The Latest News from the Zip Creative Community
SHARI BERMAN is in post-production on Sugar! the feature film that she directed, starring Tony Award winner Alice Ripley and SAG Award winner Robert Clohessy. Concurrently, she is in development for her third feature film, Broken, a tale about a 12 year old Jewish girl who is being haunted by a child who died in the Holocaust. She is also moving forward on a sci fi project, Numbers, in which a young black woman, who lives in a society where people have numbers instead of names, defies the corporate machine to restore her own humanity and possibly save the human race. For more about Shari and her style of work, please visit: www.shariberman.com
ARI LAURA KREITH, Artistic Director of Theatre 167, will be directing Mourning Sun at the West End Theatre in Manhattan November 6-December 6. Set in Ethiopia and New York, Mourning Sun is a new play by Antu Yacob that explores how we transcend sometimes-brutal traditions and find our way to connection and hope. This remarkable love story spans continents and cultures, and celebrates the possibility of finding a true home. http://www.arilaurakreith.com/
Actor-Writer CHRIS DUNLOP is a London-native and has been living in New York for the past eight years. He is currently collaborating with fellow actor Chinaza Uche on a semi-devised piece that came about by Chris asking himself “What would Mike Leigh be making films about if he was starting out now?”. While he is actively auditioning for theatre, film, TV, and voice-over work, he is also writing a screenplay about loving someone with borderline personality disorder. https://vimeo.com/59416907
Filmmaker AMY GUGGENHEIM just returned from Tokyo where she was working on her feature film When Night Turns To Day set in New York City about an erotic, gritty love story between a Japanese man and American woman who must find out how their Kendo martial art practice can save their relationship. She is filming an accompanying short documentary focusing on her visits with Master Kendo players, Shinto priests and others to get at “the soul of Kendo.”
Writer-Actor-Producer NAOMI MCDOUGALL JONES is in a period of intensive writing. She is currently working on a new hour-long TV drama series and she recently went to Massachusetts to do research for a new screenplay she is writing about Hammond Castle and its eccentric, billionaire creator John Hays Hammond, Jr. She has also spent the last month writing for a new TV series that she cannot yet announce! For more information about Naomi, visit www.naomimcdougalljones.com
Producer TERRY GREENBERG is hard at work on her third annual Women in Comedy panel for NYWIFT – COMEDY MAKERS: TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE – once again taking place at Caroline’s On Broadway on Tuesday, November 10th. She is also in the process of launching “pop photo” – specially curated pop-up photography exhibits to be displayed at film festivals and related special events.
Writer ROBERT MOULTHROP’s second short story collection “Elvis’s Dog…Moonbeam and Other Stories” is now available from Amazon http://amzn.to/1LKmgHE. Robert has been named Senior Editor at Orchard Press Mystery http://orchardpressmystery.com/. This newly revived publishing house is now accepting submissions of stories for new collections (think Noir) and mystery novels in all genres (first 40 pages only). His short play “Eastport Maine: Transit of Venus” is a finalist for possible production and the prestigious Heideman Award at the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville. His translation/adaptation of the Danish children’s book about death visiting a family, “Cry Heart, but Never Break” by Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charlotte Pardi, is scheduled for release by Enchanted Lion Press in early 2016.
Filmmaker KERSTIN KARLHUBER’S first feature film Fair Haven has been acquired by the internationally renowned Little Film Company for world-wide distribution. The film stars Michael Grant (Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Tom Wopat (Django Unchained, Luke Duke in the classic Dukes of Hazzard series). Robbie Little, Co-President of The Little Film Company, commented, “Fair Haven is a brave, emotional film about love and understanding which explores the repercussions of conversion therapy, a controversial practice which has so far been banned in three states.” Fair Haven’s premiere will be announced soon. For more about Kerstin, visit www.silentgiantproductions.com
Writer-Director-Producer ARTHUR VINCIE is in pre-production on his supernatural thriller feature Bitter Child (shooting in January) and polishing the script for a dramatic webisodic/feature project, Songs From The Third City (shooting in October).
