Ma and Pa Films Blog

Only Connect...

2012-02-07T14:05:00.001-08:00

“ONLY CONNECT…” E. M. Forster

Dear Friends of Lost In Living,

I’m in the homestretch of completing my film. But I still need at least $5000 to pay for the very experienced editor I’ve hired to finish the work she’s begun and to pay a small fee to the amazing composer who will create a completely original score for the entire film. That’s a big chunk of money, I know. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t be writing to you to help contribute to that amount. But I thought, wow, I have over 400 friends on Facebook. What if each person contributed $10 to my project? That would be such a tremendous help. Each of you would be contributing to a film that I’ve spent more than seven years working on. A film that speaks for so many mothers, women, parents, children, wives, husbands and friends who want to be engaged in what it means to be a creative and productive person in the world.

Some of you have already contributed and I am more than grateful. Your support has already gone a long way. With just a little more help this film will be finished by Summer 2012. Every person who contributes will have their name in the final credits of the film and every person who contributes $20 or more will receive their very own personal DVD of the film.

I’ve sent you the trailer and clips from the film. I’ve posted these numerous times on facebook. You have seen what the women in the film are sharing. Some of you have even shared your stories. Stories which are truly moving, honest and insightful. I thank you for that. It is obvious to me that this film is far reaching and allows people to open up about their situations: to share their experiences and connect.

Think of it this way, you are participating in a project that gives voice to people who often get mired in the every day lives of taking care of children, partners and a household. People who also have the deep desire and drive to create art and reach out to the rest of the world. For them this film is one way, sometimes the only way, for them to connect with others. They are saying and creating important and relatable things. You’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the clips – these women are deep thinkers who strive to be productive, vital and resonant. You can help them do that with this film. You can help yourself connect by actively participating. Whether it’s contributing financially, sharing your story, commenting on the blog or facebook page or emailing your feedback, I am so grateful and I am listening.

All you have to do is go to the website here and hit the donate button. There you can pay with a credit card or paypal. If you don’t feel comfortable contributing on the internet you can write a check to my non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, “Filmmakers Alliance” and send it to me at 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001. You will receive a receipt from Filmmakers Alliance thanking you.

No contribution is too small and all contributions are fully tax-deductible. In addition to a financial contribution one of the most valuable ways you can support me is to forward this blog post to as many people as possible. I know many of you, like me, are also trying to raise money for your own projects and contributing will be a burden to you, as it would for me. What I hope is that we can help each other stay aware of our projects, so we can bring them up in conversation, spread the word and make sure our worthy projects get made.

To view the ten-minute trailer of the film, please go here or .

Please become a fan on Facebook here and check back here for updates about the film.

Subscribe to the youtube channel here where you can see all the selected clips I have posted.

I hope you will consider making a $10 contribution to the film and then passing this message on to your friends and family who will resonate with this project. Please know I also completely understand if you simply can’t or don’t want to contribute. I get it. We all have our specific interests and we should all respect them. And I thank you for listening to me and reading this letter.

My heartfelt gratitude,

Mary

Share Your Stories - Excerpts

2012-01-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Lost In Living Film Supporters:

We are pushing forward with the editing and hoping to complete the film by this Summer. Your help and encouragement has kept me going and kept this project going. I am so grateful. We still need help paying for more time with an editor and paying for a composer so your continued support is much appreciated. Thank you. In the meantime I have a lot of great stories and clips to share with you. Enjoy.

A few months ago I asked you to share your own stories about being a mother and an artist. Or perhaps stories of friends, relatives or acquaintances. I was quite moved by the responses I received. So many people shared their pain, their insights and their joys. It is clear to me that the women in Lost In Living are not alone and that this film is an important portal for women’s voices. With the permission of the writers, I have included some of the excerpts of those stories here. I am touched by the candor, the honesty and the depth of these experiences and I hope you will be too. And if you’d like to add your stories or comment on what you read here, I would love to hear what you have to share. Please feel free to email me personally (marytrunk@sbcglobal.net) or comment on the blog or facebook page here. I am listening!

Parisa ( Photographer/Filmmaker):

If I stop having creative thoughts and ideas, I’m lost and depressed. It’s the thing that ‘makes everything alright’. And I truly think that without art and a creative outlet, the world is a soul-less place and that we are all creating in one form or another just to stay ‘alive’; some of us in the visual arts, some of us as mothers!

But to sum it all up in one paragraph, since I have had kids, I have earned very little money. My husband is the bread-winner and even though this has been stressful at times, he has been really supportive of my career. He understands that if I can’t do what I love to do, I am miserable and feel like I am letting myself down.

When asked what I do, I always say I’m a photographer. Even though I think of myself an artist, I always feel pretentious and self- indulgent saying it, unless I’m taking my practice seriously enough and making a living out of it.

My parents were not ‘artists’ but I guess my mother was creative in her own way. She was flamboyant and glamorous and she loved art and beautiful things, so perhaps I had a lot of exposure through her. But also being a girl in a middle-upper class Iranian family, the notion of work and career had little significance. My parents assumed I would marry someone and be looked after. My parents also lost all of their money, so I don’t have the luxury that I thought I did when growing up. There is no trust fund that will pay for my kids’ education or one that would buy us a house. So a lot of the internal issues I struggle with re: money have a lot to do with my upbringing…. And part of me feels like I don’t have the right to make art. Making art is for the rich.

