you are cordially invited to attend a screening of the 2010 Roger Smith Shorts this Wednesday July 28th 9pm @RSHotel. The screening will be held on the second floor in the Starlight ballroom.

Six handmade short films: by us, for you.

The Roger Smith Shorts Series started in 2009 as a short film festival /workshop and was designed to facilitate filmmaking opportunities for up and coming directors. The Roger Smith Hotel has become the backdrop for filmmakers as they put their creative talents to the test. The 2010 Roger Smith Short Directors are John Knowles, John Birdsong, Aleks Degtyarev, Melissa Gonzalez and Abianne Prince.

Facebook invite, Eventbrite invite

Film Trailers and information:

Title: CHECK MATE
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 3min 30 seconds

Cast: Robyn Day, Lars Gerhard
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day & Abianne Prince – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producers: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Director of Photography: John Birdsong – Lighting Design: Pete Eilenberg – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Editor: Abianne Prince
Email – abiprince@gmail.com
Website: www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/

Synopsis: This short experimental film explores one woman’s active imagination and how it keeps her mate in check.

About the Director: When Abi was 6 years old her Uncle Bob told her that life wasn’t worth living if she didn’t find a passion and follow it no matter what. Once Abi discovered photography and filmmaking she realized that she had found her vocation.  As a Producer, Director, Editor & Director of Photography, Abi has seen all sides of filmmaking. Her experience spans from live television production to commercials, documentaries and webisodes. Her passion is storytelling. Abianne  started her professional career at Plum TV as a “preditor” (producer/director/editor) and continued to practice all the tricks of the trade with Panman Productions in New York City.  Her recent endeavors also include working with the art news website RogerSmithLife.com, as well as projects with Voluntary Instinct Productions. V.I. is a non-profit media company, whose purpose is to enhance public awareness of under-represented social and environmental issues. When not making films, she enjoys swimming in the ocean, lost causes and painting.

Film Title: THE COUNTERPANE FAIRY
Director: John Knowles
Running Time: 15 minutes

Cast: Justin Hall, Lauren Frances, Aleks Degtyarev, Betsy Holt, Craig Russell , John Knowles, Phoebe Knowles
Crew: Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Directors of Photography: Adam Wallace and Abianne Prince – Editor: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngleman – Special Effects Supervisor: Aleks Degtyrev – Sound: Aleks Degtyarev – Set Design: Peter Eilenberg – Light Design: Peter Eilenberg – Assistant Set Design: Lucinda Lin -Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Costume design /Hair and Makeup: Joel Yapching – Hair: Katie Arbore – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Wardrobe: Veronica Zhou
Email: jknowles@panmanproductions.com
Website: www.thecounterpanefairy.tumblr.com

Synopsis: Teddy (played by Justin Hall), an 11 year old boy left alone in a hotel, decides to wander after his parents go out for the evening. In an empty penthouse he encounters The Counterpane Fairy (Lauren Frances) who takes him on a storybook adventure. He is put to the heroic task of saving an enchanted princess while freeing her from a spell that has been cast on her by a little gray spider (Aleks Degtyarev).
In the real world, the adults around him are constantly trying to box him into a conformed norm. His adventure reminds us that a child’s imagination is pure. The Counterpane Fairy is a modern day fairy tale that takes place at the Roger Smith Hotel.
The story of the Counterpane Fairy is an adaptation from the “The Counterpane Fairy” by Katherine Pyle.

About the Director: John Knowles is the CEO of Panman Productions, an interactive production company based out of New York City that focuses on live broadcasting, film, fashion, art and social media.  Panman Productions consists of a five member team that operates collectively with the understanding that ours is a company where “All of your dreams come true.”
After being introduced to Live production at Plum TV, John worked to adapt the Live production model to his endeavors online.  In the last several years, John has worked in collaboration with the Roger Smith Hotel on a number of projects.  He helped to create and build the Roger Smith Social Media program and was the executive producer of the 2009 Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival which generated six original short films.

Title: THE END
Directors: John Knowles & Melissa Gonzalez
Running Time: 10 minutes

Cast: Starring: Melissa Gonzalez, Jerome Richards & David Henry Gerson
Crew: Screenplay by: Melissa Gonzalez & Michael G. Richards – Executive Producer: John Knowles -Producers: Melissa Gonzalez & Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Editor: John Knowles – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: Melissa Gonzalez, Lion ‘esque Productions mg@lionesqueproductions.com
Website: www.theendfilmblog.tumblr.com

Synopsis: In the mid 1940s Sam Clarke fell madly in love with a young woman named Clare Hayes. It was WWII in Europe, a time of heightened emotion and adventure. Their time together lived in his heart forever and inspired the project of his lifetime. With hope and doubt, he hires actress Alex Keyes to assist in his endeavor.
Will Alex be able to embody the woman who stole Sam’s heart half a century ago? “The End” is a screenplay adaptation of the novel “A Century of Dust” by Michael G. Richards.

