Docs the Rock is now Dancing with N.E.D.!

Announcing the new title of our upcoming documentary - Dancing with N.E.D.!

Produced by Spark Media and Stone Soup Productions, Dancing with N.E.D. is about one of the year's most talked about rock bands, No Evidence of Disease. N.E.D. is a group of six GYN surgeons, scattered across the country, who create and perform original music to give their patients a voice and raise awareness and funding for the disease they fight.

The film's new title was born out of a conversation between Spark's camera crew and Carole Fagella, participant in the recent Lobby Day event in Washington DC. Carole explained that every woman in treatment for ovarian cancer looks forward to "dancing with N.E.D.," which the film company immediately recognized as the perfect metaphor for the dance between life and death that both the patients and the doctors in the film wrestle with every day.

The film is still in production. A trailer can be seen HERE.

CINE Golden Eagles Announced!

Some exciting news to report this week!

Spark Media has won two prestigious CINE Golden Eagles Awards - for both of our productions for the Smithsonian Channel - Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways and Soul of a People: Writing America's Story.

Congratulations to all the winners. There are some fantastic films in the listing, and we are honored to be among them!

Soul of a People at ALA part 2

Spark has recently edited together a short little montage of library events connected to the Soul of a People: Exhibiting America's Story initiative by the American Library Association and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Check out the video on Vimeo! http://vimeo.com/12986156

The Exhibiting America's Story initiative included 29 libraries that received a grant to support programming in coordination with the release of Spark's documentary, Soul of a People: Writing America's Story, about the Federal Writers' Project. The Writers' Project recruited unemployed men and women and assigned them to fan out across America to learn its history, interview its citizens and produce the first-ever portrait of America from the ground up in a series of state travel guides.

Leading up to the ALA meeting last week, Spark asked the participating libraries how they used the grant and involved their community. Here are some of the responses:


"We turned back the clock to the 1930s for an opening celebration. The day included two lectures, on the New Deal and the Federal Writers' Project, excerpts from the documentary, and period jazz was played outside of the Library welcoming patrons. Sloppy Jos, said to debut in the 1930s, were served and we hosted a Spam treasure hunt. Food products introduced in the 1930s were displayed along with period ads and photos of local interest..." - Beth Keller, Highland Park Public Library, Illinois

"The greatest benefit to the library from this grant came from reaching out to students, staff, faculty, and the community, including scholars from other colleges, theatrical organizations, musicians, artists, other libraries, senior citizen organizations, and historical societies..." - Alma Zyko, Middlesex Community College Library, Connecticut

"The choice of topics was probably one of the best things about the project. The regional variation between the different states' FWP programs led to a really interesting variety of programs..." - Paul Kauppila, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San Jose State University, California

"We are continuing to use the ideas from the "Soul of a People" programming effort...it was a great learning experience and brought a lot of positive attention to the University Library." - Virginia Haynie Gause, The University of Texas - Pan American, Texas

"Our most successful program was a debate of the New Deal. We had a local journalist and New Deal proponent debate a conservative professor and author of the book "New Deal or Raw Deal?" - Sarah Ormond, Baldwin Public Library, Michigan

"The Soul project here at Armstrong and in the Savannah community was a grand success. The programs were very well attended by a variety of folks whose feedback was very positive. I was impressed by the direction and assistance we got from the ALA/NEH people. We had a lot of support and awfully good material to work with. The Spark Media documentary film, which was shown on the final day, drew a big crowd and all thought it was beautifully done. This was a fine mixture of education and entertainment." - June Hopkins, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Georgia

Soul of a People at ALA

SOUL OF A PEOPLE RETURNS TO ALA

Soul of a People: Writing America's Story made a return visit to this week's American Library Association Annual Conference, held this year in Washington DC.

Last year, ALA and Spark coordinated a NEH-funded Soul of a People library campaign that involved 29 libraries and nearly 150 events across the country. These host libraries held screenings of the film, along with discussion groups, panels and presentations from local scholars and authors, and exhibits connected with the Depression, New Deal and the Writers' Project. They also produced imaginative events such as recreated Hoovervilles and soup kitchens, old time live radio broadcasts, and more, giving each local community a chance to experience and understand their own history during this era.

