* Director's Notes
* Message from Mia
* Pencil Me In:
NY EVENTS
- Harvardwood Heads To...JOURNEY ON, Sun., June 3
- Harvardwood Special Offer: FREE Tickets to Jimmy Tingle at Caroline's, Wed., June 20
- Harvardwood Presents NYCLU's Donna Lieberman '70: CRIME, CRIMINALS, and the POWER to MISLEAD, Thurs., June 21
- Our Smart is Sexy Hot Harvardwood Sizzling Summer Party!! Fri., June 29
LA EVENTS
- Harvardwood Heads To...FUNNY HA HA 10th Anniversary Screening, Tues., June 5
- Harvardwood co-hosts Global Networking Night! Thurs., June 21
PLAN AHEAD...
- Harvardwood Presents: Tour of the 2012 Olympic Landmarks, Sat., July 21 (London)
* Submit for the 2012 Harvardwood Writers' Competition!
* Changing your email address? How to update your account.
* Earn $750 through Harvardwood's partnership with Sungevity
* Special discount for dues-current Full Members and Friends of Harvardwood!
* Join us on Facebook and Twitter
* Calling all Summer Interns!
* Industry Successes
* Harvardwood Artist Showcase
* Featured Member Posting: Agent's Assistant (CAA) - LA
* Member Profile: Jay Chen '00
Director's Notes
I'm excited to welcome all of the summer interns descending on LA this month! For any other students joining the working ranks in LA or NY this summer, email us at [email protected] so we can include you on our HSIP list and you can stay informed of any group activities in your area. And just a reminder - the Harvardwood Writers' Competition is in full swing! Dust off those scripts and get them ready for submission - the deadline (JULY 31) will be here before you know it. And finally, so glad to see all of the cap and gowns in Cambridge last week -- congratulations to all our graduates! We hope you find Harvardwood a helpful resource in your next endeavors. If you need to update your email address, read below for more info on that.
-- Kelley
Message from Mia
Summer vacation is officially upon us, but Harvardwood activities continue to abound from coast to coast and even across the pond with a special event at the London Olympics... Next Tues., June 5th will see the 10th anniversary celebration of Andrew Bujalski's '98 feature debut, FUNNY HA HA -- for those of you in LA, please join us at a special screening, party and Q&A with the man himself: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=237525
-0 Mia
Pencil Me In...
NY - Harvardwood Heads To...JOURNEY ON, Sun., June 3
Playing with Reality invites you to unleash your inner hero. Each night, two audience volunteers will experience an adventure of a lifetime. The choice to play is yours. Pick from four distinct worlds (medieval fantasy, wild west, modern-day crime, or futuristic sci-fi), and accept the call to action to see where the journey takes you. Stories are based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey story structure. Playing with Reality’s largest production yet places the performance in one room while the audience watches a live video stream in another, allowing the hero to focus on the adventure without distraction…To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=233839
NY - Harvardwood Special Offer: FREE Tickets to Jimmy Tingle at Caroline's, Wed., June 20
Yes, Jimmy Tingle has generously made tickets to this performance available for FREE to the first 25 dues-paying Harvardwood Members (Full Members and Friends of Harvardwood) and their guests, who register! …If you love great comedy, this makes Harvardwood membership an insane bargain. If you attend this show with even one guest, you've MORE than made back the cost of your Harvardwood membership! So if you're an Affiliate or (gasp!) not a member at all, this would be a GREAT time to upgrade your membership or join us as a Full Member or Friend of Harvardwood for just $45 per year! We've set aside some tickets for new Full Members and Friends of Harvardwood, so even if you join only to find that the event is sold out, don't worry--just e-mail us and we'll get you in! …The New York Times raved, "More than comic wit…so cheerfully intelligent he makes his audience optimistic in the face of appalling reality. It takes a serious and well intentioned man to make one laugh to such good effect.” Jimmy Tingle is running on his comedic record, bringing his passion and creative thinking to every issue the next president must grapple with from alternative energy to immigration to jobs and the national debt…To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=236201
NY - Harvardwood Presents NYCLU's Donna Lieberman '70: CRIME, CRIMINALS, and the POWER to MISLEAD, Thurs., June 21
Crime. The police. Failing schools. Immigration. These are some of the most important issues of our time, and, for most of us, our images of what these issues mean in human terms come not from our own direct experience but from movies, television, and other fictional media. But more often than not, the writers and directors who create these images are themselves basing their images on yet other fictional images, with direct experience farther and farther removed from what we see. Yet it is these images that shape our political responses. How do these images mislead us, and what are the truths they conceal? Donna Lieberman '70 has been the Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York affiliate of the ACLU, since 2001…She appears frequently in local and national news coverage…To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=228709
NY - Our Smart is Sexy Hot Harvardwood Sizzling Summer Party!! Fri., June 29
Summer is coming up! And Summer is HOT--but Harvardwood is HOTTER! Which means--it's time for a PARTY!! And this will be a great one, and a fabulous chance for you to meet more of our incredible Harvardwood members. Major FUN alert!! …To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=235241