About Director Melissa Gonzalez: Melissa is no stranger to the camera or producing. Melissa, former co-host of Latin Beat on BET, has made numerous television appearances on NY shows including Chappelle’s Show, SNL and the FOX Pilot NY-70. In addition she produced and starred in the indie feature Spanglish Girls and Broken Hearts which premiered at LAIFF. Currently you can catch Melissa online hosting Homemade BFF’s and uncovering new fashion icons on http://www.rspopshop.com

Film Title: HAIR BALL
Directed by : John Birdsong
Running Time: 13min

Cast: Brett Siddell, Bari Hyman, Matt Semler, Mala Wright, Wayne Soares, Fanny (Cat), Tomas  Terstad
Crew:  Written by Morgan-Jo Teller and John Birdsong Director, Producer, DP, and Editor: John Birdsong – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producer: Melissa Gonzalez – Assistant Camera: Abianne Prince – Sound Designer: Aleks Degtyarev – Wardrobe: Morgan-Jo Teller – Boom Operator: Victor Reznik
Email: john.birdsong@yahoo.com
Blog(trailer): http://hair-ball.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
The only thing Louis loves more than being a bellboy is dancing. He makes the most of guests’ unattended rooms and personal possessions, practicing dance moves for nights at the club. Using a stranger’s toothbrush or sleeping in their bed was a victimless crime till now. Could a lude act with a suitcase send him back to prison? Can you taste another man’s mouth by sharing his toothbrush?  Hair-ball is loosely based on a phone call from “Car Talk” on NPR.

About the Director
John Christopher Alexander Michael Birdsong was born March 19th, 1981 in Brooklyn and raised in Texas and the Hamptons. His first job was as a counter boy at a Chinese take-out restaurant. John is not Chinese. He studied photography before interning and working as a Producer/Director/Editor for Plum TV. John’s passions include looking for the end of the internet, smelling things, and staying up late. John works with Panman Productions in midtown and lives with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo Teller in Brooklyn with their cat Fanny and a Siamese Fighting Fish named Rufio.

Title: MOTHER TERESA’S HIATUS
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 2min 30 seconds

Cast: Staring Kana Sato Supporting cast: Jay Cutler, Anwar Uddin, Dennis Lowell, Chad Miller,Sunjay Mishra,Chris Cotten, Rocco George, John Knowles, Roni Mazumdar, Dan Chen, Klive Robinson
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day – Producer: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Editor: Abianne Prince – Sound Director: Victor Reznik – Costume Design: Lucinda Lu – Art Direction: Lucinda Lu – Production Assistant: Susanna Lewitt – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: abiprince@gmail.com
Website:  www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
A woman’s epiphany about the role she plays in the lives of the men that surround her.

Title: SHOE FITS
Directed by: Aleks Degtyarev, aka Marlo L. Brown
Running Time: 21 minutes

Cast: Aleks Degtyarev, Kelly Jo Johnson, John Larmor, Lucinda Lin, Frank Martinelli, Brett Siddell, Rich Staab

Crew: Written by: Aleks Degtyarev – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Abianne Prince – Script Supervisor:  Melissa Gonzalez – Casting Director:  Melissa Gonzalez – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Boom-Pole Operator:  Vic Reznik – Choreographers:  Alex Smith and Eric Jacobson – Graphic Art:  John Larmor – Special Effects and post production:  John Chiarelli
Email: floatingopera@gmail.com
Website:  www.shoefits.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
The Original Hooligans are back. Another shoe fit another dolla! This time Marlo Lovely Brown has missplaced his dancing shoes. Confidant and partner in deviance, Pipe Adams is back on the scene to help Marlo locate his magical footwear. Marlo’s lover LuLu beckons from another dimension, while friend, and maddened inventor Bradrian W. Tangaurey laments at Camp Villain. Will Marlo be able to navigate his way through this fever dream to find the shoes or will humanity be doomed forever? If the Shoe Fits…

