Kevin Fennessy of Kevin Fennessy Casting has been working around the clock most of the summer. In addition to 12 speaking roles for WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN, KFC also cast 1200 extras. The film spent 12 weeks in principal photography in Boston during the summer.

As WHAT’S THE WORST… was wrapping, Kevin got a sudden call from the producers of RIGHT RED HAND, a low budget SAG indie, which started shooting early September in Waltham. They were less than a day away from principal photography and had lost one of their LA cast ensemble leads and could Kevin help? (They were referred to him by LA based actor Bill Timoney, whom he had seen in August at the RIFF, where they co-led a workshop on casting. Bill and Kevin had toiled together back in the late 80’s in New York as "Trask Enterprises Executives" in WORKING GIRL). Within 48 hours they had their casting session, were thrilled with the choices, and cast Boston actor/writer John Kuntz. John closed the summer season at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre on the cape on Saturday night and on Monday morning was on set to start a four week shoot in this ensemble cast. Many of you know that John’s solo show FREAKS! was part of a double bill with Paula Plum’s PLUM PUDDING that Kevin produced through his theatre company Raven Theatrical, and which won the 1997 Elliott Norton Award from the Boston Theatre Critics for Outstanding Fringe Production.

The Harvard Film Archive was closed in August for a total ground-up renovation of the projection booth including the installation of new and newly refurbished 16mm, 35mm, and video projectors; and a major redesign of the entry way into its main theatre. The Harvard Film Archive will began its Fall 2000 season with excellent projection in a quieter, more cinematic theatre on Friday, September 15th.

The Fischinger retrospective is the first of an ongoing animation program at Harvard Film Archives. Fischinger biographer Dr. William Montz will be present at the first presentation on October 13th. That night, Motion Painting #1 (1947) will be presented along with other works.

Here is one highlight of GLOBAL VISIONS, a presentation for October at the HFA. It’s A Centennial Celebration of the Master of Animation, Oskar Fischinger. This year marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fischinger (1900-1967), one of the most prolific and influential artists of the international avant-garde film movement. Fischinger’s abstract animations melded color and geometric graphic design into patterns of rhythmic movement to produce a visual representation of the feelings produced by music and poetry, and his work is considered a forerunner to a range of subsequent contemporary art movements. To commemorate Fischinger’s centennial year, The iotaCenter, a Los Angeles-based organization for the preservation and promotion of abstract film, has produced a three-part series of Fischinger’s work. With the current release of FANTASIA 2000, the retrospective provides a timely opportunity to re-examine the important but uncredited work Fischinger created for the original 1940 production, which Disney considered "too abstract" to be used in the final film.

The Fischinger retrospective is the first in a series of ongoing animation programs at the HFA that, each season, will highlight the work of a notable figure from this too-often ignored arena of cinematic production. On October 13th at 7 pm, the first installment of the retrospective will feature a presentation by noted film scholar and Fischinger biographer Dr. William Moritz, and will include 35mm prints of Fischinger’s most celebrated films, recently restored from the original nitrate negatives by the Film Archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: STUDIES NUMBER 1, 2, AND 6 (1929-30), LIEBESSPIEL (1931), KREISE (1933), ALLEGRETTO (1936), AMERICAN MARCH (1941), RADIO DYNAMICS (1942), and MOTION PAINTING #1 (1947).

The Fischinger retrospective continues on October 14th with a number of the artist’s rarely seen films, including SPIRITUAL CONSTRUCTIONS (1927), STUDY #7 (1931), and ORNAMENT SOUND (1932); examples of his commercial work; and a documentary on his life and work featuring interviews with his wife, Elfriede. This program will include a pixilated film Fischinger made in 1927 as he walked 300 miles from Munich to Berlin shooting single frames, and a selection of experiments from a machine he invented to animate slices from a block of multi-colored wax.

Valerie Weiss has been directing theater and videos for the past nine years. Now, Valerie plans to direct a collaborative feature film project for the Dudley House Film Program. Students from the Dudly House Film and Drama program will participate in the writing, acting, shooting, crew and editing of the feature. The project will be shot on digital video and is expected to be completed by the end of the school year. Students from this program are pursuing a wide range of academic interests from genetics to romance languages, so the film is likely to have a unique topic and perspective.

Valerie Weiss will direct a collaborative feature film project for the Dudley House Film Program. She is finishing up her Ph.D at Harvard University where she oversees the theater and film program for graduate students.

Valerie began directing while at Princeton University where she minored in Theater and Dance. Her directorial debut was Christopher Durang’s DENTITY CRISIS. Valerie went on to direct plays such as EQUUS, THE MARRIAGE OF BETTE AND BOO, THE OLDEST PROFESSION and, most recently, Edward Albee’s THE AMERICAN DREAM for Koinonia Theatre in Cambridge. Valerie has directed several short videos, including CHAPSTICK CHARMED, which appeared on the icast.com website; this short tells the tale of two guys who, using nothing but chapstick, sweep two unsuspecting ladies off their feet. Currently, Valerie is finishing up a Ph.D. at Harvard University where she runs the theater and film program for graduate students. She arranges guest speakers and programs on all facets of the industry that are open to the public and usually at no charge. For more info visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~dudley/fellows/drama/drama.html).