Laurie (Violinist):

At this point the things that I have given up and the things I have gained have become so intertwined that I hardly know one from the other. For example, I've all but given up playing gigs on a regular basis, so that I can be with my family. But at the same time, I learned that it's okay to stop being someone's performing monkey and to do my own thing, to create my own artistic space in the world instead of begging to be a part of something already established. When my kids (now 11 and 14) were young and at home so much, I had to stop now and then and take them to the park instead of steaming away with my own projects. I learned that my very willful and directed work ethic wasn't always the formula for inspiration, that sometimes dropping everything to go outside actually helped me return to my work with a different perspective. I learned so much more about teaching and communicating, and also about levels of communication. The question, how do I explain this to a six-year-old? also somehow relates to, how do I explain my art to someone on the outside of it, without talking down or making them want to run away? I no longer want to explode when I have to drop everything to help my kids. My art will be there, but my role in creating their lives is a limited one and a thing of such beauty. They are learning to create their own way, they've always been learning that. My art is with me always, I have a little more trust in that.

Anne (Choreographer/dancer):

I am a choreographer/dance teacher and mother of 2 young girls. I have danced since I was a child and have been making dances since my early 20's when I met my husband. Now, I am 38. Although I think I have known this for many years, it has just become glaringly real that my husband is deeply threatened by my creative side. He feels completely abandoned when I take on new projects. It has come to the point where he cannot ask me about my dancing life at all.

You ask what do you give up?

I am contemplating giving up the fantasy that my husband can celebrate my creativity. I don't know if I can.

Becky (Actor/Writer):

I've been putting off answering these questions because my main feeling about being creative now that I have children is that I'm not anymore -- and I feel bad about it. I love having two children -- I wanted two. I think if I just had one I'd have things more under control in my life, but it probably wouldn't be that different creatively. My biggest creative obstacle is myself. I could do it around the kids if I tried harder.

When asked what I do, I say I'm an actress. I've always defined myself as that and still feel connected to it, although I'm starting to feel comfortable with writing. I'd never say I'm a writer because I haven't made any money at it, sad. My creative expression has changed since becoming a parent -- I'm not sure who I am creatively right now because before I used to do a lot of comedy that was based on my crazy behavior and I used my 'cuteness' for lack of a better word to be funny. After having kids I no longer feel cute, appealing, or wild anymore, so I've had a hard time adjusting. I don't want to cross over yet to playing old ladies, but I fear that's what I am now. On the positive side, I've started to trust other forms of expression and am beginning to feel comfortable with a more subtle comedy, and have begun trusting my writing voice more than ever, and allowing myself to write without judging as much if it's funny or not.

I think the importance I put on success is much less since I've had kids, so if I never had kids and then had less success as I aged, I would be very depressed. Having kids just made all of that world, worrying about how others perceived me, and competing with other actresses, and all that, seem shallow and less important. But I think that in the true creative sense of acting and theatre and writing, having children has made me more geniune in my experience with it and less superficial.

I think I am the parent I want to be. I'm completely connected to my kids. I'm not perfect, but I don't know what that is. I show my anger to my kids when I'm genuinely angry, and I try to be honest with them all the time. I would like to give them a better example of a woman who's confident and productive creatively, I guess that's the thing I'm not doing. And that's the main thing missing in my life. And I'm struggling along, but maybe I'm not one of the geniuses I compare myself to and wish I were, but I'm one of the half-way artists in the middle who never does anything truly great, but appreciates those who do.

On failing as a parent:

Suzan:
I am sure my daughter will have years of therapy even though I swore that I would never raise her like my mom did. I just think it’s part of the genetics – we love, we try, we fail but we do the best we can.

Jamie:
My own dear mother would have said, “the really sad thing is, this is not the worst you will ever feel.” Horrifyingly Zen.

Maggie:
I fail every day, multiple times. Acknowledging this is both a relief and an incentive. And I try to remember Scout’s description of her father Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird: “Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, he read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.”

Jenny:
I'm learning, and will continue to learn, that I fail as a parent when I don't show them how to be authentic to the person I am. I'm finding that as I stay true to who I am, I'm a better person, friend, mother and wife. It's sooooo easy to lose yourself once you have kids. It's so easy to fall into becoming what you "think" you should be but without being true to myself, I fail at everything! What is hard is now finding myself again after losing myself for so long!

On what we give up when becoming a mother:

Maggie:

The origin of the word sacrifice means 'to make holy.' Having children should be viewed in this light, not in the modern definition of sacrifice which means giving something up. When we choose to have children, we engage in the act of making something holy or sacred (perhaps life, living, etc), an act that challenges who we think we are, what we think is the right way to live, etc. When we choose to do anything in life, we should do it in this light so we remain dynamic rather than static in our definition of self. For when we think of having children as having to give something up, we undermine having children as a choice and are tempted to think of it as a burden on or challenge to our pre-determined lives. Accepting children into one's life is the attempt to make life sacred and fuller; it is not about trying to maintain one's former self but creating a new, improved self. Just my thoughts . . .