About the Director - Written by Pipe Adams
Born into a family of fur traders working their way through the Aleutians and the Bering Strait in the late 16th century, Marlo Leelan Brown was not always destined to make films. His name, literally translated, means the universal, or invincible prince. Young Marlo’s conception was nary cause for celebration, and his gestation and eventual birth a mere insurance policy to guard against the stark, endless Siberian winter. Just another maw to feed and, with hope, hands that would eventually grow strong enough to tear and render the priceless flesh from countless seals to add to the meager family coffers.
Time however, was on Marlo’s side and so Marlo danced the earth, a being reflected in the eyes of G-D, but yet a dead man inside, until the mid 90s. It was at this time that Marlo fell in with a bunch of like minded gents. Not immortals per say, but timeless characters nonetheless. For posterity’s sake, we shall call them the Original Hooligans. It was with the hooligans that Marlo discovered his true passion. Slowly, the hidden embers inside his mind, cold with age, began to warm, to glow. A fire was ignited inside of him. No longer the dancing dead, little Marlo Leelan was born anew. And the vehicle that brought young old Marlo back from the dead: Making Films.
But as he discovered his new found passion, changes began to occur. Each time Brown would look through his viewfinder a wrinkle would appear, a gray hair would sprout. Marlo Leelan Brown the foreverman, was now becoming just man.
Over the past decade Marlo has aged. Less like a fine cheese and more like a rusting washing machine in a dewy Bedford-Stuyvesant project courtyard, Marlo has forsaken eternal life for mortality to join the ranks of the Original Hooligan brotherhood and make films.

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SUZANNE BROUGHEL | ANNA LISE JENSEN | ELAINE KAUFMANN | JODIE LYN-KEE-CHOW SANDRA MACK-VALENCIA | CARRIE RUBINSTEIN | ASYA REZNIKOV | YASMIN SPIRO

Model Home presents the interdisciplinary work of eight artists from the tART collective, a New York-based network of women committed to exploring the intersections of public engagement, education and activism through visual art. In Model Home, Suzanne Broughel, Anna Lise Jensen, Elaine Kaufmann, Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, Sandra Mack-Valencia, Carrie Rubinstein, Asya Reznikov and Yasmin Spiro foreground a heightened awareness of the role of objects in discussing cultural value, fetishization and identity. Through a broad survey of the domestic signifiers which simultaneously enable and oppress—mops, feather dusters, ovens, rubber gloves, kitchenware, and things-to-do-lists—this exhibition critiques the notion that there is a “model home” or “archetypal lifestyle” to which universal value can be ascribed and questions the governing political, lingual and cultural forces that write this Utopian yet heavily gendered vision into being. Model Home resituates household objects and actions outside of the diverse spaces we call home and within an exhibitory context to assert that meaning is derived from the intersection of origin and context. As global citizens, these eight artists highlight travel, tourism and routes of migration as major influences on the cultural vale of everyday objects and discuss individual agency—through what could be described as a Fluxist, visual rhetoric—as it relates to desire, self and otherness.

SUZANNE BROUGHEL

Dark Matter, Band-Aids, plastic, 7′ x 5′, 2004
99 and 44/100ths Percent Pure, Ivory Soap and African Black Soap, 3″ x 5″, 2004

Statement: As a white woman making work about racial issues, my sculpture and photo installations have an ideological content that is intentional. Yet my work is also autobiographical – growing up in Yonkers, New York, I was racially sensitized from an early age. Yonkers is a town steeped in defacto segregation. My family lived just within the borders of the predominantly black school district, which led my father to pull me out of the elementary school I loved and to later instruct me to lie about my address so I could attend the “white” junior high school. My work is concerned with issues of white skin privilege and white guilt, but also more personal levels of meaning – such as sexual desire, cultural desire, desire for identity. Developing my own visual language with which to enter the dialogue on race was fraught with starts and stops. I learned that I needed to look inward first, at self and family, as part of voicing larger concerns. My art materials became everyday household items – white sheets, Band-Aids, Ivory Soap, self-tanning lotions. The resulting objects and images are not without an awkward humor, which makes the serious subject matter more approachable to viewers.

ANNA LISE JENSEN

Swedish Housing #1, diptych, unframed, Ed. 10, archival pigment prints

Cluster 3, prints sold individually or as whole cluster, each print an edition of 10. Archival pigment prints, unframed.

Statement: My work is about the making of personal space: researching, finding, creating and sharing spatial pockets outside and within existing structures – in order to rest, facilitate interactions and bring about action. Swedish Housing, are diptychs of interiors from an aunt’s first and last residence in Sweden. Moving to Sweden in her 20′s, a textile industrialist provided her employment and a maid’s room inside his home – where his descendants now run a Bed & Breakfast. The Swedish government provided her the assisted living apartment that was her home at the time of her death. The images are a reflection on traces of the living and the dead, the mirroring of the two places as well as the intermingling of public and private spheres.

ELAINE KAUFMANN

A Couple’s Bathroom (from the series International Design), 2008, graphite on paper, 12 x 9.5 inches
Island Getaway (from the series International Design), 2007, graphite on paper, 12 x 9.5 inches

Statement: Kaufmann’s work examines contemporary media in order to comment on social phenomena. By appropriating images and texts, she seeks to expose the ways in which newspapers and magazines disguise an unspoken agenda. International Design is a series of pencil drawings that appropriate the layout and text of articles about home design. In each drawing, she replaces the article’s original photograph with an image of housing in the developing world. By juxtaposing luxury with conditions stemming from rapid urbanization in the global south, she connects the fantasies of first-world affluence with the production of third-world poverty. This relationship reveals how newspapers and magazines promote the extremes of wealth and poverty as natural and unproblematic.

