Yesterday, I had an exciting interview with Emily Dickinson scholar Martha Nell Smith. I woke up eager for the day because of an upcoming meeting with a film distributor. And, then, it all turned on a dime. An email from the director of BAD TIMING, Jabbes Mvula wrote about his younger sister, Monica.
She was wonderful when we were shooting the film. She let us use her car and her cell phone. A teacher with a shy smile, she helped us located children for several key scenes in the movie. She brought us the delightful Alisam Piri (see below). She was instrumental in completing the film.
We got word she died last week. “I wish she had seen the film screened and distributed in Zambia,” her elder brother wrote. Me, too. I suddenly felt the pressure of time, the weight of decisions, and the importance of completing creative projects. I am deeply saddened to hear of her passing.
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A post from two years ago … while we were in Africa.
BY CYNDI GREENING, PRODUCER, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – On Friday, we had a wonderful shooting experience. The folks a ZNBC, ZNIS and ZAMNET allowed us to use a soundproof stage to shoot the classroom scenes in the film. With all of the children there, the teacher and the policeman, we really needed the space. It also allowed us to build a lot more motion into the shots. We were able to use the dolly and the glidecam. We could have used a few more area lights. Of course all of the equipment means nothing if you don’t have good actors. We had some wonderful child actors. The children are so natural on camera; they aren’t self-conscious at all. In fact, they barely seem self-aware. One of my favorites was little Alisam Piri. I learned how a Zambian child indicates he doesn’t know what to do. I asked him to write his name on a piece of paper. He quickly complied. When I asked him to write his numbers, he turned his hand palm up and waved it from side to side. Monica, his teacher, said, “He doesn’t know his numbers yet.” He was a great little actor. We even made him cry on cue.
When they were acting, Jabbes promised them each a very special present. He gave them each a brand new MCC pencil of their very own. They were very excited with that gift. I can’t imagine American actors being satisfied with a pencil. Jabbes has been doing a good job with the actors. I’m surprised how well they take direction. He tells them what he’s trying to achieve and they respond so well. Even the more seasoned actors have been really great about giving him what he wants.
When I was younger, I read an article about Human Success Dysfunction (that’s my term for it). It was during one of those phases when I was doing a lot of self-help reading. This particular syndrome, HSD, talked about how children will sometimes self-sabotage their ability to succeed to avoid out-doing their parents and making them “feel bad” because their is child getting “more” than they may have been able to get. There was also a section on the HSD parents, some of whom undermine their children to ensure they are not successful so the parents can remain in power, continue to have the wisdom and be in charge. All very unpleasant. The healthy alternative was that people do what they’re best at and not worry about that competitive thing within the family but simply celebrate each other’s gifts and successes.
So, much to my delight, I get to announce that Alec (my smart, talented, handsome boy) and his friend, Pacino, have started a production company in New York. The company, Universal Remote Productions specializes in digital media production and post-production. They edit, do 3D design and production, motion graphics and flash for web. They have a lot of contemporary music connections (because Pacino used to be in a successful touring band) and a lot independent film connections. One of the projects they worked on was Three Thug Mice. Now, they’re on to their own thing. It’s exciting for me to be able to write about what the guys are working on. Pamela Jo and I have been helping with paperwork and web spaces and all of that mundane business stuff that no one likes to do (not even us) but we want to be supportive. I wish them the best of luck and all the success in the world! I’m only a little envious.
Last week, Alec and I went to California to visit with Jason and talk post-production shop. It was a Friday evening and the three of us were sitting in Jason’s editing studio talking about things like multi-angle editing and color grading. Jason generally has a rant about how much better AVID is than FCP because that’s what he uses at work. At home, he uses FCP like the rest of us financially-challenged filmmakers. He was showing us what he’d learned at an Apple presentation about multi-angle editing. They’ve been touting multi-angle editing for a while but I’d never seen it used. He stepped through it and I was excited. He said (and I agreed) that there wasn’t all that much need for it in his type of work.
However, while we were in Zambia, the National Arts Council brought five (5) Native Storytellers in from other regions in the country. All five spoke a different language. There were about 25 children making up the audience. This was definitely NOT a highly-controlled nor highly-choreographed recording session. On top of that, this was the second weekend in Zambia so the student crew were all continuing to build their skills in all of the different pieces of equipment. To maximize our odds, we ran four (4) cameras during the shoot. Two cinematographers were on the storyteller, one was on the audience and one was handheld. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on a different continent. So, next week, I’ll be cutting the Zambian Storytellers using this method. I can hardly wait. If you want to check it out, you will want to read Steve Martin’s well-illustrated and very clear tutorial on Final Cut Pro Multi-Angle editing.
