I attended the Sundance Channel’s Sundance Film Festival Party at 350 Main yesterday. I was introduced to Ryan Kearney and told him what I was up to.
This is the excerpt from his blog entry.
“Later on at the party, I ran into someone from last weekend who had blocked me out while I was videotaping Efren Ramirez (Pedro from NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE) dancing with some actress. That “someone” turned out to be Chris Barrett, a subject in the documentary THE CORPORATION, who met Ramirez back in 2004 (when both of their films screened at Sundance). And that actress turned out to be Laura Harring from MULHOLLAND DRIVE.
So what’s Barrett been up to since THE CORPORATION? He and Ramirez wrote a book together called Direct Your Own Life, and Barrett’s documentary AFTER SCHOOL, about teacher-student sex scandals, is in post-production.
And then we shook hands, which can mean all sorts of things at Sundance. In this instance, though, I think it meant “no hard feelings.”
Gen Art is excited to announce that it will be co-hosting two important events at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, both celebrating actors who are committed to independent cinema: 7 Fresh Faces in Film with 7 For All Mankind on January 16 and Its Better in the Dark with Black – Kenneth Cole on January 17.
On Friday, January 16, from 10pm-1am, 7 For All Mankind and Gen Art will honor seven talented up and coming actors at the 2nd annual 7 Fresh Faces in Film celebration taking place at the Hollywood Life House at 692 Main Street, Park City. Hosted by Virginia Madsen, the anticipated event will feature seven rising stars who will be toasted by members of the film and fashion communities.
Each one of the 7 Fresh Faces has at least one film premiering at this years festival. The honorees include: Zach Gilford (Dare, TV – Friday Night Lights), Tania Raymonde (The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, TV – Lost), Pell James (Shrink, Zodiac), Louisa Krause (Toe to Toe, The Babysitters), Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart, Knocked Up, TV – 30 Rock), Jess Weixler (Peter and Vandy), and Mark Duplass (Humpday, The Puffy Chair, co-wrote/co-directed Baghead).
The group was carefully chosen by members of Gen Art and 7 For All Mankind based on their past and current projects. These talented actors are poised to become the breakout stars of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and we expect them to make tremendous contributions to the entertainment community. This aligns with our own mission to support the artists who influence us. said Leilani Augustine, VP of Marketing at 7 For All Mankind.
RollingStone.com has teamed up with Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment to premiere an exclusive interview from their upcoming feature documentary film, After School, directed by Chris Barrett.
Collingswood, NJ (PRWEB) January 16, 2009 — RollingStone.com has teamed up with Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment to premiere an exclusive interview from the upcoming documentary feature film, After School, directed by Chris Barrett. After School examines the disturbing nature of teacher student sexual relationships.
The newly released clip features an interview with Jason Eickmeyer, a young man who had an affair with a female teacher at his New Jersey high school. The raw footage compliments Rolling Stone’s feature article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, entitled “Sex, Lies and Phys Ed: He was a star athlete at Hammonton High, she was the hottest teacher in school — and the sparks were instant. What happens when every boy’s fantasy becomes reality?”
Filmmaker Chris Barrett has been documenting Jason Eickmeyer’s story on camera for over two years; Eickmeyer’s account is fundamental to the film’s examination of the student teacher sex phenomenon. “We are honored to release our first raw clip of footage from After School through Rolling Stone. The segment of Jason Eickmeyer offers viewers a glimpse at the inner workings of a fifteen-year-old’s mind – when he decides to spend the evening at his teachers house.” Director Barrett goes on to say, “After School will delve more deeply into the topic of teacher student sex than any other media outlet has.”
The film features Owen LaFave, the ex-husband of the infamous ex-eighth grade reading teacher, Debra LaFave, who had a sexual relationship with her fourteen-year-old student. The film follows Owen’s cross-country travels, his interviews with over thirty teachers, students, media personalities, and experts, in search of an explanation for his wife’s behavior.
After School is currently in post-production.
For more information, visit: http://www.AfterSchoolDocumentary.com
Director Chris Barrett will be available for interviews in person at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
About Chris Barrett
Chris Barrett is a filmmaker and author. He is featured in the Sundance award-winning documentary, The Corporation, and has been profiled extensively in media such as USA Today, New York Post, and People Magazine. He co-authored the book, Direct Your Own Life, published in the summer of 2008 through Kaplan Publishing. His co-author is actor Efren Ramirez, best known for his role of Pedro in the film Napoleon Dynamite. Chris is a partner in Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment, a film production company.
