Award-winning filmmaker and director Varda Bar-Kar joined me Monday at 9:30am pst!

Great show today featuring award-winning
filmmaker Varda Bar-Kar! 

If you missed Varda Bar-Kar
on today's show, listen here!

BIG VOICE – MUSICAL FEATURE DOCUMENTARY TO MAKE LOCAL DEBUT AT 11TH ANNUAL LA FEMME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 15-18, 2015

Uplifting Film Chronicles A Year in the Life of  Santa Monica High School's Choir Director Jeffe Huls

BEVERLY HILLS, CA –BIG VOICE the new musical feature documentary that follows a year in the life of a demanding high school choir teacher who pushes his students to become “one big voice," will make it's hometown festival debut at the 11th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival on Saturday, October 17 at 10 am at the Laemmle Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills. (The official World Premiere will be the following day at the Heartland Film Festival.)

 BIG VOICE, directed by award-winning filmmaker Varda Bar-Kar, chronicles a year in the life of Santa Monica High School choir director Jeffe Huls striving to create his dream ensemble. Following a series of competitive auditions, Mr. Huls assembles what seems to be the most ideal combination of voices he’s ever had - but he soon discovers that these 32 talented teenagers are also the most unwieldy group he has ever taught. Mr. Huls must convince his students to set aside their egos, conflicting styles, and teenage angst to achieve the artistry he knows they are capable of.

When Varda Bar-Kar first attended Samohi’s Winter Concert she was moved to tears by the beauty of the choir’s voice. “I wanted to find out how Mr. Huls did it. And I realized that BIG VOICE could be an opportunity to tell the story of a dedicated teacher who makes a profound difference in his students’ lives and to reveal how valuable arts education can be,” said Bar-Kar.

The award-winning filmmaker has screened her work in major festivals and networks. Her accolades include Heartland’s Crystal Heart Award, Silver Telly Award, YouTube’s Most Innovative Non-Profit Video Award, NewFilmmakers/LA Grand Jury & Audience Awards, and SHOOT magazine’s 2010 New Director’s Showcase.

The BIG VOICE production team also included Co-Producer Marina Viscun, Executive Producers Deb Love, Carol Coote, John Beug and associate producers Dennis Leight, Karen Lavender & Robert McFalls.

More information on Big Voice can be found on the BIG VOICE facebook page (www.facebook.com/BigVoiceMovie), YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/bigvoicemovie) and the official film website at http://bigvoicemovie.com. The trailer can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkhdUU-a1II.







Tickets can be purchased at www.lafemme.org/tickets or prior to the screening at the Laemmle Music Hall located at 9038 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills.







For more information on the LA Femme International Film Festival screening or to arrange interview with the director and stars, please contact Deborah Gilels, LA Media Consultants, at 818-758-6509.







# # #

ANNOUNCING the KICKSTARTER campaign for NANA, (the feature transgenerational documentary on Serena Dykman's grandmother who was an Auschwitz survivor and activist for tolerance) is now live at www.nanafilm.com

LOGLINE

The filmmaker retraces her grandmother's Auschwitz survival story, and investigates how her life-long fight against intolerance can be passed on to new generations in the 21st century. 

#NanaForTolerance 

And link to the campaign www.nanafilm.com 

Serena Dykman

President

Adleek USA, Inc. 

serenadykman@me.com
www.serenadykman.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5660378

Amy Guittard, a fifth generation chocolate maker at the Guittard Chocolate Company, and author of the Guittard Chocolate Cookbook: Decadent Recipes from San Francisco's Premium Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Company joined me Monday at 9:00am pst!

Great start to today's show
featuring special guest Amy Guittard
of the Guittard Chocolate Company
(I kept craving hot chocolate during our conversation!) 
If you missed Amy Guittard on today's show, listen here!

