Palm Springs Life / Desert Guide / December 2009 / Reach For Me - Special Benefit Premiere - Tuesday, 12/15

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Reach For Me - Special Benefit Premiere - Tuesday, 12/15

AMediaVision Productions presents a special gift for the holidays before the theatrical release of Reach For Me at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs beginning Friday, December 18th, 2009.

A lion’s share of the Tuesday night proceeds will benefit the local branch of the American Cancer Society and the Certified Farmers’ Market of the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

A limited number of VIP tickets are selling for $30, including access to a pre-film reception and meet-and-greet with the producers and cast, including Academy Award nominated actor, Seymour Cassel.

The reception will include complementary appetizers & cash-bar at happy hour pricing and will feature a short montage of Mr. Cassel’s recent honors and films.

General admission is $10, including access to the film and Question & Answer with Producers / Cast.

From December 18th on, AMediaVision Productions will continue to donate a portion of its Palm Springs ticket sales in support of the local branch of the American Cancer Society.

Tickets are available:

1. In-Person at the Box Office (additional fee of 25 cents per ticket) or

2. Online at www.camelottickets.com (additional online fee of $1.50 per ticket) or

3. By Phone at 1-800-595-4849 (4TIX) (additional phone fee of $3.50 per ticket; Phone number is for ticket sales only)

Normal ticket prices resume as of December 18th,  $7 – Senior Discount, $10 – Regular Admission

The Camelot Theatres is located at 2300 E Baristo Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92262. The Box Office is open from 11:30am to 8:00pm, and can be reached at (760) 325-6565 for more information.

This film is not yet rated.

· AMediaVision Productions can be reached by phone (818.981.4997) or email (info@amediavision.com)

· Visit us at www.amediavision.com
 

Reach for Me

Old and bitter, Alvin is content to waste away the last of his disappointing life at Valley Meadow Hospice.  Alvin simply wants to be left alone, but his wish is not granted when Kevin becomes his roommate.  Young and full of “life”, Kevin refuses to squander the precious moments he has left.  Deeply in love, Kevin and girlfriend Sarah are devoted to making Kevin’s final days fun and meaningful.  Stirred by the young couple’s zest for life, Alvin takes a chance and pursues Valerie.  With Valerie, Alvin confronts his fear, loneliness, and regret and learns to love, maybe for the first time.  Reach For Me is a heartwarming, uplifting and very funny movie about love and living life to its fullest ... It’s never too late.

Festivals / Awards:
* Lake Arrowhead Film Festival
- Best Feature
- Best of the Festival
* San Diego Film Festival
- Audience Choice Award – Best Feature
- Seymour Cassel receives Indie Icon Award
* Mill Valley Film Festival
- Official Selection
* AARP’s “Movies for Grownups” in Las Vegas
- Official Selection
* Downtown Film Festival – Los Angeles
- Centerpiece Gala Selection
- Seymour Cassel receives The Hollywood Reporter Lifetime Achievement Award
* Tallgrass Film Festival (Wichita, Kansas)
- Centerpiece Gala Selection
- Seymour Cassel receives Ad Astra Award
* Off Plus Camera Film Festival
- Press Favorite
- Seymour Cassel receives Special Tribute
* Oldenburg International Film Festival (Germany)
- World Premiere Gala Selection

Cast:
* Seymour Cassel as Alvin
* Alfre Woodard as Nurse Evelyn
* Johnny Whitworth as Kevin
* Lacey Chabert as Sarah
* Adrienne Barbeau as Valerie
* Charlene Blaine as Nell
* Larry Hankin as Elliot
* LeVar Burton as Nathanial

Key Crew:
* Director: LeVar Burton
* Writer: Michael Bruce Adams
* Producer(s): Charlene Blaine-Schulenburg, Susan R. Rodgers, Mark Wolfe
* Executive Producer(s): Gary Passon, Seymour Cassel
* Line Producer: Mark Jones
* Director of Photography: Kris Krosskove
* Editor: Avril Beukes
* Composer: Julio Reyes Copello
* Sound Designer: Klint Macro
* Production Designer: Jen Fiedler
* Costume Designer: Mikel Padilla
* Property Master: Josh Hunt
* Make-up / Hair: Elissa Prager

Director’s Biography – LeVar Burton
2008 marks LeVar’s 31’st year in the entertainment industry.  As a theater student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, his first professional audition at age 19 led to his being cast as Kunta Kinte in the historical account and acclaimed mini series, Roots.  The phenomenal success of Roots launched his career as an actor, and eventual producer and director earning him what would be the first of many Emmy nominations and wins.

LeVar is also internationally known for his role as Commander Geordi LaForge, Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the hit Star Trek feature films that followed. Turning his eye toward the director’s chair he directed numerous episodes of all three Star Trek series and has gone on to helm some of  televisions most popular shows; JAG, Charmed and NBC’s Las Vegas to name a few.

