STATE AND FATE OF CHILDREN

 YOUTH FILMS & FORUM TOOK PLACE AT THE

PASO ROBLES HIGH SCHOOL

THE AUDIENCE AND THE CAMERAS TOOK HOME A POWERFUL

EXPERIENCE AND SOME POWERFUL WORDS THAT WERE SPOKEN...

AND THE MANY TEARS THAT WERE SHED LAY TESTAMENT TO THE

NEED, AND THE EMOTION OF SOME POWERFUL PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING... WE WILL NOT LET THIS MOMENTUM STOP...

 

WE WILL BE WORKING TO PRODUCE A DVD OF THE STATE AND FATE

OF THE CHILDREN FORUM OF THE FESTIVAL...WITH HOPE THAT WE

ONLY STARTED A MOMENTUM THAT WILL TAKE THIS IMPORTANT

IDEA TO A NEW LEVEL.  A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE DID THIS WITH

VERY LITTLE MONEY, AND THE GIVING OF MANY IN ENERGY AND TIME.

 

We will soon announce phase 3 of the Wild West Digital Film Fest and its

ride to shed light in the darkness of so many millions of children, by giving

a stage to those who make films, toil working with the victims, fight in

political and medical arenas to make a change, and just those that want to

help however they can...and our vision is change and help for our kids will

grow from this spark we make in the digital age of media, and the same

media paradigm shift that may give individuals and organizations the

tools to do there important jobs working to save our Nation's children.

SURF BELOW AND VISIT SOME OF THE

GREAT PROJECTS FROM PAST FESTIVALS

 

 

DIRECTOR MICK JACKSON

ATTENDS THE FILM FEST 2010 AND

ATTENDS THE SCREENING OF THE

AWARD WINNING TEMPLE GRANDIN

 

 

 

Kathleen Quinlan watches

Dr. Lois Lee give her talk

Ken Kragen, Creator/Producer

of We Are The World, Hands Across America

Receives the PDFF HUMANTIAIRN AWARD

 

 

 

Ken Kragen joins the Singing Hands kids after their tearful and joyful performance of the

song We Are The World and Hands Across America especially for Ken...

 

 

 

Phillip Hain, of Autism Speaks, talks to the Paso High School about autism, and asks the

students how many know someone close to them that is affected by autism, and many

kids raised their hands...this was a very powerful part of the program...

 

Every great thing balances at all times on the razors edge of disaster...

When you are doing something that you really feel is something that is very

special, and you run into the obstacles, that you always do, and the bigger

the project the more obstacles and the more crisis will exists... it is when

you push through those problems, when you don't throw in the towel and

you make it work...

 

It is easier to do the impossible than the ordinary...I promise...it is easier

to do the impossible than the ordinary.   You know why?

 

When you show people that you are trying something that impossible,

then people want on your side...Hands Across America was completely

impossible, but I was too naive to believe it, I didn't know better.  I did

not know better to think that I could not get 45 of the top people in the

world together in a room to record a song for We Are The World, and

to help starving people in Africa.  It had never been done before, but I

didn't know better.  Sometimes it is better to not know better, sometimes

it is better to just believe you can do it.

 

Ken Kragen

 

Ken Kragen talking to the kids about the new We Are

The World and some of the new announcements for 2010

Dan is doing world wide online webcast

interview with Keegan Mullins, Paso High student

and festival staff working with the filmmakers...

 

All day Monday Nov 23 the Paso Digital Film Festival presented programs

to classes ever 70 minutes at the Paso Robles High School...

 

Phillip Hain of Autism Speaks talks to the high school kids

about autism, after a show of hands that many kids in the

room had autism in some way part of their family or friends...

 

Denice Ann Evans is the writer/director of a ground-breaking documentary entitled, Spitting Game: The College Hook Up Culture. Her documentary has showcased at festivals throughout the U.S. and most recently won “Best Social Awareness Documentary” at the 2009 Delray Beach Film Festival. She is also

a published author, national speaker, and honors graduate of Emory University. She has been a guest expert, speaking about “college hook ups,” on The

Morning Show with Mike and Juliet and a featured panelist for Harvard University’s Campus Outreach Program. Denice is a highly requested speaker

on college, university, and high schools campuses where she uses an

educational version of her film to help raise awareness on the risks, reasons,

and realities within the hook up culture.

 

Spitting Game  Is "hooking up" the new handshake on campus?

Spitting Game dares to open Pandora's Box and take a penetrating

look at the pros and cons of hooking up in college.

Denice Ann Evans

This provocative, candid, and ultimately scandalous expose is a virtual essay on

the effects of the college hook up culture.

 

 

  

   

Window To My World

 

John Andrew Parks is a Songwriter's

Songwriter, Poet and a Storyteller, with a

voice that has a three-octave range, not only

beautiful, it's powerful and highly stylized. 

Parks was recently the headline act for

CCTV entertainment television special that

was broadcast to over 600 million people

in China...GREAT PROJECT!!!!

