Since I’ve become a full-time revolutionary, I seem to have lost sight of day-to-day concepts, such as eating, sleeping and earning money… Lo and behold- The American Film Market (AFM) is upon us and our friends from all around the world are congregating in Santa Monica, California for business as usual…
Find out more about our completed projects and those currently in development at http://www.Brookturn.com or feel free to contact me directly to make me an offer I can’t refuse 
On October 1, 2011, I jumped in the car with fellow filmmaker/activist, Sam Sabzehzar to #OccupyLA in Solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet and have since become a full-time revolutionary- with my permanent residence now at the steps of Los Angeles City Hall! Follow our adventures creating the first Constitutional Convention of the Millenium and a Sovereign Nation of Freedom & Peace HERE at ObeyChange
I hope this finds you all well and inspired by the global impact of social media! Below is the link for the details of today’s @OccupyLA In Solidarity with @OccupyWallStreet:
If you don’t know what I’m talking about it’s because the mainstream media black-out was hoping it would just go away but here is the scoop on the nationwide protest against the corporate greed of 1% of America:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/29/nation/la-na-wall-street-protest-20110930
While I am a narrative feature filmmaker (http://www.brookturn.com), I am most known for my celebrity social action campaigns- namely the Truly Independent Vote For Change Video Postcard campaign I co-directed with the iconic artist Shepard Fairey in 2008 resulting in the election of our 44th President (http://www.obeygiant.com/voteforchange)
I have offered my skillset to this leaderless revolution by setting up with our crew to shoot a Vote For Change (http://www.obeygiant.com/voteforchange) Redux digital media installation LIVE from the occupation, of celebrities and activists sharing their Demands For Change. We will be acquiring Freedom of Expression social action content on site at OccupyLA in 2-D AND 3-D!! (thanks to http://www.3DHollywood.com) to be distributed FREE worldwide via mobile phones and handheld devices.
In order to tie it in to solidarity with OccupyWallStreet, I am donating my personal framed copy of the HOPE poster from our wildly successful Vote For Change campaign, signed by my co-director Shepard Fairey himself (with an approximate value upwards of $2500)- to be additionally autographed by the celebs who come through to speak/film and auction or eBay the signed art to benefit the Wall Street Occupation by providing the revolutionaries with provisions and socks to last… and of course to help fund #LetThemEatCake – where various famous chefs from around the world have teamed up to send in cakes & donations from even the 1%ers to inspire & feed this #BloodlessRevolution. Shepard’s HOPE poster made me believe that we could collectively alter the status quo and it serves as one of my prized possessions to remind me that YesWeDid. OccupyWallStreet rekindles those same Hopes in the millions of people who were activated by our art inspiring social action. While I will miss one of my favorite pieces of artwork, I HOPE that my donation will put socks on a lot of revolutionaries’ marching feet!
It is short notice of course, but we accomplished Vote For Change with less than a week also- so I already have a small crew standing by thanks to filmmaker/activist Sam Sabzezhar to show up Saturday from 10AM until 2PM and some journalist friends will be podcasting alongside us; with Shira Lazar of What’s Trending (http://www.whatstrending.tv/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-grows-nationwide/) premiering our footage from OccupyLA Day1!
If you cannot be there in person, please Tweet, Facebook or YouTube your #DemandsForChange.
If you are not sure what your DemandsForChange are- you can check out The Declaration Of Independence from our last American Revolution of 1776 for some further inspiration: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
The Medium IS The Message. Remain steadfast in your righteousness. Stay Occupied.
Being that “Truly Independent” has been a tagline of The Brookturn Co. since its California incorporation in 2003 - 4th of July is a great day for us to celebrate our Independence! I wish that we were celebrating Independence from foreign oil this year… but baby steps…
In the meantime, I cannot help but reflect on how fortunate I have been to have the support and mentorship of some of the greatest creative minds on the planet during my own lifetime, who have helped to shape and mold my evolution as a real-life “Artist”. Don’t get me wrong, I will always remember that my skills as an Independent Producer are what allowed me to hire myself to be an “artist” in the first place- and in these trying economic times, it is even more important that we hold space for our ultimate intentions. If “The Man” or “Studio” isn’t going to give you a break this year, you are surely in a technological wormhole opportunity like no other to “GreenLight Yourself”! Glory in your Indie-pendence! The bloated top-heavy studio systems are scrambling to re-calculate budgets for line-items that they still don’t fully understand- like “social networking” – while we stay up through the night clicking away in the name of global infiltration… perhaps our sweat equity is now worth more than the dollars printed on paper no longer backed by Fort Knox… perhaps Content IS King again…
With these visions of sugarplum fairies dancing in my head and the fire lit under me that Terence Malick has put out another movie in the time it has taken me to polish my next narrative feature script… I delightfully approach pre-production to direct my next picture this Fall, a California love-letter about Sex, Drugs & World Peace, currently entitled POOR LITTLE RICH GIRLS (developed under the mentorship of the late great Laszlo Kovacs, ASC)! I look forward to getting the proverbial band back together of incredible talents I have been lucky enough to work with to see my newest creative visions come to life… and don’t worry, unlike the studio system- we will settle up debts from the last movie before the Next movie LOL…
Of course, in the interim, I have a homework assignment for your own inner artists over this ”summer vacation”: & am super proud of my latest interpretation of Phenomenology, a digital media collaboration with the band Lo Fly Kickaz, born out of my recent artist’s residency with Skillful Methods Records in bohemian Oakland, California. Inspired by their song, “I Love My Life”, we are asking all of you creative individuals to express how YOU Love Life through stills or video- entries submitted prior to August 13 will be included in the global mixed media performance art project.
