Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Coming up August 1st - an Impactful Discussion about Mental Health and Resources for Wellbeing



Join Academy Gold for a panel discussion in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater to address the unique stressors and pressures faced by individuals working in the film industry, offering insights and strategies to foster resilience and promote wellbeing. 

Featuring: Jaymes Black, CEO at The Trevor Project Dr. Akua K. Boateng, Psychotherapist Sanaa Lathan, Actor/Director/Activist Lyn Morris, LMFT, CEO of Didi Hirsch Peggy Rajski, Filmmaker/Activist Lori Rubinstein, Executive Director of the Behind the Scenes Foundation Eli Stone, Creative 

Moderated by Dr. Janeane Bernstein, journalist, writer, and mental health advocate.

Thursday, July 18, 2024

LIVE on KUCI - 7/17/24 9:00am - Janeane chats with Producer Jay Silverman about his latest film CAMERA, starring Beau Bridges



‘CAMERA’ starring Beau Bridges, centers around a young mute boy who uses an old film camera to express his point of view, with the help of his eccentric mentor (Bridges)


Check out the trailer, and more:
https://www.jaysilvermanproductions.com/camera

Release date: July 23rd on VOD



About the Film
CAMERA is the heartwarming story of loss, hope, and healing, following a mute 9-year-old — OSCAR — who just moved with his widowed mom to a struggling fishing town. Picked on and bullied, nobody realizes that Oscar sees great beauty where others only see despair. Nobody, that is, until a broken camera brings him together with ERIC, an eccentric old repairman, and an unlikely friendship develops. Under Eric’s mentorship, Oscar finds his voice through photography, and in doing so, heals a wounded community.


About the Cast
Starring Beau Bridges (Dreaming’ Wild), Jessica Parker Kennedy (The Flash), Bruce Davison (1923), Scotty Tovar (Finestkind), Ross Partridge (Daisy Jones & The Six), Jorge-Luis Pallo (Father Stu), Ezekiel Bridges (Goliath), Ayinde Howell (For All Mankind), and introducing Miguel Gabriel (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish).



About Jay Silverman

For over 40 years, Jay Silverman has excelled as a leading Director, Producer, and Photographer specializing in award-winning films, television, digital, and print campaigns.

Jay’s narrative films have been awarded numerous Best Feature and Audience Awards at festivals across the country. His current dramatic feature ‘Camera’, stars Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy Award Winner Beau Bridges, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Scotty Tovar, Bruce Davison, and Miguel Gabriel. It will be released on Amazon and iTunes on July 23rd, 2024. 


His first was the multi-award-winning dramatic feature “Girl on the Edge”, starring Peter Coyote, Taylor Spreitler, Mackenzie Phillips, Elizabeth Peňa, Gil Bellows, Rex Lee, Amy Davidson, and Amy Price Francis that premiered on Showtime. His second is the charming romantic comedy “Off the Menu” starring Dania Ramirez, Tony Award Winner Santino Fontana, Makenzie Moss, and Maria Conchita Alonso, which premiered on HBO & Amazon. His third is the true story drama “Saving Paradise” starring William Moseley, Johnna Braddy, Mary Pat Gleason, Bill Cobbs, Paul Dooley, and James Eckhouse currently on Tubi and Amazon.

Jay also Co-Created and Executive Produced “The Cleaner." an hour-long drama for Paramount Pictures, which aired on A & E about an extreme interventionist.

For his commercial work, Jay was honored with Belding, Telly, Premix, and Lucy Awards. In addition, he has also been recognized for his achievements in creating and producing many national PSA campaigns for the American Cancer Society, the Foundation for the Junior Blind, the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, and the Sierra Club. Jay also produced and directed a one-hour special titled "Inside the Rings with Troy Aikman" airing on Fox before the 2011 Super Bowl to much success. He has worked with renowned celebrities such as Denzel Washington, Beyonce, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Jordan, and Ray Charles. His advertising clients include IBM, Coors, Panasonic, Disney, Budweiser, CBS, ABC, Pepsi & Apple.

