Interview with The Hayloft Gang Filmmaker Stephen Parry

By Kate Sullivan Green

Narrated by NPR’s Garrison Keillor, The Hayloft Gang tells the story of one of early radio’s most popular programs: the National Barn Dance and ITVS’s Kate Sullivan Green recently sat down with Directror/Producer Stephen Parry to talk about the film. Read the interview below, watch The Hayloft Gang on PBS throughout September (check local listings), and enter the special online video contest.

Why did you decide to make a film about the National Barn Dance?
It’s an untold story in American music and culture.  I fell in love with bluegrass at my first festival in 1994, and around the campfires heard all these old timers talking about this radio show out of Chicago called the National Barn Dance.  From there I uncovered that Chicago was actually the capital of country music before World War II.  The Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville are household names today, but in the 1930s and 40s, the epicenter of our film, Chicago was top dog coast to coast, on the NBC network every Saturday night, and those performers were household names.
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Tags: Bluegrass, contest, dance, hayloft gang, music, NPR, PBS, Prairie Home Companion

Filmmaker Byron Hurt Chats Live About Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

ITVS Indies Showcase will present its first live chat on Thursday, July 28 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET with filmmaker Byron Hurt, whose acclaimed documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes streams free from July 28 – 30.

The film, which first aired on Independent Lens in 2007, takes an in-depth look at masculinity in rap music and hip-hop culture — where creative genius, poetic beauty, and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence, and homophobia.
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Tags: beyond beats and rhymes, Byron Hurt, culture, hip hop, Independent Lens, ITVS Indies Showcase, live chat, music, rap

NEWLY FUNDED: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Filmmakers Reuben Atlas and Carol Bash

The Two newly funded ITVS documentaries — Brothers Hypnotic (Reuben Atlas) and Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band (Carol Bash) look at the past, present, and future of  jazz.

Brothers Hypnotic by filmmaker Reuben Atlas

Brothers Hypnotic follows the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a Chicago-based brass group featuring the eight sons of legendary jazz trumpeter Phil Cohran, whose music ties the currents of jazz, funk, and hip-hop. Reuben Atlas’ film follows the brothers as they make their way on the streets of New York and in the music business, but with stardom on the horizon, they must test their father’s ideals against their own brotherly vision.
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Tags: documentary, funk, jazz, music, soul

Legalities of Hip-Hop Front and Center in D.C.

Fair Use panel at the Worlds Beats Life, Inc. Remixing Art of Social Change teach-in

Michon Boston is Community Cinema’s regional outreach coordinator in Washington, D.C. She helped organize a recent panel about legal issues raised in the documentary Copyright Criminals and filed this report.

Earlier this year, Community Cinema D.C. partnered with Words Beats & Life Inc. for its presentation of Copyright Criminals. WBL Inc. returned to the documentary last week for a discussion on fair use as part of their teach-in initiative, “Remixing the Art of Social Change:  A Hip-Hop Approach.”

The six-day event brought Hip Hop legends to D.C. including DJ Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow, and Common.  The final day at the Washington Convention Center was ground zero for a series of special focus panels and workshops.
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Tags: copyright criminals, dc, hip hop, music, washington

Live Webinar Tomorrow Night: Copyright and Fair Use in the Art World and Classroom

Are you looking for ways to incorporate digital media into your teaching? Don’t understand the rules of online copyright and fair use?

On Wednesday, March 10  at 8:00 PM ET, join PBS Teachers and Classroom 2.0 for a special live webinar that will explore the implications of copyright and fair use laws in the classroom. The seminar will also explore how to share best practices in student media production.

During this event, you will have the chance to hear from and interact with filmmaker Kembrew McLeod, whose film Copyright Criminals recently aired on PBS’s Independent Lens, renowned law professor Peter Jaszi, and media producers and educators Chris Runde and Joe Fatheree.

Also, Annelise Wunderlich, national community engagement and education manager for ITVS, will present film modules and lesson plans based on the film and developed by ITVS Community Classroom.

At the close of the live webinar, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions and have a better understanding of what kind of tools and resources are available for your classroom or organization.

Bookmark this site and join the live discussion tomorrow at 8:00 PM >>

Tags: educators, hip hop, music, PBS, sampling, teachers

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Independent Lens named by MSN as one of “The Best Shows on TV…”
“Why pay $10 for a movie ticket when you can watch some the finest films the cinema has to offer for free — and from the comfort of your couch. Hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the series focusing heavily on documentaries, and offers up films on a variety of topics including cinematography (No Subtitles Necessary), industrial design (Objectified) and a senior citizen choir (Young@Heart). Upcoming films include P-Star Rising about a 9-year-old with hip-hop dreams, Mine, about homeless pets in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Garbage Dreams, which tells the story of the Zabaleen people, who call Cairo’s massive garbage dump their home. Whether your immediately interested in each week’s film or not, the series has a pretty high quality bar which means you’ll rarely commit to watching something that wasn’t well-made and interesting.”
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“In this Independent Lens presentation, Ms. Pezanoski [director of Mine] tells the story of some pet owners struggling to find their companions and bring them home — like Malvin Cavalier, who had to leave his dog behind when he sought shelter in the Superdome…”
Read full review >>