LA - Harvardwood Heads To...FUNNY HA HA 10th Anniversary Screening, Tues., June 5
Well, gosh. My first feature film, FUNNY HA HA, is 10 years old now. Next thing you know it'll be asking to borrow the car...To celebrate all of us getting so much older, we're rolling out a gorgeous new 35mm print of the film--the handsomest presentation the film has ever had, for sure…I'll be in town & on hand, to continue to be held accountable for things that I thought were good ideas when I was in my 20s…There will be a party afterward! At the theater, there's a reception space there, I'd love to see y'all...To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=237525
LA - Harvardwood co-hosts Global Networking Night, Thurs., June 21
Please join the Harvard Alumni Association, the Harvard Club of Southern California, Harvardwood, the Harvard Business School Association of Southern California and Harvard Clubs worldwide at our Global Networking Night on Thursday, June 21! The evening is a unique opportunity to network with fellow alumni and current students from across the University. Build new connections, reconnect with classmates, share your experiences with students, and welcome recent graduates to our city. Tap into the power of our Harvard network! …To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=237627
London - Harvardwood Presents: Tour of the 2012 Olympic Landmarks, Sat., July 21 (London)
Two iconic designs for the 2012 Olympics won Design of the Year Awards. See them and many new London Olympic landmarks at this special program on Saturday, July 21! Our group will tour Bromley Station and the Royal Institute of British Architects. Highlights will include exterior views of the Olympic Stadium, Velodrome, BMX cycling course, the Aquatics Centre and public art installations…To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=230919
Submit for the 2012 Harvardwood Writers' Competition!
Started in 2006, the Harvardwood Writers' Competition was created to give emerging Harvard writers the opportunity to gain industry exposure and to recognize superior work. The contest includes these three categories: 1) Feature screenplays (90-120 pp., all genres); 2) Television pilots (30-min and 60-min, all genres); 3) One-act plays (40-min maximum, no minimum). The deadline for submissions will be Tuesday, JULY 31. Scripts will be evaluated by industry professionals, and winners in each category will be announced no later than September 1. First-place writers will receive a cash award, free admission to the 2012-13 writers’ program, and a series of informational meetings with Harvardwood industry contacts, tailored to career trajectory and needs…For more information and to enter visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/?page=WritersCompetition
Changing your email address? How to update your account.
For those in the class of 2012 changing your email addresses, you can update your account email at anytime by logging in and going to the "My Profile" menu on the right. When you are there, click on "Manage Profile" then click on the "Edit Bio” icon. Here you will see where you can make any necessary changes to your account, including updating your email address. Please also provide us with an alternate email under the "Contact Information" section. Harvardwood emails are more quickly received at non "post" addresses, so we recommend using your post address as the alternate. Congratulations!
Earn $750 through Harvardwood's partnership with Sungevity
We are excited to announce our new partnership with Sungevity (a leading California home solar company) – giving Harvardwood members the opportunity to: reduce their carbon footprint, earn $750 CASH, raise money for Harvardwood, and save on their electric bills…all through solar power! With summer coming and electricity bills slowly creeping up we were excited to hear about Sungevity’s offer which makes going solar a much more affordable opportunity for homeowners. And our friends at Sungevity are offering a special promotion for Harvardwood members who own a home: Sungevity will give you a $750 check for signing a zero-down solar lease AND they will donate an additional $750 to Harvardwood! To learn more, visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/90486/Earn-750-through-Harvardwoods-partnership-with-Sungevity.htm
Special discount for dues-current Full Members and Friends of Harvardwood!
Our dear friends at the Hotel Shangri-la have offered a special "thank you" to the Harvardwood community. All dues-current Full Members and Friends of Harvardwood will be offered 10% off the full bill of their next event at the Hotel! (Offer expires Sept. 1, 2012.) To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/85175/Special-discount-for-dues-current-Full-Members-and-Friends-of-Harvardwood.htm
Join us on Facebook and Twitter
Integrate Harvardwood into your social media atmosphere! Be sure to follow Harvardwood on Twitter (@harvardwood) and join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/harvardwood
Calling all Summer Interns!
Calling all summer interns for this year's Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP)! If you are interning and/or working in any facet of entertainment this summer let us know! You do not have to have an internship that was listed on the HSIP list of opportunities. All summer interns affiliated with Harvard University can participate! …To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/87353/Calling-all-Summer-Interns.htm
Industry Successes...