While we were on location in Mtendere, Lusaka, Zambia, a tweaked out guy came up to the crew and asked them to deliver a message to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The entire clip is only 54 seconds long. It’s funny as heck. Here we were in one of the poorest sections of Lusaka where hardly anyone had a television, virtually no one had a computer and many folks didn’t even seem to have electricity and this guy seemed to know all about the U.S. Rapper, 50 Cent. He wanted us to let him know that 50 Cent had messed everyone up and that he was going to come to America and get him for what he had done. We posted this video. In less than three days, it had over a thousand hits. A thousand hits. Just goes to show, people just love to laugh.
Way back in April of 2005, I did a blogpost about a Johnny Chung Lee’s $14 Steadicam. Lee gave the full instructions for how to build his poor-man’s steadicam using pieces and parts that could be picked up at any hardware store. It is the steadicam that Jacob built to take to Zambia. We used it there and left it behind with the Zambian National Arts Council. For the mechanically challenged, chronically lazy, or only moderately-poor filmmaker, Lee even offered a fully built version for only $39.95. A great little tool that was most useful.
So, earlier this month, I’m at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, meeting with students and going over their interactive media projects. One group is working on a Nintendo-based tool that teaches high school students the slope-intercept formula in a game format in preparation for the exit examination. While talking with them, we got onto the idea of full-immersion gaming. One of the students was really excited about this fellow from Carnegie Mellon University who was developing immersion techniques using the Wii Remote. I started digging around and discover that this immersion innovator is the $14 Steadicam guy, Johnny Chung Lee. The YouTube video sure got my imagination going.
We’re experiencing a bit of “good timing” with the film Zambian BAD TIMING. The film is now listed in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). So far, only the title is in … they say the actual names / credits take another week to ten days to get updated. It’s so exciting to finally see everything coming together and the people in the film getting acknowledged for their work. Everyone involved with this project gave a solid month of their life in Zambia to get this film made. The crew also spent six months before the project in training and preparing for the project. Following the shoot in Zambia, the crew spent another couple of months helping with the rough cut … and several more continued another year with the revised cuts.
We’ve been test screening the film with small groups and the response has been really terrific. When you edit a film, you watch it thousands of times and lose all perspective on it. You think it keeps getting better but it’s so subjective. The really exciting thing is that people who know nothing about the film, know nothing about Zambia, know nothing about the production challenges are understanding and liking the film. They’re liking the good people, disliking the bad people and are getting really involved in the story. It’s a very satisfying feeling having people watch the film and enjoy it. I can hardly wait for the Zambians to see it.
Before Sally Hayfron Mugabe died, her husband had already begun a relationship with his secretary Grace Marufu. Grace was 40 years younger than Mugabe and, unlike Sally, was mercenary and materialistic. To open the way for himself, Mugabe sent Grace’s husband and son on a permanent diplomatic mission to China. Ultimately, Grace and Robert had three children, two boys and one girl. While Zimbabwe struggles under horrific inflation rates, as the life expectancy drops by decades, as the unemployment rate nears 80%, Grace Marufu Mugabe is notorious for her lavish spending sprees in Europe. Sally loved her African heritage and always dressed in traditional clothing. Grace is one of the nouveau riche, insulated in a cocoon of her own self-gratification. Could these two women possibly be more different?
Inter-library loan finally located a copy of the biography of Sally Hayfron Mugabe. We have been trying to find anything on the first wife of Robert Mugabe and have been quite unsuccessful. There just isn’t much written material out there. I found a 16-page booklet that the Yale University Library would not lend out. The book they’ve located was written by ZANU-PF, the Zimbabwean political party of Comrade Robert Mugabe so I am anticipating that it is not going to be all that revelatory. Sally was born in Ghana, the third daughter of a well-to-do family, she was named by and for her grandmother. Ghana was the first African nation to achieve independence (in 1957). Zimbabwe was one of the last. Born in 1931, Sally died in 1992 of kidney failure. Her only son died at the age of four from cerebral malaria. Everything I read about her (non-propaganda) indicates she was an amazing woman — compassionate, caring, gentle, generous — how did she end up married to the despotic Mugabe and how could she live with herself knowing how he was? Since the book that is coming was written by Mugabe’s political party, I’m not expecting remarkable insights.