We will be posting a round-up of activities and a video summary shortly. The video will also be available for library participants to download!

At ALA, Soul of a People's producer and director Andrea Kalin, Spark producer Nancy Camp and representatives from three of the host libraries were on hand to discuss the project and how it carried out at the local level. The librarians who participated were Henry Fortunato (Kansas City Public Library, Missouri), Jude Schanzer (East Meadow Public Library, New York) and Nora Quinlan (NOVA Southeastern Library, Florida). They shared their insights about the program, its challenges, and some of the creative ways the libraries used Soul of a People as a springboard for activities to reach diverse audiences at a local level.

Camp concluded with a brief outline of the work underway - a new youth-focused online educational initiative, being developed now with a grant from the NEH.

Games for Change

A busy, but exciting week ahead. Producers Andrea Kalin and Nancy Camp are heading to New York City for the Games for Change Festival. Sometimes called "the Sundance of video games," the Games for Change Festival highlights games that promote education and address the pressing issues of our world, be it poverty, human rights or climate change. We are looking forward to attending the event (and maybe someday even being featured in the festival itself), and will share the highlights on the Splog soon!

"Worlds of Sound" Wins Special Jury Award

Hear Ye Hear Ye, Spark Media and Smithsonian Networks received the 43rd WorldFest--Houston International Film Festival Special Jury Award for Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways in the Cultural Television Programming category. Congratulations to everybody at Smithsonian Networks, Smithsonian Folkways, and everyone who had a hand in bringing the amazing story of Moses Asch and his fabled label to life. We are all jubilant and proud over here at Spark. Thank you WorldFest!!!

Small World Moment at Interfaith Forum

Andrea Kalin from Spark Media joined in on an all women's interfaith dialogue at the Rumi Forum in Washington, where women from various religious backgrounds -- Michelle Coghill Chatman (Yoruba), Kadiatou Diallo (Muslim), Pat Henry (Buddhist), Chaplin Gladys Lanier (Christian), and Andrea Kalin (Jewish) -- shared their spiritual journey and discussed the lack of representation of women and religious and spiritual content in the media. The event doubled as a "friendraiser" for the television program, Perspectives of Interfaith, taped and aired on Arlington Independent Media, Arlington,VA and soon to be on DCTV, Montgomery Television, CTV in Prince George's County, and several other national public cable access stations.

In a small world moment, Andrea met Kadiatou Diallo, who mentioned how much she enjoyed a movie called Prince Among Slaves, since it described her homeland Guinea. She was especially impressed with the film's historic accuracy and the emphasis on the pivotal role education played in 18th Century Futa Jallon (in modern day Guinea). Kadiatou had never met Andrea, who was also a speaker at the event. Someone pointed out that the director of Prince Among Slaves was on the panel. And then the plot thickened: when Spark Media couldn't get to Guinea to film for Prince Among Slaves, Spark Media met a director of a documentary called Death of Two Sons, who graciously allowed us to use some of his Guinea stock footage. Death of Two Sons is about Kadiatou's son, Amadou Diallo, who's controversial shooting death at the hands of four New York City police officers in 1999 is documented in the film. It was an astonishing moment for everybody.

Smithsonian Folkways artists win GRAMMY award

Smithsonian Folkways Recording artists Los Texmaniacs received a GRAMMY award for their album Borders y Bailes in the Tejano Album category. This is the group’s first GRAMMY win. The Texas-Mexican conjunto band, armed "with an assortment of Tex-Mex beats infectious enough to get even the most sedentary crowd moving" (Washington Post), produced an album that breathes new life into the century-old music of the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Congratulations to Los Texmaniacs, and everyone at Smithsonian Folkways. Explore more Smithsonian Folkways artists, and discover the story behind the fabled label and its legendary founder Moses Asch through Spark Media's documentary Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways.

Upcoming Soul of a People screenings in Florida to include Discussions with Director Andrea Kalin and Stetson Kennedy!