"All Serious Daring Starts From Within." Eudora Welty

2012-01-06T13:43:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 will be the year we dare ourselves to take the risks we've always wanted to take, to know that what we do is important to someone, somewhere and to enjoy the challenges ahead. Thank you all for your support. This clip of Merrill Joan Gerber gives you a glimpse into her process and challenges. To read more about her and her work please visit her website here.

To make a tax-deductible contribution to LOST IN LIVING, please visit the website here. You can also mail a check written out to my fiscal sponsor, "Filmmakers Alliance," c/o Mary Trunk, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001. Thank you!!! -Mary

Happy Holidays 2011

2011-12-19T11:56:00.001-08:00

Hello Lost In Living Supporters,

I can't thank you enough for participating in my film project and supporting me through it. It means so much to me that you are taking part and believing in this important film.

I want to wish all of you the happiest of Holidays and the very, very best for 2012. I thought this clip was appropriate for the Holiday season because we can so easily get lost in the material aspects of it all. I think Caren eloquently reminds us that we can be less selfish (even if we don't have children) and we can plug into the cycle of life in many, many ways. Enjoy and please feel free to add your comments, ask questions and share your feelings.

Your support has helped us so much in securing an editor to help us finalize the project. And we can still use your help for editing necessities such as sound and color work, output supplies, DVD's, artwork, publicity and to pay a composer for an original score.

If you'd like to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year, your contribution is greatly appreciated. Please visit the website here to make a donation on-line or send a check, written out to "Filmmakers Alliance" c/o Mary Trunk, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001. The Filmmakers Alliance is my 501(c)3 non-profit fiscal sponsor.

Thank you again!
Mary

What is your birth story?

2011-12-07T19:51:00.001-08:00

What is your birth story? Your own, your mother's, a friend's... What had the most impact on you? Share one detail, the whole story or just a fragment. In my case it was definitely the most transforming experience I've ever been through. Almost three days of labor, an epidural that only worked on one side, a possible C-section that turned into suction and a baby that was close to nine pounds. A baby that changed my life and still is the most beautiful person I know.

Thanks for sharing and thank you for participating in this project.

We are also still trying to raise money for LOST IN LIVING, to pay a composer, cover editing supply costs and publicity materials. Your help and support are hugely appreciated. Thank you, Mary

When have you failed as a parent?

2011-11-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

When have you failed as a parent? What is the baggage you don't want to leave with your kid? And what have you learned from your failures? Let me know. I love hearing from you.

We are also still trying to raise money for LOST IN LIVING, to pay a composer, cover editing supply costs and publicity materials. Your help and support are hugely appreciated. Thank you, Mary

Baby & Sacrifice: What do you give up?

2011-11-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

What do you give up when you have children? What do you gain? Let me know. I love hearing from you.

We are also still trying to raise money for LOST IN LIVING, to pay a composer, cover editing supply costs and publicity materials. Your help and support are hugely appreciated. Thank you, Mary

What's so great about creativity?

2011-11-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

What do you have to say about creativity? What's so great about it for you? Let me know. I love hearing from you.

We are also still trying to raise money to pay a composer, cover editing supply costs and publicity materials. Your help and support are hugely appreciated. Thank you, Mary

SHARE YOUR STORIES

2011-10-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Dear LOST IN LIVING Supporters and Followers:

As I was sitting at my computer watching scenes from the documentary and organizing the material into what will soon be a feature film, it occurred to me that many of you might have a lot to say about this subject of being a Mom and an Artist. My guess is that you too are feeling the challenges and struggles of trying to balance family commitment and personal work. What are the themes that you’d like to see in a film that focuses on this idea? I’d like to hear from you, what are your struggles and achievements as a mother and a parent, what are the stories you’d like to see represented in LOST IN LIVING? Maybe you’re not a mother or an artist but you know someone who is. Possibly your own mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or friend knows the conflict of competing compassions. I want to make a film that resonates with my supporters and audience. Your participation, your voice will help me understand what is important to you.

Below are a few questions to get you started but feel free to completely abandon them and share anything. Just email me (marytrunk@sbcglobal.net) a response when you can or post your comments on this blog. I’m interested in how you feel about being a parent and how you achieve or don’t achieve the delicate balance between work and home.

Please feel free to be open and honest. I will not be using your specific responses or names in the film (except in the ending thank you credits). With your permission I would like to share some of your experiences on my blog or in another newsletter. I want to hear your personal stories so I can make a better film and a film you can personally relate to. Your help and participation will inspire me and give me direction for this very important issue.

• Why do you need to be creative?
• Do you feel pressure to provide an income for the family? How does that influence your creative life?
• What are the rewards and challenges of having more than one child? Or just one?
• How has being a parent changed your friendships?
• How has being a parent changed your creative expression or not?
• Do you carve out time to be creative? How?
• When asked what you do, what do you say?
• How has being a parent changed your relationship with your significant other?
• Describe your typical day.
• Does your significant other support your creative work? How?
• Do you feel satisfied with the recognition you are getting for your work?
• How did you feel about your creative output after children arrived?
• Were your parents creative? What was that like?
• Are you the parent you want to be?

