Category Archives: Film

2012 Little Rock Film Fest Day 1

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20120528-164836.jpgThe 2013 Little Rock Film Festival kicks off tonight with the screening of the documentary, America’s Parking Lot.

Here is the LRFF description:

Pull up a front row seat with Tiger and Cy, two die-hard fans of ‘America’s Team’, as they scramble to preserve their place in AMERICA’S PARKING LOT. When the Dallas Cowboys move to the first stadium built for a billion dollars, the shifting politics and economics of major league sports threaten to dissolve friendships and traditions, and force Tiger and Cy to make the costly choice to follow their beloved team

The film will be shown at 7pm at the Argenta Community Theatre. At 6pm, Gold Pass holders can attend a special reception on site. Following the film at 9pm, a tailgate party will take place outside. Montgomery Trucking will provide musical entertainment while guests eat food provided by Whole Hog and Ben E. Keith.

QQA events tonight and Monday

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This is a busy weekend for the Quapaw Quarter Association.
Tonight the QQA returns to their former headquarters, the Villa Marre, for a special event.  The Quapaw Quarter Association’s 48th Spring Tour of Homes is just around the corner, May 12-13. We are so excited about this year’s tour that we’re having a preview party at the recently reopened Villa Marre.  Join us for cocktails and hors d’oevres, a fun fashion show from Vintage Socialite, and learn more about the Spring Tour.
The newly-reopened Villa Marre is sponsoring the event.  This facility has been refurbished and is now available for special events.
Friday, April 13
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Villa Marre, 1321 Scott Street
$30 per person in advance, $35 at the door.
Cash, checks and credit cards accepted.
Purchase tickets at www.quapaw.com; at Historic Curran Hall, 615 East Capitol Avenue; or by calling 501.371.0075.  

On Monday, April 16, as part of the monthly Preservation Conversations, the QQA will be screening the film The Greenest Building, a film by Wagging Tale Productions, Inc.

5:00-5:30 wine and beer

5:30-6:30 View the film

6:30 Keep the conversation going at Lulav Eatery, 220 West 6th Street.  Lulav will offer a 25% discount to those who attend Preservation Conversations.
Normally the Preservation Conversations take place at the QQA headquarters at Curran Hall.  This month only, it will be at the Jeffrey Hawkins Conference Room in the Pulaski County Regional Center, 501 West Markham Street (across the street from Little Rock City Hall).

Preservation Conversations are free and open to the public.

The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock’s architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education.

Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s.  Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.

Visit www.Quapaw.com for more information.

Falling Off a Tin Roof on Tuesday

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At “Tales from the South” the first Tuesday of the month means “Tin Roof Project.”

This month features Monica Staggs, who grew up in North Little Rock.

As she describes her childhood, she was a tomboy practicing how to rouchambeau boys on the playground and playing Charlie’s Angels in the woods behind her house.    During her senior year at college, Monica got to work on a film that came to Little Rock called Shelter where she was the stand in for the lead actress as well as landing a small part. She rode passenger as a car ran off an embankment, crashing through trees before and stopping just before a lake.

Getting a taste for the thrill of the film business, three weeks later, Monica flew to L.A. for the first time and worked on her second film. She fell in love with Los Angeles and everything about it. As soon as she returned to Arkansas she announced she was moving to L.A. and two weeks later she did on the plane, not knowing a soul, with three large duffle bags, a fork, a knife and a bath towel.

After moving to L.A., within three weeks she was lucky enough to land her third film. She began training in other areas of stunt work such as stunt driving, martial arts, stunt fights, and boxing. She has spent the last 20 years working in L.A.

Monica has done stunt work on more than one hundred film and television productions, including Kill Bill 2, Crash, The Italian Job, Bewitched, Starship Troopers II, Charlie’s Angels, Transformers, and many, many more. She has won numerous awards and accolades for her stunt work,  and at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards she was brought to the stage by Quentin Tarantino to share the award for Best Fight in Kill Bill 2. She is a board member of the Stuntwomen’s Association.

Monica still lives in L.A. where she writes sketch comedy and loves to play Texas Hold-Em, enters tournaments regularly and hosts home games where she attempts to take money from her fellow stunt peers. Her other pastimes include watching “South Park,” “Reno 911” and any and all horror movies.

Before her talk, music will be provided by The Salty Dogs and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.  To reserve a ticket go to   www.talesfromthesouth.com.

Starving Artist Cafe’
DATE: Tuesday, April 03, 2012
TIME: Doors open 5pm
Dinner 5pm-6:30pm
Show starts at 7pm
LOCATION: 411 Main Street, North Little Rock

Admission is $5

Dinner is from the special Tales menu.
 Purchase your tickets HERE

Deadline Approaching for Arkansas Arts Summit Registration

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The Arkansas Arts Council is pleased to be a sponsor of the 2012 Arkansas Arts Summit April 17-18 at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. This intensive, two-day event will provide practical training for board members and arts administrators to help build and maintain art organizations and programs.

The conference will also offer performances, social events and networking opportunities. Registration is $95 and deadline to register is April 1. Click here to download a registration form, which includes a conference agenda and hotel information.

The Summit is presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center.

Led by Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser, the conference will equip participants to:

    • Recruit and manage board members
    • Achieve fundraising success
    • Create institutional image with impact
    • Improve strategic financial planning
    • Develop and support effective marketing campaigns

Sponsors include the Arkansas Arts Council, the William J. Clinton Foundation, Donna and Mack McLarty, Kaki Hockersmith, Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Windgate Foundation, Stella Boyle Smith Trust, the City of Little Rock and the City of North Little Rock.

People’s Choice at Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

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Forty candidates. Thousands of possibilities.

This weekend, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform a People’s Choice concert.  For the past several weeks, the ASO has been encouraging people to vote for favorites in a variety of musical genre categories.

The winners will be revealed at the concerts this weekend – tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm – at Robinson Center Music Hall.  It is appropriate that a facility named after a beloved Arkansas politician would be the home to a concert programmed by popular vote.

Best Classical Composer
*Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 First Movement
*Gershwin – Summertime
*Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik
*Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet Overture
*Vivaldi – The Four Seasons

Best Classic Film Score
*James Bond
*Lawrence of Arabia
*The Pink Panther
*The Wizard of Oz

Best Contemporary Film Score
*Gladiator
*The Godfather
*Harry Potter
*Pirates of the Caribbean
*Titanic

Best Sci/Fi Soundtrack
*Back to the Future
*E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
*Star Trek
*Star Wars

Best Animated TV Show
* “The Flintstones”
* “The Jetsons”
* “Looney Tunes”
* “The Simpsons”

Best TV Show
*“Bonanza”
*“Hawaii 5-O”
*“Mission Impossible”
*“The Young and the Restless”

Best Kids’ Pick
*Anastasia
*Cinderella
*The Little Mermaid
*Mary Poppins
*Peanuts

Best Video Game
*Civilization
*Halo
*The Legend of Zelda
*Super-Mario Brothers
*World of Warcraft

Best Broadway Score
*Les Miserables
*The Phantom of the Opera
*The Sound of Music
*West Side Story

ASO Music Director/Conductor Philip Mann will conduct the winners.  The program hosts will be Craig O’Neill and Dawn Scott.

A Conversation with Rocco Landesman this afternoon

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Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas. Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be making his first visit to Arkansas today.

As a part of that visit, he will be participating in a Please join us for a very enlightening panel discussion at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. It is being co-hosted by The Rep and the Oxford American. Arkansas First Lady Ginger Bebee will introduce the conversation.

Visiting Arkansas for the first time, Chairman Landesman will participate in a panel discussion with Rep Producing Artistic Director Bob Hupp and Oxford American Publisher Warick Sabin. Arkansas Arts Council Executive Director Joy Pennington will moderate the panel on “Creative Placemaking in Little Rock.”

The panel discussion will take place in the Rep’s Cindy Murphy Theatre at 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Following the panel, there will be a reception at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
The panel discussion and lobby reception are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Rocco Landesman was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 7, 2009 as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Prior to joining the NEA, he was president of Jujamcyn Theatres, which owns five Broadway theatres. A Broadway theater producer and multiple Tony winner, he has brought Big River (1985 Tony Award for Best Musical), Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (1993 Tony Award for Best Play), Angels in America: Perestroika (1994 Tony Award for Best Play), Into the Woods, and The Producers (2001 Tony Award for Best Musical) to Broadway.

Adventures in Art of Filmmaking on Petit Jean – March 8-11

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The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute will host its first film forum called “Adventures in the Art of Filmmaking.’

The forum will be held March 8-11 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. It’s open to everyone, from film professionals, students, to enthusiasts.

The forum will bring together a long list of actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and acting coaches including Robert Walden (Happily Divorced, “Lou Grant”), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future, “Caroline in the City”), director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful), director and teacher Joan Darling (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; M*A*S*H; Mary Tyler Moore Show); acting coach and teacher Sandra Seacat; screenwriter Bill Svanoe (Six Million Dollar Man); Oscar-winning producer, Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now), and documentarian Craig Renaud (On the Front Lines of Film Journalism), who founded The Little Rock Film Festival.

Those interested in taking part in “Adventures in Filmmaking” have four different pricing options. A full package with lodging for $750 (single occupancy) or $650 (double occupancy); full package without lodging for $450; a university student package (a current student identification is required) with lodging for $500 or without lodging for $250; and, a la carte tickets for each Show Barn Panel Discussions for $35.

Advanced online registration is required at www.livethelegacy.org. For more information, visit the website or contact Angie York at 501-727-6257.