WWW stands for Works (in progress), Wrinkles or Whoops (whenever and wherever they happen) and Wraps (completed films and projects of any kind). As always, your contributions to this feature are solicited and encouraged.
 Stories by Laura Osborne & the Imagine Staff

George's Angels-Paige Cline (Helga in BARSTOW 2008), Christy Scott (Farrah Fawcett in BARSTOW 2008), and Mary Chiochios, with their new friend, dancin' fool George Lucas, at the US Comedy Arts Festival. George was in town for the AMERICAN GRAFFITTI reunion.

The HBO-sponsored US Comedy Arts Festival is a spectacular event that takes place each March in Aspen, Colorado. This year Boston was represented by BARSTOW 2008, presented as part of the festival's Film Discovery Program. USCAF is an unusual event in that the films share focus with a myriad of live performances, stand-up, theater, one-man shows, and alternative comedy, as well as huge gala "tributes" that make for a celebrity spotting delight!

Billy Crystal, in town for HIS tribute, presented the Film Program's Jury Awards. One of the night's big winners turned out to be Š (drum roll please!)Š PAUL WILLSON of BARSTOW 2008 picked up the Jury's Variety-sponsored Best Actor Award. The BARSTOW crowd celebrated in high style, dancing till the wee hours at the closing night party with none other than George Lucas.

BARSTOW/Bostonians in attendance included actress Christy Scott, who came to town with 5-week old Baby Jay; Mary Chiochios, whose brother George edited the movie; Saki Fenderson, BARSTOW's hard-working Associate Producer; and of course Mary Feuer, Producer. Chuck Borghese, BARSTOW's Connecticut-based writer, rounded out the New England posse. Christy, Mary Chiochios, and Baby Jay were lucky enough to get stranded in Aspen for several days by the big bad Boston blizzard. Oh well, there are worse places to get stuck.

On Monday, March 12th, at Emerson Majestic Theater, Emerson College featured an intimate night with film and TV comedy star, John Ritter, who is now appearing in the play, "The Dinner Party" at one of Boston's finest theaters. The evening was host to Emerson College Alumni and attracted a crowd of hundreds, opening with a film clip of John's memorable appearances in the Academy Award-nominated movie, SLINGBLADE and long-running television hit comedy series, "Three's Company". Following this, John single-handedly entertained the audience with delightful stories of his childhood, career, and beliefs.

Comedian John Ritter and Emily Chalder Lane at an intimate celebration with the actor at the Emerson Majestic Theatre. He is in Boston starring in "Dinner Party". photo: Laura Osborne
On screen, this brainy, zany, funny man's talent ruptures into anything, everything, and most of all nothing with gut-splitting trips, flips, and grips of human satire uniquely his own.

The son of celebrity Tex Ritter, John bonded with a love of laugh in early grade school where the joke was on his teacher when her lesson in leverage turned into her falling flat on her face from his spontaneous trickery. The rest, as they say, is history.

A lovely buffet reception followed at The Vault, where a more intimate meeting with John had him mingling with a diverse crowd and being wonderfully approachable, patient, and funny.

Last month, Boston was fortunate enough to have been visited by Michael Clark Haney, who directed a series of three French Farces translated by Mr. Norman Shapiro, and performed at the Adams House Pool Theater in Harvard Square. In the 80's, Michael began his association with Mr. Shapiro, assistant directing some of his farces.

Michael has directed a broad range of Los Angeles Theaters, from the 99-seat Colony Studio Theatre to the 6,300 seat Shrine Auditorium, winning numerous awards. He is a directing member of the Actors' Studio and has performed magic on many of Hollywood's finest actors on stage and film including Richard Dreyfuss, Joe Mantegna, Charles Durning, and Ed Asner.

His work in film includes the short film ART LOVER starring Sally Kirkland and Allan Garfield, which Michael wrote and directed. ART LOVER won the Silver Lone Star Award at the Houston International Film Festival. His short film, EVENING CLASS, produced for ShowTime, won the Gold Medal at the New York Festivals and a CableAce Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series.

His finest productions (and still running after five-and-a-half years) are "Alexander and Angela", created in close association with his wife, June Christopher.

Director Michael Clark Haney with J.P. Ouellette at special event at Adams House Pool Theatre in Harvard Square. photo: Laura Osborne.
Michael is a devoted family man, and associate producer of THE UNNAMABLE and other productions with Mr. Jean-Paul Ouellette of Yankee Classic Films of Boston.

EVERYONE involved in digital television at EVERY level has to answer the question "How good is it, and how do you know if it's any good?" Whether you are an "Einstein" and an MPEG Maven, or a "Techno-Bubba" and a Digital Dummy, you NEEDED to attend this SMPTE meeting at Wolf Coach in Auburn, MA, which was more than a little bit like a field trip in pouring rain.

Five presenters were quick systems change artists under the direction of the Wolf Coach Program Host, Emeric Feldmar. Each presented a wide range of today's test & measurement equipment, and their useful procedures. The program began with the most basic (and most cost effective) test equipment & procedures, and continued all the way up the test & measurement spectrum: from simple pass-fail to more comprehensive high-end HDTV measurements. Evertz, Leader, Magni, Rhode & Schwarz, Snell & Wilcox, Tektronix and other manufacturers presented their T&M solutions.

Wolf Coach is the nation's leading Innovative Source for mobile telecommunications systems located right here in New England. SMPTE's next meeting, their Post NAB Wrap-up is scheduled for May 9th for the latest SMPTE/New England meeting information, please go to their website at www.v-site.net/smpte-ne.