UPDATE: I’ve gotten several emails and comments saying this mansion is not Mugabe’s … the funny thing is that I’ve been told it’s really in Singapore … another one says South Africa … the most recent one says it’s Versailles. Everyone has an opinion about whose mansion it really is and they’re all adamant that they’re right. So, I dug around and found several newspaper articles with an aerial view of Mugabe’s mansion. I got a copy of the Andrew Meldrum (a journalist who lived in Zimbabwe for over twenty years) memoir WHERE WE HAVE HOPE to discern more about the Mugabe Mansion (dubbed Graceland by many since it was built for wife, Grace Marufu). I read Alec Russell’s BIG MEN, LITTLE PEOPLE and I got a copy of a book published by ZANU-PF entitled SALLY MUGABE, WOMAN WITH A MISSION. What I can conclusively say is that the image above does appear to be the aerial view of Mugabe’s Mansion and the photos below may (or may not) be of his mansion but they certainly COULD be given the size and opulence of the structure outside of Harare.
ORIGINAL POST: Supposedly, the opulent mansion to the right is the home of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Located near the national capital of Harare, the mansion is an affront to many because of the desperate lives led by the majority of Zimbabweans. They currently have the highest inflation rate in the world. The life expectancy for all the citizens has dropped by decades under Mugabe’s despotic rule. Today, we met a woman who had been born in South Africa and raised in Zimbabwe. She and her family left Zimbabwe shortly after Mugube’s rise to power. A lovely woman with a smooth voice and generous heart, she graciously gave her voice talents for a sequence of the film. Ultimately, we ended up talking about all of the south African nations. We talked about Sally Mugabe, the early years following independence and the succession of majority rule. We enjoyed the African art and furnishings in their home. We talked about the art of the Ndebele and their feud with the Shona. An afternoon meeting literate and learned people is always enlightening. Spending the following days exploring those ideas with colleagues or partners and seeing where those discoveries can lead is a creative joy. I don’t know if it is the contrast of my life with the life of the average Zimbabwean’s that has me feeling so grateful this evening. Maybe it’s the joy of preparing the Zambian film for its screening in Lusaka. I guess I don’t need to know. All I really want is to be present as present as possible to the gifts of my life … and there are many! And, unlike Comrade Mugabe, I didn’t need to destroy anyone to have them.
Last evening, (Thursday, March 6, 2008) Beth McDonald, Schumacher Mercedes and the folks at KEZ threw a celebratory dinner for the twelve Woman of the Year nominees. It was held at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in North Scottsdale. The Hyatt is always wonderful. Great ambiance, great food, great service. The only thing that could make it better is if they held it in the mineral pool at Spa Avania. Just kidding, of course. I kept telling the other nominees that there would be a swimsuit competition later in the evening. Now, mind you, some of these women established orphanages in Afghanistan, escaped violence in Bosnia and faced personal danger on streets serving the homeless. But, mention a public viewing in a bathing suit and they tremble with (mock) fear. It was funny.
Nominees were allowed to bring three of their friends to the event. Most everyone seemed to have invited the person who nominated them for the honor (I, of course, invited my nominator, Pamela Jo). Each table had two nominees and their pals (MCC Media Arts professor Jeanette Roe and FilmZambia-supporter Tammy Fannin rounded out my party) AND two representatives of KEZ. We were joined by the delightful Smokey Rivers (former on-air personality and current programming director) and the gracious, gregarious Kevin Gossett. We ended up in a fun conversation about KILTS (yes, he used to wear a kilt) and the winds that whip off the Great Lakes. He grew up in Indiana, so I got more insight into Purdue University.
The event is sponsored by 99.9 FM and Schumacher Mercedes Benz. We received an evening and dinner at the Hyatt, a day at Spa Avania and (Alec’s and my favorite) a great Mercedes Benz model car built to 1/18 scale with working doors, hood and trunk. The model is a very durable and accurate metal Benz and, as it is no doubt intended, motivates me yearn for one of my very own. The Schumacher folks were at the table beside us. Mr. and Mrs. Werner Schumacher were in attendance and generously presented winner, Zema Kovac, with an oversize check for $2500. Everyone was teasing about wanting to go with her when she went to the ATM. Young Michael Schumacher was there with the folks. The other nominees were given (in addition to all of the other prizes), a crisp Ben Franklin. I was being silly and saying, “Look what I got for the night.” Michael teased back and said, “No, that’s for the whole year.” Funny. Nothing I love more than a great sense of humor. (In my internet search, I discovered there’s a Formula One driver by the name of Michael Schumacher who is considered the greatest driver alive. Not the same fellow, but interesting just the same.)
