THE STORY SPOT

Last night, Anvil! The Story of Anvil won Best Documentary at the 25th Independent Spirit Awards here in downtown Los Angeles. If you haven’t seen it, do. You will witness — and be a part of — lives profoundly changing right before your eyes.

Anvil is Robb Reiner, Steve 'Lips' Kudlow,
and Glenn 'G5" Gyorffy

Congratulations Sacha Gervasi, Jeff Renfroe, Andrew Dickler, Chris Soos, and Rebecca Yeldham. And much respect to you Lips, Robb, and G5 for just being you. I’m honoured to have witnessed and shared this journey with all of you.

This, people, is how you change the world: vision, honesty, and killer filmmaking.

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The 25th Independent Spirit Awards
Anvil! The Story of Anvil – Official Film Site (signed DVDs and posters available)
anvilmetal.com – Official Site of Anvil

Author JK Rowling speaks of failure and imagination as crucial to a life well-lived.

[E]ven if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Read the full transcription at “The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination” at HarvardMagazine.com
On Vimeo as: “J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement“. June, 2008.

As we love to do, congratulations go out to this year’s nominees in outstanding screenwriting for the 82nd annual Academy Awards — the Oscars to you and me. Never mind that the writers were last on the Academy’s list…

Original Screenplay

• “The Hurt Locker“. Written by Mark Boal.
• “Inglourious Basterds“. Written by Quentin Tarantino.
• “The Messenger“. Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman.
• “A Serious Man“. Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen.
• “Up“. Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy.

Adapted Screenplay

• “District 9“. Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.
• “An Education“. Screenplay by Nick Hornby.
• “In the Loop“. Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche.
• “Precious“. Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher.
• “Up in the Air“. Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner.

The full, printable list of Oscar nominees (useful for ballot making!)

Novelist Jim Krusoe’s latest book, Erased, has been named by The Los Angeles Times as a must-read for the summer. Krusoe discusses his work (see: Girl Factory)and reads an excerpt on KCRW’s Bookworm.

Jim Krusoe teaches at Santa Monica College and is a mentor in the MFA program at Antioch University Los Angeles.

Erased at Amazon
Author Q & A and more at Tin House Books
Listen at KCRW/Bookworm

We heartily support 826LA and it’s with pleasure that we bring to you one event from their new series of seminars geared at adult writers. The Screenwriting seminar promises to be another winner. In true 826 fashion, they’re calling out the big talent (amazing screenwriters including two, yes TWO, Academy Award nominees and a host we all know and adore) to raise funds for the extraordinary program.

But don’t take our word for it, check it out for yourself:

A bargain! And every penny goes towards a very worthy cause: literacy. Looks like there are 19 tickets left (after I snagged mine!) Get yours while they’re hot.

Visit 826LA Venice and 826LA Echo Park and pick up some goodies from the Time Travel Store while you’re there. There are always low-commitment volunteer opportunities available so ask someone, why dontcha?

Don’t live in Los Angeles, there are 826 chapters around the country:

826NYC
826 Seattle
826 Boston
826 Chicago
826 Valencia
826 Michigan