In-kind contributor spotlight: Robin Kincade - Producer and Location Scout/Manager

We would not be able to pull this production off without the help of people like Robin Kincade. Her name was given to me by the awesome Jim MacIlvaine: Special Events Coordinator + Oakland Film Office. She gave us access to her files and time for free to find one of our key locations (creepy stairs at The City Team shelter), I would not have found it without her help!


Here's a little more about Robin Kincade and her location scouting services! Can't wait to buy this lady lunch!!


From Robin's bio:

"I started my business in 1990 in Sacramento, California and moved to the Bay Area in 1996. Since then, I’ve been producing and directing for a variety of clients.

Working on projects that include everything from “Confessions of Alien Abductions” to a week in Las Vegas with over 30,000 Bikers, I’ve helped to produced a wide variety of programming. Covering famous celebrities and CEO’s of successful companies to ordinary people in extraordinary situations, I consider myself lucky to have heard so many fascinating stories. 

With over thirty years experience in broadcast television, I can take a project from start to finish depending on your needs.  I have experience in production management in the Bay Area from hiring crews to making sure the production stays within budget all the way through to post production.

Over the past fifteen years producing in the political arena, I have directed the electronic media and purchased the buys with many campaigns including California District races for Congress, Supervisor, District Attorney, Sheriff, District Judge and Assessor.  

As a location scout/manager, I’m familiar with many regions along the Coast of California, from Humboldt County to San Diego. I understand the process of pulling permits, logistics and parking for large and small productions and I’ve worked in various counties all over the state.

Due to traveling over the years for many of my clients, I’ve worked with crews across the United States and have a healthy data base. Using Apple based equipment and the iPhone/iPad, I can have consistent communications with my clients.

My passions are open water swimming (yes, I am one of those crazy people who swim in San Francisco Bay without a wetsuit) sculling, yoga, lost wax sculpture and guitar. I’m a member of the South End Swimming & Rowing Club. "

Link to Robin and Company website: Link

Check out our website and stay tuned for more information about our "save our post production" auction. Okay, we are still trying to find the right name for that but it's COMING SOON!

www.appleseedsthefilm.com

What the film Snow White tells us about our own views on women

I've been really interested in the many different reviews of Snow White and the Huntsman. I saw it on opening night and I have to say, it's visually stunning. First time feature director Rupert Sands definitely knows his way around telling a story with all the visual tools cinema can provide. I also thought the acting was top notch, the best of which was Charlize Theron.

I also wish Sands and his crew had taken the revisionist approach just a step further. I could have used a little more character and story along with a new twist on some plot points. Just a little deeper into the mad queen or the young heroine. Because it stays just on the surface of the story it ultimately it comes up just a little short of a true classic for  me.

What's really fascinating for me how is how reviewers can take the same elements and interpret them in so many different ways.

Take Natalie Wilson's feminist view in Ms. Magazine:
"The film’s modus operandi is to vilify female aging. Of course, that’s the stuff of the original fairy tale, but this umpteenth iteration does nothing to complicate the material. It was a brilliant opportunity for a feminist critique of how we’re sold a bill of goods about beauty and immortality. Instead, Snow White and the Huntsman acts as though the desires for these things spring only from the brains of crazy women. Once again we get the same ole message that not only do women get ugly as they age, but they also get evil."

You know, I actually thought it was pretty easy to understand how the age old story of the Queen reflects the myth of youth and beauty that is still shoved down our throats as women. I felt that while the film doesn't go any deeper than the surface on these issues, I think the point was that the concept of holding on to youth and beauty at all costs is the villain itself, not the woman victimized by that notion.

I also feel like the movie made it clear that there was a vulnerable, damaged woman who has been used by the society she lives in. I feel like there is one very distinct moment where Snow White and the audience has to have empathy for her. True, she is a woman who has given in to her demons but does that ultimately make her a demon? If that's true, then why a moment of redemption?

Or does this show how my (or anyone's) criticism or reading of the film says more about me than the actual movie? Does this show my need to believe people can change and that they don't have to be victims of anything?

Check out this Natalie Wilson's blog and join in on the discussion: Ms. Blog. Because ultimately, I don't feel that one person or review has all the answers... but that engaging and discussing these issues concerning the representation of women is the most important thing we can do.


Duendefilmswest production of appleseeds: Did you miss out on being part of making this film and the benefit screenings happen? You can still be a part of the adventure: stay tuned for information regarding upcoming auction or contact us here for details on how to contribute directly!

Does the world of high-fashion use women, art and violence as a tool for controversy?

12 magazine’s beauty editorial Victims of Beauty, which featured models made up to look like victims of horrific crimes, was neatly skewered by Jezebel writer Jenna Sauers this week.

Sauers pegged the spread as a ham-fisted, short-sighted attempt at edginess: “ The high-fashion world in general loves to think of itself as contrarian, élite, and boldly at odds with the tastes and mores of the wider public. It likes to think that it, in fact, leads those tastes. But much of the imagery the fashion industry uses to communicate its messages at best echoes and at worst reinforces some of the wider culture's most negative ideas about women and girls.” 

The magazine got its feathers ruffled at her criticism and wrote back a letter saying their intentions were misconstrued and closed with these questions: “1. How would you perceive those photographs if they were accompanying an <sic> campaign against domestic violence? Would you still think of them as disgusting or would you praise them as brave and thought provoking? Worth the think <sic>, isn’t it? 2. What would you say if those were bespoken men, carefully groomed, but still, terribly injured? Probably nothing, and quite frankly that’s a bit sexist.” 