Some of his early directorial work was for the original launches of the smash hit TV series “American Idol", “Desperate Housewives", "NYPD Blues", "Drew Carey Show" and many more.

A graduate of Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara with a Master of Science Degree, Jay founded Jay Silverman Productions in 1979 in Hollywood, California, and built a 40,000-square-foot facility including 3 sound stages.

Jay currently lives in Los Angeles, California, and has three wonderful daughters.
View Jay’s Career Photography Highlights Here: Photography Portfolio 


BETHANY CERRONA - PRODUCER

With over 15 years of industry experience, Bethany brings her unique talent for storytelling by discovering and developing new projects at Jay Silverman Productions. She oversees all films at every stage from development through final release for films “Girl on the Edge”, “Off The Menu”, and the upcoming “Saving Paradise”. She is an alumnus of Loyola Marymount University School of Film & Television.



Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Coming up 7/10 at 9:00am PT - Jacqueline Gay Walley calls in to talk about her new book The WAW




"In this wonderful new novel by Gay Walley, a
woman makes her own mystery in an English
village completely unlike her life in New
York....Walley, also a playwright, is a master
of erotic tension."

—Terese Svoboda, author of Roxy and Coco and The Long Swim



"There are people who do not settle in one place, but are like the nomadic tribes of the desert, who long for the Waw, the ultimate oasis, where they will finally be home."


So begins Jacqueline Gay Walley’s ninth novel, THE WAW (Etruscan Press | June), in which a woman leaves her New York life behind to follow the beautiful image of a small English town by the sea. Why? She does not quite know, and when asked gives inexplicably different answers as she ponders the town's magnetic pull and plots her complicated departure.

Once living in England, she finds herself in love and surrounded by remarkable people with whom she explores the gifts of solitude coupled with the gifts of community. Is this village the oasis she'd been roaming for her entire life?

Connecting with the beauty of the place and people through music, love, and dignity, this new nomad is stripped down to her essence as she seeks to find her true home.

In an interview, Walley discusses her research on the psychology of nomads – people who have moved throughout their lives for different reasons and have not been colonized. Much like her life, her characters face adversity, struggle to overcome, deal with vulnerability, and ultimately love, later in life.

THE WAW is truly the perfect summer (or any time!) read.

On today's show, Jacqueline shares:


- The meaning of "The Waw"

- How she and her characters found themselves,


- Her focus on renewal and resolution


- and more!




ABOUT

Jacqueline Gay Walley has published eight novels. She has written plays (shown in New York and London) and has released two films based on her books. Her film The Erotic Fire of the Unattainable was selected by six international film festivals and now plays on Amazon Prime.

Born in London and raised in Montreal, Jacqueline lives in New York. She coaches
writing, edits, and ghostwrites.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Coming up 7/3/24 at 9:00am PT - New Jersey singer-songwriter Brian Mackey talks about his new album Good Morning Ireland

New Jersey singer-songwriter Brian Mackey chats about his new album Good Morning Ireland; this recent album encompasses all of the emotions, after the tragic loss of his son to an overdose and the extraordinary renewal with the birth of his daughter, exposing Brian at his lowest and highest moments. With this album, he brings the listener hope and guidance in finding their way toward a light that can only be lit by darkness.

LISTEN

The next single "Dust on the Wall," released on May 17th, is one of the songs where he is really working through the grief. His son's ashes sat in the room where his piano was. He would sit and play when he wanted to talk to him, which helped him work through the idea that he was gone, knowing that he was talking to "Dust on the Wall."

Brian, who is very active in the realm of supporting mental health partnered with MusiCares®, the Recording Academy's charity, to donate 100% of the proceeds from the track, “Saturday Night Sleeping.”