JODIE LYN-KEE-CHOW

Duties’ Call, performance video, edition 1/5, 6 min 29 sec, 2005 (Sound score is a digital remixed version of the excerpt from the play, “Dead Man Walking” a 2002 play written by Tim Robbins)
Duties Call shows the protagonist, played by the artist, doing a chore and becoming the victim attacked by an ordinary household tool. The drama unfolds as a cynical and cathartic experience is exposed and reveals psycho-dramatic notions of desire and death.

Clean & Dry, performance video, edition 1 of 5.

Video footage is taken in Jamaica, West Indies and in Queens, N.Y. showing two perspectives of doing laundry. The clothesline of underwear is the foreground of a sunny country backdrop with an outhouse in West Jamaica. While this scenery plays, the position of each panty turns backwards subtlety, as a commentary on the modernized, capitalist way of doing laundry (in a place such as the United States), where machines are a substitute for the peaceful serenity that nature in a rural country-side provides. Sounds of each experience are interchanged and encapsulate the nostalgic feeling of being out of ones ordinary life routine, wishing that clothes would dry faster or daydreaming of being in a more peaceful place.

SANDRA MACK-VALENCIA

Mother Queen, transfer, flash paint and ink on paper, 2008, 14 x 17″ (unframed)
Domesticated Medusa, transfer and acrylic on wood panel, 2010, 36 x 42″

Statement: I grew up surrounded by the smell of oil paint, turpentine and linseed oil. I was taught to look beyond the basic colors and search for the subtle tones. A leaf was not just green; it could be yellow-green, red-green, or brown-green. This is how my father taught me to look at the world, and until today this is how I perceive it. I like to believe that I was born an artist; that it is my fate and that no matter what I do, I cannot deny it. I believe that there is a range of ways to approach a piece of art: From a strictly rational point of view, where we look for the signified, asking for answers or explanations, to a more emotional one that comes through sensations, with nothing to explain or understand, nothing to be interpreted, just open to the intensities that emanate from the work. My drawings should not be placed in either category, since they move back and forth between these two worlds. It took me a few years to realize that besides political, social or moralizing work, it was also possible to make art with a strong aesthetic component, work that obeys impulses and sensations. It is not senseless, since it comes from a process of thought like every creative act; but instead of trying to illustrate a concept or idea, it is the idea, it is the concept that comes through the hand in the form of a stroke, a color, a drip, a smudge.

ASYA REZNIKOV

Migration #2, 45-second stop animation, loop video with audio, edition of 8

CARRIE RUBENSTEIN

Lists, ink, pencil, thread, tacks, paper, variable dimensions, 2009

Statement: Lists in the circle shape were written by the artist’s younger sister, Robyn, who unexpectedly died in 2008. They were found in her apartment shortly after her death. They are lists of the dogs in Robyn’s dog-walking business. The five center lists are a combination of found objects from the apartment and written by the artist. They document the time and days before and during Robyn’s death.

YASMIN SPIRO

Comfort
synthetic fur, plaster, synthetic hair, pins.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT:

[panman productions.com]

Contact : art@panmanproductions.com

[nicowheadon.com]
[tartnyc.org]

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By Daniel Rothbart and Maia Anthea Marinelli

July 9-30th, 2010

June 15th, 2010 The LAB (for installation + performance art) is pleased to announce ‘Soundstorm’, a kinetic installation by Daniel Rothbart and Maia Anthea Marinelli. This work intends to create a dialogue between art and nature, using sculptural elements that move according to the barometric pressure in New York City, at any given time. Isobars are represented by a shifting motorized web of pulleys and ropes that envelope the gallery and produce metallic noise. These sounds will be piped outside the gallery to complete the tableau vivant.

Daniel Rothbart’s work looks at the relationship between nature, urban postmodern identity and metaphysics. Rothbart holds an M.F.A. from Columbia University and won a Fulbright grant to Naples, Italy in 1990. His work can be found in public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Recent projects include exhibitions at the Andrea Meislin Gallery, Exit Art and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill. His latest European exhibition took place at Galerie Depardieu in Nice in June 2010.

Maia Anthea Marinelli’s work explores themes of women in relation to their cultural environment through conceptual strategies with sculpture, land art, photography, performance and interactive installations.Marinelli holds a B.F.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence Italy, and an M.F.A. from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. Her work has been exhibited at the Biennale of Mediterranean Artists, the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Genoa, Italy.

