While SHOOT has covered crossover chapter and verse over the years, it’s a dynamic particularly prominent in this week’s issue. We offer the DGA Award nominees story which includes David Fincher’s accomplishment of gaining nominations in both the feature and commercial categories, as well as our features in the Editors & Post Series–one on spot savvy editors Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter of Rock Paper Scissors who cut the Fincher-directed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; the other on commercial editors who contributed to fare at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival.
Adding an extra dimension of social importance is the latest crossover endeavor of hybrid artist Larry Bridges, founder of Red Car. Director/editor Bridges has helmed a series of video conversations with leading authors as part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
The Big Read–which the NEA presents in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest–brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.
Bridges (who also edited several of the videos, with others cut by his Red Car colleagues) directed insightful individual conversations with such luminary authors as Amy Tan, Rudolfo Anaya, Tobias Wolff, Ernest J. Gaines, Cynthia Ozick and Ray Bradbury.
These videos will be screened at assorted venues, most notably at Big Read events in some 400 U.S. communities in ’09 during which attendees get the opportunity to read and discuss a single book, with related sessions such as author readings.
Bridges’ conversation with Bradbury reflects the inspirational spirit of the Big Read. Bradbury talks about his childhood, which was energized by his love of books and his “discovery” of public libraries. His fascination with dinosaurs, fairy tales, ideas and humanity led him to his career pursuit. As a struggling writer, he needed an office and recalls his first professional workspace, the basement of a UCLA library where he could rent a typewriter for 10 cents a half hour.
For a typewriter expenditure of $9.80, he wrote The Fireman, the predecessor to what became the now classic Fahrenheit 451. He came upon the title of that book by calling a fire department chief in downtown Los Angeles, asking him at what temperature book paper burned. The response was 451 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Big Read hopes to address a big need. An NEA report titled Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, found that not only is literary reading in America declining rapidly among all groups, but that the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young (a more recent study shows an encouraging bit of improvement on this front for adults but there’s much more progress to be made).
The Big Read includes innovative reading programs in selected cities and towns, resources for discussing classic literature, a national publicity campaign and a website providing comprehensive information on authors and their works. Log onto www.neabigread.org.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More