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Today, dear readers, I bring you a rehashed post that was taken from my previous reply to a film review of the Italian film Il DIVO from the blog http://godisnotelsewhere.wordpress.com/ by academic, intellectual, and film reviewer Dr. Gareth Higgins. Dr. Higgins is co-host of The Film Talk podcast with colleague Jett Loe.

I had the pleasure of seeing "Il Divo" at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival and loved it! It's often suggested (part in jest) that you really need a Ph.D in post-WWII Italian politics, or something to that effect, to fully understand the contemporary landscape of Italy's governmental affairs.

However, knowing NOTHING about the internal workings of Italian government and political tapestry, modern day or otherwise, did not prevent me from enjoying this film for what it was -- a great and provocative thriller about political intrigue that never lets up! Yes, the film assaults the senses but in a good way that leaves you begging for more as you mentioned the endless hit list parade, and array of mafia bosses, Catholic cardinals, elected representatives,etc, that eventually blend into one giant monolith of corruption (with a capital C!). And who hovers over this extensive body politic? Yes, none other than the all controlling President Giulio Andreotti (Prime Minister of the Council, as I understand it) who has mastered the essence of "speaking softly but carrying a big stick!" This guy is a walking exercise in Machiavellian machinations. When he decries foul amongst the charges being levied against him, his POV appeal to the Italian authorities and by extension to the audience,almost makes you believe him. The most persecuted man in Italy OR the most devious, manipulative criminal SOB, you be the judge. Clearly Paolo Sorrentino chooses the latter side of things but he's not afraid to put his subject up front and center, and allow him the possibility of charming the viewer with words that are like windsong!

And don't get me started on that crazy/sexy/cool European hyper-stylized filmmaking attack of "Il Divo" that Sorrentino delivers because I'd be here all day typing away. LOVED IT!!! Who knew great storytelling and flashiness could coexist? I echo your sentiments Professor; this is a great narrative film full of fun and excitement! With my last bit of hyperbole, I'll simply say -- Bravo!

-- La-Tonia Denise Willis

About three months ago, I was informed through a GOOGLE alert on my name that my one-act theater of the absurd play SYLLOGISM had been performed in Slovenia (as Silogizem), of all places! My immediate reactions was, "How did they get it?!" and "Wow, does that mean I have international fame now?" After corresponding with the head of the cultural organization in Slovenia that performed the amateur production, I was told they found the play, where else? On the Internet. Of course they did, I have that play all over the web. My chief concern was that the play had been performed in April 2009 and I was just now finding out about it in May 2009. I only wished someone had contacted me for "performer's rights"(in name only) as a way to show the original artist a certain kind of respect for the material adapted. It has nothing do with any type of financial compensation because the Slovenian cultural organization that performed SYLLOGISM is a non-profit group, and the performance could hardly be likened to a Broadway style theatrical release, or something along that realm.

As my Indie Media Arts Channel home page suggests, I am a big believer in creative artists getting their work to the public, and I often publish under a Creative Commons license, while still seeking to market my work in salable venues. The only other formality concerned the release form that I signed with Theatre Studio-Inc, the original NYC off-Broadway company that first produced the play back in 2004. The release stipulated that I mention Theatre-Studio Inc's original engagement in all of my subsequent performance productions of SYLLOGISM. Since I hadn't been contacted immediately with regards to the Slovenian production, I didn't know if this measure had been met. 

Uros Roser, a representative, of "KUD Zarja", (as I understand it with some help from GOOGLE Translator) the cultural and artistic theater ensemble that performed SYLLOGISM, has since then engaged me in a series of thought provoking emails over the course of the past three months. The emails can be read in their original construction below with no editing for grammatical preferences . Unfortunately, some of the accented letters from the Slovenian language could not be maintained in the cut and paste, of the emails into this blog entry.