A staunch literacy advocate, LeVar is most proud of the 25 years he spent as host of the highly acclaimed PBS children’s series, Reading Rainbow.  His role in producing and starring in the series has garnered him a total of 10 Emmy Awards, five NAACP Image Awards and multiple nominations.

LeVar’s first feature film as a director, Blizzard, is a wonderful Christmas story for children of any age. Made in 2002, Blizzard rapidly became a holiday favorite among families.

Currently LeVar partners up with producers of Reach for Me again on another feature assignment based on an autobiography titled ‘Of Water and the Spirit’ by Malidoma Some’. The film titled, Initiation, tells the story of the now world renowned West African shaman whose destiny was to be a bridge between the worlds of the seen and the unseen and all continent who now speaks to how to befriend the enemy. Principal photography will commence on location in South Africa with Laurence Fishburne attached and he is in talks with Morgan Freeman and Forest Whitaker to join.

LeVar is delighted and honored to have directed such a wonderful cast in Reach for Me telling such a heartfelt story.  LeVar is once again part of entertainment’s history making by recording Reach for Me, the very first full length feature film using the newest 4K technology offered by Dalsa and the results are marvelous!

Lead Actor’s Biography – Seymour Cassel
Veteran actor Seymour Cassel, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in John Cassavetes’ Faces (1968), began his career studying at the American Theatre Wing and the Actor’s Studio.  Cassel’s early career was tied to Cassavetes, who is widely considered the first great independent film director.  Cassel made his debut in Cassavetes’ Shadows (1959), and he and Cassavetes co-starred in Too Late Blues (1961), The Webster Boy (1962), and the Don Siegel directed, The Killers (1964).  In 1971, Cassel starred as one of the title characters in Cassavetes’ film Minnie and Moskowitz.

Cassel was active on TV in the 1960’s, frequently typecast as beatniks and hippies.  He appeared in a supporting role in the Cassavetes-directed episode “A Pair of Boots” (1962) for “The Lloyd Bridges Show” as well as such popular programs as “Twelve O’Clock High,” “Combat!” and “The F.B.I.,” before scoring with his aging hippie role in Faces (1968) at the end of the tumultuous decade.
In addition to his studio film work, Cassel has remained prominent in the American indie community.  He appeared in Steve Buscemi’s directorial debut, Trees Lounge (1996), and co-starred with Buscemi in the black comedy In the Soup (1992), for which Cassel received a Special Jury Recognition for Outstanding Performance at the Sundance Film Festival.  Cassel has also become a favorite of director Wes Anderson, appearing in Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).  He recently returned to television in the NBC series “Heist”.

Cassel is prized by indie directors for two things: his positive nature, and his (perhaps) facetious declaration that he’d make any indie script he liked for the price of a plane ticket.  Cassel goes into projects with the feeling “I’m gonna have a good time in what I’m doing.  I entertain myself when I perform.  If I do that, then I can see the other performers enjoying my character.”

Seymour Cassel’s work is popular around the globe, most recently having been honored at the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany and the Off Plus Camera Film Festival in Krakow, Poland.  He has appeared in over 170 films over the course of his career, and from his work with Robert Redford in Indecent Proposal (1993), to Burt Reynolds and Richard Dreyfuss in The Crew (2000), to Nicolas Cage in both Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) and It Could Happen to You (1994), to Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy (1990), through his many years of work with John Cassavetes, Seymour has worked with many of the all-time greats.

Writer’s Biography – Michael B. Adams
Michael Bruce Adams has written or co-written over 22 feature length screenplays. His diversified body of work also includes several short film scripts, three television series concepts, and several technical articles on screenwriting and filmmaking. He is a sought after Script Consultant and Story Editor with clients in the US, Canada, Africa and Europe.

His produced feature film credits include the Sole Writer of “Reach For Me”, produced in 2008, and the Story Editor for “A Shine of Rainbows”, produced in 2008, and acted as the Script Consultant for “Taken in Broad Daylight” also produced in 2008.

After studying Biomechanics and Psychology at the University of British Columbia, Michael sacrificed a successful career in Marketing and Advertising to follow his passion: screenwriting. In an effort to build a solid practical foundation for his writing, Michael immersed himself in the focused study of story theory and structure, and their application to screenwriting… an educational process he considers an ongoing commitment.

In 1994, in an effort to gain practical film experience, Michael joined the production side of the industry, first as a Production Assistant and Assistant Director, then as an Assistant Cameraman, where he had the honor of working with acclaimed cinematographers such as, Dean Semler, Mikael Salomon, Maryse Alberti, Peter Menzies Jr. and Bill Roe, and directors John Mctiernan, John Curran, Phillip Noyce and Martin Campbell.