Composer LAUREN BUCHTER is currently composing the score for a feature length documentary titled, Cherry’s In Season. It is about the owners, workers and patrons of the bar, “Cherry’s” in Fire Island. She is working on two commissioned pieces this fall–a new work for Soprano Pamela Stein Lynde, to be performed with a Chamber Ensemble and accompanying film as part of a full evening length work featuring three female composer and and aerial dance work for husband and wife team Jacki and Nicolo for their upcoming season. Other upcoming projects include two short films, a feature length documentary and composing music for production music libraries. http://www.laurenbuchter.com/
Actor-Producer MARISSA KELTON’S short film Kissed by Inspiration will be screened as part of the NYWIFT’s Short Fiction Night member screening series on September 29, at 7:00pm at the Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue). The screening will be followed by a short Q&A and an informal reception at Cellar 58 a few blocks away. For more information and to register go to: http://www.nywift.org/article.aspx?id=5631
Documentary Filmmaker LISA D’APOLITO is finishing up directing LOVE Gilda-The Eternal Spirit of Gilda Radner. LOVE Gilda is a documentary film that tells the story of how one beloved comedienne used her honesty and humor and became an inspiration to people living with cancer. Gilda Radner’s story is told by those who knew and loved her and first hand by Gilda in never before seen footage that Gilda made of her experience. LOVE Gilda is looking for final finishing funds.
Screenwriter-Actress MORGAN ELIZABETH is currently preparing a prospectus and submitting her feature script Eggs for grants and screenplay competitions. Eggs is a low-budget film and she is looking for an experienced independent film producer to on this female-centric, diverse movie with a lot of sass and a lot of heart. She is also reworking her feature script Lips. She also continues to audition for film and television.
Producer BRONWYN BERRY has launched a new TV production company 2WomanShow, with sister NYWIFT member GERIT QUEALY, with the aim of developing inspiring content made for women (and some men). Projects in development include a docu-series on the First Ladies (based on a book written by Margaret Truman) and a Women’s Sports Channel. Bronwyn’s docu-series Durban Beach Rescue premiered in 113 countries in 26 languages on Travel Channel International in July. Broadcast rights are available in North and South American and distributor, Sky Vision are looking to secure the broadcast deal. Discussions for Season 2 are in earnest with pre-production scheduled for October in Durban, South Africa. The show is produced by Ruby Rocket Media.
Producer-Documentary Filmmaker DELORES EDWARDS recently Executive Produced a federally funded video project for one of the Unites States service academies. She is currently working on her project “Confident Women,” a documentary about women and unemployment. http://marblehillmedia.com/delores-edwards/
Hi-Def Makeup Artist JENNIFER SNOWDON worked on the film No Pay, Nudity, which wasdirected by Lee Wilkof and stars Gabriel Byrne, Nathan Lane, Frances Conroy and Donna Murphy. It was at the Cannes Market this winter. Before she begins work on two new films in September and October, she will be traveling to points north in Canada for the month of August, visiting both Toronto and Montreal areas for research, to take photos and to begin writing her first screenplay based on an actual experience. www.jennifersnowdon.com
Broadcast Journalist-Documentary Filmmaker MARIA SCAVALONE is currently in production on a film about the fascinating world of elderly jazz musicians and their life-long financial struggles. When not filmmaking, she dons a newswoman’s hat, and will be covering the visit of Pope Francis to NYC and the United Nations in September. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariascarvalone
Writer JILLIAN ABBOTT’s big news is her Instagram blog @Themindfulmouth, “A Year of Mindful Eating: Stories from the food I eat.” South African journalist and social media expert Gus Silber used it at one of his seminars as an example of Instagram as a storytelling platform. See his post about it at https://instagram.com/p/5y7InDqOC6/. Already a UK food publisher has expressed interest in it as a book, and she hopes to develop it into a Food Network or Travel channel TV series. In addition to teaching at York College and CUNY, she is developing a pilot smoking cessation program in Australia based around her interactive iBook Air Quality.