Suffice it to say, I am honored to have my work cross borders! I appreciate the performances by this very skilled group of Slovenians[Slovenes]! I hope these talented folk make it a point to continue to contact me regarding productions, so that I may have my proper bragging rights! That this little play performed twice in New York, and as a part of two college student performances, has made its way to Central Europe is astonishing! Of course, the nature of the play with its American historical context, meant that the story had to be adapted to fit the context of certain Slovenian sensibilities, with regards to character creation. As a result, my uptight Buppie African-American character Arlene, became who knows?  However, from the appearance of the accompanying photographs from the staged production, it looks like these actors sure got the "emoting stuff" down correctly! I am in touch with, and have sent friend requests to some of the actors to join my Facebook page. How cool is that!? 

While I still search for that elusive big break that catapults me from the current nether-regions to a place in the sun, I will toil with the knowledge that my discipline has not been forgotten. So, I give praise to the value of social networking and the expediency of new media paradigms along the Information Superhighway! -- La-Tonia Denise Willis aka star of the Slovenian amateur playhouse production circuit!!!

(FEEL FREE TO USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE ON THIS SITE'S HOMEPAGE OR LINK TO THE GOOGLE TRANSLATE WEBSITE FOR MORE ROBUST CAPABILITIES FROM THE SIDEBAR, IN ORDER TO  FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON!)

(In Uros Roser's: own words)

 

 

Dear madam La-Tonia Denise Willis,

Firstly I would like to say that I completely understand you and that I fullyregret that we did not contact you, but as I say, in Slovenia no writer pay attention on performance rights for amateur productions, or studyprograms. In Slovenia is no practice about messaging about first production on materials too, so please pardon us.

Main purpose of the studying the Syllogism was to play it for internal usefor education, and when the study was completed we realized that itgrown from study to play and that it could be shown on the festival ofamateur theatres with young actors, Vizije, to other young actors in region.Festival Vizije has presentation on only one page of sheet of paper (inattachment), and was for internal use (only for other participants). Onregional level of festival there was 6 groups acting in town Celje(despite town is third largest city in Slovenia it has only 40.000citizens) and it was poorly attended, all plays has around 80spectators at all.

Forpresentation of our association we make some materials, by our self.About our materials I have to say that the gledaliki list? (one page,printed on both side, which presents the play) was published on homeink-jet printer in 150 pieces, and the poster was published on homeink-jet printer too in 20 pieces. Both you can see in attachment ofthis e-mail.cThe translated text was printed on home ink-jet printer in 5 pieces and itwas used strictly for the studying. You can see it in the attachment.

If you wish we can inform our public where the play was first shown andexpress public apologies and public gratitude for your understanding.We can inform them on our production of adult play, because the Syllogism is not planed for another production.I am happy to send you some photos which I am going to send you in 3emails, because of their high resolution. I am sorry but we have novideo material of the play, because of our extremely low budgetactivity founds which are collected by members, we rarely made videos. I look forward to hearing from you about what you think about the clothes and the scene!

May I ask you from which city do you come from, and do you ever travel to Europe?

One more time, please sorry us for our inaccuracy. Thank you very much for your understanding, and have a nice day!

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Uros Roser

Kulturno umetni?ko dru?tvo »Zarja« Trnovlje-Celje

Dear Uros Roser,

 

Thank you for your follow-up and response! Again, to reiterate, I am thrilled that there was another production of the absurdist play Syllogism and fascinated about your approach. I want to thank you for your organization's interest in the themes of Syllogism and your willingness to embark on a translation.  Iregret only that I was not informed of your actions for reasons I willdetail. It is customary in the USA that you contact the playwright forperformance productions, even if you are a non-profit performing in anamateur festival.  I make it a point to specify this whenever I uploadthe play to websites on the Internet.

