Filmmakers Collaborative | Film Status

Luke and Emma is a feature film about a young half-Asian boy navigating love and life as he comes-of-age in a conservative, religious Mid-Western American town in the 1980s. He and his classmate Emma have crushes on each other, but the society they live in makes it impossible for them to be together.

With a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, “The Catskills” journeys into the storied mountain getaway north of New York City that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families. As bungalow colony proprietors, guests, waiters, comedians, hoteliers, and beauticians share colorful tales of Catskill farms, boarding houses, and luxury resorts, they paint a picture of vibrant American Jewish life and culture in the 20th century.

“Slide” The tale of a mythical cowboy showdown with eco-villains intent on paving over idyllic Sourdough Creek. Plympton’s wit and surreal animation takes on the fight for the wild west’s fading glory, peppered with swinging western tunes.

In “Slide”, a guitar-playing cowboy enters the lumber camp of Sourdough Creek to clean up the corruption wrought on the town by 2 obese twins, Zeke and Jeb. Most of the action occurs around the local dance hall/whorehouse, “The Lucky Buck Saloon.” One of the “hostesses,” Delilah, has ambitions to leave the sex trade and become a star singer in the club. At this auspicious moment, the town is attacked by an evil creature called the “Hellbug,” who haunts the town and attempts to end the ecological disaster caused by the greedy twins. To combat the bug, the evil twins enlist a battery of despicable assassins, each one worse than the other. And if that’s not exciting enough, a caravan of Hollywood movie-makers are arriving in Sourdough Creek to make their newest blockbuster feature, “Escape From Ecstasy,” starring the biggest movie star, Veronica Saltwater, who despises bugs. It becomes an epic clash of moral and cultural opposites drawn by only one person, Mr. Plympton. A truly handmade film.

“Slide” is also a wacky musical”. The songs are penned by my favorite musician, singer Maureen McElheron, with whom I performed in the late 70’s around the bars of downtown New York. She also wrote the beautiful music from “Your Face,” “The Tune” and the hit film “I Married A Strange Person.” The music for “Slide” is reminiscent of 40’s honky-tonk from such artists as Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, and performed by the brilliant Hank Bones and Maureen McElheron, who I still owe money to, and that’s why I’m using the wonderful facilitates of “Filmmakers.”

I’m now in the post-production phase of creating “Slide.” The design, animation, music, voices, backgrounds are all completed and it looks beautiful! It’s different from any other animated film I’ve ever seen. But now we have to put all the pieces together and pay off my numerous debts that occured because of the Covid epidemic. Plus, I need financing for my sales and publicity campaign. Fortunately “Filmmakers” makes this film a non-profit so all donations are tax deductible.

As with my earlier films, I hope to take “Slide” to the important market festivals to make sales to theatrical, TV, and digital platforms. Festivals such as Cannes (we’ve already had interest), Toronto, Annecy, Stuttgart, and numerous others. Also, I expect to do the comic-con circuit, where I’m very popular. I already have a sales deal with ED Distribution in France and I have substantial interest from Spain, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina.

Founded in 1997, NewEnglandFilm.com provides an essential online resource for the local film community, enabling members to find share and film gigs, promote themselves, and keep informed about the local industry. But NewEnglandFilm.com urgently needs your support to keep these services going.

For over 20 years, NewEnglandFilm.com has provided free membership to its users that offers free benefits such as a section to view and post jobs, volunteer gigs, and partnership opportunities; the ability to create industry directory listings for individuals and businesses; and access to updated industry news, interviews, profiles, and how-to articles. And in 2009, they launched the Online New England Film Festival, a collaborative festival that showcases short local films.

All of these services have remained and will remain free to the thousands of people who use them every month.

NewEnglandFilm.com operates on an incredibly lean budget. Our core expenses include site hosting, software and maintenance; email management software; our trademark and business licenses; and the stipend for our small freelance team including writers (yes, we pay them) and our Associate Editor/Site Moderator, who approves every single new account by hand, which ensures our site is always completely spam-free.

We need to raise $5,000 annually from our community. So, we ask those of you who regularly use and love NewEnglandFilm.com, please support us today with a tax-deductible donation through Filmmakers Collaborative. It could be $5. It could be $30. It could be $300. Every dollar will help.

We want to keep NewEnglandFilm.com going for another 20 years. But we will not be able to do it without your support.

Has Dream of Italy or Under The Tuscan Sun inspired you in your life? Has a trip to Italy changed your life? Here’s a chance to give back and pay it forward by supporting public television and the new special Dream of Italy: Under The Tuscan Sun.

