Cheryl’s Talking Shtick

We closed out the the Firefox Flicks contest on April 14th with over 275 entries from all parts of the world. What a fun ride this has been. What anticipation as we've 'double clicked' on each new entry. It's incredible to see the variety of creative approaches and perspective from Flicks contestants. We've laughed, we've been wowed,… and so much more!

We've starting putting up the ads on the Flicks site for people to vote, comment and share. Interesting comments too. Check out the Flicks site for new postings daily. And now, the official judging begins!

Great stuff brewing. More soon.

~Cheryl

If you’ve never seen a wayang kuli performance (Balinese shadow theater) and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area I highly recommend getting over to one of Larry Reed’s ShadowLight productions. Saturday, March 11 at 8:15 is your next chance. I was first introduced to wayang kuli at a performance in Bali several years ago and have been entranced with it since. In fact, I brought home several beautifully crafted shadow puppets that decorate my house.

ShadowLight Productions has taken the traditional form of storytelling to the next level by employing new ways of using light, puppets, actors, music and storytelling to create a magical experience and unique productions using simple tools.

Here are the details:
WAYANG BALI: ARJUNA SAVES THE UNIVERSE (with a trick)
Performed by Larry Reed of ShadowLight Productions with live Wayang Gender musical accompaniment

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2006 — 8:15pm

NOE VALLEY MINISTRY
1021 Sanchez St
San Francisco, CA

A Mighty demon has fallen in love with a Daughter of Heaven. The Gods refuse to hand her over. Heaven is under siege. Only a human can save the universe – but first he must pass the test.

Shadow Master. Larry Reed has worked in theater for over three decades and is one of the first traditionally trained American performers of Balinese shadow theater, or wayang kulit. The improvisational element of Balinese theater makes each performance a unique event.

* * * *
Tickets:
$14 in advance, $16 at the door
www.noevalleymusicseries.com — 415 454-5230
Tickets also available at: Streetlight Records, Down Home Music and Tickets.com
~Cheryl

The Firefox Flicks Ad Contest is in full swing. I’ve been working with some interesting people at a variety of film festivals who are helping to spread the word about the contest.

The Web is creating an opportunity for Indie film makers to bypass the traditional methods of advertising and distribution. With broadband streaming, downloads to portable devices, pod casts, community sites and blogs a new world is opening up that gives more power to the people. This is also giving film makers and those interested in promoting new ways of working together a platform for creating something unique. A couple of examples:

“Campus Movie Fest is the only event of its kind to provide thousands of student teams with Apple laptops, camcorders, and training. In addition, hundreds of local musicians provide the best independent music that students have permission to use as their soundtracks. The movie-making events culminate in unforgettable finales, with the on-campus showcases attracting thousands of students and staff.”

“The Hollywood Experiment is an experiment in which a film is made using the Internet and the talent of filmmakers all over the world. The filmmakers will contribute different scenes in an effort to create one complete film. We will then submit the completed film to many high-profile film festivals. Our goal is to showcase the talent of the artists that contribute and participate in the experiment.”

IndieFilmCamp is being organized “To introduce and involve the Independent Film community to the capabilites of net media for conversing with a developing audiences, and for syndicating, promoting and distributing works.”

It’s exciting to see how we can create new ways of working together.

Welcome to my first blog post!
I’m being nudged into this new medium (new for me, that is) through a cool project I’m working on at Mozilla called Firefox Flicks Ad Contest. Check out the contest and blog sites and send any creative types who know about film, multimedia, animation, graphic design and advertising to the site for more details.

Metal, welding machines, high speed grinders, sparks flying. That’s what it’s all about for me these days. I’ve wanted to create in metal for some time now. There is so much to explore - form, shape, depth, movement, color, sound and more. Even metal “weaving” is possible. I’ve got a mini scrap yard forming by the garage - many forms yet to discover. My metal workshop class is starting up this week and I’m looking forward to getting back into my work boots and self-darkening helmet and making the sparks fly!

My parting thoughts through this quote. Go for it and have a wonderful 2006!

“You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing, and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.”
~~ Krishnamurti ~~

Welcome! More to come soon.