 

 

John Andrew Parks

from Planet Texas to China

 

My Own 4 Walls  Melissa is one of over 1.5 million homeless children

and youth struggling to survive in America. These courageous youngsters,

with parents and without; staying in shelters, motels, abandoned buildings,

doubled-up, living in vans, substandard trailers, or as "couch surfers" hopping

rom one fragile living arrangement to another have one important thing in

common: They all have hopes and dreams just like children who have their

own four walls.  Melissa said, "It's better to have your own four walls."  She's

right.  Hear her poignant story and stories of the rest of these kids from non-

urban communities across the country. 

 

We were honored to have Diane Nilan, Pres Hear Us Inc., Dir. My Own 4

Walls and Dr. Laura Vazquez, producer of My Own 4 Walls attend the festival.

click logo to see the trailer

 

 We were so honored to screen this great film documentary

Autism: The Musical  In 1980, autism was a relatively rare

disorder, diagnosed in one in 10,000 children in the United States.

Now it is one in 150. AUTISM: THE MUSICAL counters today's

bleak statistics with one woman's optimistic pledge to lead

a group of autistic children in defying diagnosed expectations by

writing, rehearsing and performing their own full-length musical.

Following five LA children over the course of six months, director

Tricia Regan captures the struggles and triumphs of their family

lives and observes how this musical production gives these per-

formers a comfort zone in which they can explore their creative

sides. Both on and off stage, AUTISM: THE MUSICAL is a call-

to-arms, bringing attention to a modern-day epidemic, all the

while celebrating the way the human spirit can overcome any

challenge.

 

 

Hawaii filmmakers Don and Julianne King realized something was wrong

with their three-year-old son, Beau. Around age two-and-a-half, Beau

started loosing his ability to speak, his coordination, and was becoming

disconnected from the outside world. Determined to help Beau, his parents

brought him to the best doctors in the U.S. and took along a video camera

to document the results. Two months later, Beau was diagnosed with

Autism Spectrum Disorder.  BEAUTIFUL SON is the story of an illness

reaching epidemic proportion, now affecting one in 150 children. And,

it’s the story of a grass roots movement of parents and doctors who

believe that vaccines, mercury and other toxins may be triggering some

forms of autism and demanding research be done to help their children.

PLEASE VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AND HELP IN ANYWAY YOU CAN...

  BeautifulSon.com

 
Visit Get Ur Good On

 

 

Botso: The Passion of Music, The Power of Art,

film on the life and legacy of Dr. Wachtang "Botso" Korisheli.

 

Botso's story has become legendary -- including a wise goodbye from his famous father just before the latter's sudden execution in the Soviet Union, then Botso's own imprisonment under the regimes of both Stalin and Hitler. Botso's new life eventually brought him to Morro Bay, a small coastal village in California, where he taught and inspired thousands of children on not just how to become great musicians and artists, but how to become remarkable human beings.

The film will explore the fascinating life and philosophy of Dr. Korisheli, including the potent themes of human resilience and what inspires the creative process. Also featured will be in-depth interviews with Botso; his colleagues and members of his family, as well as current and former students -- including five-time Grammy Award winner Kent Nagano. A team of Central Coast and Georgian filmmakers spent two weeks on location in the Republic of Georgia during July of 2007. There, they captured the unique and vibrant culture of Botso's birthplace, and examined the brutal challenges he and his family faced in this former Soviet province. Artistic recreations, archival photographs and vintage movie clips will be seamlessly blended into the final digital editing process.

 

 

 Books by Lori Lite

Denice and Lorie Twitter and Facebook

in the webcast studio during the festival

Vicki Mullin's of Singing Hands

talks to kids about Internet

safety, at Paso High School

 

 WASHINGTON —  The FBI says more than 600

people have been arrested and 47 children rescued in a

three-day roundup targeting people who force children into prostitution. The arrests by federal, state and local law enforcement took  place in 29 cities as part of Operation

Cross Country II.

 

At a news conference Monday, FBI Deputy Director John

Pistole said the arrests were made possible by intelligence gathered during a similar series of raids in June.  The 47

rescued children ranged in age from 13 to 17. 

 

 

Sunday Diamond Dave Somerville will

be here to sing some of his songs from

THE CLASSIC ADVENTURES OF

DIAMOND DAVE

 

 

Grace, see her work at: youtube.com/user/grace2244

SEE THE FILM FESTIVAL PASO ROBLES

HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTATION

 

Rich does his magic on Robby Standley and friend

TheIceBreaker.com 

 

Festival Producer Benford Standley

 

The Department of Justice is releasing a new study today that

measures the effects of youth violence in America, and the results

are staggering. More than 60 percent of the children surveyed were

exposed to violence in the past year, either directly or indirectly.

Nearly half of children and adolescents were assaulted  at least once,

and more than one in ten were injured as a result. Nearly one-quarter

were the victim of a robbery, vandalism or theft, and one in sixteen

were victimized sexually.

 

 

Ken Kragen told the kids at Paso Robles High School...IF YOU CAN DREAM IT YOU CAN DO IT

Here you can see WHY we need

to gather for our kids and our future

for they are one and the same...

 

 

 

 

BACK

Great meeting between Ken Kragen

and Phillip Hain of Autism Speaks