Film festivals abound these days. It wasn’t too long ago that festivals were extremely elite and few and far between. If you were lucky you either went to Cannes, San Francisco, New York or maybe Toronto. Then came Sundance and suddenly filmmakers were able to really attract attention. Soon film festivals began to proliferate and each have a purpose. Every major city and small hamlet alike have some type of festival these days. They are a great way to have your films seen, be noticed and eventually distributed.

Now many festivals are sporting a youth division and that by the way, is exciting. These divisions highlight student films and often have reviewing and critiquing panels well suited for making comments that guide young filmmakers on to making better and better films. We hope and expect our summer intensive students to take their knowledge gained in our workshops and make films outside of camp. We encourage them to look into entering their films in local and national film festivals and ask them to keep us informed of how their films are received. We want to celebrate their work.

Today we received an announcement of the 11th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival and its call for 2010 Youth Division Entries. There will be a free screening of the chosen films on April 25, 2010 and a Q & A with the audience. For more information and entry form instructions visit the festival website.  The Newport Beach Film Festival runs April 22-29, 2010 and whether you enter a film or not go and enjoy the films. You might discover a new favorite filmmaker…or revisit an old favorite.  Even better, maybe your film will be in the spotlight. Let us know.

I’m usually a first weekend movie-goer. That comes from spending my life around the “business” and knowing the importance of the first weekend box office receipts. To be truthful, it probably really comes from hearing dinner table talk as a child. My father was a television executive in the early days of television and his company ABC merged with Paramount Theaters. Leonard Goldenson, President of Paramount became head of the merged companies and to the day he died he checked the theater box office numbers every day! If it had been a good night at the theaters it was a good day in television. So out of habit, I drag my husband to two or three movies on the weekend.

For that same insider’s reason I don’t like overly hyped movies because I know why they are generally hyped so I usually avoid them. That’s the reason I didn’t go see “This Is It” when it opened on the 28th of October. That, and the fact that I was a little Michael Jacksoned out. The reasons I had been a HUGE fan of his had been obscured by all of the bad press and the subsequent doubts about the man himself over the past six years. Monday night I acquiesced to a movie date. What I saw and what I’m writing makes no allusion to the persona of the off stage Michael Jackson. It speaks only to what I saw in the film and what I think we would have seen in the London concerts. This is my reaction.

Wow, awesome, fantastic, brilliant, tremendous, incredible, extraordinary! Are those enough adjectives? And that’s just about the cut together pre-production footage documenting what was to have been an unprecedented London 50 sold-out Concert residency. Now let’s talk about the genius, yes, sheer genius of The Man.

By no uncertain terms, he is a genius. You see it in everything he touches. Perhaps we expect, and have even grown to accept it, in his music and his dance. But it shows in everything. Even in the way he handles other creative people who bow to his superior ability. Watching Michael Jackson in action is a lesson in professionalism. From conception through execution his eye oversaw everything. Nothing, not even the smallest nuance escaped him.

TRILLER might be what the audience comes to see, and you have never seen THRILLER like this, but thrilling is what you get to see. Every production number is a winner and the sad thing is that we will never have the exhilaration of seeing it live.

Most of all, I saw a man who was devoted to his profession. His passion for writing and performing music and to dancing comes through loud and clear. From his insistence on perfection from everyone from the musical director, to the choreographers, to the lighting and costume designers, he demanded their best. His demands were issued with grace, professionalism and kindness. His love for the world and its people sweeps us in. His ability to discern exactly how to manipulate an audience to a near frenzy through his impeccable timing is hypnotizing.

I attended a memorial service for a friend recently and her son said to us, “If you loved my mother, find one quality of hers and emulate it. That’s how she will live forever.” I challenge all of us to take one of MJ’s professional genius qualities and make it our own.

Students across the country took SATs last Saturday and there are more to come. It’s fall and for high school seniors planning to go on to college it is the rite of passage. It goes something like this. First the PSATs. Then the questions. “OMG!” “How could I have scored so low? How am I going to compete to get into college with those scores and my grades?” Next, strategy study and practice tests. Then the SATs and more anguish and gnashing of teeth. College visits and decisions. Which schools? Early Action vs. Early Decision? Have I picked a school that requires auditions? What does that mean in the application process? What do the budget cuts in the “halls of ivy” mean to my college education? The questions go on and on.

I’ve written several blogs on the importance of planning for college. I can not stress enough how much more enjoyable the process will be if you and your parents take on the journey as though you were planning a long awaited trip to an exotic faraway place. I will never forget the fun my husband and I had when we planned our first trip together to Europe . We had ideas about what we wanted to do and see. We had expectations about the trip. We researched and talked and put things in the itinerary and took things out. We listened to friends and advisers and we left room for spontaneity. In the end, it was a memorable journey. Every part from the planning through the execution was a joy because we took our time. Your quest for your higher education should be the same thing.

The important thing about planning for college is to start early enough and freshman year in high school is not too early to begin. Fall of senior year is a busy time, often made busier by the unexpected deadlines and the pressure of writing personal statements. Students who start preparing early have already made decisions about what schools and when to apply and have allocated the time to complete the necessary requirements.

See your counselor early. If you intend to work with your high school adviser then the earlier you let her know that you will need her help in planning for admissions the more time she can allot to helping you. If you want to seek out the guidance of an independent college counselor then freshman year is a good time since they like to set a timeline for guiding you through the process. If you are selecting a performing arts major you will want to spend time on your craft and building a resume beyond your high school in preparation for your audition.