 

I realize your organization did an amateur production for afestival in which there is no for-profit motive and I applaud you foryour efforts. However, you most also realize that I signed acontract with the The Theatre-Studio Inc(the first off-Broadway NewYork City collective that first performed a workshop of the play) thatstipulates this first production must always be mentioned andofficially acknowledged on the heels of any other productions.  Itis a way of tracking the play's history. For which, I would like verymuch to continue to honor this agreement. This is a minor point Ialways explain to everyone interested in a production of the play. Itmerely translates to an acknowledgment of first performance by TheatreStudio Inc. in the literary material you distribute(festival programsor online announcements,etc) or oral announcements you make.

 

That being said, I am very much in favor of the distribution of material for these kinds of amateur festival productions. I am eager tohave the material poured over and deconstructed and continuallyperformed. I welcome the chance to open up my work to differentaudiences around the globe. I submit a lot of my material for readingand sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licenseand only retain certain intellectual property rights when it comes toactual for-profit ventures.

 

I hope I do not appear too strident, I simply am intent on keeping track of all of the productions, amateur workshops or otherwise, inorder to add the history of the performances to my curriculum vitae aswell as list them on my website.  So please, yes, I would like toreceive full copies of any reviews regarding the festival in which Syllogism was performed as well as digital photos and/or videosregarding the method the students underwent in their preparation forthe festival performance. This is a tremendous honor for me to have thefirst international performance production of my work Syllogism by your organization of students and actors. Any documentation you have to send me is greatly appreciated!   

 

In closing, I too aspire to meet with you or some of the students in the near future to discuss the performance. Thank you for your time!

 

La-Tonia Denise Willis

Screenwriter, Playwright, Multimedia Creative

Phone/Fax: 1-206-426-7480

creativeartsmanagement@gmail.com

chaostheorymedia@bigstring.com

http://www.multimediaarts.webs.com

  

 

Dear Uros Roser

 

Thank you for sending the various attachments associated with your

amateur production of Syllogism. I can't wait to review them and tell

you what I think. There's no need now to go back and insert any

additional information about the origin of the play with Theatre

Studio Inc.It's okay, I'll address the issue in my blog when I write

about your production. I am excited about your adaptation and

interpretation of the material! This is a great honor to have the

material performed outside of the USA because it means there is some

ability to resonate with people on an international level. I

appreciate this very much.

 

I am a great fan of the "tragi-comedy" of some of the pioneers of  the

Theatre of the Absurd  movement in literature. Brecht, Pirandello,

Jarry, Albee, Stoppard, Ionesco, Genet, Beckett, Pinter, to name a

few; all have inspired me in some of my creative theatrical material.

 

As an independent filmmaker I'm working on a screenplay (that will

probably never sell!) that is a homage to Bunuel's The Discreet Charm

of the Bourgeoisie and Chabrol's La Cérémonie, with a modern update of

an upper-middle class African-American family who tries desperately to

tame the new working-class poor maid with disastrous results.

 

I would like to get to Europe, especially to some of the international

film festivals, but it is difficult financial times in this current

economy. I live in Seattle. I was born in New York and spent most of

my early years between the American South (South Carolina) and the

East Coast (New York). I am hoping that my art will pave my way for me

to travel more, eventually!  As of now, I'm relegated to North America

with my travel to Canada and Mexico included.

 

Hopefully, we will meet one day and discuss lots of things in arts,

sciences, literature and technology. Cheers!

 

La-Tonia (Pronounced la: tahn: ya) Denise Willis

____________________________________________________________________

 

 

REGARDING ANOTHER PRODUCTION OF SYLLOGISM:

(In Uros Roser's own words)

Dear madam La-Tonia Denise Willis,

I respect the art in which you are interested in and I think that there are to many artist whichwork only for the sistem, and makeonly thinks which are easy to sell,whithout deep meanings. Mankindshould do more on critisc of theexisting systems and should offerpeople alternative way of living. Iwould like to ask you something: A few principals of schools inour townare intereset in play Syllogizm and they have asked us if wewould playit to their pupils in the next school-year. I would like toask you ifyou allow us to play it to them, for free, of course I givea promise toyou, that we would write on publications (one sheet ofpaper which Ihave sent to you) where it have been first performed andexpress ourgratitude to you. In case that you agree, I ask you to send us the textthat we should publish. I would like to hear what do you think aboutappearance of your play, which we made? Thank you very much, I reallyhope to met you someday.