Amy Guittard joined me this morning from the amazing Guittard Chocolate family. She is a fifth generation chocolate maker at the Guittard Chocolate Company, and has written the Guittard Chocolate Cookbook: Decadent Recipes from San Francisco's Premium Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Company . Founded almost 150 years ago in San Francisco by Amy's great-great-grandfather Etienne, Guittard is America's oldest continuously family-run chocolate company and has been making artisan chocolate for home bakers, pastry chefs, and confectioners alike.

Amy is the first Guittard woman to join the family business and this is going to be a great conversation about her role and how she decided to become part of the family biz!

Not only does she oversee marketing (including the company's brand refresh) she has taken an increasingly larger role in sourcing and sustainability efforts visiting and collaborating with growers, buyers and chefs. In August, she traveled to the Ivory Coast with John Kehoe, Guittard’s Director of Sustainability, as part of their ongoing effort to engage with their supply chain. Amy met with various partners, farmer groups, and government entities regarding the Ivorian market, their work with World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), and their sustainability and sourcing efforts.

The 60 recipes in the book share the story of the Guittard family and friends and chocolate traditions all while connecting the reader with chocolate's history, culture, and artistry.

Amy’s photos are on Guittard’s Instagram.

See the tantalizing book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFPsRc3hyBA



ABOUT AMY GUITTARD
Amy Guittard is a fifth-generation San Franciscan who oversees marketing and is increasingly involved in sourcing and sustainability measures at Guittard Chocolate Company, the company her great-great-grandfather founded in 1868. She is often traveling the globe to meet with farmers, buyers, traders, and chefs. Amy is an avid surfer, runner, farmers’ market shopper, and photographer. Amy is a board member of Creative Growth Art Center, a non-profit that serves adult artists with developmental, mental and physical disabilities. She lives in San Francisco.

Natural health expert Cheryl Myers, RN, joined me Monday at 9:30am to talk about the health benefits and research behind Grape Seed Extract and OPCs

If you missed Cheryl Myers on today's show, listen here!


ABOUT CHERYL MYERS

Cheryl Myers, RN, is an integrative health nurse, author, and expert on natural medicine. She is a nationally-recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal andPrevention Magazine. Her many articles have been published in such diverse journals as Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Nutrition in Complementary Care, and her research on botanicals has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society.

You’ve heard of the French Paradox – French people eat a diet high in fats but have half the heart disease of Americans – partly because of the wine they consume with their meals. It turns out that it’s not just wine that provides health benefits. Grape SEEDS do too!

Grape seed extract is extremely rich in antioxidants and oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes (OPCs). OPCs can help normalize high blood pressure, protect the blood vessel walls from damaging free radical activity, and prevent the dangerous oxidation of LDL cholesterol—one of the first steps on the road to a heart attack or stroke.

A high-OPC grape seed extract can help to:
Stop deep vein thrombosis
Prevent diabetes and obesity
Reduce inflammation
Prevent oxidative damage
Speed muscle recovery
Lower blood pressure
Protect the brain

“There’s a lot of promising research using grape seed extract for aiding in the treatment of cancer,” says natural health expert Cheryl Myers, RN. “It has been found to help inhibit tumor growth, stop inflammation, and prevent oxidative damage. And, it may make chemotherapy more effective. The tricky part is getting OPCs that are small enough to be absorbed. Some grape seed extracts contain tannins which are too large to be absorbed (but technically count as OPCs.) They are like Great Danes when you really need a Chihuahua. Tannin-free grape seed extracts with small OPCs are the best.”

Emmy award-winning filmmaker Susan Steinberg, MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN, joined me Monday at 9:00am pst!

Did you miss today's show featuring Susan Steinberg?
Listen to our conversation here! 

ABOUT SUSAN STEINBERG
Susan Steinberg
Born in Chicago, lives in London, UK.

Susan Steinberg is an Emmy Award winning writer, director and producer best known for her work on PBS series American Masters. She has produced and directed documentaries on Paul Simon, Edward R. Murrow and the founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun.