Spark Media's executive producer and director Andrea Kalin will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) when she visits Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale to host two screenings of Soul of a People: Writing America's Story with one of the film's subjects, famed author Stetson Kennedy.

The first screening of Soul of a People, which chronicles the efforts of writers around the country in "telling America's story" during the Great Depression, will take place on:

When: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 7 pm

Where: Wolfsonian Museum, Florida International University, 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida

Contact: (305) 535-2644 or (305) 531-1001

The second screening of the documentary will take place on:

When: Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2 pm

Where: Don Taft University Center's Performance Theater, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Contact: (954) 262-4613

Originally premiering on the Smithsonian Channel last fall, Soul of a People: Writing America's Story returns audiences to the Great Depression, when Americans endured a crisis not just of economy, but also identity, and millions of unemployed men and women looked to the government for a life raft. Hundreds of thousands found jobs with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), most wielding picks and shovels to build roads and schools. For a smaller cadre, however, the tools were little more than a pen, paper, and the spirit of investigation.

If you live in the Miami or Fort Lauderdale area, definitely come out to the show. Both screenings are FREE and open to the public. Hope you can make it!

Festival Selects "Worlds of Sound" Director's Choice

The Black Maria Film + Video Festival has selected Spark Media's documentary, "Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways," for its Director's Choice. The New Jersey based Festival is an international juried competition and awards tour that rewards cutting edge works from independent film and video makers. This means the one-hour film, narrated by Pete Seeger, and directed by Spark Media president Andrea Kalin, about Moses Asch -- the rebel record producer who founded Folkways Records -- will be hitting the festival circuit through the Festival's national public exhibition program. Keep an eye out for announcements about upcoming screenings. Congratulations to Andrea, Richard Carlin (author of the book, Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways), the Smithsonian Channel, Smithsonian Folkways Records, and all the fabulous staff and crew who had a hand in making the film. Cheers.

Seasons Greetings!

Happy holidays from all of us at Spark Media!

There is a lot of excitement in the air and some wonderful projects brewing, so be sure to stay tuned as the year turns and 2010 begins!

Be safe and much love,

The Sparklers

Soul of a People nominated for the WGA Award

This just in. The script for Soul of a People: Writing America's Story has been nominated for a WGA Award! Congratulations to the film's co-writers - David Taylor & Olive Emma Bucklin & Andrea Kalin (who also directed the film). The winner will be announced on February 20, 2010.

Congratulations to all the nominees - below is a complete list for the nominees in the category, Documentary, Other Than Current Events:

“The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln” (American Experience), Written by Barak Goodman; PBS

The National Parks: Americas Best Idea, “Episode Two: 1890-1915: The Last Refuge,” Written by Dayton Duncan; PBS

“The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (American Experience), Written by David Grubin; PBS

Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story, Written by David A. Taylor, Olive Emma Bucklin, Andrea Kalin; Smithsonian Channel

“We Shall Remain: Episode Three: Trail of Tears” (American Experience), Written by Mark Zwonitzer; PBS

“We Shall Remain: Episode Two: Tecumseh’s Vision” (American Experience), Written by Ric Burns; PBS

Thank you to everyone who attended the Soul of a People screening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The documentary played to a full house and was received by a wildly enthusiastic audience. After the show, director Andrea Kalin and co-producer/co-writer David Taylor introduced a surprise guest to the audience - Stetson Kennedy! One of the last living alumni of the Federal Writers' Project, the 93-year old Kennedy traveled all the way from Florida in order to attend the event, and was welcomed with a well-deserved standing ovation from the packed house.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Nona Martin and Jeanny Kim at the Smithsonian Institution for organizing this special event, and also thank Tom Phelps, Director of Public Programs at the NEH, and David Royle, Executive Vice President for Programming and Production at the Smithsonian Channel, who both gave a passionate and eloquent introduction to the film.

And thank you for everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed the show!

Special Screening

Here Ye Here Ye: You are cordially invited for a special screening of Soul of a People: Writing America's Story at the plush 400 seat Smithsonian American Art Museum's McEvoy Auditorium this Wednesday, December 9th. It's a calling-all-cars-affair, with all the members of the production team, from cameraman to director, present. The evening will also feature honored guests and a surprise visit from a very special friend whose identity is being kept hush-hush. Join us and bring a friend.

