June 2008

Dingle and Dell sounds like the name of a comedy team from
the old Catskills circuit, but Carol Dingle and Diana Dell write screenplays
together.  Their screenplays are the latest collaboration in a friendship that
began during the Vietnam War when both worked for the USO.  Along the way, they
ran an ad agency together for a decade.  Their script, My Name Is Anna Busch,
was optioned recently by Lamont T. Cain and Reserve Entertainment Group.  They
are currently finishing their 10th screenplay.

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com. 

This Month

A trio of festivals opens the month:  The 21st
Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
will be held May 30-June 7;
Newport International Film Festival

Infrastructure.  Infrastructure.  Infrastructure. 
According to a handful of industry devotees gathered at the last Rhode Island
International Film Festival’s monthly film forum held at Borders Bookstore
inside the Providence Place Mall on May 13th, infrastructure is
what’s needed to attract and retain coveted Hollywood dollars.   
Local actors and filmmakers are calling for more than just
financial incentives to help carve out their east coast location foothold in the
entertainment industry. 

I asked Patrick Jerome, the director and founder of the Boston International
Film Festival (BIFF) and the writer/producer/director/editor of many music
videos and independent movies, what was the inspiration that set him down the
long and winding road to filmmaking. Jerome sat back in his chair and exhaled,
recalling his youth in Haiti. He couldn’t remember the name of the movie, he
said, but he was 12-years old and it starred Clint Eastwood.

Marriage Makes a Word of Difference presents
testimony from six gay Connecticut couples in their struggle to convince
lawmakers and neighbors alike that providing gay couples with anything less than
the word "marriage" is precisely that: less than.  Compelled to use her video
camera as a tool for social justice, director Francine Rzeznik (that's "zhezhnik,"
folks) donated the majority of her time and resources to fast track the project
in less than 10 months to influence legislators ruling on "civil unions" vs.

A month ago, I received a call from Sandra Mills, associate
producer of Music Nation, a network reality show in which musician
contestants sing and perform their way to a contract with a major record label. 
Sandra says, “You worked with Ellie Glasser on the
History Channel’s Hefty Men series.  She recommended you for this gig. 
Will you be a production assistant for us on the new season of Music Nation
in Los Angeles?” 

One of the many great things about Secrecy, the new
documentary directed by Harvard University professors Robb Moss and Peter
Galison, is that it doesn’t contribute to any sort of political fatigue -- that
angry/discouraged /helpless feeling you get after talking about politics for too
long.  
Without any narration, the film leads viewers into an
exploration of one of the most important and relevant questions of our time: Is
increased government secrecy post 9/11 keeping us safer, or is it destroying our
country’s most sacred values?