Since moving to London in 2004, Steinberg was drawn to the international and overwhelmingly female art scene. With her experience as a biographer, she set out to make a collective biography over the course of four years.

The result is a film about ten extraordinary artists: Mirrors to Windows: The Artist as Woman.

MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN, the new feature documentary set in the vibrant London art scene, recently made its U.S. festival debut at the 11th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival on Saturday, October 17 at 8PM at the Laemmle Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills.

Directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Susan Steinberg, MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN follows the trajectories of three generations of women artists, ages 22 – 82, from the studio to the gallery, giving a rare insight into the lives of ten artists working across diverse mediums, united by an enduring belief in themselves and their work. While the artists hail from Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, the UK and United States, MIRRORS TO WINDOWS weaves their unique perspectives in art to tell the multi-faceted story of an artist’s life.

Filmed over a period of three years, director Steinberg takes the audience on a fast paced yet intimate journey behind the gallery walls to reveal the dynamic nature of this enigmatic calling. Taking advantage of both her 30- year career in documentary filmmaking and her training as a psychotherapist, Steinberg delivers a lively and attentive portrait of ten courageous and dedicated artists, who stories are universal.

“In ‘Mirrors to Windows’ my aim was to make an intimate film about an artist’s life, a film that would leave the audience feeling they were dropping into the artists’ studio," Steinberg says. "With ten main characters, this was not an easy task, yet those who have viewed the film have commented on its intimacy, which was accomplished by a long production schedule."

She spent three years filming characters in their studios preparing for and setting up their exhibitions and developing close relationships with each and every one of them. To create an environment that would lend itself to intimacy, for the first time she shot the studio material herself.

Susan Steinberg is an Emmy award-winning writer, director and producer, best known for her work on the PBS series “American Masters” where she produced and directed documentaries on Paul Simon, Edward R. Murrow and Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. She began her career as an editor on “Gimme Shelter” and on Robert Frank’s notorious film, “Cocksucker Blues.”

MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN features Maliheh Afnan, Alice Anderson, Helaine Blumenfeld OBE, Jodie Corey, Susa Collins, Nermine Hammam, Charlotte Hodes, Sarah Lederman, Almuth Tebbenhoff and Rose Wylie RA.

According to New Yorker Magazine writer and theater critic John Lahr: “Susan Steinberg has made a terrific, probing documentary about international female visual artists. She follows ten artists, well chosen both for their work ad their personalities, in a cunningly, well- organized fashion. It’s an extremely well-told, full length film that I admire.”

More at http://www.mirrorstowindows.com/

Indie Go Go Campaign: http://tinyurl.com/pz3sxuy
DVDs and more at:
http://tinyurl.com/pz3sxuy


View Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/138643725
www.mirrorstowindows.com


Twitter:@SDS_productions
Facebook: /mirrorstowindows
Email: sds48@me.com

“MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN” FEATURE DOCUMENTARY TO MAKE U.S. DEBUT AT 11TH ANNUAL LA FEMME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 15-18, 2015

The Film Follows an International Cast of Women Artists Forging Their Careers in the Heat of the London Art Scene.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN, the new feature documentary set in the vibrant London art scene, will make its U.S. festival debut at the 11th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival on Saturday, October 17 at 8PM at the Laemmle Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills.

Directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Susan Steinberg, MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN follows the trajectories of three generations of women artists, ages 22 – 82, from the studio to the gallery, giving a rare insight into the lives of ten artists working across diverse mediums, united by an enduring belief in themselves and their work. While the artists hail from Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, the UK and United States, MIRRORS TO WINDOWS weaves their unique perspectives in art to tell the multi-faceted story of an artist’s life.

Filmed over a period of three years, director Steinberg takes the audience on a fast paced yet intimate journey behind the gallery walls to reveal the dynamic nature of this enigmatic calling. Taking advantage of both her 30- year career in documentary filmmaking and her training as a psychotherapist, Steinberg delivers a lively and attentive portrait of ten courageous and dedicated artists, who stories are universal.