For more information please contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

The LAB (for installation + performance art) is a New York based, converted storefront turned fishbowl producing 30+ fast paced performance art and installation exhibitions annually. Aimed at furious midtown foot traffic, The LAB’s programming is designed to confront modern relationships between art and audience and seeks to force interaction between high energy, “outrospective” exhibitions and nearly 25,000 daily passersby. THE LAB is located on the North East corner of 47th and Lex and is a Roger Smith Collaboration in Art. www.thelabgallery.com

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In the field of guitar performance Dieter is deeply committed to the diffusion of new music, specially of Latin America, having recently performed works by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and Mario Davidovsky.

co-presented by the NYCCGS and Roger Smith Arts

The Solarium, 16th floor at The Roger Smith Hotel
Tickets $15, includes wine and cheese
pay at the door, cash only

For reservations, email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com
or call 212.339.2092

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Dieter Hennings plays The Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concert
Roger Smith Arts & The New York City Classical Guitar Society
The Solarium at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 47th and Lexington
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
June 13th, 2010 at 4pm
$15 includes wine and cheese
212-339-2092
http://secondsundays.tumblr.com

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The LAB (for installation + performance art) is pleased to announce ‘The Trader’s Ball’, an installation by French artist Fred Forest. With his trademark over the top irony, Forest rubs salt in the wounds of the free market banking industry , mocking their response to the financial crisis that has shaken the world. The installation will include corporate mannequins dancing the night away in The LAB and parallel scenes of jovial ignorance taking place via Second Life on large screens in the gallery. The action will take place to music by New York rapper Jamalski, who will orchestrate the movements of the dancers to a syncopated beat based on the real time fluctuation of the financial markets. To see the project’s website go to: www.thetradersball.com/

This piece will be in conjunction with a piece based around Forest’s Second Life avatar, Ego Cyberstar, that will be showing at The Science Fair at Flux Factory, June 5^th- 13^th.

Photos: Adam Wallace

Fred Forest is a French new media artist. He is the holder of a state doctorate in the humanities from the Sorbonne and has also taught on the faculty of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art, Cergy-Pontoise and University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. Forest has taken part in the Biennale of Venice (1976) and the Documenta of Kassel (1977, 1987) and his work has won awards at the Bienal do São Paulo (1973) and the Festival of Electronic Arts of Locarno (1995). In 2004, Forest’s archives, including his video works, were added to the collection of the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel of France and a retrospective of his work was held at the Slought Foundation in Philadelphia in 2007. Beginning in 2008, Forest launched a new series of performances in the environment of Second Life.

For more information please contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

The LAB (for installation + performance art) is a New York based, converted storefront turned fishbowl producing 30+ fast paced performance art and installation exhibitions annually. Aimed at furious midtown foot traffic, The LAB’s programming is designed to confront modern relationships between art and audience and seeks to force interaction between high energy, “outrospective” exhibitions and nearly 25,000 daily passersby. THE LAB is located on the North East corner of 47th and Lex and is a Roger Smith Collaboration in Art. www.thelabgallery.com

The Traders’ Ball Second Life Video

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Title: CHECK MATE
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 3min 30 seconds
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Robyn Day, Lars Gerhard
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day & Abianne Prince – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producers: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Director of Photography: John Birdsong – Lighting Design: Pete Eilenberg – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Editor: Abianne Prince
Email – abiprince@gmail.com
Website: www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
This short experimental film explores one woman’s active imagination and how it keeps her mate in check.

About the Director When Abi was 6 years old her Uncle Bob told her that life wasn’t worth living if she didn’t find a passion and follow it no matter what. Once Abi discovered photography and filmmaking she realized that she had found her vocation.  As a Producer, Director, Editor & Director of Photography, Abi has seen all sides of filmmaking. Her experience spans from live television production to commercials, documentaries and webisodes. Her passion is storytelling.

Abianne  started her professional career at Plum TV as a “preditor” (producer/director/editor) and continued to practice all the tricks of the trade with Panman Productions in New York City.  Her recent endeavors also include working with the art news website RogerSmithLife.com, as well as projects with Voluntary Instinct Productions. V.I. is a non-profit media company, whose purpose is to enhance public awareness of under-represented social and environmental issues. When not making films, she enjoys swimming in the ocean, lost causes and painting.