The invaluable ‘on-set’ filmmaking experience he gained on over 120 film and television productions including; “Dark Angel”, “The ‘L’ Word”, “Elektra”, “I Spy”, “Beyond Borders”, “Walking Tall”, “The Thirteenth Warrior”, and “Miracle”, allows Michael to contribute to projects not only as a writer offering imaginative solutions to creative challenges, but as a practical collaborator with years of production experience.

Michael remains active in the technical side of the industry by publishing instructional and technical articles on screenwriting and filmmaking (actioncutprint.com; Your First Draft: Breaking Free of Structure Paradigms, Getting Started as a Screenwriter, and Notes on a Year as a Working Screenwriter, Canadian Society of Cinematographer News, Feb. 2008; Painting in the Dark: The Rebellious Adolescence of Digital Cinematography).

Director of Photography – Kris Krosskove
Kris Krosskove has been in the motion picture business for over 30 years.  The majority of his career has been spent behind the camera as a highly sought after Director of Photography.  Throughout his career Kris has worked on some of Hollywood’s best loved projects, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Mission, Charmed, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Through the Fire, and many more.

His most recent project as cinematographer will place him in the history books as the first DP to oversee Hollywood’s first 4K motion picture, entitled “Reach For Me,” directed by LeVar Burton, and starring Oscar Nominees Seymour Cassel and Alfre Woodard.  Kris’ in-depth experience with the entire 4K workflow makes him unique in Hollywood.

Producer’s Biography – Charlene Blaine-Schulenburg
As an honor roll student from the island of Maui, Charlene went on to receive a dual B.A. degree in Television Production and in French from the University of Santa Clara, CA. Charlene’s documentary thesis ‘The Homeless; America’s Hidden Tragedy’ was made noteworthy when ‘60 Minutes’ used it as a resource for one of their featured subjects on the same topic. Charlene went on to land jobs with both Blair TV and Group W TV Advertising Sales, respectively. But her creative calling led her to freelance, producing specialty programs for a variety of clients such as KHNL-Channel 13 in Honolulu, Cosmetics-for-Less and for Vector Enterprises.

In 1993, Charlene was chosen to help launch a start-up cable/satellite channel, NETWORK ONE. Brought on as Director of Production, she quickly moved up to Vice President of Production. Char’s ‘guerilla’ producing style came in handy having to create 52 hours of original/alternative programming, commercials, infomercials, exercise programs, interstitial filler, countless promos. Charlene directed and hosted a 13 episode Travel The World Series, and was on the original design team that created the first-ever, truly interactive, call-in-to-vote, music video request show, Music On Demand, which was syndicated and still in on air today.

Charlene branched out to form her own company, AMediaVision Productions, Inc. in 2000 where she specializes in acquiring story rights, research, and script writing. Charlene is developing and producing dozens of A-level, true-life, inspirational stories. Currently in production for Lifetime is TAKEN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT: The Kidnapping of Anne Sluti;-

Other projects on the slate are COYOTES: A Journalist exposes the dangers that illegals face trying to find work and dignity by crossing with ruthless ‘coyotes’ into the U.S.; RAZI’S CROSSING: An American student’s fight for survival during the overthrow of Iran, as well as GIFTS FROM EYKIS: a sci-fi/adventure, love story adapted from world renowned inspirational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer’s best-selling novel about the power of possibility.

Charlene recently produced two feature films, OTIS E, starring Kevin Durand and Marina Sirtis, and the highly respected REACH FOR ME, starring Oscar nominees Seymour Cassel and Alfre Woodard. Charlene is currently active in managing several international distribution contracts and is growing the distribution division of AMediaVision Productions.

Producer – Susan R. Rodgers
Susan Rodgers produced her first half hour, short film, “Love for $17.50” that premiered at The American Cinemateque.  The film was based on legendary LA author Charles Bukowski’s short story under the same title.  Next she produced a documentary film on the history of American independent cinema for the LA Independent Film Festival ( the now LA Film Festival).  Soon after Susan produced her first feature film, “Grownups”, starring John Stamos (TV’s “Full House”) and Daniel London (“A.I.”).

Susan now has more than 16 features under her belt, including the critically acclaimed psychological thriller, “Dahmer”, which was nominated for three "Independent Spirit Awards". It was also nominated “best picture under a half million (dollars)” and went on to gross well over five million dollars in profits!  Susan recently produced "Day on Fire", starring Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis and Martin Donovan. It premiered at this year's prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. Susan also co-produced the soon to be released, much anticipated, comic book turned live action film, "El Muerto", starring Wilmer Valderrama, Tony Plana and Maria Conchita Alonso.

Susan has worked with some of the finest film sales organizations and the last 9 out of 10 films she produced not only got distribution but turned healthy profits. Susan’s track record speaks for itself and coming on board the “Reach For Me” team insures investors a cushion of comfort.