The book and movie Under The Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes true story of renovating a villa in Tuscany – have captivated millions around the world. Mayes’ real life second act in life is the quintessential dream of Italy…Tens of thousands travel each year to the hilltop town of Cortona just to catch a peek at Bramasole, perhaps the most famous home in all of Italy. In this half-hour special, Dream of Italy host Kathy McCabe visits with Frances and her husband, for an exclusive tour of Bramasole, including the rarely seen interior. Ed even takes her into the olive grove for the harvest! Then Frances introduces Kathy and viewers to her Cortona, a place where visitors can feel an authentic sense of community in just a few days. The best thing about Cortona, the locals – Frances introduces Kathy to chef Silvia for a cooking lesson with local ingredients and master jeweler Sebastian demonstrates Tuscany’s gold-smithing tradition.

Fans love Dream of Italy and Under the Tuscan Sun and Mayes and McCabe make a powerhouse duo inspiring the traveler or just any viewer who aspires to make a dream come true, even later in life. This will be a cherished special for years to come as it will air and repeat on PBS/Create TV/online for at least four years.

Public television programming is made possible by YOU, corporate sponsors and individual donors. We can’t create this inspirational and informative programming without your support. Your tax-deductible donation of at least $2,500 will be acknowledged on-screen before and after every airing.

$2500 Tax-Deductible Donation Includes Your Name on Screen Before/After Every Airing
BONUSES:
Copy of Under The Tuscan Sun book signed/personally dedicated by Frances Mayes
Bottle of Bramasole olive oil
One-year digital membership to Dream of Italy
Exclusive online preview screening months before special airs on broadcast.
Invitation to premiere party if one is thrown (each season we have had one so very likely).
Your name will appear something like this

$15,000 Tax-Deductible Donation Includes Six Seconds Total of Messaging Before/After Every Airing
BONUSES:
Copy of Under The Tuscan Sun book signed/personally dedicated by Frances Mayes
Bottle of Bramasole olive oil
One-year print membership to Dream of Italy
One-hour travel consultation with host Kathy McCabe
Exclusive online preview screening months before special airs on broadcast.
Invitation to premiere party if one is thrown (each season we have had one so very likely).
Your message will appear like one of these messages or simply as your name on screen for six seconds total.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous (no name on screen) with your donation, you may. If you would prefer to make your donation by check, email kathy@dreamofitaly.com for details.

Don’t Take That Receipt! is a public health and environmental justice campaign based around a humorous 3 minute video about BPA in receipts. Our mission is to educate vulnerable populations — those who work in stores and restaurants – and the general public, about the presence of bisphenol-A (BPA) (and bisphenol-S (BPS) in receipts. We also provide tips and assistance for reducing exposure and creating systems changes that benefit the health of workers and customers.

BPA and BPS are used to coat thermal receipt paper and rubs off onto skin with contact. Counterintuitively, using hand sanitizer increases the rate of absorption. These phenols can interfere with hormonal regulation and are associated with nearly a dozen health problems; they are most harmful to women, pregnant women, teens, and kids. Our goal is to educate about this widely unknown issue that affects nearly everyone. After creating a humorous video, an educational website and handouts, and an outreach strategy, we are now launching our campaign.

We will be addressing several audiences through this campaign:

Our regional store-to-store outreach will focus on having face to face conversations with cashiers and store/restaurant managers, beginning in Holyoke this summer and expanding to regional towns throughout the fall, winter and spring. We will be providing bilingual tip-cards to cashiers and managers, and will be tracking and evaluating tangible steps that are taken to make employees and stores safer.
Our online outreach to share our video and informational website will strategically reach Massachusetts-based nonprofits, environmental health groups, businesses, unions, schools, activists, cashiers, fast food workers, healthcare professionals, bank tellers, librarians, and customers, as they have a vested interest in understanding and sharing this information. Our social media outreach aims to garner over 100,000 views of the video in the state and nation-wide.
Our online outreach in collaboration with our partners will also focus on two specific state and national corporations, TJX Company which has over 40 stores in MA and is headquartered in Framingham, and Target, which has nearly 20 stores in the state. Our joint efforts with Safer Chemicals, Heathy Families, Ecology Center, Green America, and Mamavation will engage the public to sign petitions and share social media messages to encourage these companies to switch to phenol-free receipts and paperless POS technology. An early adopter of these better protocols, in response to this group pressure, is Trader Joe’s, which also has nearly 20 stores across MA.
We aim to garner regional and statewide print, radio, television, podcast, and online media coverage of our campaign and video, our messaging for how to reduce exposure, and our campaign success stories.

Video and website: www.bpa-free.me

On the morning of April 22nd, 2008 two U.S. Marines, LCpl. Jordan Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan Yale, were standing gate watch in Ramadi, Iraq when a suicide truck bomber barreled toward their post. Haerter and Yale had six seconds to act, firing their weapons until the driver was brought to a halt. The truck exploded, killing both men, while sparing the lives of 150 Marines and Iraqi Police.