Film Title: THE COUNTERPANE FAIRY
Director: John Knowles
Running Time:  15 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Justin Hall, Lauren Frances, Aleks Degtyarev, Betsy Holt, Craig Russell , John Knowles, Phoebe Knowles
Crew: Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Directors of Photography: Adam Wallace and Abianne Prince – Editor: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngleman – Special Effects Supervisor: Aleks Degtyrev – Sound: Aleks Degtyarev – Set Design: Peter Eilenberg – Light Design: Peter Eilenberg – Assistant Set Design: Lucinda Lin -Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Costume design /Hair and Makeup: Joel Yapching – Hair: Katie Arbore – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Wardrobe: Veronica Zhou
Email: jknowles@panmanproductions.com
Website: www.thecounterpanefairy.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
Teddy (played by Justin Hall), an 11 year old boy left alone in a hotel, decides to wander after his parents go out for the evening. In an empty penthouse he encounters The Counterpane Fairy (Lauren Frances) who takes him on a storybook adventure. He is put to the heroic task of saving an enchanted princess while freeing her from a spell that has been cast on her by a little gray spider (Aleks Degtyarev).
In the real world, the adults around him are constantly trying to box him into a conformed norm. His adventure reminds us that a child’s imagination is pure. The Counterpane Fairy is a modern day fairy tale that takes place at the Roger Smith Hotel.
The story of the Counterpane Fairy is an adaptation from the “The Counterpane Fairy” by Katherine Pyle.
About the Director
John Knowles is the CEO of Panman Productions, an interactive production company based out of New York City that focuses on live broadcasting, film, fashion, art and social media.  Panman Productions consists of a five member team that operates collectively with the understanding that ours is a company where “All of your dreams come true.”
After being introduced to Live production at Plum TV, John worked to adapt the Live production model to his endeavors online.  In the last several years, John has worked in collaboration with the Roger Smith Hotel on a number of projects.  He helped to create and build the Roger Smith Social Media program and was the executive producer of the 2009 Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival which generated six original short films.

Title: THE END
Director by: John Knowles & Melissa Gonzalez
Running Time: 10 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

The End Trailer from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Starring: Melissa Gonzalez, Jerome Richards & David Henry Gerson
Crew: Screenplay by: Melissa Gonzalez & Michael G. Richards – Executive Producer: John Knowles -Producers: Melissa Gonzalez & Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg -  Editor: John Knowles – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: Melissa Gonzalez, Lion ‘esque Productions mg@lionesqueproductions.com
Website: www.theendfilmblog.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
In the mid 1940s Sam Clarke fell madly in love with a young woman named Clare Hayes. It was WWII in Europe, a time of heightened emotion and adventure. Their time together lived in his heart forever and inspired the project of his lifetime. With hope and doubt, he hires actress Alex Keyes to assist in his endeavor.
Will Alex be able to embody the woman who stole Sam’s heart half a century ago? “The End” is a screenplay adaptation of the novel “A Century of Dust” by Michael G. Richards.
About the Director Melissa Gonzalez
Melissa Gonzalez: Creator, Producer, Performer.
Melissa is no stranger to the camera or producing. Melissa, former co-host of Latin Beat on BET, has made numerous television appearances on NY shows including Chappelle’s Show, SNL and the FOX Pilot NY-70. In addition she produced and starred in the indie feature Spanglish Girls and Broken Hearts which premiered at LAIFF. Currently you can catch Melissa online hosting Homemade BFF’s and uncovering new fashion icons onwww.rspopshop.com.

Film Title: HAIR BALL
Directed by : John Birdsong
Made in the United States at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. 2010
Premiere Status: World Premiere at the Brooklyn International Film Festival.
Category: Short Comedy
Format: Canon DSLR
Running Time: approximately 10 minutes

hair-ball: a roger smith short (teaser #1) from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Brett Siddell, Bari Hyman, Matt Semler, Mala Wright, Wayne Soares, Fanny (Cat), Tomas  Terstad
Crew:  Written by Morgan-Jo Teller and John Birdsong Director, Producer, DP, and Editor: John Birdsong – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producer: Melissa Gonzalez – Assistant Camera: Abianne Prince – Sound Designer: Aleks Degtyarev – Wardrobe: Morgan-Jo Teller – Boom Operator: Victor Reznik
Email: john.birdsong@yahoo.com
Blog(trailer): http://hair-ball.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
The only thing Louis loves more than being a bellboy is dancing. He makes the most of guests’ unattended rooms and personal possessions, practicing dance moves for nights at the club. Using a stranger’s toothbrush or sleeping in their bed was a victimless crime till now. Could a lude act with a suitcase send him back to prison? Can you taste another man’s mouth by sharing his toothbrush?  Hair-ball is loosely based on a phone call from “Car Talk” on NPR.

About the Director
John Christopher Alexander Michael Birdsong was born March 19th, 1981 in Brooklyn and raised in Texas and the Hamptons. His first job was as a counter boy at a Chinese take-out restaurant. John is not Chinese. He studied photography before interning and working as a Producer/Director/Editor for Plum TV. John’s passions include looking for the end of the internet, smelling things, and staying up late. John works with Panman Productions in midtown and lives with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo Teller in Brooklyn with their cat Fanny and an unnamed school of goldfish.