Please visit http://www.LovingLifeCoalition.org in order to Get Activated!
Looking forward to seeing entries from my artist friends from all around the globe- thanks for reminding me and those around us to maintain a sense of gratitude for our surroundings! You inspire me to continue being Truly Independent & Loving Life!
On this day, the anniversary of my beautiful and talented movie star aunt’s passing 21 years ago, we are Remembering Ina Balin.
Calling all friends, family & fans of Ina Balin!
We are collecting memories, photos & memorabilia for the upcoming Remembering Ina Balin Commemorative coffee table book and documentary. Do you have a piece of memorabilia signed to you from Ina Balin? A personal photo of her visit with you on her USO Tours? A private memory to share about the woman, the humanitarian, or the glamorous movie star?
Post them for public enjoyment on the Remembering Ina Balin Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/RememberingInaBalin or e-mail them for private review to inabalin@yahoo.com
Thanks for continuing to honor her memory & legacy by Remembering Ina Balin.
The Remembering Ina Balin feature length doc will contain never-before-seen footage and interviews with Ina Balin’s family, friends, and former co-stars (already filmed includes Jerry Lewis, Shirley Jones & Marty Ingles, Stuart Whitman, Ronald Neame, C.B.E. and Martin Landau) sharing their memories of the many facets of Ina Balin: the Hollywood & Broadway talent, the woman, and the humanitarian (amongst a lifetime of social action, Balin helped airlift over 200 orphans out of Saigon during the Vietnam War, adopting three of them herself!).
There will be Fair-Use insured footage of Ina Balin with world famous co-stars such as Jerry Lewis (The Patsy), Sophia Loren (The Black Orchid), Paul Newman (From The Terrace), Elvis Presley (Charro!), John Wayne (The Comancheros), Fernando Rey (Run Like A Thief), Ricardo Montalban (The Desperate Mission) and Anthony Quinn (The Black Orchid), alongside glimpses of her hundreds of guest star appearances on such hit TV shows as Bonanza, Magnum P.I., Quincy, Battlestar Gallactica and Wonder Woman. The documentary will end with donations being presented in Ina Balin’s memory to some of the non-profit organizations that she supported during her lifetime (H.A.L.O., Jerry’s Kids, MS Society), as well as the bequeathment of a posthumous star on Hollywood Blvd.
All rights are available to this special project. For more information, please contact: inabalin@yahoo.com
On a personal note: I encourage EVERYONE whether they are a filmmaker or not, to take some time to commemorate the legacy of a family member that you admire. You needn’t wait for them to leave this plane either- some of the most special times I have had this past year, were interviewing my aunt’s brilliant friends about their memories and how they view their own legacies. I am so grateful to have these precious opportunities to bask in their prescient outlook on things I have yet to imagine. My aunt died when I had barely turned 15 years old, but she left an indelible impression on my sense of destiny. She continues to be a lasting role model for me and it has become painstakingly evident through interviews and letters, that I have followed in her footsteps, even when unbeknownst to me at the time! I feel like I am still receiving guidance from her through every photo archived and every interview and every memory shared. Thanks to my entire family and all of Ina’s friends who are taking the time and care to help us preserve her important legacy.
An independent filmmaker will use any angle to “sell that flick” LOL and in that spirit… it’s my Birthday… Wanna Buy My Movie?
Here is a creative way to dust off your Academy Award consideration campaigned short films and selects from the Cannes Short Film Corner… and use them as a fun-draising product for a worthwhile and somehow related cause. Everything old is new again and in this case, we are using the Girl Scout cookie fundraising model to continue to get the message out of our important documentary, while helping thematically cause-related NGO and non-profit organizations to raise their own funds and global awareness per unit sold.
We have the technology, people! Dust off your tapes and do something with your content before they degouse it and sell the tapes off as 2-pass stock… times are tough kids!
Oh, and thanks for all the birthday wishes! To find out what movies I make that you might be interested in buying – please visit http://www.Brookturn.com
