The 2010 (Women’s) Effect: The 100th Annual International Women’s Day

I am joining with legions of others around the world today to honor women for all they are and all they do as the greatest and most powerful force on Planet Earth. Mine will not be a lengthy tribute, but I do want to point up some of the amazing resources I’ve found that are providing different perspectives on the achievements of women, and some of the biggest challenges faced by many of them. Read more

Designing characters, stories and more with Shilo’s Jose Gomez

If you haven’t seen the book “We Make It Good” from the filmmakers at creative production company Shilo, you are hereby enthusiastially encouraged to check it out. As you’ll see there — or by exploring Shilo’s archives at www.shilo.tv — much of the company’s extraordinary content leverages the character design talents of co-founder, creative director and director Jose Gomez. Among many illustrious achievements to date, Jose and his team helped creative agency ATTIK bring Scion’s world famous deviants to life, building upon Shilo’s many other breakthrough film projects, and some design feats earlier in Jose’s career for highly successful skate, snow and surf brands. Since regular video conferences typically involve Shilo’s entire executive team on both U.S. coasts in every company undertaking, Jose’s skills as a character designer weigh heavily into most Shilo projects. Collaborating most recently with GlobalHue Latino, Shilo’s latest film Read more

The power of dreams…

At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.

By pursuing the opportunies that have come my way over the years and applying my talents, my writing achievements and my reputation for success have opened many doors. One of them opened in the early 90s when a young Orlando filmmaker named Bill Waxler decided he wanted to produce and direct a 16mm short film based on something I’d written. Delving into my past experiences, I wrote a script for a dramatic short which I entitled “Bumper Crop,” and in that story Read more

Laura Longsworth: Thanks for the Documentary

Thanks once again to Sundance Channel, I recently had another life-altering experience from a documentary film they chose to program. This time, the film is entitled “Luckey,” it was produced, written and directed by filmmaker Laura Longsworth, and it documents the challenges faced by sculptor Tom Luckey to carry on with his life, his artistry and his business after experiencing a major spinal injury. Read more

Much love to and from The Children’s Playhouse

A creative play space for families, and a powerful force for community goodness in Boone, North Carolina, USA

After helping my wife Beth Darnell, and her sister Ann Kiefert, their comrade Kathy Parham, and many others from our then-new hometown of Boone, North Carolina, open The Children’s Playhouse in November of 2002, I am very proud to see how Kathy has led the venture in countless ways which continue adding precious dimensions to our community. The video featured here was produced by our friend Beth Jacquot in 2003, and much has happened since then. I invite you to visit the official site www.GoPlayhouse.org and explore the Facebook group, and I also wanted to share news from a recent event that reveals a lot about our community, and Kathy.
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Haiti Now

Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected by this catastrophe. Donations can still be sent via text message:

Red Cross: Text HAITI to 90999 ($10 donation)
Yéle Haiti: Text YELE to 501501 ($5 donation)

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Love clicks, in the true spirit of the season….

We’ve reached the time of year when I invite you to join me in sending daily clicks to www.hungersite.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each day. Big thanks to Travis the Elf for picking The Hunger Site as his Project for Awesome entry at this time last year, and for posting this video. Together with my family, I am sending my warmest thoughts to many friends and colleagues worldwide, and feeling a lot of gratitude.  I’m especially thankful to the individuals behind my client companies ATTIK, a52, Elastic, Brand New School, Rock Paper Scissors, Shilo and We Are Plus for helping to support the following organizations over the past several years. Read more

Tommy Ewasko, Imagemaker Extraordinaire…

This Friday and Saturday nights, and by private appointments thereafter, The Wine Cave in Montrose, California, will proudly host Artist’s Receptions and Charitable Fine Art Sales honoring master Getty Images imagemaker Tommy Ewasko and his work, and benefiting Amazing Grace Children’s Foundation. On display and available to collectors on a first-come, first-served basis are numerous Art and Gallery Prints from Tommy’s exclusive America’s Moments and Hot Color Icons collections. Please join us for wonderful wine tasting experiences, while getting to know one of America’s great imagemakers and his one-of-a-kind works. Read more

Joining iParticipate.org in honoring Veterans today and tomorrow…

In my humble opinion, iParticipate.org has been doing an outstanding job of promoting its very important mission and inciting us all to consider volunteering to support members of the military who have done so much for us all through their military commitments. The above public service announcement (PSA) was released back in September, and I wanted to share it, and also include its transcript. Read more

Brought to you by deep love and appreciation for local libraries

Growing up in Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida, I am extremely indebted to many local libraries and librarians who helped encourage me to learn and grow as an individual. This week’s posting is short and sweet, inviting you to visit the American Library Association’s great ilovelibraries.org site where you can learn a lot about local libraries across America and sign up for their informative newsletter, their Facebook fan page, and more. Happy learning!