaroid film from the last remaining supply in the world.  Read the rest of this entry »

Award winning filmmaker Jon Reiss is set to release his new book Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era on March 15, 2010. The book is a primer for filmmaking in the digital era covering distribution of all types of media content – feature films, shorts, webisodes, transmedia, vblogs, etc., and is the first to address the new distribution and marketing landscape facing filmmakers today.
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Photo credit: Eric Gillet

San Francisco-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Mark Growden is set to release his ninth album, Saint Judas, through Porto Franco Records on March 16, 2010. The national record release party will take place in Los Angeles on the same day at Hotel Café in Hollywood. Saint Judas, an intoxicating mix of roots music with a postmodern aesthetic, features 13 tracks of ‘Americana noir’ with an overarching theme of redemption. Read the rest of this entry »