Coming soon will be a youtube channel dedicated solely to LOST IN LIVING. On it will be very short clips from the film that you can comment on, respond to, start a conversation and share with your friends and family.

About the film:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work. www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/

Thank you for taking the time to share your personal stories and for your amazing support.

All the very best,
Mary
P.S. Please like the facebook page here if you haven't already and feel free to share with friends. Thank you!

FALL Newsletter

2011-10-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/

Post-production for LOST IN LIVING is well under way thanks to your amazing support and belief in the project. With your help we have raised enough money to hire an editor to do the final cut for the film. She will begin working in the next couple of months. I have meticulously prepared the material and will have a rough cut for her to work with. I am thrilled and excited that you will see the completed film as soon as next Spring.

In the meantime we hope to continue raising funds to pay for a composer, DVD duplication, publicity and distribution. Thank you for continuing to spread the word about this project.

About the film:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Meet Merrill:
As part of the campaign I am introducing each one of the remarkable women from the film. This newsletter is all about Merrill Joan Gerber, an insightful writer, a loyal friend and a person who rarely has time for “small talk.”

From Merrill:
“I’m a writer, novelist and short story writer. I started writing when I was seven. I always thought it was my job to tell things the way they were because people didn’t often tell me the truth as a child. I had my vision, I would experience things and write about them and how they felt.”

Facts about Merrill:
•Lives in Sierra Madre, CA.
•Mother of three daughters and five grandchildren.
•Published more than 25 books.
•Awarded the Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford.
•Winner of the Ribalow Prize for her book “The Kingdom of Brooklyn.”
•Short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Redbook.
•Teaches fiction writing at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.

A link to Merrill’s website here.

From J Rank Articles:

"Merrill Joan Gerber is not one to be pushed into a corner," wrote Lisa See Kendall in Publishers Weekly. Gerber has published collections of short stories, novels, and young-adult titles, as well as guides for writers, a travel memoir, and personal essays. She began writing stories and essays when she was seven years old, and her first published piece of work, a poem, appeared in The Writer when she was eighteen. She began selling stories to magazines such as the New Yorker and Redbook. Over the course of her career, Gerber published more short stories in Redbook than any other contributor to that magazine. However, her publication record has not always won her recognition. Gerber is a "seriously underrated and often-overlooked writer," according to Booklist reviewer Margaret Flanagan in her review of This Is a Voice from Your Past: New and Selected Stories.

Gerber's early stories and novels described daily life of American women who accepted their roles as wives and mothers. In 1990 she published King of the World, a book she felt was "her best work to date," according to Kendall. "You can only tell some of the story in teen books or Redbook," Gerber told Kendall. "But you get to a point where you say you're going to tell all you know. You're going to reveal certain pains, resentments, and angers." It took Gerber years to find a publisher, but when the book was finally published by Pushcart Press, it received the Pushcart's Editor's Book Award. A Booklist reviewer called it "a powerful, sad, and haunting tale of love and madness."

After King of the World, Gerber published three books with Longstreet Press: Chattering Man: Stories and a Novella (stories), This Old Heart of Mine: The Best of Merrill Joan Gerber's Redbook Stories, and The Kingdom of Brooklyn, a novel that tells the story of Issa, who grows up during and just after World War II. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called the last-named work "a brutally candid, semiautobiographical novel" and praised Gerber's writing, noting that "her wry purity of style packs psychological dynamite."

Gerber describes her fiction writing processes in Gut Feelings: A Writer's Truths and Minute Inventions. Denise J. Stankovics, writing in Library Journal, praised Gerber's ability to "cleverly blend … memoir and invention to illustrate how an author's life influences her literary output." A critic for Kirkus Reviews called the entries in the collection "refined concise, often emotionally wringing vignettes."

To read more about Merrill from J Rank Articles, please click here.

Information on how to contribute to the film:
Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website here and clicking on the “donate” tab. or you can mail a check written out to my non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor:

FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE
1218 East Palm Street
Altadena, CA 91001
(with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax I.D. #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here or here.

Like the Facebook Page here.

No contribution is too small and all contributions are fully tax-deductible. In addition to a financial contribution one of the most valuable ways you can support me is to forward this e-mail to as many people as possible. I know many of you, like me, are also trying to raise money for your own projects and contributing will be a burden to you, as it would for me. What I hope is that we can help each other stay aware of our projects, so we can bring them up in conversation, spread the word and make sure our worthy projects get made.

By making a contribution of $50 or more your name will be included in the film’s closing credits.

Thank you again for your help and support.
All the best,
Mary

Meet Marjorie

2011-08-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter

The Summer is just about over and work continues on LOST IN LIVING. Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared links, posted on Facebook and liked the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/lostinliving). I am grateful and humbled by your support and belief in this project. Editing is steadily progressing!

As part of the campaign I am introducing one of the remarkable women from the film each month. July turned out to be a crazy month for me so we move onto August and introduce, Marjorie Schlossman, mother of seven, prolific abstract painter and inspiring friend.

