| |
NEW SERIES TO COME TO THE PACIFIC NW?
“The Cody Rivers Show,”
Standing on the stage of the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, Goodwin and Cody Rivers Show creators and performers Andrew Connor and Mike Mathieu rehearse for the filming of the television pilot they hope will lead to a full-length series.
For their part, Connor and Mathieu didn’t know what to make of Goodwin’s idea when first approached. “We wouldn’t really believe he was saying, ‘I’m thinking of filming you for a television show,’” Mathieu said. “That kind of opportunity isn’t something that we wanted to assume would happen.”
Mathieu and Connor created the Cody Rivers Show three years ago and have been performing it in theater venues up and down the I-5 corridor, including Mount Baker Theatre and the iDiOM Theater in Bellingham, and in Canada and Chicago. Their unique blend of improvisation, Monty Python-esque humor and slapstick has earned them critical acclaim and sold-out performances.
Translating a comedy/variety show, that depends on interaction with the audience, to the television screen has been a challenge, even for the man who produced a long list of television shows, series and films, including the 1989 hit “Life Goes On,&lrdquo; “The X-Files,” “The Fugitive” and the police drama “Third Watch.” The series’ plot revolves around country western star Cody Rivers (played by Mathieu), who comes up to a small town in the Pacific Northwest and buys an old theater where he plans to perform his own show. Rivers convinces his brother Mitch (played by Connor) to move from California to help with the show. Five highly dysfunctional characters pitch in. From there, the series will focus on the behind-the-scenes antics of the crew, the Cody Rivers duo, and the theater skits that have been staples of the real Cody Rivers Show.
“It’s going to be off-the-wall goofy, visual, and fast-paced, and just like their show,” Goodwin said, who has yet to try to sell the idea to anyone in Los Angeles. “You can’t describe them,” Goodwin said of Connor and Mathieu. “You have to kind of show these guys to people.”
WIF member Melanie Melanie had the pleasure of providing key hair and makeup on a TV pilot, the “Cody Rivers Show,” with an exceptional cast and crew. Melanie will be heading the hair and makeup department when the series gets picked up (the overwhelming consensus is that it will!)
Excepts from Skagit Valley Herald, January 3, 2008 - Bev Crichfield edited by V. Bogert:
When television and film producer Bob Goodwin saw the off-the-wall “Cody Rivers Show” two years ago at the Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham, he laughed really hard and noticed others around him laughing hard too. If it was such a hit on the stage, why couldn’t it be turned into a hit television series?
Two-and-a-half years later the co-executive producer of the “X-Files” and executive producer of “The Fugitive” TV series, along with his small television crew are preparing to bring the Cody Rivers Show to thousands of American homes.
If the pilot leads to a series, Mount Vernon could get plenty of exposure (Northern? Yes, pun intended here, and we all remember that series putting food on our tables - vbb).
It’s all part of Goodwin’s plan to help bolster the entertainment industry in the Pacific Northwest and spotlight the potential for successful filming with local talent.
Power Doc watching at the 20th Annual International Documentary Festival Amsterdam
WIF Member Sue Feil-Erwin does Amsterdam…
and the International Documentary Festival
Amsterdam, an incredible city lined with one hundred sixty-five canals and 1200+ bridges. Bicycles, museums, galleries, cinemas, beautiful people, and IDFA. The mission: “power watch” documentaries - and find a pair of boots and a hat. Nothing will stop me from acquiring the perfect fashion accessories in this oh-so-fashionable city.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, IDFA www.idfa.nl celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2007. The festival, held November 22nd to December 2nd, is the largest documentary festival in the world. Sue and Jeff Erwin make the most of the festival, Amsterdam. And a little fun female retail indulgence a la Sue.
First – rent bicycles and experience the next three weeks like locals.
Second - find the Box Office and obtain press passes. Everyone working at the Box Office is helpful and multi-lingual. It was easy to navigate the credentials maze that can overwhelm the hardiest souls. The Festival catalogue describes each documentary shown during IDFA. We begin the process of organization and elimination while hoping to get the most sought after tickets.
I must pursue my retail mission. A small window of opportunity opens.
Boots – hundreds of beautiful boots. I’m reeling - overwhelmed. I must focus. I change course and head to the cinema.
We have several docs highlighted and call the Box Office to reserve tickets for desired showings. We experience both success and disappointment.
But we are ready. We jump on our bikes to navigate and weave our way through traffic, unsuspecting pedestrians, and experienced local bikers to the Tuschinski Theatre. With the boot mission well underway, we managed to attend some films.