The highlight of the opening day Sundance Film Festival press conference were the remarks of Robert Redford describing President Bush as a “Lame-duck guy”
“You’ve got a lame-duck guy going out, but he sure has done a lot of quacking in the last while. So therefore, the sooner they’re gone, the better, and therefore, I’m very excited by the change that’s coming.”
I just arrived in Park City, Utah for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. I picked up my credential at the filmmaker office and just sorting through my schedule for the day. I just gave a nod to Spike Lee, who is sitting across from me. I was at Silverdocs Film Festival last year when Spike Lee gave his endorsement for Barack Obama.
Here is my video:
I just got a Google news alert from Deadspin.com. The Gawker blog posted a story about Jason Eickmeyer’s Rolling Stone article.
The posting is called:
The Downside Of Doing Your Teacher
We’ve covered many, many instances of teacher/student-athlete fornication. The latest issue of Rolling Stone reveals that even though it seems like every teenage boy’s fantasy, it can really fuck a kid up…
It’s been almost five years and Eickmeyer still hasn’t recovered and continues to be hung up on Ms. Tapp, who was finally fired from Hammonton High about two years after their affair. The RS story, written by Sabrina Rubin Erderly, pulls generously from a soon-to-be completed documentary about the male student/teacher sex phenomenon called “After School.” Click here for the full story
Last night, Dr. Rafey Habib and I filmed his latest poem entitled “A Prayer for Gaza.”
A Prayer for Gaza
Dr. Rafey Habib
I am Gaza.
I am the poem of Gaza.
The world does not see me:
A world which does
Nothing.
I ask you now, you launchers of rockets:
Lay down your arms, your useless arms:
See what they have brought us:
They rain down terror from the air;
They burn our childrens faces;
They turn our schools to rubble;
They churn our homes to dust.
And the world does nothing.
And I beg you now, you launchers of rockets,
Lay down your arms: what have they achieved in
Fifty years? What will the next fifty
Bring?
The powers we face are incalculable. We
Cannot win by arms. We cannot even
Win with words; the powers we face
Are endless in resource; they control
What is known and what is not known.
They control the world of words.
They control a world
Which does nothing.
You launchers of rockets, lay down your arms,
You surely know:
They will answer your terror with their terror:
They will take more lives in ten days
Than you can take in ten years.
They will blacken your skies.
They will never dare
To face you on equal terms:
They will rain down terror from the air;
They will burn our childrens faces;
They will turn our schools to rubble;
They will churn our homes to dust.
And the world will do nothing.
Lay down your guns, your useless rockets:
Or they will take more
And more of our land. They
Will not be merciful: their soldiers laugh as
Our women are killed; their settlers taunt
Our children who thirst in endless queues.
And the world will do nothing.
Lay down your guns, your useless rockets.
They will not be merciful; so you must
Show mercy. I do not ask you to forget:
The suffering still bleeding our people. I ask you
To think of your children.
Let us sit down with our enemy.
Talk with him as though he were a friend.
(One day we must remember: the Jews are
Our brothers, descended
Like us from the same father Abraham.
The good Jews of the world are friends, no
Matter what is done in their name; one
Day we must live with them as friends):
Let our enemy know that we will not
Strike again. Though his weapons are
Fearsome, he himself is full of fear;
Though his arms are strong, he is weak.
He has a nuclear power beyond our
Dreams, but still he lives in fear.
He needs to know.
He has imprisoned us
Imprisoned himself
Within a wall: the symbol of his fear.
He needs to know.
Let us use a courage higher than your rockets,
Stronger than his tanks:
Let us tear down this wall; and all walls between us.
Let us sit down, and talk. Let us be grateful to be
Granted a little: it is more, much more, than
We had before. And let us spread
This message through our people: no more
Violence, no more talk of wiping out
The enemy. It is not just violent acts which bring
His retribution, but violent words.
Let him know that he is safe.
The greatest courage is to know
One day we must live as friends.
I am Gaza, the poem of Gaza.
I am Muslim, Christian, Palestinian, and Jew.
I am you.
Give the worlds eyes a chance to see:
To see who we really are.
To see the truth.
In Issue 1070, Sabrina Rubin Erdely tells the story of a 15-year-old star athlete whose world was shattered after an affair with a teacher at his New Jersey high school (read it here: “Sex, Lies and Phys Ed”). The student, Jason Eickmeyer, is one of several subjects of After School, a Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment documentary that will be completed by July 2009. The Chris Barrett-directed film features interviews with Nancy Grace, Rita Cosby, Charol Shakeshaft and more (check out an exclusive clip above). Erdely recently spoke with Rolling Stone about the challenges of reporting the story, and what went wrong in that tiny Jersey town:
In July 2007, I filmed 18 year old actor, Craig Bazan, performing a soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Camden, New Jersey.