Broderick Fox's ‘96 feature documentary THE SKIN I'M IN (http://www.SkinImInMovie.com) recently won a Special Jury Prize at the 21st Annual Arizona Film Festival, which also marked the film's U.S. Premiere. Fox was also featured as a guest on Australia's Conversations With Richard Fidler, a national radio show, while down under for the film's world premiere at the Byron Bay International Film Festival. Listen to the interview here: https://vimeo.com/39934336. Up next: THE SKIN I'M IN will have two screenings as part of the Park City Music Film Festival May 28 & June 1. Fox and composer Ronit Kirchman (who was also named the 2012 Sundance / Time Warner Music Fellow) will be in attendance for the June 1 screening. The film will also have May 26 & June 4 screenings as part of Out Takes New Zealand.
Katherine Bergeron '11 was recently featured in the Dorchester Reporter. Ms. Bergeron and her partner E. Stephen Frederick purchased a historic Boston firehouse to rehabilitate and use as a live-in artist studio/gallery. http://www.dotnews.com/2012/late-save-old-engine-18-artist-couple-eyes-it-both-home-and-arts-space
Jeremy Rabb A.R.T. ’98 has been cast in the UNTITLED RICK HOWARD PROJECT, directed by Spike Jonze.
Charles Degelman's most recent novel, GATES OF EDEN, set in the anti-war movement of the 1960s, recently won a Silver Medal for Historical Fiction from the Independent Publisher's awards. Published by Harvard Square Editions, GATES OF EDEN follows a handful of young rebels as they band together to form the most powerful antiwar movement in history. To be released in print and ebook formats, August 1, 2012.
Rob Vilardi ’98 will be performing at the Abington Theater in Manhattan on Monday, June 4th at 7:20p.m. Tickets are $35 for two, call 631-675-6036 and leave a message for tickets.
Paula Brancato asks for your help on a film she is producing. BEHOLD is a performance film that aims to keep the memories of Holocaust survivors alive. The film features award-winning Holocaust poetry performed by well-known celebrities. The intersection of poetry and visual media is an un-mined, powerful vehicle, presenting a new way to remember. The film is directed by Richard Kroehling, a two-time Emmy award winner. The present goal is over 45 days to raise $13,000 to film a trailer. You can contribute at Indiegogo where the video is also available: http://www.indiegogo.com/BEHOLD?a=619157 or call Paula at 310-429-5181.
Michael Eastman’s ’79, JD ’83 company, Urban Victory Network Inc. (UVN) launched a new online delivery platform for global black film at www.urbanvictory.com. Review press release here: http://www.blacknews.com/news/urban_victory_network_global_black_film101.shtml. UVN will be hosting an online film festival from July 15 to August 31,2012. Filmmakers may submit films until July 5, 2012 and may do so either through the website or through Withoutabox.com. After the festival, UVN will offer filmmakers 70% of net revenue on its ad supported and subscriber distribution platforms. We will feature films from Los Angeles to New York, Rio to Kingston, and from Capetown to Cairo.
Jennifer Fischer’s GSAS ’03 latest feature-length film, SMUGGLED, was recently recognized as the Best Dramatic Feature of the Mexico International Film Festival, the film’s third award since it hit the festival circuit at the end of April. SMUGGLED received the Founders’ Award at the Riverside International Film Festival and was Best Feature of the Reel Rasquache Art & Film Festival held in L.A. at the end of May. Fischer produced the film, the first from her company, Think Ten Media Group.
Theresa Loong's documentary, EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY, is playing on public television stations throughout May and June. Please watch it and spread the word: http://www.facebook.com/everydayisaholiday. EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY tells the story of her dad, Dr. Paul Loong, as a POW in Japan during WWII and his subsequent quest to become an American.
Harvardwood Artist Showcase
Each month the Highlights is proud to feature one or two artists from some of our various programs in the Harvardwood Artist Showcase. Click below to learn more about what they do!
Adam Kern (SAG-AFTRA, AEA, Harvardwood Actors’ Program, NY Branch – Founding Member) just relocated to Los Angeles in January 2012 from New York where he's spent the past four years since graduation. With an MFA from Harvard / ART / Moscow Art Theatre, a TS Eliot Fellowship from the Old Vic in London under Kevin Spacey, a BFA in Musical Theatre from Kent State, and over 100 stage productions to his credit as a young professional, Adam is expanding his focus to build his career in television and film. An avid producer, he has produced numerous cabarets, concerts and benefits, and for the Harvardwood Actors Program Adam produced The Pilot Season Survival Guide, a filmed actors' showcase which had an industry screening in New York in 2011, featuring 7 short films, all produced by Mr. Kern. Current projects in development include The Water Dream, by Harvard alum Shawn Cody and starring Broadway's Anthony Rapp, a Broadway bound musical, and an untitled Feature Film that he hopes to secure funding for within the next year.