ABOUT THE ALBUM
The songs that would make up Good Morning Ireland, come after a period of pre-covid touring with Kate Voegele + Tyler Hilton on their joint European tour, Howie Day, Tyler Hilton, and American Idol Winner Taylor Hicks. The tours supported a collection of singles, "Promise Me", "Don't Own Much", "Underwater" and "Learn to Be" produced in Los Angeles by Jon Levine (Rachel Platten, Andy Grammer). "Learn to Be" charted #1 most added for 3 weeks in a row tied with John Mayer on the US FMQB A/C Charts. The music video for "Underwater" premiered on the Huffington Post, boasting the headline "Sublimely Gorgeous Music From Brian Mackey". It was also officially nominated for an HMMA award for "Best Independent Music Video”, along with his video for, “Don’t Own Much. During this timeframe, he has also toured with David Bromberg in the US, Ron Pope in Europe, and Jon McLaughlin for select dates.


ABOUT BRIAN MACKEY
From a very early age, the youngest of three had an ear for music. His grandmother played piano, sitting in at local clubs, and his mother dabbled in songwriting. There was nothing Brian liked more than music. “I used to ‘steal’ albums from my brothers and parents. I remember listening to Queen’s “Night at the Opera” over and over and over. I never got sick of it, never got sick of listening to the radio or hearing new music. I liked everything, it didn’t matter what it was as long as the musicians played instruments!” 

While schoolwork didn’t really grab Brian, the attention he got from being good at music did. “When I was 7, my music teacher asked me to sing the 'Star Spangled Banner' for the class. Everyone was so complimentary that it left me inspired and confident. I then went on to sing in church, plays and the school choir.” Having learned piano from his grandmother, and guitar from just a few lessons, Brian was really eager to challenge himself by playing music he heard on the radio rather than what was assigned during lessons. “I would find excuses to stay home from school so I could sit in my room and play the guitar. Something inside me was confident that I was on the right path. I didn’t follow the road that I was encouraged to take, but at the same time, the direction I was heading in felt natural to me.”


Brian tooled around with some bands in Florida, where he admits the warm weather and party atmosphere made it easy to score gigs. Wanting to experience four seasons, he moved around the country and lived in a Volvo 240 wagon – washing dishes by day, bar gigging by night. He landed in New York, where he continued to play in bands until he had an epiphany: “It dawned on me that I would be better off –and would grow more as an artist – if I wrote my own songs and composed my own music. I wanted to live to my full potential and felt like being a solo artist was the best way for me to do that.”


That fateful decision opened many doors for Brian, some leading to great things, some leading to frustration, but always ending with a learning experience that helped him develop. One of the first in a series of steps to improve came when Brian flew to Nashville for a meeting with producer Sam Ashworth (The Civil Wars, Switchfoot, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith), where they recorded “Painted Red.” This track ended up on Brian’s first EP, Feng Shui for Slobs (whose title came from his landlady who wanted Brian’s small 1-bedroom apartment to have “feng-shui”), and became Brian’s very first commercial placement, turning up on the Disney Channel’s Naturally Sadie.


His second EP, Brian Mackey Red, was a very different period altogether. Brian was in a management contract with a successful producer, and although he flew Brian to Los Angeles to work with a lot of well-known musicians, Brian was ultimately unhappy with the music. He returned to Nashville, recording Honest Love, his third EP. It’s been described by Brian as “My breaking away album, my independence flag; I made the EP with my own money and did it exactly the way I wanted it.” The title track, “Honest Love,” as well as songs “Color Blue,” and “Out on the Road,” have garnered features in TV, Film, and National and International Branding Campaigns. A few among them are CMT Edge, A&E, Lifetime, Travel Channel, Arla Foods Demark, Unicef UK and Rebel One Pictures.

"Dust on the Wall" (out 5/17 )
GOOD MORNING IRELAND (Out June 21) : STREAM // DOWNLOAD
RIYL: Noah Kahan, Tyler Childers, David Kushner
Website // Instagram // YouTube // X // Facebook // Spotify



Coming up on 7/3/24 at 9:30am PT - DARK CALORIES: How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back, Cornell-trained biochemist turned family physician and New York Times bestselling author of Deep Nutrition, Dr. Cate Shanahan






The New York Times bestselling author of Deep Nutrition explains how eight common seed oils cause the cellular damage that underlies virtually all chronic disease, exposes the corruption that deceives doctors and consumers alike, and gives us a clear roadmap to recovery and rejuvenation.