Title: MOTHER TERESA’S HIATUS
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 2min 30 seconds
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Staring Kana Sato Supporting cast: Jay Cutler, Anwar Uddin, Dennis Lowell, Chad Miller,Sunjay Mishra,Chris Cotten, Rocco George, John Knowles, Roni Mazumdar, Dan Chen, Klive Robinson
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day – Producer: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Editor: Abianne Prince – Sound Director: Victor Reznik – Costume Design: Lucinda Lu – Art Direction: Lucinda Lu – Production Assistant: Susanna Lewitt – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: abiprince@gmail.com
Website:  www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
A woman’s epiphany about the role she plays in the lives of the men that surround her.

About the Director
When Abi was 6 years old her Uncle Bob told her that life wasn’t worth living if she didn’t find a passion and follow it no matter what. Once Abi discovered photography and filmmaking she realized that she had found her vocation.  As a Producer, Director, Editor & Director of Photography, Abi has seen all sides of filmmaking. Her experience spans from live television production to commercials, documentaries and webesodes. Her passion is storytelling.

Abianne started her professional career at Plum TV as a “preditor” (producer/director/editor) and continued to practice all the tricks of the trade with Panman Productions in New York City.  Her recent endeavors also include working with the art news website RogerSmithLife.com, as well as projects with Voluntary Instinct Productions. V.I. is a non-profit media company, whose purpose is to enhance public awareness of under-represented social and environmental issues. When not making films, she enjoys swimming in the ocean, lost causes and painting.

Title:  SHOE FITS
Directed by:  Aleks Degtyarev, aka Marlo L. Brown
Running Time:  21 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

The Original Hooligans are back. Shoe Fits Trailer! from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Aleks Degtyarev, Kelly Jo Johnson, John Larmor, Lucinda Lin, Frank Martinelli, Brett Siddell, Rich Staab

Crew: Written by: Aleks Degtyarev – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Abianne Prince – Script Supervisor:  Melissa Gonzalez – Casting Director:  Melissa Gonzalez – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Boom-Pole Operator:  Vic Reznik – Choreographers:  Alex Smith and Eric Jacobson – Graphic Art:  John Larmor – Special Effects and post production:  John Chiarelli
Email: floatingopera@gmail.com
Website:  www.shoefits.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
The Original Hooligans are back. Another shoe fit another dolla! This time Marlo Lovely Brown has missplaced his dancing shoes. Confidant and partner in deviance, Pipe Adams is back on the scene to help Marlo locate his magical footwear. Marlo’s lover LuLu beckons from another dimension, while friend, and maddened inventor Bradrian W. Tangaurey laments at Camp Villain. Will Marlo be able to navigate his way through this fever dream to find the shoes or will humanity be doomed forever? If the Shoe Fits…

About the Director - Written by Pipe Adams
Born into a family of fur traders working their way through the Aleutians and the Bering Strait in the late 16th century, Marlo Leelan Brown was not always destined to make films. His name, literally translated, means the universal, or invincible prince. Young Marlo’s conception was nary cause for celebration, and his gestation and eventual birth a mere insurance policy to guard against the stark, endless Siberian winter. Just another maw to feed and, with hope, hands that would eventually grow strong enough to tear and render the priceless flesh from countless seals to add to the meager family coffers.
Time however, was on Marlo’s side and so Marlo danced the earth, a being reflected in the eyes of G-D, but yet a dead man inside, until the mid 90s. It was at this time that Marlo fell in with a bunch of like minded gents. Not immortals per say, but timeless characters nonetheless. For posterity’s sake, we shall call them the Original Hooligans. It was with the hooligans that Marlo discovered his true passion. Slowly, the hidden embers inside his mind, cold with age, began to warm, to glow. A fire was ignited inside of him. No longer the dancing dead, little Marlo Leelan was born anew. And the vehicle that brought young old Marlo back from the dead: Making Films.
But as he discovered his new found passion, changes began to occur. Each time Brown would look through his viewfinder a wrinkle would appear, a gray hair would sprout. Marlo Leelan Brown the foreverman, was now becoming just man.
Over the past decade Marlo has aged. Less like a fine cheese and more like a rusting washing machine in a dewy Bedford-Stuyvesant project courtyard, Marlo has forsaken eternal life for mortality to join the ranks of the Original Hooligan brotherhood and make films.

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Sunday may 23rd, 4pm

Program

Graham Fitkin “Frame”
for six-mallet marimba and flute

Alexandre Lunsqui “Diogenes Lantern.”
for solo marimba

Eric Wubbels “Shiverer”
Members of the Wet Ink Ensemble, Alex Mincek and Eric Wubbels,
join Due East flutist, Erin Lesser.

