Monday, January 7, 2013

At The Closing of the Year


The end of 2012 was quite an emotional roller coaster ride. In one December weekend at the Downtown Independent Theater we held our 9th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival, and we shared in a memorial to our friend Ray Zone. 

The festival was a great success - we screened over 20 independent 3-D short films and two features, and had some engaging Q&As with the filmmakers. I want to thank everyone who came out to the festival, everyone whose work was presented, and some very special club members whose efforts made the event a reality: Jodi Kurland, who managed the festival and oversaw the box-office; Shyam Kannapurakkaran, for designing the printed program and shooting video coverage at the fest; Jeff Amaral, for arranging the U23D screening and working the box-office; David Starkman, for helping to arrange the ROBIN HOOD screening; John Hart, for securing our food sponsor; Lawrence Kaufman, for assisting with PR and promotion; and Oliver Dean, our volunteer usher, who made sure that everyone had their 3-D glasses.

At the memorial for Ray Zone, nearly 200 people gathered to share their memories. There were touching stories that brought both tears and laughter and the day truly became a celebration of Ray’s life. Thank you to everyone who attended, to those who spoke, and to those who listened. Again, a number of very special people deserve my deepest gratitude for helping to make the memorial such a fitting tribute: Johnny Ray Zone and Amanda Chapman, for trusting in me to bring Ray’s friends and family together; Susan Pinsky, who collected and curated all of the photos that were shown, both 2-D and 3-D; David Starkman, for his assistance with the slideshows; Lawrence and Cassie Kaufman, for all of their support, especially their help with selecting and displaying Ray’s work; Tom Koester, for providing video of Ray’s films; Jeremy McGee, for making all of the arrangements for the food at the reception; Jim Chabin, Daniel Henningson and the I3DS for hosting the reception; Barry Rothstein, for providing the 3DTV and helping with set-up of the lobby; Perry Hoberman and Julia Heyward for assisting with the set-up and making signage; Monica Angrand for helping in the lobby; Michael Page, who took on the task of putting together a camera crew to shoot the memorial; Edward Oleschak, who handled both camera and audio recording; Shyam Kannapurakkaran, who also operated a camera; Jeff Amaral, for collecting donations to the Ray Zone Memorial Fund; Jodi Kurland, for being there to do whatever needed to be done at the memorial, and for all of her support through what was a very difficult month.

And a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Jim Kirst and the wonderful staff at the Downtown Independent, without whom none of our events would have happened.