Greetings from Celje! Uros Roser:

 

Dear Uros Roser,

 

Greetings from USA - Seattle, WA

 

Yes, of course, go ahead with the project! Since your group is a  nonprofit I give

you my deepest gratitude for your continued interest. Thank you for consulting me

to let me know of the event you have in mind. I only wish to be kept in the loop as far as granting permissions, and to receive documentation about the performances. Also, please give credit to Theatre Studio Inc, in the written material as the first off-Broadway theatre in New York City to produce the play. I did receive the previous documents you sent and have not beenable to thoroughly review them yet, as I've been extremely busy writinggrant proposals to try and get funding for projects I have underway. I will continue this conversation at a later date.

 

Thank you kindly!

 

La-Tonia Denise Willis

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________

Click below for Theater Production Poster:

plakat_silogizem

______________________________________________________________________

Cast Information/Program excerpt: (Translated with Google Translator from Slovenian to English)

La Toni Denise Willis: SilogizemKaj: DramaKdaj: Saturday, 18.4.2009 at20.15Kje: Slovenian National Theater CeljePrireditelj: KUD "Zarja"Trnovlje CeljePredstava under the Regional meeting of youth theatergroup "Theater VISION", Celje 2009Re?ija: Cvetka John Steels

 

Cast:

ARLENE – Polonca Govejsek

LEONARDO – Zan Borstnar

JESSICA – Ana Ostir

DR. MASON – Katarina Melik

 

The first thing that is most likely to be asked of you is kajsploh is a syllogism? According to the Slovenian language dictionaries jesilogizemconclusion, in which the claim arises from two statementsdolo?enzaklju?ek, decision. What difference is therefore the word ofthe show?

 

The story on the one hand, in an interesting, onthe other hand, extreme absurdenna?in linking the fate of the three,are completely different people who paso in the hands of the fourthperson. Arlene is a woman, which in life najve?pomenijo power,reputation and money, Leonardo is a young man who venomerpodo?ivlja itspainfully and cruel childhood, najstnico Jessico but spremljahudoburden of the past, which will hardly be rid of. Last jetu still dr.Mason, who has all the cards in the hands and also to kontrira"ostalimtrem ...

 

___________________________________________________________________

CLICK HERE FOR MY ORIGINAL US PRODUCTION OF THE SYLLOGISM PLAY

Greetings!

I am in the process of writing a proposal to seek startup funding for the first episode of a new mockumentary style web series. The multimedia project is titled The Life & Times of Carmalisa Santiago. The series is composed of a set of interviews that document the life and times of one of America's famous international icons. Below is the casting call that will make the rounds.

BACKGROUND ON CREATING A MOCKUMENTARY SERIES:

Carmalisa Luisa Santiago became famous in her native Spain at the age of eighteen when following her win at a state beauty queen pageant, she announced her refusal to marry the young royal Carlo Franco, whom she'd been betrothed to since she was five, and instead embarked on a whirlwind romance with an American grass roots activist.

Now, a middle-age woman still living in the US and twice divorced she seeks reconciliation with her family and a chance to tell her extraordinary story.

Genre: Mockumentary style of filmmaking

Logline: Series about a bitter aging Latina actress, former beauty queen who is in the process of writing her memoirs.

TALENT NEEDED:

Desirable qualities: Actress must be able to juxtapose sardonic wit and quick repartee with a sense of akwardness and the vulnerability of silence; Comedic actress who doesn't strive to be funny but allows the funny bits to emanate organically from the set-up; Age range: 40-55, Latina with dark hair,someone who understands the oral tradition of many ethnic cultures and can spin a good yarn! Must speak English even though the episodes will mix both Spanish and English.