I’ve narrowed my boot selection to forty pairs. No perfect hat…yet. The mission continues as movies fill our days. Then it happened! Riding through narrow, rain-soaked streets, lost in the magic of Amsterdam, a window filled with hats! Inside, Ans Wesseling displayed her fabulous millinery skills in colorful, organized chaos throughout her enchanting shop. Ans fulfills one part of my mission. Two days later, I returned to get the hat of my dreams.
“Power doc watching” continues. Some chosen selections were exceptional, some did not meet expectations, some failed to hold our creative interest so we walked out. At first we felt awkward and uncomfortable doing so, but then realized that not every documentary appeals to everyone. Lesson learned? We were able to experience more of the Festival’s entries as well as meet more filmmakers and artists.
Down from 40 boots to six. I will not despair…
Having the opportunity to meet the film directors was informative and enlightening. We cannot say enough about the planning and professional excellence of IDFA. Kudos to the hundreds of people who made it happen…their hard work made it a success!
By the way - stop by red jet films to check out my boots. Mission accomplished!
-- Sue Feil-Erwin is the business manager of red jet films in Seattle
The Art of Aging,
hosted by Ron Reagan is an informative program about issues we face as we age. Leaping Media’s goal is to provide information that we can apply to our lives in order to age well. Animation of glucose in the bloodstream, and prostate anatomy, created by Karen Lewis help illustrate the interviews.
The programs were filmed in and around Seattle. Along with researchers and experts, the shows feature some very engaging seniors, Rainier Pickle Ball players, strollers at Seward park, swimmers and families who share their experience with Alzheimer's.
www.artofaging.org
The Art of Aging
Aging naturally changes the body in ways that affect sexual function. But sex, love, and intimacy can continue to play an important role throughout our lives. Maintaining an active sex life may depend on how we view the changes that come with menopause, andropause (male menopause), and other aging processes. Episode 2: Andropause, Menopause, and Sexuality as we age
deals with staying physically and socially active invigorating our bodies and relationships, and gaining more satisfaction and happiness.
Featured experts:
- Pepper Schwartz, PhD, Sociologist, Author of Prime
- Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, Executive Director and Senior Investigator, Group Health Center for Health Studies
- Lisa Holtby, Yoga Instructor, Author of Healing Yoga for People Living with Cancer
- Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean, School of Nursing, University of Washington
- Lester W. Thompson, MD, Urologist
With athletic appearances from the:
- Chester C. Dorsey, Jr. UW Husky Men’s Basketball Player, 1977
- Lorenzo Romar Head Coach, UW Husky Men's Basketball
- Senior pickleball players
- Men’s yoga group
Episode 3: Care Giving, Community and Diabetes
Challenging health problems such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease eventually touch the lives of all Americans. As our population ages, individuals, families, and communities can work together to find solutions. Support for caregivers is essential. Good habits, such as cooking healthful meals and getting regular exercise, reduce health risks and control symptoms. This episode shows how an active approach can help those with chronic health conditions live each day to the fullest.
People featured:
- Steven Kahn, MD, VA Puget Sound Health Care System
- Eudora Lowery Carter, Diabetes Educator and Community Liaison, Center for Multi-Cultural Health
- Susan M. McCurry, PhD, Research Professor
- Maxine Hayes, MD, MPH, State Health Officer, Washington State Department of Health
- And Paul and Barbara Heneghan, Ruth and Tak Aoki, Weldon Lee, Kathleen Hubbard, Bettye J. Atkinson
- and Chef Tom Douglas
Film Rap with Steven Rivele By Ward Serrill
“Find that one moment in their character’s story that contains the seed of the character’s entire life.” Then he said, “Write from that seed to revel the character’s true nature.” – S. Rivele
It’s not every Saturday that I get to climb out of an invitingly warm bed, slog through a monsoon, battle a horde of Husky football fans and discover that JFK slept with an East German police agent posing as a prostitute. But that was only part of the story at a recent Film Rap put on by the Warren Report at The Henry Art Gallery. As a guest of Women in Film, co–partner of the event, I sat enraptured for two hours of tales and insights from Academy nominated screenwriter Stephen Rivele.
Rivele and his writing partner Christopher Wilkinson specialize in high profile biography pics such as Ali, (which he clamed Michael Mann absolutely butchered), Nixon, and upcoming films on Miles Davis and Jackie Kennedy. At the event, he screened Copying Beethoven, a labor of love released in 2005, a film that he turned down Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Michael Douglas before settling on Ed Harris to play the belligerent composer in the last days of his life.