“In ‘Mirrors to Windows’ my aim was to make an intimate film about an artist’s life, a film that would leave the audience feeling they were dropping into the artists’ studio," Steinberg says. "With ten main characters, this was not an easy task, yet those who have viewed the film have commented on its intimacy, which was accomplished by a long production schedule."

She spent three years filming characters in their studios preparing for and setting up their exhibitions and developing close relationships with each and every one of them. To create an environment that would lend itself to intimacy, for the first time she shot the studio material herself.

Susan Steinberg is an Emmy award-winning writer, director and producer, best known for her work on the PBS series “American Masters” where she produced and directed documentaries on Paul Simon, Edward R. Murrow and Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. She began her career as an editor on “Gimme Shelter” and on Robert Frank’s notorious film, “Cocksucker Blues.”

MIRRORS TO WINDOWS: THE ARTIST AS A WOMAN features Maliheh Afnan, Alice Anderson, Helaine Blumenfeld OBE, Jodie Corey, Susa Collins, Nermine Hammam, Charlotte Hodes, Sarah Lederman, Almuth Tebbenhoff and Rose Wylie RA.

According to New Yorker Magazine writer and theater critic John Lahr: “Susan Steinberg has made a terrific, probing documentary about international female visual artists. She follows ten artists, well chosen both for their work ad their personalities, in a cunningly, well- organized fashion. It’s an extremely well-told, full length film that I admire.”

More at http://www.mirrorstowindows.com/

Tickets can be purchased at www.lafemme.org/tickets or prior to the screening at the Laemmle Music Hall located at 9038 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills.

For more information on the LA Femme International Film Festival screening or to arrange interview with the director and stars, please contact Deborah Gilels, LA Media Consultants, at 818-758-6509.

Carolyn Inmon author of The Seven Characters Of Abuse joined me Monday at 9:00am pst!

Miss Carolyn Inmon on today's show?
Listen here!

The Seven Characters of Abuse
Carolyn and Tanya Brown are passionate about helping women to identify the seven characters of abuse. The authors make it clear that domestic abuse begins with these behaviors which even though they aren’t physical, they are abusive and hurtful. These actions can be independent behaviors or lead to physical abuse. In either case, they are about power and control not about healthy love. By sharing real life examples of women in these relationships, the authors hope readers will identify and by presenting questions and journal pages, the authors continue the process of identification and reflection. Many women may want to change their situation and this book will help them with that decision including the continuous emphases on doing so safely. Carolyn has been grateful for the experience of co-authoring this book because she hopes that it will help women who may not even realize they are victims of abuse.

From Fright to Might – Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

My colleagues at Mt. San Antonio College and I wrote a textbook for the sometimes dreaded Speech 1A – Public Speaking class.

“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” Jerry Seinfeld

More than 60,000 students have used that book which teaches the principles of public speaking along with strong suggestions for overcoming fear and discovering the power of effective public speaking. (ISBN 9781884155444, 7TH edition, 2012, paperback, 293 pages)

School Watch

This is a column which appears each month in the Irvine Community News & Views.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Carolyn Inmon and Tanya Brown have been working together since 2009. Bringing different personalities, skills and backgrounds to the relationship, they work well together because they listen respectfully to each other and are both passionately dedicated to the prevention of domestic abuse and the creation and maintenance of loving relationships.

During their collaboration, Tanya has earned her B.A. and M.A. in psychology and Carolyn has done a great deal of research on domestic abuse, power and control. Many speeches have been written during that time including such topics as never giving up, teaching as community service, leadership, power and control,  and one of Tanya’s personal favorites – wellness.

Their primary mission is the eradication of abuse and they are adamant about getting the word out to domestic abuse victims and predators. Towards this goal, they have written the book, “Seven Characters of Abuse – Domestic Violence – Where It Starts and Where It Can End.”   Plans are to write a series of books on this and similar topics.