LOST IN LIVING Documentary Film Newsletter #2

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

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

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

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

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.

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.ClassInformation∫_class_id=12235∫_category_id=1∫_sub_category_id=4

DIY Introductory Documentary Workshop

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

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.