Ed Harris could drink a Coke for ten minutes and I would be fascinated. Seeing him play the irascible genius composer in a race to complete his 9th symphony before he kicked the bucket was a thrill.
But it was the two hours with Rivele that was more valuable than a year in film school. A man who told Robert Redford to get lost and calls Anthony Hopkins “Tony”, walked to the front of the theater as if he had just come off a seine boat at Fisherman’s Terminal. He has that old soldier, tough writer look about him that can only be etched on a face that has worked hard at one’s craft.
Stimulated by the pithy incisive questioning of Warren Etheridge, Rivele told stories and delivered screenwriting gems one after the other. He challenged writers to “find that one moment in their character’s story that contains the seed of the character’s entire life.” Then he said, “Write from that seed to revel the character’s true nature.”
“The spiritual destiny of man is the only thing that interests me. It’s what I want to write about”, he said. He told how each of his subjects has found a specific vehicle to search for their “otherness” or soul. Miles had his trumpet, Ali, the fight, Nixon used politics, etc. “Ultimately”, he said, “your work has to connect with something that transcends mortal existence. And if you can feel that mystery and you have a gift to express it, then it is your responsibility to do so”.
Rivele works over a character, spending years sometimes in research. The goal he told us is to be able to distill each of our characters and film down to one sentence or a single word. Beethoven is about “a prizefight over an empty grave”. Rivele’s Cleopatra script was about one word: motherhood. He described Diane Kruger’s role in Beethoven as, “a young woman falling in love with a man who is trying to become God.”
After this distillation, Rivele still doesn’t begin to write until his character starts to talk to him–literally.
In response to a question of why he writes, Rivele related the Biblical story of the demon who upon Christ’s command to identify itself said, ‘My name is Legion because there are many of us.’ “That wasn’t a demon,” Rivele said, “it was a writer possessed by many voices”. Since childhood, Rivele himself has been haunted and harrowed by inner voices, sometimes, waking him up in the middle of the night, arguing with him that he doesn’t have their story right yet. “I have to write to relive the pressure of these voices in my head,” he said.
At heart Rivele is a great storyteller. He told about JFK’s whoring around that was about to get him impeached, especially his sleeping unknowingly with the German spy. A fact that Nixon knew but kept secret for the good of the country. And he convinced many of us in the audience that Lee Harvey Oswald was not alone, that the assassination of JFK involved organized crime and the CIA.
Rivele’s own life has been a study in character. He’s worked in any job you can imagine and decided at one point in his life that he wouldn’t accept another dollar unless it came from writing. “Until you have that,” he said, “Until you don’t want to live unless you can write, don’t call yourself a writer. Writing is not a career, it is an identity”. It is not what you do, but what you are. He also said that a writer must be unflinchingly and brutally honest with his or her self.
I’ll be honest with you. I’m a little afraid. As someone who will no longer accept another dollar unless it comes from writing, I realize I might have many nights ahead of me where characters get me out of bed to tell me I don’t have their story down right yet.
Ward Serrill is the writer Director of The Heart of the Game (Miramax 2006) and is currently writing a film about tango.
Women in Film is a co-sponsor of Warren Etheridge’s Film Rap
Click to view poster for Film Rap at the Henry Art Gallery
More info on The Warren Report Website»
October Features
Ann Hedreen and Cheryl Slean
WIF/Seattle Professional Member Ann Hedreen
WIF member Ann Hedreen's The Church on Dauphine Street kicks off Northwest Film Forum's “Local Sightings” festival on October 4, 2007.
Ann Hedreen and her husband Rustin Thompson are launching their film The Church on Dauphine Street this fall with festival screenings in Kansas City (Kansas International Film Festival, September 19) and Seattle. The Northwest Film Forum has selected The Church on Dauphine Street for opening night of Local Sightings, NWFF's showcase festival for Northwest filmmakers. The Church on Dauphine Street will also make its TV debut in October on WYES, the PBS station in New Orleans, on October 19th and 24th. Check out the film website and trailer: www.onekatrinafilm.com.
When The Church on Dauphine Street documentary project came to Whitenoise Productions we said yes, immediately. It started with a phone call. Volunteers from Seattle were heading down to New Orleans to help rebuild a church in the upper 9th Ward, a church that happens to be one third deaf and one third Spanish speaking, a church where nearly every member lost nearly everything because of Katrina.
We knew there were plenty of filmmakers already working hard to tell the story of Katrina and its aftermath, but we felt strongly pulled by the idea that we were being given a unique vantage point from which to view the Katrina tragedy. We also felt pulled by the idea that this would be a story not just of destruction but of rebuilding. We were not disappointed. We made five trips to New Orleans in 2006 and with each trip the story grew deeper and richer.