Meet Marjorie:
“I had something to say and it was an emotional thing. I had the strongest impulse to express it. Always had that feeling and it was wonderful to me to find painting.”

Facts about Marjorie:
•Abstract Painter.
•Lives in Fargo, North Dakota.
•Plays violin in the Fargo Moorhead Symphony.
•Mother of five daughters and two sons.
•Star of the film PLAIN ART (see trailer here)

A link to Marjorie’s website here.

Artist Marjorie Schlossman collaborated with various architects to build environments in which her paintings hang. The first, The Roberts Street Chapel in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, preceded 6 smaller, more intimate and moveable chapels she calls "chaplets." She relished the idea of painting inside each finished chapel or chaplet, responding to that specific environment and its inspirations.

These spaces, and the art within them, are designed to provide people with a moment’s respite from daily life, whether that moment is used to contemplate, pray, mourn or celebrate. Unlike a gallery, none of the artwork is for sale. Unlike a museum, there is no charge to enter.

A link to an article about The Roberts Street Chaplet Project here.

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:

LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website (here) and clicking on the “donate” tab, or you can mail a check written out to my non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor: FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax I.D. #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here or here.

Like the Facebook Page here.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail and share it with friends. Thank you again for your help and support.
All the best,
Mary

Art Toast

2011-06-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

Although this is the last week I will be posting videos by Caren McCaleb, you can always peruse her amazing work on her youtube channel "eaglecrowowl." This week I have the pleasure of presenting her film ART TOAST. Watch it here. Caren has a way of making us aware of the delights and magic in her everyday domestic life. And this video does just that. Take a couple of minutes and brighten up your day.

I want to thank you all for your amazing support for LOST IN LIVING, for the amazing women in it and for helping me work towards completing this film. To become a generous participant in this project, please visit the website here and donate on-line or send a check written out to my non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE, and mail it to 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001. Filmmakers Alliance tax I.D. #95-4449125. No contribution is too small and all contributions are fully tax-deductible. In addition to a financial contribution one of the most valuable ways you can support me is to forward this blog to as many people as possible. I know many of you, like me, are also trying to raise money for your own projects and contributing will be a burden to you, as it would for me. What I hope is that we can help each other stay aware of our projects, so we can bring them up in conversation, spread the word and make sure our worthy projects get made. To see a ten minute excerpt of LOST IN LIVING, please go here or here. And to like the Facebook page, please go here.

Thank you so much,
Mary

Together and Apart

2011-06-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

"The more specific you get the more universal it is - we're all awashed with culture but real meaning is not what's going on culturally but who we are as individual humans experiencing life and when we see someone else capturing that, that's freeing - we can all celebrate that quality and not just get all of our meaning from this huge information miasma." -Caren (talking about her vlogs)

Week three of visiting the creative mind of Caren McCaleb. Her video "Together and Apart" (here) is a perfect glimpse into what many of us will be experiencing this Summer as we set out to vacation and visit our extended families. Yes, we drive each other crazy and yes we wonder if we'd be even more crazy if we never saw each other. So we make these treks and most of the time we are glad we did.

Caren is one of the four incredible women in LOST IN LIVING. She has shared her intimate thoughts, ideas and creative process with me and in the film. All four women live lives of deep passion and intensity, contantly moving between the exterior world and their interior visions. LOST IN LIVING captures the domestic complexities and the introspective creative process that inspires these women to make art and be mothers. And while this is one of the focal points of the film, the women have also allowed me to follow them through story arcs that challenge friendships and parenting styles, confront age and rejection and force them to redefine their place in their families as well as the ambivalence they feel about feminism.

If you haven't yet had a chance to see the 10 minute fundraising trailer for LOST IN LIVING, please go here or here. And if you still need to like the facebook page, go here. To follow me on twitter, please go here. To become a generous participant in this project, please visit the website here and donate on-line or send a check written out to my non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE, and mail it to 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001. All contributions are tax deductible. Filmmakers Alliance tax I.D. #95-4449125. Your support and participation in this project is hugely appreciated. Because of your generosity I will be working full-time on the editing of this film and interviewing editors to work alongside me. And with your continued support I will be able to hire an editor to shape this project into the compelling and moving story it is meant to be.

Many, many thanks,
Mary

Caren's Second Video

2011-06-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

"If you're dealing on a soul level it's also about people helping you grow. That's not something you can fully understand when it's happening to you." -Caren

The next Eaglecrowowl video I am sharing, created by Caren McCaleb, is WORMHOLE. This video was created in 2010 and has already had 878 views. In Caren's own words: "Wormhole is about transition, change and death. It's more like a poem than a short story. It's creepy because death is creepy. Where do we go? The girl in the video is my daughter at age 5. Her words were not scripted. They are her own original thoughts."

Caren has posted many, many videos on her youtube channel. She now has 1583 subscribers and continues to enlighten, confuse, inspire and challenge her viewers. Take some time to explore her channel, subscribe too! You can also see more of Caren's work on her website: www.carenmccaleb.com. Caren has always inspired me and I know she will inspire you.

