I am happy to announce that our new show My First Time: The Tribeca Film Festival will be airing on WNBC TONIGHT (Saturday) at 7pm and again at 1am after SNL. We follow 3 first time filmmakers to the Tribeca Film Festival who are looking to break into the film business with their hearts on their sleeves.

Our Characters Are:

Justin Meeks from Austin Texas who shot his movie The WIldman of the Navidad for next to nothing stealing workers from his dads steel company to work on his film. He’s out to break into the movie business with his homage to 70’s horror flicks.

Lolis Elie from New Orleans Louisiana who has a movie called Faubourg Treme about how the civil rights movement started in the 6th ward 100 years before Martin Luther King. Lolis is working to get the message to NY that New Orleans is irreplaceable and important… and is in dire need of help.

Nina Paley - Who created a feature length animation over 5 years in her 350 square foot Hells Kitchen apartment. Her film Sita Sings the Blues is about an ancient indian epic, and her own story about being dumped by her ex-husband over email. She’s out to get her film out to her home town of NYC and to see what the box office gods have to say about her movie.

Its an honor to be able to tell a story about real people who make media that matter in a time slot that can use it! Thank you so much to everyone on the team who made show possible in a ridiculously short 3 weeks. You are f’ing rock stars. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks. I hope you enjoy it!

I’m currently shooting, and producing for the new LXTV project Open House NYC. We’re on at 8:30 Sunday mornings and then 1:30 sunday afternoons. You will see the exciting property bids, amazing homes, and some great home design and improvement tips. Check out the promo below to get a sneak peek and set your DVR’s!

A new section for broadway.com interviewing your favorite Tony nominees - and a look back on the past years opening night, and feature videos. If you are want to catch up on the thespian world in time for the Tonys this a great video resource. Click here to visit!

New article on some of last years work on the ICQuartely. The article sites me with a producer credit on Splitting Hairs, which is inaccurate and is of course the ever-awesome Stone Roberts, but thanks for telling some of my tales!“At IC, Jesse Zook Mann ’02 and other students worked on a documentary about Ithaca’s Southside Community Center with former cinema professor Simon Tarr. Mann still finds neighborhoods intriguing as subject matter: “My primary focus,” he says, “is on community storytelling and making short fundraising documentaries for nonprofits.” Of the latter, he has shot about 10.

Last year Mann finished a 23-minute film on the Samish Indian Nation in Anacoutes, Washington, which in the 1970s had lost its recognition as an Indian nation—meaning that its members were stripped of their fishing rights, autonomous governance, and land rights—and was only recently re-recognized by the federal government. Members of the nation are dispersed throughout the United States, so the goal of the film was to tell the politically-charged story and introduce their culture to viewers.

Mann followed up the film with another on the cooking rituals of the Samish people. Fundraising trailers for nonprofits include Angels without Wings, on a successful gang rescue program in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that Mann is now working to make into his first feature-length film. He likes to do political and cultural docs, and the nonprofits for which he has worked reflect those interests: Long Island Free Space, a community center for radical politics that offers free education; and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network.”read more here at ithaca.edu.

2 new vids!

Behind the Scenes: Backstage at Les Miserables with Aaron Lazar

Year-End Wrap-up with the cast of Rent

Two new video blogs from Broadway’s best news source in the milky way galaxy. First a completed Chorus Line interview series with all 19 members of a chorus line. in total all of these submissions tally to 185,687 hours so be sure to check them all out!

Broadway.com: On The Line

And our last, and probably best video blog for a Broadway show, Going Blonde: The Road to Broadway. The blog will be a continually updated documentary covering Legally Blond the Musical’s journey from cast announcements to opening night.

Broadway.com: Going Blonde

More to come!

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Been busy the last few months but a quick update and some links are in order. First a big thanks to Michael Cerveris and Meghan Ritchie for organizing the Sweeney Todd concert fundraiser for Broadway Cares - Equity Against AIDS. Michael was kind enough to invite me to create a series of video projections to accompany his band’s set. A few photos of the performance can be seen here.

