Justin Hayward and Leigh Jones of production house BoomThrift directed this video for the Illinois Office of Tourism introducing us to the Livingston County War Museum in Pontiac, Illinois.
Appropriately enough during this week kicked off by Veterans Day, this short from JWT Chicago encourages travelers to experience history from the perspective of veterans who volunteer at the Livingston Museum. In fact, this is the only museum of its kind that is staffed entirely by volunteer war vets.
We hear inspiring tales from war veterans hailing from the Land of Lincoln who now work at the museum–and each have a candid recollection of patriotism and sacrifice for love of country and freedom. One notes that the museum doesn't glorify war but rather it glorifies the people who served.
Each empty uniform on display tells a story, including one of a 16-year-old lad who lied about his age to become a sailor and was killed early on in his tour of duty. The proper military decorations and medals are affixed to each uniform along with the story of the person who wore it and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More