Soul of a People's director Andrea Kalin sits down with Pulitzer-Prize winning author Richard Ford (the voice of Jim Thompson in the film) to discuss the Federal Writer's Project and the impact John Cheever (an editor on the New York Project) had on his writing. And much, MUCH more.

Soul Inspires Depression Life Histories Memory Book

Inspired by Soul of a People's rediscovery of the works of the Federal Writers' Project, the Middlesex Community College's Jean Burr Smith Library in Middleton Connecticut has launched a Life History project to collect stories of the Great Depression from those who lived through it or their families. They've also collected a treasure trove of links to Federal Writers' Project material in one convenient place. The legacy of the project lives on!

Federal Writers and Busboys and Poets

They meet at last. Soul will be screened at a Busboys and Poets near you (if you live around the nation's capital). If you've never been to Busboys, prepare to be converted. If you're a Busboys regular, take this opportunity to create a convert and bring a friend.

SCREENING TIMES:
Sun, Oct. 18 @ 5th & K, 8 PM - free
Sun, Oct. 25 @ Shirlington, 8 PM - free

* Busboys @ Shirlington
4251 South Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 379-9757

* Busboys @ 5th & K
1025 5th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 789-BBAP (2227)

Book on TV

In this picture David Taylor, co-producer of the Soul of People documentary and author of Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America sits down with Douglas Brinkley, American historian par excellence and literary executor of Hunter S. Thompson, for a little book talk on C-SPAN's BookTV. Brinkley delivers some of the most memorable lines as a commentator in the film, and we are all huge Brinkley fans. Both authors were in Washington D.C. for the Library of Congress National Book Festival, and you can catch their lively discussion and Q&A by clicking here.

Soul Hits Kansas City

A whirlwind of Soul of a People activity hits Kansas City. Andrea was in town pounding the pavement on the Soul of a People publicity circuit. You can hear an in-depth interview on KCUR and see pictures from the screening at the Kansas City Public Library. "It was a moral crisis," Andrea says in the interview, "the systems had failed the people....," sounds eerily familiar.

Soul Nabs 2009 Non-Fiction "Must-See" Pick

Good news Soul brothers and Soul sisters, Soul nabbed the 2009 MIPCOM Picks "Must See" distinction from Realscreen's editorial staff. We are honored. Read all about it, and check out the clip. "Yes, the recession may be looming large, but while conventional wisdom says that TV viewers want to "get away from it all" when plunked in front of the tube...."

Mayor of Savannah Kicks-Off Soul in Georgia

This just in. The city of Savannah is using Soul as a rallying point for social and political action to combat a depressed economy. Savannah's Mayor Otis Johnson will kick-off the Kick-off Celebration of "Soul of a People." Mayor Johnson will share his perspective as a Mayor of a city facing economic hardships and working to provide relief for its citizens. Living history! This news and much more from our partners at Lane Library at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

The Sun Sets on an Iconic Westerner

Writer, journalist, novelist, champion of the Western, Texan, voice of Vardis Fisher in Soul of a People, Elmer Kelton wore many hats. But his most iconic role was being himself, a man who lived the life he wrote about. It was in fact Elmer's life and life's work about cowboys, settlers, and the pioneering men and women who survived and thrived through grit, will and ingenuity in the rough and rugged landscape of the frontier, that drew Spark to seek him out for the role. The idea from the beginning of the voice overs was always to match up the character in the movie with a kindred literary spirit in America today. And Elmer was a perfect fit for the part of Vardis Fisher. People have commented that Elmer has a Texan accent, and that Vardis wouldn't have had such a thick drawl, but capturing the spirit of the character rather than a spitting audio image was much more important. And Elmer nailed it. And Elmer nailed it without even trying. Because he wasn't acting. Elmer was just being himself, and that's exactly why we wanted him to do Vardis. Andrea said he was a joy to work with, that he was a consummate gentleman, and full of wisdom and a plainspoken genius. Luckily Andrea had the foresight to do a little interview with Elmer at the end of the voice over session, and it is exactly the rift between Western authors and the Eastern literary establishment that Elmer addressed. It is a riveting listen. Elmer passed away in August, at the age of 83, in Texas. He died with his literary boots on, at work on his next novel. We send his family our condolences, and hope you pick up one of his books. Happy trails, cowboy.