Bernhard Lang “Difference/Repetition #1″
for flute, piano and tenor saxophone

Lou Harrison “First Concerto”
for Flute and Percussion

The Solarium, The Roger Smith Hotel
tickets $15 at the door, cash only
includes wine & cheese

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Everyone’s working full speed with the setup and we already got some interesting art on the scene. Stay tuned for more as this installation progresses!

Here’s the link to the main article:

TheGreatNude Invitational

Catch you guys later,
DannyGoulash

Friday, May 14th

The setup is complete and large amounts of paintings and artifacts are displayed all over the Mezzanine floor of Roger Smith Hotel. Here are the results of the hard work put in the last two days!

Recap of the finished Great Nude Invitational show with Danika Druttman of the LAB gallery.

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Private Preview: May 13 4pm-6pm VIP’s/Media/Art Professionals

Opening Night Reception: May 13 6pm – 9pm $20.

Daily Admission: May 14,15,16 12pm – 6pm $10.
2 for $10 with Invitational Postcard
$5 with valid museum membership card
$5 – Seniors and Students with valid ID’s

Drawing Workshop: May 14 & 16 1:30pm – 3pm Included with Daily Admission Fri & Sun

Evening Admission: May 14 & 15 6pm – 11pm $25. Includes 1 Free drink
8pm – 11pm Sketch Party with Nude Models

Visit http://www.thegreatnude.tv/invitational/Schedule.html
RSVP to media@thegreatnude.tv
Contact: Robert Curcio: 1-646-220-2557
Media/Art Professionals: http://www.thegreatnude.tv/invitational/press/press-registration.php

Opening Night Reception on Thursday, May 13th is from 6pm to 9pm; Live Nude Sketch Parties on May 14th and 15th. Come draw the models with exhibiting artists or just have a drink and view the Invitational. On Sunday May 16th, join our Panel discussion The Nude in Contemporary Art with exhibiting artists, and then join Sherry Camhy presenting two drawing workshops sponsored by Faber-Castell. Discounts for Lilly’s Bar & Restaurant downstairs are available and The Roger Smith Hotel is offering a discount of 10% on any during the event, which includes Full-Access Pass to the Invitational.See Schedule/Tickets online in order to purchase advance tickets for reception, events, hotel package and other information.

Donald Kuspit, noted curator, writer and Invitational Host Committee member, in his essay The Nude Ascending, sets the tone for the Invitational — The nudes in this exhibition do not comfortably settle down in pre-ordained grooves of art, but convey the élan vital of the body, promising the aesthetic perfection of ideal beauty—the sensuous and sensual subtlety of the body sublimated in epitomizing form–without denying the vulnerability of the all too human living flesh.  In other words, they are as full of mind as they are ripe with matter.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Doug Auld, Meredith Bergmann, Sherry Camhy, Bob Clyatt, Janet A. Cook, Camilla Fallon, Tapp Francke, Chambliss Giobbi, Scott Goodwillie, Krzysztof Izdebski-Cruz, Mary Larsen, Daniel Maidman, Walter Robinson, Paula Rubino, Eric Sonntag, Nicolas Turner, Francine Turk, Marc Vinciguerra, Jeffrey Wiener. Corpus Hermeticum: Odd Nerdrum, Adam Miller, Richard T. Scott and Fedele Spadafora. http://www.thegreatnude.tv/invitational/exhibitors/artists/Exhibitor-List.html

Sponsors/Partners

Get a 10% Discount at The Roger Smith during TheGreatNude Invitational
Use code “GNI” when making your reservation
Guests also receive a Full Access Pass to TheGreatNude Invitational and a 10% discount at Lily’s Bar & Restaurant.
Click to make reservations online at www.rogersmith.com

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Opening night was a huge hit and guests were truly impressed with Susan’s talent.

Having once given up her dream because it seemed impossible, Susan Suh learned a valuable life lesson that one should never stop dreaming. Wings allow you to fly and she incorporates their aesthetic into her collection. Her jewelry signifies strength and elegance.

Our Video:

Store Hours: M-F 11am-8pm

Sat 12pm- 7pm, Sun 12pm- 6pm

For Mother’s Day we are doing a special giveaway!

Enter for a chance to win the Double Wings Necklace in sterling silver from the Freedom & Hope Collection.

Contest rules (US residents only):

1. Must be a fan of Susan Suh Jewelry on facebook and

2. Post a picture of you and your mother on the Susan Suh Jewelry fan page.

Contest begins: NOW

Contest Ends: May 1, 2010

The winner will be announced on May 1st at 2pm @RS POP-UP Shop, 501 Lexington Ave. & 47th St. NYC.

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