A quote from Caren's youtube channel: "Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality." -George Moore.

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website (here) and clicking on the “donate” tab or you can mail a check written out to: Filmmakers Alliance, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax I.D. #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here
or
here.

Like the Facebook Page here.
Follow me on twitter here.

Please feel free to forward this blog and share it with friends. Thank you again for your help and support.

All the best,
Mary
www.maandpafilms.com
www.thewatershedproject.com
626-590-1803

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter #3

2011-06-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

In just a few months I have reached close to half of my funding goal! Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared links, posted on Facebook and liked the Facebook page. I am grateful and humbled by your support and belief in this project. Post-production is underway!

As part of the campaign I will be introducing one of the remarkable women from the film each month. To celebrate the beginning of Summer here’s your chance to meet CAREN MCCALEB, amazing friend, mother, editor, and all around inspiring artist! If you've already liked the Lost In Living Facebook page or we are already friends on Facebook or you follow me on twitter, please look for new postings and films by Caren each week for the month of June. (See below for the Facebook and twitter links.)

Meet Caren:
“You can’t want an outcome to be the starting point of why you’re being creative.”

Facts about Caren:
•Lives in Los Angeles, CA.
•Married to the King of Toast.
•Mother of one daughter.
•Nationally exhibited Surrealist Painter.
•Video Editor and Filmmaker.
•On Youtube since the beginning with over 1500 subscribers (who knew there were 1500 people interested in personal art/documentary hybrid films on fear, dance, family and transcendence).
•Most recent (editing) work screened on PBS in May 2011.
•Short film “Creation” screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
•Graduate of Cornell University.

A link to Caren’s film “The Ineffable”: http://bit.ly/lo0IUG

“What interests me is the ineffable. I’m not interested in culture, I’m interested in something very fundamental to the act of being alive.”

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website (here) and clicking on the “donate” tab or you can mail a check written out to: Filmmakers Alliance, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax I.D. #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here
or
here.

Like the Facebook Page here.
Follow me on twitter here.

Please feel free to forward this blog and share it with friends. Thank you again for your help and support.

All the best,
Mary
www.maandpafilms.com
www.thewatershedproject.com
626-590-1803

Addendum to Newsletter #2

2011-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

"When I was a kid I just wanted to be a student and world traveler my whole life. Doc making is probably the closest you can get to that." -Kristina

May is the month I have been introducing you to the lovely Kristina Robbins. This week I've provided a link to a wonderful award-winning short film (here) she and her husband, Nick, directed and produced. This film is called THE MCCOMBIE WAY. Ann McCombie is 81, built the road to her house herself and clears the Mojave Desert one rusty can at a time. This is a touching portrait of a woman who lives more in the moment than anyone I know.

If you've missed the links to Kristina's newest film, click here. Kristina's company The Department of Expansion created an outreach film for Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) an organization that helps at risk youth avoid the criminal justice system. And if you have some time, please take a look at some of the other fantastic films Kristina and the D of E have produced by perusing The Department of Expansion website (here).

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website (here) and clicking on the “donate” tab, or you can mail a check written out to: Filmmakers Alliance, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax ID #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here

Like the Facebook page here.

Thank you so much for your amazing continued support. Yours, Mary

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter #2

2011-05-22T13:23:00.001-07:00

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter #2

"I guess I'm more of a mother than I thought I was." -Kristina

In less than two months I have reached close to half of my funding goal. Thank you to everyone who supports this film. I am so grateful and humbled by your belief in this project and in me!

May is the month I have introduced, Kristina Robbins, one of the remarkable subjects of the film. This week I have provided a link (here) to a film Kristina wrote, directed and produced called “Life As You Know It.” Commissioned by Audi, this award-winning short asks whether you can raise kids and continue with your passions. Can you have it all? I think this film is a wonderful companion piece to “Lost In Living” because it introduces entire families who have figured out how to continue their creativity after having children.

Kristina is one of the partners and co-founders of the Department of Expansion. You can see their short films at this link (www.departmentofexpansion.com). The Department of Expansion is a team of talented filmmakers and producers who ask the question, “What good is a film if it doesn’t inspire action?’ They are a production company that delivers lean beautiful films about evolution, agression, the relationship of peace and violence in humans, rehabilitation of incarcerated youths, how blind children learn, Veterans for Peace, nurses, Jane Goodall and many other topics.

Kristina is also a wonderful mother of two young children who are as smart, insightful and creative as she is.

Enjoy getting to know Kristina a little more by visiting the Department of Expansion website and watching “Life As You Know It.”

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website (here) and clicking on the “donate” tab: www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/ or you can send a check written out to: Filmmakers Alliance, 1218 East Palm Street, Altadena, CA 91001 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax ID #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go here or to www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/about-the-film/index.html

Like the Facebook page here.

Please feel free to forward this to friends. Thank you again for your help and support.
Yours,
Mary

http://bit.ly/loyIOK

Meet Kristina

2011-05-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter

In just over a month I have reached 1/3 of my funding goal! Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared links, posted on Facebook and liked the Facebook page. I am grateful and humbled by your support and belief in this project. Post-production is underway!