Did you know that consuming a large serving of french fries—cooked in vegetable oil—delivers the toxicity of smoking 24 cigarettes?

Cornell-trained biochemist turned family physician Dr. Cate Shanahan introduces us to well-respected scientists who warn that vegetable oils are a public health disaster, wreaking havoc on our bodies’ cells by depleting antioxidants and promoting free radical toxicity.

Their many effects include:

  • Uncontrollable hunger, so we need drugs to maintain our weight
  • Inflammatory fat buildup under our skin and within our internal organs and arteries
  • Blood sugar swings that promote bad moods and antisocial behavior
  • Disrupted brain energy, concentration problems, and mental illnesses
  • Intracellular oxidative stress that promotes cancer development
  • Gut inflammation, bloating, heartburn, and the runs
Americans were enticed into buying these oils based on their cholesterol-lowering property, but the idea that cholesterol-lowering is beneficial was pushed on us without solid evidence to support it. In Dark Calories, Dr. Cate reveals the financial entanglements between industry and underhanded academics who created and sustain our 1950s-era, arbitrary dietary rules.

As a solution, she proposes a clear, no-nonsense plan that aligns with our genetic needs and nature’s laws. Thankfully, recovering our health is simplified by the fact that nutrients that treat one condition also tend to treat all the rest. As an added bonus, we also revive our sense of taste so that our cravings shift to wholesome, nourishing foods instead.


An astonishing one-third of Americans’ caloric intake comes from vegetable oils, yet most people don’t know what vegetable oil actually is, let alone what it does to our bodies.

In the forthcoming book DARK CALORIES: How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back, Cornell-trained biochemist turned family physician and New York Times bestselling author of Deep Nutrition Dr. Cate Shanahan reveals the growing body of scientific evidence that shows why vegetable oils (specifically cottonseed, corn, canola, soybean, sunflower, and safflower) are a public health problem, depleting antioxidants and causing the cellular damage that underlies many chronic diseases (Hachette Go; June 11).



In an interview, Dr. Cate can share:

· What oils are healthy and the best way to use them

· Why all calories are not all equal – traditional fats can help suppress hunger and give us more energy, while vegetable oils can make us tired and hungry

· Her two-week challenge to help readers ditch vegetable oils for good and chart a path to better eating and overall metabolic health

· How vegetable oils became so entrenched in the American diet - as of 2020, vegetable oil is a 115.8 billion dollar global industry and accounts for more calories in our diets than flour or sugar.

· The financial history between the vegetable oil industry and the early days of the American Heart Association and the lingering effects of that relationship on nutrition thought today


David Perlmutter, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grain Brain, Drop Acid, calls DARK CALORIES, “A compelling and eye-opening exploration into the harmful impacts of vegetable oils on our health, challenging widely held beliefs and shedding light on the root causes of many metabolic diseases…Brave and necessary.”


About the author

Dr. Cate is a Family Medicine MD whose revolutionary approach to nutrition and willingness to expose deep-seated flaws and conflicts of interest in science has earned global recognition as a thought leader, NYT Bestselling Author, sought after speaker and consultant.

She has been a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher and Good Morning America and featured in The Magic Pill documentary and The Real Skinny on Fat docuseries, Scientific American, Sports Illustrated, Men's Journal, CNN, US News and World Report, Prevention Magazine, Vogue, National Geographic, GQ, the New York Post, Woman's World, People Magazine among others as well as numerous radio talk shows and popular podcasts.

Learn more at DrCate.com

Coming up! UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts - Joel Veenstra, Chair, Department of Drama, Head of Stage Management

Chair, Department of Drama Head of Stage Management Joel Veenstra is a professional stage manager, production manager, producer, and improvi...