Let’s set aside the patronizing tone of those questions and talk about what seems to be at the root of the hub-bub: do the photos glorify or promote violence against women? The magazine claims that they did not set out to condone domestic violence but…if that’s true…it would seem that they didn’t publish the pictures with any conscious aim at all beyond shocking their readership.

That’s negligent.
An important part of my development as a writer was a bit of advice a treasured English teacher gave me: if you’re going to put something terrible on paper, have a damn good reason. Shock for shock’s sake cannot withstand public scrutiny and can compromise the value of your work as a whole.

However, where a book or a movie might suffer blowback for splashing on domestic violence like cheap cologne, there doesn’t seem to be the same kind of accountability in fashion. This Bulgarian editorial is only one example in a never-ending parade of paper dolls and mannequins painted, stripped and speared by an industry stocked with professionals who are rapidly running out of ideas.

Let’s not let controversy be a substitute for substance.

What are your expectations of art and artists?

Link to: jezebel.com/: fashions ongoing violence against women

Tom Ford ad: provocative and no one gets hurt

Robyn here - I'd like to add this to the mix. I would like to say that I don't believe that all high-fashion people are cut from the same cloth (no pun intended.) Designer/Artist Tom Ford has always represented women in a positive way. Yes, his fashion and his ads contain scantily clad people sometimes but there is always a playful self-awareness and gender equality to anything he does. His images can be thought-provoking, but you cannot lump him in with a publication like 12 Mag.

I would also argue that publications are not the makers of fashion (except for Vogue and its editor Anna Wintour) and you would never see an editorial as grotesque and women-hating as that in the pages of any country's Vogue. Or Elle. Or any of the other authentic fashion magazines.

I also echo Ashley in the question, what are our expectations of art and artists? And what role do we have as consumers in the production and selling of the underlying violence of those images?

I refuse to put those images on the blog, so please check out the article on Jezebel if you would like to see them. 

--Robyn


about Duendefilms West production of appleseeds: 

Please visit our indiegogo page to find out how we are trying to make a difference both in our short film and the screening/benefits to follow to raise money and awareness around issues of domestic violence and gender representation in film and media.

5 days to go and 20 min Skype perk for just 40$! Hazar!

Ashley Perryman Quach dreaming of Skyping

Been thinking about contributing but keep asking yourself, "who are these people anyway?"

Been wanting to contribute more but keep asking yourself "What is their favorite film? I wonder if they want to hear about my screenplay idea? And what REALLY happened the day Robyn met Angelina Jolie....hmmmm"

The answer to all those is, in the correct order. (let's see how many times I can put Skype in this)
1) 20 minutes, Skype and apple juice should tell you all you need to know about us
2) what's yours? Tell us on Skype.
3) yes!
4)....heh. Skype and you shall know all!

5 DAYS to go and so close... give now if you can and if you have, give a little more because you may want to know about us but we also want to meet you! Because without you, this film would not be getting made. That is the bottom line!

40$ Skype with us and help us reach our goal!!

With all our hearts we thank you!
Appleseeds team

about Duendefilms West production of appleseeds: 

Please visit our indiegogo page to find out how we are trying to make a difference both in our short film and the screening/benefits to follow to raise money and awareness around issues of domestic violence and gender representation in film and media.

Contributing Artist Spotlight: Singer-Songerwriter Arro Verse

Seriously folks, this just gets better and better. The awesome Arro Verse will be writing a song for appleseeds ! I'm am so jazzed, I've worked on two music videos with this amazingly talented woman and am so grateful to have our collaboration be part of the this film.

Wait, you haven't heard Arro's new song just released on  Itunes! Before you read on, go check it out and you'll see why I'm so excited: Love Follows Me But make sure to come back for more info.

One of my favorite shoots of all time was working with Arro and Jeanette Aguilar (among a list of talented people in our cast and crew) on the music video "Don't be my Boo Boo." Arro had such a great sense of story and this spirit of adventure with her work visually. I love what we ended up creating! Check it out here: Don't be my Boo Boo music video

Arro is that kind of authentic artist whose work seems to channel directly from her soul. Read about her new song "Love Follows Me" and the inspiration behind the song: www.rightouttv

about Duendefilms West production of appleseeds: 

Please visit our indiegogo page to find out how we are trying to make a difference both in our short film and the screening/benefits to follow to raise money and awareness around issues of domestic violence and gender representation in film and media.

Pictures worth a million internalized words: The Things That Make Us Uncomfortable

Go Daddy: would this mean the same thing if it was a man?

Read this blog and just had to re-post it. Sometimes we let ideas and images slip by because we are so used to being bombarded with them. They become part of our "socialized unconscious." It's clear a dialogue about how women are represented in all forms of media is needed now more than ever. Sex sells, we know that. But how about some equal time for women to count for more than just a pretty face and a perfect body. Every image counts. 

Excerpt from May 22nd Blog at Feministing.com by ehammers 

"We have innate reactions to minority groups. We have innate reactions to things that we feel are unjust or wrong. We feel personally affected, and people begin to argue. People begin to lose control and fight, people begin to start wars and create violence. I’m not just talking about women right now. “Women’s issues” are not one type of “issue”. “Issues” do not need to have a negative connotation at all. What about “IDEAS”? Ideas have a positive connotation. Spreading ideas is the answer. How do we begin to do that? How do we begin to start watching the television and working towards making advertising NOT controversial? Coming up with ideas together. Instead of FIGHTING the ad agencies and turning it into a war about “Women’s Issues”, what about starting a conversation?"


Continue reading: www.feministing.com



about Duendefilms West production of appleseeds: 

Please visit our indiegogo page to find out how we are trying to make a difference both in our short film and the screening/benefits to follow to raise money and awareness around issues of domestic violence and gender representation in film and media.