Applying to college isn’t a crap shoot. It’s about finding the right school that fits your interests and your learning style. It is about realistically accessing yourself, the school and the department. Waiting until the last minute is dicey and rolling the dice is about luck. Swinging the bat is skill. Get ready. Step up to the plate. It’s time for a home run!

I believe to the bottom of my toes that the arts are the soul of man’s humanity. I believe that art, whether it’s the performing arts, digital media, or visual arts, has the ability to change the world. I’ve written blogs about this before but every time I see or hear something that reinforces that belief I want to celebrate it!

I also believe that art can be found everywhere and anywhere and that it can be well presented in “found space.” Here is where I believe our next generation of artists plays a profound role. An artist has a responsibility to help make us accountable. To speak responsibly about humanity. To help us hold up a mirror to our actions so that our world continues to evolve for all mankind.

How an artist chooses to do that is an individual decision. There are, should be, as many independent voices as there are creative artists. Whether it’s through comedy, drama, satire, documentaries, murals, paintings, sculpture, or music, it doesn’t matter. Whether you write, perform, paint, sculpt, create behind the scenes, or produce, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you use your gift. It doesn’t matter whether you take home potloads of money or you play for change on the street corners. What matters is how you let your voice be heard.

I’m not just talking about bodies of work that speak up for global issues and individual rights, I’m also talking about the opportunity to lift a community’s spirits. I’ve always been interested in how the entertainment industry rallies in the time of crises. Just in my lifetime I’ve seen it in wartime, after earthquakes, a presidential assassination, and at least two horrific acts of terrorism.

One of the dictionary’s definitions of soul is: “a person’s emotional and moral nature, where the most private thoughts and feelings are hidden.” Think of the opportunity we have to test those thoughts and feelings by bringing life’s injustices to light through the arts. To enable us to mend our ways.

The arts are participatory. Whether we’re gazing at a painting, listening to a concert, or watching a theatrical play or screenplay we are absorbing a message. Each one of us has a responsibility to suspend our disbelief, absorb the message critically and allow ourselves to be moved to take appropriate action. Sometimes the message is subtle, layered deep into the fabric of the art. Sometimes it hits us between the eyes. Sometimes it directly calls us to action. Whatever it is, in retrospect it should engage us.

So, have an engaging weekend!

“OMG, it’s end of October.” “OMG, I missed the PSAT date!” Everywhere the cries of supposedly college-bound high school juniors and seniors can be heard. Then of course there is the eternal clueless student who just isn’t tuned into the college process at all and then you will hear, “It’s the end of October and my son hasn’t even researched any colleges.” Or, “My son missed the dates for the SATs (or PSATs). Now what will we do?” Notice I said “son” because the statistics show that a far larger percentage of teenage boys procrastinate when it comes to preparing for college.

Last weekend I visited my eldest daughter and her family in Southern California. Her son has just started his junior year in a new high school. He transferred this year from a parochial school to a charter public school that offers a concentration in his great passion, digital media, along with classes for gifted students. So here he is, sixteen years old, a new school, new friends, classes he loves, and some AP classes that are challenging to say the least. Do you think college, two years from now, is on his mind? Then there’s my daughter. Besides her son, she’s juggling a successful career, two daughters who attend schools on opposite sides of the valley, and a marriage. Do you think college two years from now is a priority in her thoughts?

My daughter discovered just how “out of thought” college was for both of them when she attended a Back to School Night at school last week and discovered that her son had missed the PSAT day at his school!

Unfortunately the count-down calendar has begun for my grandson (and his parents) in his march towards college admissions. No one can prepare the applications for him. No one can write the essay or take the tests but him. But we can all guide him.  It really does take a village to go to college and the villagers are there waiting to be asked.

It occurred to me when I returned to work yesterday that even though it may seem redundant to me, every year there are thousands upon thousands of new college applicants beginning the process. Each year I need to update and share some of the resources we use to help our USPA students and their families take the journey towards college.

First, to alleviate my own family’s panic, the PSAT is exactly that…a preliminary practice SAT. You can even request a copy of this year’s PSAT now that the testing period has passed to study and practice on your own. There are many ways today to receive preparation for the SAT and ACTs. There are private individuals and companies that give counseling and  practice on taking the SAT. The test itself can be taken several times to raise your score. Even missing the PSAT does not disqualify you from an opportunity to be a National Merit Scholarship Finalist.

In missing the test what you did lose of course is the potential opportunity for your high  test scores to be noticed by college admissions officers and for a “recruitment” process to begin. Also, by not filling out the interest card you won’t automatically receive interest back from colleges. You can begin that process yourself. You can research, identify, and send for information on your favorite choices on your own. The plus side to that is that you’ll only be receiving information from schools that really interest you and not a bunch of random colleges that have a check marked interest of study.

So, avoid the panic. Start developing a planning calendar. Start with a long-range plan with the hard dates. Test taking dates, college visits you might want to take, application due dates. Talk regularly with your “village” about your progress in researching schools. Discuss openly whether you feel a test prep course will give you the added confidence you need to successfully take the SAT or ACT. Find out how knowledgeable your high school college counselor is about schools in your current field of interest.  Find out how much time your counselor has to help guide students in her charge. Talk about whether an independent college counselor might benefit you in your ultimate success.

Set aside some weekly time to just focus on your college journey. It can be your “College Time”. One week it might be to surf the web researching schools. Most schools do virtual tours now and their sites contain loads of information. Another week it might be used for test preparation or work on your personal essay. Whatever you use the time for that is college related it will give you a sense of accomplishment, knowledge and confidence that you are on your pathway to college.

I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it, enjoy this process. It is a great time of discovery.