Some fun new Broadway.com videos:

Chorus Line
From Skywalker Ranch, peek into the the recording session for the new Sony Masterworks recording of the upcoming Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. Link here.

Constantine
A private dance rehearsal for new Wedding Singer star Constantine Maroulis of American Idol fame (starting September 8). Link here.

Usher
A chat with Usher, Chicago’s newest leading man. Link here.

Christian Hoff
A behind-the-scenes peek at Jersey Boys, hosted by 2006 Tony Award winner Christian Hoff. Link here.

On the Scene: Kiki & Herb Talk Up Alive on Broadway Link here.

Marissa Jaret Winokur of Hairspray fame walked us through the sexy insanity that is Broadway Bares, featuring Broadways best bodies, Allan Cumming, and a song by Cyndi Lauper. Definitely the most fun I’ve had putting together a video at Broadway.com. Enjoy!

Broadway.com Presents Broadway Bares

Take a look behind the scenes at two Tony nominated shows with these two videos we shot last week! Click the titles to view the videos.

The Drowsy Chaperone with Sutton Foster

Sweeney Todd with Manoel Felciano

Hope everyone is having a restful Memorial Day weekend. I know it’s given me a moment to pause and catch up with everyone. It’s been a long time since many of you have heard from me, as this past season has presented a huge move of locations, careers and life in general. The biggest news is my new job at Broadway.com shooting and editing theater news segments, mini docs, interviews, etc. We recently completed segments with Martin Short, and the first ever Broadway video blog documentary for Lestat, the new musical scored by Elton John and Bernie Taupan. There are more projects like this one to come, so keep a look out.

Thanks to everyone who put me up and gave me a warm couch to sleep on during first weeks back in NY. Carolina Paula and Dana Jerebek, Barrie Fitzpatrick, and Rose Pile and Mary O’Maley. I would be a very cold Jewcicle without you. Fortunately, my days of couch-hopping are over as I found a new apartment in Astoria, on Astoria Park, which is pretty great. Thanks to fellow Ithaca alumni Scott Mcdermott who was kind enough to lend his skills to the Ithaca College Alumni magazine, Ithaca College Quarterly, to take a few stills of yours truly for an upcoming article covering documentary makers who graduated from IC. You can check out one of the stills on my Myspace, and check out Scott’s portfolio at scottmcdermott.com. I don’t know when the article is due. Anyone out there have the new Ithaca College Quarterly? I’m not even sure they have my current address…

You also will definitely want to check out our new review on Film Threat, where our rediculous mockumentary Paul Alien (yes the one that proves Microsoft Bazillionaire Paul Allen is in FACT dealing with space aliens in order to privatize the earth). In this review, Paul Alien is described as “THE movie to watch stoned.” Now I don’t know
if I can ever match that kind of accolade again in my career.

On a personal note, one of my good friends is in a lot of trouble and can use your help. You may know my friend Josh Harper from Seattle; we met when I was organizing in at school in Ithaca at a lecture he was giving. He was touring with a documentary he made called Breaking Free, a document of political actions taken for animals back in 1999. I was so inspired by his work that I began emailing him and we soon became good friends. Unfortunately for Josh, his lectures and videos made too much of an impact and he is now facing several years in jail for giving speeches, and making media that the government finds dangerous.

Under the new legislation, the Animal Enterprises Terrorism Act makes any act causing, or conspiring to cause $10,000 in damages to animal enterprise, an act of terrorism. And yes, you guessed it, that includes speeches. Josh was convicted of this crime when the government argued that his speeches inspired others to take action damaging Huntingdon Life Sciences, a lab with a track record for illegal animal abuse, in the form of protesting, phone calls, and direct action.

Josh only has a few more weeks until his time to appeal runs out, and needs to raise several thousand more dollars in order to hire a lawyer. If you have money, or know someone who does please consider making a donation to his legal fund, or quickly spread the word today to someone who can. You can read more about the case at shac7.com.

Donations can be sent to:

Melissa Warner
5808 15th Ave NE Apt. C
Seattle, WA 98105

If you just have a little money like most of us you can buy a poster to support him at gig posters. Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy the weekend!