We had a great evening. Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor spoke about her path from entering college to get her teaching certificate to her current position on the Arizona Court. She shared funny stories about her college days and early days as a female attorney. I was fascinated with her story and thought, “Heck, someone should nominate her for woman of the year.” So, if you know a courageous woman that you think deserves the honor, go to KEZ to Nominate for the Beth McDonald Woman of the Year.
President Bush is currently on a five-nation trip to Africa. He is visiting Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia. There is some criticism for avoiding the hotspots (Darfur, Kenya, DRC). According to the official press, the US will increase total assistance to Africa to $8.7 billion by 2010, double the level of assistance in 2004. We’re aiming for a new kind of partnership, they say.
Prior to leaving, Bush previewed a movie trailer for a 15-minute documentary produced in partnership between Warner Bros and PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). The trailer, which will appear in movie theaters later this year, will direct viewers to visit the website to view the full documentary entitled SAVING LIVES, CREATING HOPE. It is, of course, a PR piece to paint a bright spot on the Bush legacy for his (albeit eleventh-hour) efforts in this area.
I find myself wondering if they watched the Tanzanian documentary, INTO THE LIGHT, that Paul Hepker scored. That film was about the AIDs crisis in that country. Probably doesn’t have the same gloss as the Hollywood film told from the administration’s point of view. Probably. I won’t be able to say until I see them both. Why does all of this bring the 1997 film WAG THE DOG to mind (Dustin Hoffman as producer who manufactures cinema events to camouflage the failings of the president)? I don’t if there’s another president who has had a more scandal-plagued administration than George Bush (43) so a feel good film can’t be all bad.
Speaking of can’t be all bad, the other thought I’m having is about the $8.7 billion in aid to Africa (DOUBLE the 2004 level). Current estimates are that the war in Iraq is costing the US over $195 million per day. At that rate, the entire African aid package is spent by the US in Iraq in just 45 days. Forty-five days of war in the Middle East equals the aid to an entire continent of Africa for one year.
Now, granted $8.7 billion isn’t chump change. But, forgive me if I don’t get all happy-clappy, link arms and sing Kumbaya around the campfire.
Seven days until the 2008 Sundance Film Festival begins. A couple hundred films will be screened in the shadow of the Wasatch range and many of them will acquire distribution during the festival. Distribution is the “holy grail” of independent filmmaking. Elusive and extremely difficult to secure, selection in the Sundance Film Festival often anoints indie product as viable. In little over a week, we will be covering the distribution deals that thrust the new indie filmmakers into the industry.
As we complete the Zambian feature and documentary, we too are looking at distribution. According to RISKY BUSINESS, the book by Mark Litwak on indie financing and distribution, the three things that make a film more appealing to a distributor are…
STAR POWER … participation by recognized industry creatives
FESTIVAL FEVER … selection in a key festival
GREAT REVIEWS … recognition by film critics
According to Litwak, there are between 800 and 1000 indie films available for sale at any given moment. So your film is competing with a glut of product. Presenting the strong selling points of your films is the key to distribution. Oh sure, there are tons of panels, books and articles on the many potential distribution avenues … including the web, DVD, tape and international markets. So, I spent most of the day, recalling our Zambian production adventures and trying to think of why that might be interesting to a potential audience (and therefore a distributor).
Because of the scenes she was editing, Pamela Jo kept reminding me how grumpy I had been on certain shooting days … oh the hours and hours and hours we waited … and while the clock ticked, I kept wondering if we’d ever get the film done. Knowing our return flights had already been booked, the clock reverberated like a prescient death knell. To this day, it amazes me that we finished shooting both films. The next few months will reveal if the story is of interest to an audience. We will document the process for you indie filmmakers.
Ah the envy … Shawn Downs has finished his thesis film THE HUNTER and it’s a beautiful, well-edited, well-acted, satisfying piece of cinema. I enjoyed it tremendously.