Blast From The Past

If you've never heard of Anzia Yezierska, she was a renowned Jewish novelist famous for stories about the life of Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s. Her book of autobiographical short stories, Hungry Hearts, was made into a major motion picture, and her sudden rise to fame earned her the label "the sweatshop Cinderella." The film Hungry Hearts would have been lost to the ages were it not for the National Center for Jewish Film, which restored it and added it to its collection--the biggest repository of Jewish-themed films outside of Israel. And its thanks to NCJF that we were able to use Hungry Hearts in our documentary. Anzia's sudden fall from fame into poverty because of the Depression provided the perfect entry point into the story of the Federal Writers' Project, a sort of reverse Cinderella story, and we could have not brought Anzia to life so vividly without NCJF and Hungry Hearts. We owe them a debt of gratitude for preserving this invaluable part of our national history. Check out the excerpt of Anzia from Soul, and visit NCJF's site, they have an amazing collection of films and resources.

This is Susan Brandehoff, next to the poster of the traveling exhibit of the film. If you had one guess, what do you think her job title might be? Yes, that's correct, she is the American Library Association's Program Director for Traveling Exhibitions and Broadcast Media. And a fabulous program director at that. We owe you many many thanks Susan. Way to exhibit!

Visiting Dena

Since I was in town I dropped by to visit Dena Epstein. She's in the film. She's the person you hear in the very beginning recount her memory of a run on a bank during the Great Depression, and she later tells of her mother's experience on the Writers' Project in Chicago. She is among the few remaining links to that part of our national history, and her experience and memories provided a bridge to the past for us as people and as filmmakers and for the audience. I thought it would be nice to say hi. We talked and ate soup with some her friends. It was nice. Thanks for hanging out Dena.

Drunk on excitement about the screening, Al and I drove down to Harpo productions and knocked on Oprah's door. We also rang the bell, and buzzed the intercom. She wasn't available. She was washing her hair or something. So we left a polite note and then stormed Harpo's gates, unsuccessfully. Then we thought it'd be okay to plug Soul next to their sign, until we triggered the laser beam alarm system and an army of armed security guards shot us down with rubber bullets and tazed Al on the spot (not cool Oprah). Okay, that didn't happen (sorry Oprah), but it was Oprah's place, and it wouldn't have surprised me if that did happen (because people love Oprah). The point is we were ready to risk life and limb for Soul and we love Oprah.

This is Al Stein, lecturer and archivist at Chicago State University, Spark Media's man in ChiTown, and all round awesome individual. Al was the glue that held the screening together, and my tour guide to the Windy City. This is Al in one of his many moments of relentless boosterism for Soul. His energy was infectious. We even tried to get Oprah to plug the screening (see the next post) You rock Al.

In front of me sat the two scholars on the panel (more on them later) watching the film. There was a lot of laughing. I found myself laughing at parts I never realized were that funny. People came up after and said they also cried, or were choked up. It was a very emotional experience for many people. You know, its not Oscar buzz, but its just as powerful to hear things like that. But if anyone out there has some Oscar buzz for Soul, that is also something we'd like to hear about.

On The Big Screen

I've seen Soul of a People about one zillion times. But I've never seen it on the Big Screen. We did a test run of the film in the Newberry Library screening room, and man, I gotta tell you, it felt good seeing it up there in all its glory. It's a totally different experience. I can't wait till Saturday to experience it with a live audience. I don't understand how any director or actor not sit in on a screening of their own film. On second thought, they're just lying, that's how.

Newberry Screening room

My jaw dropped. This the nicest screening room I've ever seen. Just look at the chandeliers, the chairs, the columns, the hardwood floors. Did you see the chandeliers? I truly do feel honored to be given the opportunity to present the film in Newberry libary's screening room. Seriously, thank you Al Stein and Rachel Bohlmann for making this happen.