See more of Adam on Vimeo!
Featured Member Posting: Agent's Assistant (CAA) - LA
The agent is in the TV Talent department but works on the Motion Picture side as well. This is a high potential and very interesting desk as the agent focuses on the Hispanic market- talent, programs, formats, etc- and the Hispanic audience is probably THE growth audience in entertainment right now. We need someone who is very professional, organized, proactive, has the ability to contribute their ideas and point-of-view (no shrinking violets, the agent really values her assistant's opinion and input) and most important is FLUENT IN SPANISH. Someone who is knowledgeable about the US Hispanic entertainment market and interested in a career either in TV or talent representation would also be a big plus. We are looking for someone quickly so feel free to forward this on to anyone you know who could benefit if it's not right for you…To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/networking/opening.asp?id=126712
Member Profile: Jay Chen '00
by Cristina Slattery
Jay Chen '00 has been getting by on very little sleep lately. Running for Congress is a "marathon, not a sprint,” he says. Chen, who is the current president of the Hacienda-La Puente School Board, decided to run for the congressional seat when a redistricting process changed the configuration of this Los Angeles district where he has lived for much of his life. Chen will face Republican incumbent, Ed Royce, in the opening primary this coming Tuesday as well as D’Marie Mulattieri, who is not affiliated with a political party. Royce has been representing the district for two decades and Chen, in fact, once worked in his office in Washington, D.C. as an intern. Now, however, he decided that it is time to take on the veteran since a redistricting process changed the demographics of the voting population in way that favors Chen, and, of course, Chen believes that Royce’s decisions are hurting the district rather than moving it forward.
One of the living people Chen most admires, Barack Obama, illustrates how a person "can rise above everything, even having grown up in a single-parent household, to achieve his dream,” he states. It is an "American story,” Chen continues.
Chen says that Harvard introduced him to "passionate people” and he believes that he has a responsibility towards society as the result of having attended such an elite university. He runs his own real estate business and as a result of his work on the school board, Chen believes that education needs to continue to be a priority for his district. Chen has helped implement a curriculum in one of his district’s elementary schools in which children are taught in Mandarin in the morning and English in the afternoon and there is a waiting list to get into the school in spite of the fact that most of the parents are Latino and not of Asian origin. He has also overseen a program in which individuals who are interested in applying to college learn the ins-and-out of the college application at no charge. Finally, Chen is concerned that American students spend less time in the classroom than students in other nations and he would like to see if it might be possible to change this lack of classroom time in the future.
Politics is a responsibility, according to Chen, who honed his political skills first at Harvard as president of the Asian American Students Association and as a member of Harvard Model Congress. "Convincing people” that he could run and win this district as well as fundraising have been the most difficult challenges for Chen thus far. He strengthened his business acumen at Bain & Co. in San Francisco after college and his leadership skills have been further developed by the U.S. Navy, for which he is a reserve officer. In addition to speaking Mandarin fluently, Chen also speaks fluent Spanish, which aids him when he communicates to members of his overwhelmingly Latino district. A Social Studies concentrator at Harvard, Chen also earned a certificate in Latin American Studies, and he took off one year to travel in Central and South America during college, an experience that allows him to understand the issues that many of his constituents face in their countries of origin.
Finally, Chen, who was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and who lived with his parents and older brother in Singapore before the family moved to Los Angeles, says that part of his childhood included Chinese school and Sunday school on the weekends. His parents, Taiwanese immigrants who came to the United States when Chen’s father decided to study at Wharton for a PhD in Mathematics, have inculcated the value of hard work in Chen and in his older brother, who also attended Harvard. Newly married, Chen and his wife would like to open a restaurant one day – he spent seven months attending culinary school in the evenings and French cuisine is his specialty – but right now public service inspires him more than cooking. A career path that Chen once thought he might pursue – that of a comic book artist – if he is lucky, will have a role in his life once again. All politicians, once elected, can be certain that some "doodler” will draw them if they become well known. On June 5th, Chen will find out whether or not he is closer to having flattering or unflattering likenesses of himself created by illustrators who will incorporate his face into their political cartoons. If he is lucky, he will be able to start collecting these caricatures for his own office in Washington.
Cristina Slattery is currently living in Barcelona, Spain where she continues to teach English to private students and writes freelance articles on a regular basis for a variety of publications.
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