If you ever log onto the web site of the Town of New Milford, you will see a new wrinkle for presenting a 360 degree aerial panorama of a Town Green. It couldn't have been done without the assistance of their Fire Chief, Dwayne Acton, and the Volunteers of Water Witch Fire Dept. #2, and it goes without saying their Department's Aerial Platform. It's a novel and effective way of giving a sense of the Town's flavor and suitability to a filmmaker anywhere in the world. And it may have paid off big time!

A modern adaptation of the 1936 classic MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, starring comedian Adam Sandler, will film scenes later this in New Milford. Columbia Pictures selected the western Connecticut town after scouting location with Frank Weller and Saun Ellis of the New Milford Film Commission. Columbia representatives also met with Mark Dixon of the Connecticut Film, Video & Media Office to discuss how the state could meet producers' needs. Filming is slated to take place in early June.

"New Milford has a very active film commission (The Town of New Milford is a regular advertiser in Imagine), and their experience with the industry is a major reason why many companies choose to bring their projects to that part of the state," said Guy Ortoleva, Managing Director of the Connecticut Film Office. "They are a prime example of how consistent efforts at the local and regional level can bring a major project to an area."

Frank Weller believes an important element is providing good customer service to the filmmakers. " We make it easy to get things done here in New Milford by simplifying the process of finding good locations and making a lot of the arrangements that might be time-consuming for the production companies. Our motto is 'Action New Milford'."

New Milford Mayor, Arthur J. Peitler, has understood the value of the film industry for many years. He played a key role in getting the New Milford Film Commission started and is proud of the results. Film and television production is a growing industry in the state, and the Department of Economic and Community Development has expanded the state's Film Office to provide support for more than a dozen local and regional film offices.

To view the panoramas of the Town of New Milford at various times of the year, visit www.newmilford.org.

Producer/Writer Marc Johnson
on Melrose Ave. in Hollywood.
His "Pray For Power" DVD
releases this month.
"Here at last: it's the PRAY FOR POWER video release party! PRAY FOR POWER, a feature thriller written and produced by Marc Johnson and directed by Brad Jacques, is being released to videocassette and DVD on April 6th, and the private party for cast and crew to celebrate the film's release is being held in Boston. The party will also feature the screening of the overseas trailer for the film, as well as music from its soundtrack.

PRAY FOR POWER stars Lisa Boyle (BAD BOYS, FACE OFF, Baywatch, Playboy Magazine) and was shot in the late Fall of 1996 and sat for years in post-production, but the film was completed and screened in June of 2000 and is now receiving a nationwide video/DVD release through Brentwood Studios in Hollywood. Having just returned from the American Film Market, Marc Johnson stated, "Initial orders are extremely encouraging. The distributor has already shipped close to 10,000 pieces. Hollywood Video has picked the title up nationwide, and PRAY FOR POWER is also going into Tower Video, Best Buy and Wherehouse Video nationwide, so at this point all signs are good."

PRAY FOR POWER is Johnson's third straight-to-video thriller, but the producer promises that this is it for micro-budget features. "My new project, closer to god, is being developed for a much bigger budget. I've done three of these ultra-low budget thrillers, and I really need to knock it up a notch. The video market is just getting tougher and tougher, and I need to start making movies with the potential for a theatrical release. I've enjoyed the three movies I've done, but at this point I've gotta move onward and upward."

It is officially a wrap for CF Video, Inc., which has legally changed it name to Cosmic Blender. The sixteen year-old digital media production firm recently announced a wave of new hires in its Design and New Media groups. With the addition of two Graphic Designers, two New Media Developers, an Interactive Project Manager and a Technical Systems Specialist/Streaming Media Manager, Cosmic Blender continues to respond to its clients' demand for technology-delivered marketing and learning media. In an industry that has seen recent layoffs and financial difficulties, Cosmic Blender has continued to grow by focusing on custom e-Learning and marketing solutions for national clients such as Starwood Hotels, AT&T Broadband, Rational Software, and Teradyne.

As President Bill Churchill notes, "Our clients have responded very well to our engaging approach to both learning and marketing projects with the latest interactive technology." Churchill adds, "We appreciate high bandwidth, but the real key is to craft "high-impact" media for the new frontier of narrowcast screens." The new hires expand Cosmic Blender's capabilities in multiple means of media delivery - digitally creating everything from video- to Internet-delivered projects for its clients.

Leading some of Cosmic Blender's major online learning initiatives is Interactive Project Manager Denis Saulnier, whose professional background includes ZDNet's online university, Sapient Corporation, Simon & Schuster's Learning Technology Group, and The Smithsonian Institution. Saulnier will be working with CB's entire interactive development team including newly hired New Media Developers Anne DeFelice and Jing Mu. DeFelice joins Cosmic Blender after over five years of freelance interactive programming of CD-ROM and web-based projects.

As new members of Cosmic Blender's graphic design team, Samantha Wilder Oliver and Katie Giddings provide additional resources to not only a spate of new interactive programs, but also to CB's broadcast and print projects.

Responding to increasing demand for video on the web, CD-ROM and laptop, Cosmic Blender has also added Technical Systems Specialist/Streaming Media Manager Orion Smith to its interactive team. In addition to design and new media expansion, Cosmic Blender also announced the hiring of Christine Donald as the firm's new Post Production Coordinator.