Our objective in making The Church on Dauphine Street was to tell the story using what we call cinematic journalism, documentary filmmaking that combines factual objectivity and personal commentary within a poetic, impressionistic structure. We want to illuminate and move people, those who’ve been to New Orleans and those who haven’t, those who understand what Katrina did to the people in its path and those who don’t. We wanted to tell the story in a way that transcends any one group - Catholics, deaf people, union members, volunteers, survivors—because the crossing of group lines and coming together through shared tragedy and shared hope is what this story is all about. And so far, it’s what surviving Katrina may be all about. If the government lets you down, who do you have but one another?
A few production notes for fellow WIF-Seattle members
Northwest Film Forum is our fiscal sponsor for this film and provided the venue for our first, “almost-done” fundraiser screening in April, at which we raised just about enough to cover the cost of closed captioning; now nearly complete (at press time) at Victory Studios where we’re very gratefully using our WIF member discount! Closed captioning was essential for The Church on Dauphine Street because of the New Orleans deaf community’s presence in the film.
WIF/Seattle Professional Member Cheryl Slean
After premiering her latest short film Diggers at SIFF this year, WIF professional member Cheryl Slean went back to her theatrical roots for her next project. She founded SITE (Seattle Indie Theater Experiment) with Seattle University theater professor Ki Gottberg, and together they produced SITE Specific, an outdoor festival of new short plays, presented three weekends in September on Seattle University campus.
Seattle Weekly calls SITE Specific “an entrancing night of theater.” Seattle Times says of Slean’s play, “Sanctuary cleverly works in the presence of a nearby chapel, and ruminates on a post-apocalyptic America without pretentiousness.”
Harmony Arnold, Cheryl Slean, Kristen Kosmas, Ki Gottberg and Vince Delaney are involved in the production of SITE Specific, a mini-festival of new plays.
 |
The new outdoor theatrics of SITE Specific and Cheryl Slean play, “Sanctuary.”
photo by Alexis Wolfe |
The inspiration for a festival of outdoor, site-specific work came from L.A.’s Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, where Cheryl and Ki had met years ago when they studied playwriting from such luminaries as Irene Fornes, David Henry Hwang, Robbie Baitz and John O’Keefe.
In the Padua Hills model, the playwright is the central architect of the work, both writing and directing an original piece. Unlike the usual mainstream theater play development process, there is no dramaturgical or institutional interference, empowering the playwright/director to see her vision through, undiluted to the end. The work at Padua was sometimes brilliant, sometimes confounding, but always fascinating, and in its 30 on-and-off years, the Festival and concurrent Workshop had a significant impact on American theater. For this first edition of what the Cheryl and Ki hope to be an annual festival in Seattle, support from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and 4Culture allowed them to commission four Seattle playwrights (Slean, Gottberg, Kristen Kosmas, and Vincent Delaney) to create original works for sites on the Seattle U campus. In an evening of what the Seattle Weekly called “an entrancing night of theater,” audiences were guided from one intriguing outdoor site to the next, watching actors dance across busy streets, make their entrances from trees, scramble up boulders to shout poetry, pick flowers, hide under bushes, and yell down from elevated parking garages. The work was fresh, inspired, playful and bold, and the festival as a whole was a financial and critical success, paving the way for another edition next summer.
Stay tuned!
More Info in Times article
More Info in Times review
September Feature Article
Melanie Melanie, award winning makeup artist, is always busy working on commercials and films - creating make-up for celebrities, local and national talent, and real people; but she always makes time to lend her skills to exceptional local filmmakers.
For the Seattle International Film Festival Fly Film Challenge, Melanie created make-up artistry for director Matt Daniels of Milk Productions in May of 2007 for the movie “Numb,” a 10 minute, flight of fantasy fairytale film. Melanie also created the hair work as well as the make-up for the two lead female puppets. Her multi-faceted skills are apparent everywhere in the film and charmingly evident in the “bow-do,” created for the young lead actress, a design Melanie conjured up upon hearing about the script.
Melanie has worked with Milk before when they won the 48-Hour Film Festival Best of Seattle Award for “Manquer.” Milk went on to the national 48-hour competition with “When I Grow Up.”
Melanie is currently working with Milk on multiple projects and gifted Matt and Joy the hair-styling for their wedding in August this year on Orcas Island, Washington.
Melanie is a working professional in the film industry in the greater Seattle area for 10 years.
Set photos of the Fly Film, “Numb,”
Day 1
Day 2
Last Days
|
|