As part of the campaign I will be introducing one of the remarkable women from the film each month. To celebrate Mother’s Day here’s your chance to meet Kristina Robbins, mother extraordinaire! And Happy Mother’s Day!

Meet Kristina:
“When I was Five I remember saying to my mother I wanted to be an actress. My mother said, ‘Oh, Kristina, people like us don’t do things like that.'”

Facts about Kristina:
•Lives in Los Angeles, CA.
•Married to Nick Higgins.
•From Lancaster, PA.
•Mother of two children.
•Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker.
•Founding Partner of The Department of Expansion (film production company that delivers lean beautiful films).
•Founder of Juice.
•Screenwriter.
•Improvisational Theatre Performer and Teacher
•Graduate of Cornell Univeristy.

Check out Kristina’s newest film: : FLY

Info about LOST IN LIVING and how you can help:
LOST IN LIVING follows four remarkable women, all artists as well as mothers. Through intimate, verite scenes, and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect one’s art and approach to creativity. Further, the film explores parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship and marriage, the monotony of domestic routines, and most importantly who we are in the world and how we all struggle with the balance of family commitment and personal work.

Tax deductible contributions to LOST IN LIVING can be made on-line by visiting the website and clicking on the “donate” tab: www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/ or you can mail a check written out to: Filmmakers Alliance, 12228 Venice Blvd., Suite 406, Los Angeles, CA 90066 (with LOST IN LIVING in the subject line of the check). Tax I.D. #95-4449125

To view a ten-minute excerpt of the film, please go to: www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/about-the-film/index.html

Like the Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lost-In-Living/196021470416175

Please feel free to forward this to friends. Thank you again for your help and support.
All the best,
Mary

Such Great Support

2011-04-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

So many of you have already donated, shared the "Lost In Living" website with friends and family, liked the facebook page and shared that with people! I am so grateful. And please remember that all contributions are tax deductible. I am fiscally sponsored by The Filmmakers Alliance, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Thank you all for believing in this project and me! We're about a quarter into the goal of raising $10,000, thanks to you. Keep spreading the word and I will keep you posted.

xo

LOST IN LIVING UPDATE

2011-04-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

I am now in the post-production stage of my film LOST IN LIVING. It's going to be a long haul but with the support of friends, family and colleagues I know it will happen. It's been six years in the making and I am fully committed to this powerful and relevant story. The four amazing women in this film continually inspire me and I know they will inspire you. We're just starting our fundraising campaign so if you or someone you know can contribute to this project please go to www.maandpafilms.com/lostinliving/ and click on the donate tab. Thank you all for supporting me so much. More updates to come. -Mary

It Is Enough To Enter by Todd Boss

2010-03-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

the templar
halls of museum, for

example, or
the chambers of churches,

and admire
no more than the beauty

there, or
remember the graveness

of stone, or
whatever. You don't

have to do any
better. You don't have to

understand
the liturgy or know history

to feel holy
in a gallery or presbytery.

It is enough
to have come just so far.

You need
not be opened any more

than does
a door, standing ajar.

2009-09-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

DIY Introductory Documentary Workshop
Hello Everyone,

Below is a description for a workshop I'll be conducting this Fall as part of the Extended Learning Division at Pasadena City College. If you or anyone you know is interested in attending please click on the links below to sign up. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. And thank you so much!

Best,
Mary
marytrunk@sbcglobal.net

DIY Documentary Filmmaking Class
This introductory class will teach students how to make unforgettable and entertaining documentary/non-fiction films on a shoestring budget. Students will learn camera skills, interview techniques, lighting design, sound requirements and basic editing preparation. Emphasis will be on telling specific stories that have universal themes, and differentiating between a good story rather than just a good topic. Students will be required to bring two documentary story ideas to the first class meeting. Ideas will be professionally evaluated for feasibility, strong characters, compelling tension and credible resolution. Handouts will include a sample budget and a list of documentary resources.

Saturday, Sunday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; 2 sessions starting October 3, 2009, ending October 4, 2009
Cost: $89.00
Instructor: Trunk
Location: Pasadena City College

For more information about this class, please go to www.pcclearn.org, click "courses," then go to "film," and you will find DIY Documentary Filmmaking Class or just cut and paste the link below in your browser. If you still can't get to the right place, please e-mail me (marytrunk@sbcglobal.net) and I will send you the link via e-mail. Thanks.

http://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformationâˆ«_class_id=12235âˆ«_category_id=1âˆ«_sub_category_id=4

DIY Introductory Documentary Workshop

2009-06-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Below is a description for a workshop I'll be conducting this summer as part of the Extended Learning Division at Pasadena City College. If you or anyone you know is interested in attending please click on the links below to sign up. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. And thank you so much!

Best,
Mary
marytrunk@sbcglobal.net

DIY Documentary Filmmaking Class
This introductory class will teach students how to make unforgettable and entertaining documentary/non-fiction films on a shoestring budget. Students will learn camera skills, interview techniques, lighting design, sound requirements and basic editing preparation. Emphasis will be on telling specific stories that have universal themes, and differentiating between a good story rather than just a good topic. Students will be required to bring two documentary story ideas to the first class meeting. Ideas will be professionally evaluated for feasibility, strong characters, compelling tension and credible resolution. Handouts will include a sample budget and a list of documentary resources.