This monologue was filmed spur of the moment, on the streets of Camden across the street from the Creative Arts High School he graduated from. The video ended up being featured on the front page of YouTube and it received close to half a million views. The video was then featured on the covers of the New Jersey Star Ledger and the Courier Post. Craig Bazan, was interviewed on CBS 3 in Philadelphia, and we were guests on Steve Adubato’s show on CN8. Craig is now a student at Temple University, and performed with the New Jersey Shakespearean Company.
I grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ, and even though that area is a beautiful community, it exists just miles from the small, distressed city of Camden. Likewise, when Efren was growing up in California, he was surrounded by the same kind of poverty and economic disparity. This is why Efren and I have made it a priority to speak at Camden Creative Arts High School numerous times since 2005. I like to think that by speaking to these kids and telling them our stories we are helping them to change their lives.
Before our first trip to the school, we thought we were only going to be able to speak to the kids for an hour; but we had such a wonderful time with the students that we ended up staying all afternoon to meet every kid in the school. The students wanted to find out everything they could about the films Efren and I were working on, and we learned just as much from the students as they did from us; we were treated to dance and theatrical performances that blew us away.
At the same time, as the 2008 presidential campaigns picked up in mid-2007, I started attending political debates and rallies in my free time and posting my videos of the events on YouTube. During that summer I got an email from Steve Grove, the YouTube political editor. He told me that YouTube was sponsoring an innovative type of debate that would air on CNN. He asked me if I could shoot a question with someone in the inner city, and I knew right away that this would be a great opportunity to work with some of the kids in Camden.
I contacted one of the directors of the school, and she said she had the perfect student to talk to me. When I showed up at the school with my camera, Craig Bazan said that he would like to ask the candidates how they planned to heal inner-city violence. After we were done shooting the question, Craig started to tell me a little bit about himself. He had just graduated from Camden Creative Arts a month before as a drama major, and he was planning to head off to college to pursue acting in the fall. Craig told me that he had to memorize and perform over a dozen diverse monologues his senior year to be able to graduate. I told Craig I would love to see him perform, and he offered to perform one of his favorite monologues from Hamlet for me right there on the spot.
Craig’s performance was incredible. He had memorized and perfected his diction beautifully, and he delivered his lines flawlessly and with tremendous emotion. I knew there was something incredibly special in Craig’s talent, so I asked him if I could film him doing the same monologue right there on the sidewalk.
I set up my camera, hit record, and let the tape roll for four minutes while Craig gave an equally impressive performance as before. He didn’t have much to work with; Craig was in casual clothes and sneakers and his backdrop was nothing more than boarded up, drug-infested houses, but he was just as wonderful as the talent you’d expect to see on Broadway. After the first take, I rewound the footage to show Craig what I had captured. He was so pleased to see it all on tape; Craig had been acting his whole life, but he had never seen himself on camera.
I went straight back to my office and edited the footage of the debate question and the monologue. I uploaded both videos, and though Craig’s debate question wasn’t selected by CNN, I got an email within hours from the YouTube editor, Big Joe Smith. He absolutely loved Craig’s Hamlet video. Over the next month, the video was featured on the front page of YouTube; it eventually garnered almost half a million views, and it was featured worldwide on ABC’s new TV show, I-Caught. The local news crews also came out and interviewed Craig. It might seem hard to believe because it happened so quickly, but Craig now has auditions lined up at Julliard and the New Jersey Shakespeare Company.
I am sharing this story as an example of how big things can come from little places. For me, I was able to discover true talent as a result of simply following political events with my camera. But this story is really about Craig Bazan, who by praciticing what he loved in the middle of a broken city, was able to step out and shine for everyone to see. I was so moved by Craig that I have gone back numerous times to film more amazing students to highlight their talents for the world.
Today, my friend motivational speaker Judson Laipply best known from the most viewed video on YouTube Evolution of Dance launched the long awaited sequel Evolution of Dance 2 but this time he cleared the music rights and got a sponsor involved. He premiered the dance on NBC’s Today Show this morning and the YouTube editors gave him a featured spot on the front page of YouTube. It looks like the video will be breaking one million views in the first day of going live.
I interviewed Judson Laipply in my book Direct Your Own Life and he told me that life is not about being famous; life is about being you, following your dreams, and doing what you love to do.
Here is the Evolution of Dance 2:
And last night, my friend Ben Schwartz, had his video Job Interview featured on the front page of YouTube!