A graduate of Arcadia High School (in Phoenix) and FilmZambia Gaffer, Shawn is a visual filmmaker. Of course, I was eager to know the production details. He said the movie was filmed on 16mm Kodak 250 daylight film on an Arriflex SR2 camera. The film was transferred to HDCAM in telecine. He was able to work with everything from XL2s to high-end Sony HDCAM cameras to 16mm and 35mm Arriflex and Panavision cameras. Shawn says, “HD can produce some amazing images under good light and great production design, but there is nothing like film.” I have to agree. It is gorgeous.
He’s heading into industry now … it should be a fun career to follow.
Well, today was a relatively unpleasant day. First, I discovered that Edmond Kabwe of the Post of Zambia did a story entitled It’s Bad Timing Again about the MCC hearing and copyright dispute over the film. Overall, a pretty good article (although no follow-up on the Positive Results of the Hearing).
Then, Jeniece pointed out that there was a new comment on the original Tribune article and it wasn’t too dang good. You know, they say no good deed goes unpunished and I’ve been spanked silly by this one. The newest comment from “Zambian Girl,” said, “I hate to tell you guys how this woman stole this film from Jabbes Mvula. How she trying to make money off this film without involving him. This is his film and she needs to stop what she is doing. God doesn’t like ugly. Good things don’t happen to bad people. Ms Cyndi God will deal with you. People stop using people. I hope Zambia knows that you are not a good woman and they don’t work with you any more.”
Here’s the real irony. I met with an investor this weekend who was willing to help fund the finishing of the films (score, some b-roll shots, sound sweetening) AND pay the actors with interest so we could, maybe, finally get these films out. Of course, they copyright agreements would have to be handled first. The frustration for me is that even though the director and his Zambian connections had agreed to pay the actors, it never came through. We were told several times that the actors had been paid but our most recent email with the National Arts Council says that the actors hadn’t been compensated.
I had another conversation with a friend this weekend who told me to shelve both of the projects and forget about them forever. She said it had already cost me too much. “Stop the bleeding,” she said. “Move on to something new. Forget about this.”
BY CYNDI GREENING, PRODUCER, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – On Friday, we had a wonderful shooting experience. The folks a ZNBC, ZNIS and ZAMNET allowed us to use a soundproof stage to shoot the classroom scenes in the film. With all of the children there, the teacher and the policeman, we really needed the space. It also allowed us to build a lot more motion into the shots. We were able to use the dolly and the glidecam. We could have used a few more area lights. Of course all of the equipment means nothing if you don’t have good actors. We had some wonderful child actors. The children are so natural on camera; they aren’t self-conscious at all. In fact, they barely seem self-aware. One of my favorites was little Alisam Piri. I learned how a Zambian child indicates he doesn’t know what to do. I asked him to write his name on a piece of paper. He quickly complied. When I asked him to write his numbers, he turned his hand palm up and waved it from side to side. Monica, his teacher, said, “He doesn’t know his numbers yet.” He was a great little actor. We even made him cry on cue.
When I was younger, I read an article about Human Success Dysfunction (that’s my term for it). It was during one of those phases when I was doing a lot of self-help reading. This particular syndrome, HSD, talked about how children will sometimes self-sabotage their ability to succeed to avoid out-doing their parents and making them “feel bad” because their is child getting “more” than they may have been able to get. There was also a section on the HSD parents, some of whom undermine their children to ensure they are not successful so the parents can remain in power, continue to have the wisdom and be in charge. All very unpleasant. The healthy alternative was that people do what they’re best at and not worry about that competitive thing within the family but simply celebrate each other’s gifts and successes. 
The company, 
Before Sally Hayfron Mugabe died, her husband had already begun a relationship with his secretary Grace Marufu. Grace was 40 years younger than Mugabe and, unlike Sally, was mercenary and materialistic. To open the way for himself, Mugabe sent Grace’s husband and son on a permanent diplomatic mission to China. Ultimately, Grace and Robert had three children, two boys and one girl. While Zimbabwe struggles under horrific inflation rates, as the life expectancy drops by decades, as the unemployment rate nears 80%, Grace Marufu Mugabe is notorious for her lavish spending sprees in Europe. Sally loved her African heritage and always dressed in traditional clothing. Grace is one of the nouveau riche, insulated in a cocoon of her own self-gratification. Could these two women possibly be more different?