Saturday, Sunday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; 2 sessions starting July 11, 2009, ending July 12, 2009
Cost: $89.00
Instructor: Trunk
Location: Pasadena City College

For more information about this class, please go to www.pcclearn.org, click "courses," then go to "film," and you will find DIY Documentary Filmmaking Class or just cut and paste the link below in your browser. If you still can't get to the right place, please e-mail me (marytrunk@sbcglobal.net) and I will send you the link via e-mail. Thanks.

http://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation∫_class_id=12235∫_category_id=1∫_sub_category_id=4

The Last Evening by Sharon Olds

2009-05-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Then we raised the top portion of the bed,
and her head was like a trillium, growing
up, out of the ground, in the woods,
eyes closed, mouth open,
and we put the Battle arias on, and when I
heard the first note, that was it, for me,
I excused myself from the death-room guests,
and went to my mother, and cleared a place
on the mattress, beside her arm, lifting
the tubes, oxygen, dextrose, morphine,
dipping in under them, and letting them
rest on my hair, as if burying myself
under a topsoil of roots, I pulled
the sheet up, over my head,
and touched my forehead and nose and mouth
to her arm, and then, against the warm
solace of her skin, I sobbed full out,
unguarded, as I have not done near her;
and I could feel some barrier between us dissolving,
I could feel myself dissolving it,
moving ever closer to her through it, till I was
all there, I went to my mom
for comfort. And in her coma nothing
drew her away from giving me the basal
kindness of her presence, I took a long turn
as a child on earth. When the doctor came in,
he looked at her and said, "I'd say
hours, not days." When he left, I ate
a pear with her, talking us through it,
and walnuts - and a crow, a whole bouquet
of crows came apart, outside the window.
I looked for the moon and said, I'll be right
back, and ran down the hospital hall,
and there, outside an eastern window,
was the waxing gibbous, like a swimmer's head
turned to the side half out of the water, mouth
pulled to the side and back, to take breath,
I could see my young mother, slim
and strong in her navy one-piece, and see,
in memory's dark-blue corridor,
the beauty of her crawl, the hard, graceful
overhand motion, as someone who says
this way, to the others behind. And I went back,
and sat with her alone, an hour,
in the quiet, and I felt, almost, not
afraid of losing her, I was so
content to have her beside me, unspeaking,
unseeing, alive.

Welcome #2

2009-04-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello again and welcome to our new website. Below is the link to see "The Watershed" on youtube for free! I apologize now for the advertisements you may have to watch before the film begins. That's part of the bargain. Thanks so much for taking the time to take a look around on the site and for watching our work. All news regarding "Plain Art" will be coming shortly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sen83cvvGMU

Chester by John Koethe

2009-04-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Wallace Stevens is beyond fathoming,
he is so strange; it is as if he had a
morbid secret he would rather perish
than disclose...

Marianne Moore to William Carlos Williams

Another day, which is usually how they come:
A cat at the foot of the bed, noncommital
In its blankness of mind, with the morning light
Slowly filling the room, and fragmentary
Memories of last night's video and phone calls.
It is a feeling of sufficiency, one menaced
By the fear of some vague lack, of a simplicity
Of self, a self without a soul, the nagging fear
Of being someone to whom nothing ever happens.
Thus the fantasy of the narrative behind the story,
Of the half-concealed life that lies beneath
The ordinary one, made up of ordinary mornings
More alike in how they feel than what they say.
They seem like luxuries of consciousness,
Like second thoughts that complicate the time
One simply wastes. And why not? Mere being
Is supposed to be enough, without the intricate
Evasions of a mystery or off-stage tragedy.
Evenings follow on the afternoons, lingering in
The living room and listening to the stereo
While Peggy Lee sings, "Is That All There Is?"
Amid the morning papers and the usual
Ghosts keeping you company, but just for awhile.
The true soul is the one that flickers in the eyes
Of an animal, like a cat that lifts its head and yawns
And stares at you, and then goes back to sleep.

WELCOME

2009-04-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Ma and Pa Films Website. Thank you for taking the time to peruse the site and check out our work. We welcome your questions and comments. This site was designed by the talented Seth Holtgrewe (holtgrewe.org). Seth also designed the site for our film "The Watershed," (www.thewatershedproject.com).

We are very excited that our film "The Watershed" is now available for purchase on amazon.com and on iTunes. Please go to the "Store" page on this site for the direct links. Thank you to everyone who helped us and supported us on this film. There were so many of you and we are very grateful.

In other news "The Watershed" is also one of the first features now live in the new youtube features category. Just click on the link below. The beautiful soundtrack on this film was composed by Rich West, Roland Kniese, David Knowles and Ron Rennells. To hear more of their work please click on collaborators on the "About Us" page on this site and you will see their contact information.

Caren McCaleb is also one of our fabulous collaborators and recently edited "Plain Art" and the Arroyo Arts Collective video. More info on Caren is also under collaborators.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sen83cvvGMU