Hindsight : September 2007

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Flashpoint Academy Dean Paula Froehle's Short Film "Up on the Rope" named One of Five Finalists

5 Short Film Finalists

Play Ball!
Abigail Zealey Bess

Up on the Rope
Paula Froehle

Window
Varda Hardy

Small Change
Dina Mande

Slice
Carmen Marie Milito

About the Short Film Contest

If you have a script or a short film that you want to bring to Hollywood's attention, here is your chance. MORE is partnering with Women In Film, the leading nonprofit for women in the global entertainment industry, to create a landmark screenplay and short film contest for women over 40.Two out of three women in the U.S. are over 40, yet our stories, our loves, preoccupations, and achievements continue to be underrepresented in our nation's most influential art form. Surely, the underemployment of women directors contributes to this regrettable situation. (Of the 250 top-grossing films in 2004, only five percent were directed by women.)

MORE, the largest magazine in the United States for women 40 and over, its exceptional partners Women In Film, the leading nonprofit organization for women in the global entertainment industry, and The Hollywood Reporter, wish to encourage, identify, and promote the work of talented women film directors ages 40 and older so that the rich complexity of women's lives and imaginations can been seen and celebrated.

Women directors who are 40 years old or older by June 1, 2007, are eligible to enter the 2007 MORE Women In Film Short Film Contest by submitting an application along with an original, non-documentary short film (between 10 and 20 minutes long).

Winners of the 2007 MWIF Competition will be announced online at more.com/filmcontests and in press in October 2007.

Flashpoint Academy Installation Update - Recording Studios and Sound Design Labs Almost Complete

Studios and Presentation Rooms

More Art

Robert Townsend Lends a Hand as MC for IFP Gala and Auction and then Visits Flashpoint Academy

Chicago-born filmmaker, Robert Townsend, who is known for his work as a versatile writer, director, actor and producer working on such films as Hollywood Shuffle, The Mighty Quinn and Undercover Brother, most recently starred in and produced the film Of Boys and Men recently shot in Chicago.

Robert Townsend gave a terrific talk on being an independent film maker and his own background in Chicago and wowed the crowd with impressions, great tales, and some special words of encouragement for folks just starting out.

Flashpoint Academy was amply represented (Amy Rising was one of the organizers of the Gala)at the event and bid aggressively on several auction items.

As it happened, Robert knew about Flashpoint and, in the course of the evening asked if he could see the place next time he was in town since he was flying out first thing in the morning. Since we never wait for anything at Flashpoint, we wrapped him up and snuck him out minutes after the raffle ended.

We spent the next two hours with him at Flashpoint's new facility touring the place, chatting about ideas that he has for working closely with Flashpoint on projects and telling him how great it would be for him to come back and give our students a talk like the one he gave tonight and also to just sit and answer questions, etc. He agreed on the spot and he'll be back soon to see us. All and all - a great night.

HAT Named a Crain's Chicago Business Info Junkie

Info Junkie: Expression finder

By Christina Le Beau
Oct. 01, 2007

Howard Tullman, 62, is an art collector, educator and serial tech entrepreneur. His latest project, Flashpoint: the Academy of Media Arts and Sciences — a college for game design and other digital arts — just opened in the Loop's Burnham Center. When he isn't blogging, reading 500 daily e-mails or updating his online database of 10,000 "words of wisdom," he likes:

Six days a week, runs on the treadmill in front of his 120-inch home theater screen. "I watch half a movie each morning." Among 3,000 DVDs, "Forrest Gump" stands out, especially when the title character realizes he fathered a son. "I can't watch that without crying, every time," says the father of two and grandfather of three.

"60 Minutes" is "still the best news magazine out there." A recent segment, "Get me the geeks," highlighted the kinds of workers Flashpoint will produce. "I TiVo'd it, uploaded it, then sent it to people involved with the school. That's probably an ungodly violation of copyright or something, but it wasn't for commercial purposes."

Zazzle.com's custom T-shirts for motivation. He gave the Flashpoint construction crew shirts featuring hourglass art and a quote about time.

Reads five to 10 books a month, half business, half thrillers. Also dozens of magazines, but only after ripping out the ads. "It makes them a third the size, so you can carry a lot on planes." Devours the New York Times. Drops everything when Vanity Fair and New American Paintings (a juried exhibition-in-print) arrive.

A longtime amateur magician, he digs magic catalogs. And on his iPod: "7,331 songs. All legal. Every genre."

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

HAT Attends Annual Arts Entrepreneurship Awards Luncheon at Union League Club

This was a nice luncheon attended by many old friends which featured comments by Dennis Rich and Allen Turner

and then a nice talk by Leslie Hindman

before the awards for the 4 terrific honorees: Silk Road Theatre Project; Victory Gardens Theater; Flatfile Galleries; and The Academy of Movement and Music.
The food was much better than in 1999 when I was honored by the same group for Tunes.com which clearly seems about a century ago.

Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. was also in attendance in his new role as the Chairman of the City Council's Committee on Special Events and Cultural Affairs.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Flashpoint Academy Students Treated to First Copies of HALO 3

Flashpoint Academy game development students didn't line up at any stores in order to take advantage of the FIRST opportunities to play the most awaited video game of all time. They just showed up at Flashpoint for the 7 a.m. launch in our own Digital Garage.