Inter-library loan finally located a copy of the biography of Sally Hayfron Mugabe. We have been trying to find anything on the first wife of Robert Mugabe and have been quite unsuccessful. There just isn’t much written material out there. I found a 16-page booklet that the Yale University Library would not lend out. The book they’ve located was written by ZANU-PF, the Zimbabwean political party of Comrade Robert Mugabe so I am anticipating that it is not going to be all that revelatory. Sally was born in Ghana, the third daughter of a well-to-do family, she was named by and for her grandmother. Ghana was the first African nation to achieve independence (in 1957). Zimbabwe was one of the last. Born in 1931, Sally died in 1992 of kidney failure. Her only son died at the age of four from cerebral malaria. Everything I read about her (non-propaganda) indicates she was an amazing woman — compassionate, caring, gentle, generous — how did she end up married to the despotic Mugabe and how could she live with herself knowing how he was? Since the book that is coming was written by Mugabe’s political party, I’m not expecting remarkable insights.
UPDATE: I’ve gotten several emails and comments saying this mansion is not Mugabe’s … the funny thing is that I’ve been told it’s really in Singapore … another one says South Africa … the most recent one says it’s Versailles. Everyone has an opinion about whose mansion it really is and they’re all adamant that they’re right. So, I dug around and found several newspaper articles with an aerial view of Mugabe’s mansion. I got a copy of the Andrew Meldrum (a journalist who lived in Zimbabwe for over twenty years) memoir WHERE WE HAVE HOPE to discern more about the Mugabe Mansion (dubbed Graceland by many since it was built for wife, Grace Marufu). I read Alec Russell’s BIG MEN, LITTLE PEOPLE and I got a copy of a book published by ZANU-PF entitled SALLY MUGABE, WOMAN WITH A MISSION. What I can conclusively say is that the image above does appear to be the aerial view of Mugabe’s Mansion and the photos below may (or may not) be of his mansion but they certainly COULD be given the size and opulence of the structure outside of Harare. 
We talked about the art of the Ndebele and their feud with the Shona. An afternoon meeting literate and learned people is always enlightening. Spending the following days exploring those ideas with colleagues or partners and seeing where those discoveries can lead is a creative joy. I don’t know if it is the contrast of my life with the life of the average Zimbabwean’s that has me feeling so grateful this evening. Maybe it’s the joy of preparing the Zambian film for its screening in Lusaka. I guess I don’t need to know. All I really want is to be present as present as possible to the gifts of my life … and there are many! And, unlike Comrade Mugabe, I didn’t need to destroy anyone to have them.
Last evening, (Thursday, March 6, 2008) Beth McDonald, Schumacher Mercedes and the folks at KEZ threw a celebratory dinner for the twelve 
Nominees were allowed to bring three of their friends to the event. Most everyone seemed to have invited the person who nominated them for the honor (I, of course, invited my nominator, Pamela Jo). Each table had two nominees and their pals (MCC Media Arts professor Jeanette Roe and FilmZambia-supporter Tammy Fannin rounded out my party) AND two representatives of KEZ. 
We were joined by the delightful Smokey Rivers (former on-air personality and current programming director) and the gracious, gregarious Kevin Gossett. We ended up in a fun conversation about KILTS (yes, he used to wear a kilt) and the winds that whip off the Great Lakes. He grew up in Indiana, so I got more insight into Purdue University.
The Schumacher folks were at the table beside us. Mr. and Mrs. Werner Schumacher were in attendance and generously presented winner, Zema Kovac, with an oversize check for $2500. Everyone was teasing about wanting to go with her when she went to the ATM. Young Michael Schumacher was there with the folks. The other nominees were given (in addition to all of the other prizes), a crisp Ben Franklin. I was being silly and saying, “Look what I got for the night.” Michael teased back and said, “No, that’s for the whole year.” Funny. Nothing I love more than a great sense of humor. (In my internet search, I discovered there’s a Formula One driver by the name of Michael Schumacher who is considered the greatest driver alive. Not the same fellow, but interesting just the same.)
I find myself wondering if they watched the Tanzanian documentary, INTO THE LIGHT, that Paul Hepker scored. That film was about the AIDs crisis in that country. Probably doesn’t have the same gloss as the Hollywood film told from the administration’s point of view. Probably. I won’t be able to say until I see them both. Why does all of this bring the 1997 film WAG THE DOG to mind (Dustin Hoffman as producer who manufactures cinema events to camouflage the failings of the president)? I don’t if there’s another president who has had a more scandal-plagued administration than George Bush (43) so a feel good film can’t be all bad.
Ah the envy … Shawn Downs has finished his thesis film 