LONG TERM GOALS FOR THE WEBCAST:

Take advantage of technologies that help facilitate the webcasting series with blogs, podcasts,RSS feeds,Internet promotion on social networking and filmmaking sites, etc.used to highlight the show. Eventually working towards monetizing the web program but until then will use promotions and marketing to get the series out for free consumption.

COMPENSATION:

Grass-roots independent webseries production; Starting out can only pay $25 stipend per episode but will reevaluate after the series has reached a midpoint. MINIMUM OF 10 EPISODES

SUBMISSION PROCESS:

Contact: indiemoviemaking@gmail.com with headshot and

resume. If anyone is interested, please submit for more information.

I am still in the pre-production phase of this project. More information will be released periodically. Cheers.

Hello writers, artists, filmmakers etc!

There's a new app that integrates into the Twitter feed that I want to talk about. It is called Twitdoc.com and it uses the Scribd.com API to automatically tweet your customized posts with a direct link to the work that you upload to the Scribd website. I for one plan to take advantage of this app for two reasons: 1. I use Scribd as my primary content management provider for storing alot of my creative writing. 2. I like the idea of posting automatically as a message via the Twitdoc app to let my followers know I've uploaded a new document to Scribd, without having to actually log on each time to Twitter and possibly experience the image of that damn whale graphic that indicates the site is down.

This new application alleviates some of the pain associated with  redirecting to your external material from tweeted posts. You simply log into your Twitter account via Twitdoc.com and upload the material you have posted on the Scribd account and your tweet instaneously is sent with the url to the stored online document. It's quite frankly the best way to share your documents via Twitter. 

So there you go. A new technology integration resource. Now go forth and tweet your little hearts out. Cheers.

I submitted my screenplay short Victoria's Ghost Story to the Downbeach Film Festival  Screenwriting competition that takes place off the beaten path, along the New Jersey shore. Talk about a hideaway! I first learned about this festival via Moviebytes.com, a website that organizes a list of up and coming film festivals that sponsor screenwriting contests. It's getting harder and harder to enter screenplay contests that charge extravagant admission fees for entry. Thankfully, I was delighted to only have to pay a $10.00 entry free for this particular one.

According to the Downbeach Film Festival website, "The second annual Downbeach Film Festival will be held Friday, October 16th through Sunday, October 18th". Unfortunately, due to lack of  discretionary funds I will not be able to leave my apartment until the  economic crisis lessens (Not entirely untrue!) . However, my supernatural short script Victoria's Ghost Story will be there to represent my interests at this budding young festival.

If anyone is planning on checking out a film festival outisde of the usual suspects -- Tribeca,Sundance, SXSW,Cannes,Tornonto, etc -- get on down to the Jersey Shore and check out this fest. In fact, I'd love to crowd source a photo and/or writing assignment out there to someone who can attend this festival and then report back to me with said material. This would be a lowly paid assignment, however. Basically, I will pay a $50.00 stipend in exchange for sharing your written material and photos on this site, with your byline in the report and name tagged to the photos. Anyone game? If so, drop me a line at industryrepresentative@yahoo.com with the phrase "Downbeach Film Fest assignment" in the subject line.

Okay, that's enough for now. Wish me luck everybody and let's entertain the idea that my script makes a good impression for the film festival gods and that somebody important comes-a callin' with a sweetheart film deal that will help me rise above mediocrity and obscurity. Or something philosophical like that! Cheers!

You can contact the Downbeach Film Festival below: 

Downbeach Film Festival Screenplay Competition

Margate Performing Arts Center

7804 Amherst Avenue

Margate, NJ 08402

(609) 823-7952 (voice)

Web: www.downbeachfilmfestival.org

Email: bsaks47@comcast.net