Writers Boot Camp is expanding its successful television and screen writing program to the city of Cambridge. Potential new recruits may apply now for the October 9th charter session. Acceptance to the program is based on an application and interview.

Writers Boot Camp is a career development track for writers in the entertainment industry and professionals who want to improve their creative skills. For the past 11 years, writers have learned the tools taught in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.

Former students are the writers of ROUNDERS, STEPMOM, ENCINO MAN and WHITE SQUALL. Several graduates are writing for SEX AND THE CITY, THE PRACTICE, THE X FILES, NYPD BLUE and ALLY MCBEAL.

Writers Boot Camp requires recruits to have the desire to write for the next 2 — 3 years and lifestyle to accommodate 10 hours of creative writing outside of class per week. For more information, contact call 800.800.1733 x 311.

The Columbus Theatre, located on Historical Federal Hill in Providence is an eccentric new venue in the Providence area … and that’s the wrinkle because The Columbus is not at all new–the theatre was built in 1926, and their preservation efforts are evident throughout the building

It’s definitely not what you’d expect! The Columbus actually has not one, but two amazing theatres: its main stage features 600 orchestra and 150 mezzanine seats. The Studio Cinema (Columbus’s little theatre) seats an additional 200, and is hidden behind the mezzanine. Both theatres have film and video projection capabilities, as well as a performance stage. The architecture and acoustics are absolutely amazing, featuring old school polished ticket booths, stained-glass archways, and a Wurlitzer Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra Organ lurking in the corner.

In the early years, the theatre had a vast variety of live productions, but due to the disasterous effect of the television in the 50’s, the Columbus’s main business for the last thirty five years has been in the adult motion picture trade. The new millennium has brought new interest in the theatre from local artists. In the last two months the Columbus hosted the Bindlestiff Family Circus, a rock concert, and Picture Start Film Series 2000, four nights of independent films and short stories and the Providence/RI Film Festival. The Columbus is also a unique location for shooting film or video, for auditions, screenings, premiere parties.

10 Engines announces its first release OPEN SEASON, a documentary shot in Vermont over 3 months of last winter, being distributed through Video Action Sports (CA). 10 Engines is James Fox and John Bollenbacher, both graduates of the Boston film scene with work at BFVF, Mass Cultural Council and the N.E. Film Festival.

James Fox and John Bollenbacher’s OPEN SEASON i s a documentary shot in Vermont and is being distributed through Video Action Sports

OPEN SEASON is a snowboarding film that embraces documentary filmmaking and focuses on the most colorful aspect of the sport; the riders themselves. Interviews of professional snowboarders including world-halfpipe champion Ross Powers, Terje Haakonsen and the godfather of the sport, Jake "Burton" Carpenter. Soulful 16mm film and supersaturated digital-video showcase the US OPEN and the superpipe in all it’s glory. There we caught up with our interviewees for their thoughts and feelings on the state of the sport, the industry and its future.

OPEN SEASON is a kinetic portrait, with Halfpipe action, Big Air, and a BoarderX segment narrated by Snowboarder magazine’s "redneck of the year", Hobie Chittenden. OPEN SEASON is also one of the few recent snowboard films to showcase the female riders, with commentary on that perspective from another east coast veteran, Ms. Tricia Byrnes. Check it out at http://www.10engines.com.

ViewPoint Studios recently completed two on-air image pieces for Young & Rubicam Damaris’ client Grupo Leon Jimenes. They are the start of an on-going campaign of sponsored program interstitials for air within the Dominican Republic.

"An integral part of the campaign", said ViewPoint Studios’ Art Director, Jane Holland, "was projecting Grupo Leon Jimenes’ dedication to the people of the Dominican Republic, as well as conveying a strong feeling of national commitment."

"The creative concept that we decided upon was executed precisely," said Javier Pena, Production Director at Young & Rubicam Damaris. "The ViewPoint Studios design team was most impressive. They were flexible, open to change and the communications process was amazing."

The spots blend imagery of the Dominican native culture with other traditional and international footage to convey Grupo Leon Jimenes’ strong national commitment. Projecting these images on live action details of the human form, such as eyes, hands and ears created a more tactile relationship with the imagery. Color also played a key role within the design. Each piece has a single dominant color chosen to evoke the emotion conveyed by the topic of its programming. "This was an opportunity to express our creativity to a uniquely different audience," states Glenn Robbins, ViewPoint Studios’ Creative Director. "The dramatic visual treatment communicates the message across any cultural differences." The end result is beautifully choreographed designs that are filled with inspiring imagery of the art, culture and heritage of the Dominican Republic.

Young & Rubicam Damaris was great to work with, they were very open to our ideas," said ViewPoint Studios’ Producer, Celia Willette. "In addition, Javier Pena’s knowledge of his client, culture and the production process made him an invaluable resource."

ViewPoint Studios is an award winning, fully integrated broadcast design firm that specializes in on-air identity, promotion and program packaging for the broadcast and cable industries. Clients include Discovery Communications, Encore Media Group LLC, ESPN Networks, The History Channel, TNN, as well as broadcast groups and TV stations nationwide.