“It’s hard to imagine that a teenage girl, who performed raps on nightclub stages at 9 years old, would be anxious about showcasing her rhymes among peers.”
Read more about this community screening of P-Star Rising >>

Filmmaker Gabriel Noble and Priscilla (P-Star) Diaz discuss P-Star Rising, which recently aired on Independent Lens.
Listen now >>

Tags: Chicago Tribune, MSN, music, New York Times, pets, WNYC

P-Star Rising Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS

“It’s a good one, and a different sort of film for this consistently rewarding series. The film, by Gabriel Noble, chronicles the aspirations of one of the most self-assured kids you’ll ever see.”
- The New York Times

What did you want to be when you grew up? Nine-year-old Priscilla wants to become the youngest female rap star ever. With her single father turned manager, Priscilla travels from Harlem street corners to sold out shows around the world — eventually landing a record deal and starring role on PBS’s The Electric Company. But the road to stardom means figuring out whom to trust while hanging around people twice her size and four times her age. For Priscilla, otherwise known as P-Star, the ride has just begun.

This is the final film of Independent Lens‘s Music Month celebration.

Learn more and get local broadcast listings >>

We also recently caught up with P-Star to talk about tonight’s Independent Lens broadcast and what it was like being the subject of a documentary.  Check out this exclusive interview with her below.

Check out P-Star’s latest music video where she performs Daddy’s Little Girl with Tony Sunshine and features footage from tonight’s broadcast on Independent Lens.

Tags: family, music, music month, rap, The Electric Company

Special Community Screening of P-Star Rising

A special community screening of the Independent Lens film P-Star Rising was recently held in Chicago. The film, which airs tomorrow night at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS, looks at nine-year-old Pricilla who wants to be the youngest female rap star ever and her single father who is determined to help her make it big. Find out what happened from Chicago-based Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.

P-Star (aka Priscilla Diaz) and her father Jesse Diaz visited Chicago to participate in the 2nd Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago Hip-Hop Arts, presented by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by hip-hop poet Kevin Coval.

The morning began with a screening of  P-Star Rising followed by a Q&A with Priscilla and Jesse. The audience at the Victory Gardens Theatre was full of families eager to hear about the struggles of navigating the often cut-throat music industry. After the Q&A, Jesse and Priscilla were treated to a performance by the Half Pint Poetics team, made up of 5th to 8th graders from Kuumba Lynx. Priscilla was deeply moved by the young talent and asked for some beat-box assistance from one of the young performers and showed her own skills with the mike.

The director of P-Star Rising –– Gabriel Noble –– joined Jesse and Priscilla during their week in Chicago for two screenings of the film for Chicago public high school and middle school students, courtesy of Cinema/Chicago’s Education Program.  Schools participating included Curie High School, Dumas Technical Academy, Lincoln Park High School, Chicago Vocational Career Academy, Austin Career Academy, and King College Prep.

After the film, host Kevin Coval introduced the guests while the students greeted them with an enthusiastic reception. Several students in the audience spoke about their own ambitions for careers in the entertainment industry. Priscilla and Jesse gave sage advice on learning the business, honing your craft and not giving up despite the many setbacks that aspiring performers always encounter. And Jesse added that you should ALWAYS have a demo on you because you never know what opportunities might come along. For instance, Jesse is starting a label and looking for talent and said that if anyone had a CD they wanted to pass along, he’d be happy to check it out.

Check out these clips from the Chicago screening:

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Tags: hip hop, music, rap

Exclusive Video: Rapper P-Star Gives Advice to Young Musical Artists

Next Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 10:00 PM the documentary P-Star Rising will have its national television premiere on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings). This film is the final installment of Independent Lens’s Music Month celebration.

Nine-year-old Priscilla wants to become the youngest female rap star ever. With her single father turned manager, Priscilla travels from Harlem street corners to sold out shows around the world –– eventually landing a record deal and starring role on PBS’s The Electric Company. But the road to stardom means figuring out who to trust while hanging around people twice her size and four times her age.

In the video below, P-Star gives some advice on what she learned about the music industry and what it takes to make it in this highly competitive field.

Also, check out this video where P-Star raps freestyle about her rise to fame.

Learn more about P-Star Rising and other Music Month programming >>

Tags: family, music, music month, rap, The Electric Company

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

“The gutsy television company ITVS, which has embraced alternative distribution models for years, had three documentaries at Sundance this year. I wasn’t able to see Laura Poitras’s The Oath, about a Yemenite family, Al Qaeda, and Guantanamo Bay. My Perestroika offers fascinatingly differing accounts of how several Russian former high school classmates have fared since the collapse of the Soviet Union…”
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“The Bay Area has long been known as a center for documentary filmmaking. … The area is home to the Independent Television Service, a major financer of documentary films, as well as some of the most respected film schools in the country.”
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“Blacking Up is careful to let people speak for themselves, as Clift efficiently segues from scene to scene: a Long Island meeting of the ossifying Al Jolson Society; a trip on a black-owned New York bus tour of hip-hop landmarks, during which white tourists are urged to wear complimentary bling.”
Read full review >>

Priscilla Diaz, the subject of P-Star Rising, discusses the premiere of her film and her new season on PBS’s The Electric Company on WPIX, the flagship station of The CW Television Network.
Watch now >>

Tags: music, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post