Less about glorifying warfare or the true event itself, the film aims to provide context to the unimaginable: to show these young men as everyday people put in extraordinary circumstances, and explain why there was never doubt in their actions and decisive sacrifice that fateful morning.

Can he become the first Muslim governor in U.S. history?

This feature-length documentary film follows the journey of Abdul El-Sayed, a 33-year-old American Muslim doctor who decided to risk it all by running for governor of Michigan, a state key to Donald Trump’s stunning victory.

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access along with full editorial control, the documentary tracks the campaign through triumph, disappointment and danger as Abdul and his team try to reshape the public imagination of what’s possible in American politics.

Stormie is the story of an adopted, Hispanic teenager who wants to find his place in the world. After leaving his family and experiencing gang life, jail, and finding his birth mother, he realizes he may have left the place he belonged all along.

Juan’s story begins during his mother’s latest drug binge, where at five-year-old he had to assume a parenting role for himself and his baby brothers. One morning, all the children are taken by Social Services and separated into different foster homes, after no one in their family steps up to take them.

Fast-forward 13 years, Juan is in high school and feels out of place at home with his adoptive parents and new younger brother. Juan now lives in a multiracial household on the privilege, predominately white side of town. Other areas of his hometown struggle with gang populations, and it is easy for him to see the road he had previously been destined for. He can’t help but feel like he never deserved the life he was adopted into. His parents do not understand how he could feel this way, which leads to arguments about what is best for him, pushing Juan away even more and driving him to search for a place where he belongs. He sleeps on the street and under bridges until his friend, Gabriel, introduces him to gang life where he becomes enamored with the sense of family that comes with it.

From that point, Juan disappears from the lives of his family. In the gang, he finds a temporary place of belonging. He feels protected, valued, and sense of earning his place. Juan falls for Gabriel’s sister, Isabella, and feels as though he is unstoppable. Slowly, the gang life that felt so comfortable begins to sour. The gang no longer has his back, and Isabella reveals her manipulative side. After fighting with Gabriel and Isabella, Juan is forced back onto the streets. Having hit rock bottom and with nowhere else to go, he feels it is time to find his birth mother.

Like the gang, Juan feels another sense of belonging once reunited with his birth family. He gets to reconnect with his younger brothers that were taken from him so many years ago. At first, it seems like this is the place Juan wants to be, but then he sees how selfish this family truly is. When Juan confronts his birth-mother about her continued drug use and selling, she tells him that he needs to accept all parts of their family or leave. With nowhere to go, Juan must figure out a way to get back to where he truly belongs.

The Global Food Justice Alliance advocates for the right of all people to choose nutrient-dense foods such as meat, milk, and eggs, which are critical for nutritious, environmentally sustainable, and equitable food systems that can sustain both human life and the planet.

The organization is an extension of the impact campaign from the independent documentary film, Sacred Cow (link to www.sacredcow.info).

Who We Are:

We are a group of concerned health professionals, academics, food producers and citizens who are advocates for Food Sovereignty, which is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

What We Do:

We advocate for nutrient-dense diets that support a healthy population and ecosystem. We fight against dietary elitism, racism, and sexism. We call out corporate collusion influencing our dietary policies. We educate students and others on the importance of animal foods in a balanced human diet. We stand for global food justice.

Why This Matters:

There is growing concern among many citizens, scientists, academics, and food producers who share a belief that we need to preserve a true range of food options to reflect the diversity of our cultures, races, traditions, and our degree of metabolic health. Maintaining diversity and choice are at the foundation of any healthy democracy, and health itself is a human right.

Executive Director:

Diana Rodgers, RD, is a “real food” nutritionist and sustainability advocate near Boston, Massachusetts. She’s an author of three books, runs a clinical nutrition practice, started the Sustainable Dish Podcast, and has served as an advisory board of numerous nutrition and agriculture organizations including Animal Welfare Approved, Savory Institute, and Whole30. She speaks internationally about the intersection of optimal human nutrition and regenerative agriculture. Diana is co-author of, Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat and the director, producer of the companion film, Sacred Cow. Her new initiative, the Global Food Justice Alliance, advocates for a nutritious, sustainable, and equitable worldwide food system.

If you agree that all people, everywhere should have the right to choose affordable, real, nutritious food, there is no time to waste. Your contribution will support GFJA’s work and communications and is 100% tax deductible.

For more information, please visit www.globalfoodjustice.org

or for questions, please email us at: info@globalfoodjustice.org

Stormie is the story of an adopted, Hispanic teenager who wants to find his place in the world. After leaving his family and experiencing gang life, jail, and finding his birth mother, he realizes he may have left the place he belonged all along.

We are grateful for the generous support of our sponsors: