September 2005

Writer Sara Faith Alterman's novel My 15 Minutes hit bookshelves across the country this week.  Part 'chick lit' and part Hollywood parody, her first book tells the story of Julie Jorlamo who becomes an overnight sensation when she's accidentally discovered in the apartment of mega-celebrity Chad Downing.  The book has already caused quite a stir of its own and was called "an engaging satire of fame and modern romance" by Publishers Weekly.  As if all of this weren't impressive enough, Alterman also was read more...

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"Favela Rising," is a new documentary by Jeff Zimbalist, a Northampton native, and Matt Mochary. The film won the Audience Favorite Award at the 7th Annual Roxbury Film Festival in August and is currently doing a successful run on the festival circuit.

What would you do if you got fired? This is exactly the question that co-directors Josh Mitchell and Patrick Ryan explore in their latest short film "Life Coach."  The film follows a laid-off file clerk who reinvents himself as a famous ‘Life Coach’ named Sebastian Starr, and unwittingly sets off a string of comedic complications.

When friends go to film festivals together, they get ideas. Laura Teodosio and Jennie Livingston have been friends for years and went together to the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. At the time, Livingston, whose first film, "Paris is Burning" was a critical and commercial success, was having trouble finding funding for her feature project titled, "Who’s The Top," despite the fact that she had cast and shot a trailer which had generated interest, but no investors. The two friends attended one of the short read more...