SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS screening in Philadelphia, Oct 24

Hello friends and fans!

I'm off to Philadelphia soon for our next screening of SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS at the FirstGlance Film Festival. What a fitting place to screen a documentary on the singing phenomenon, Up With People, which started in the 1960s on a mission about Freedom. It's an enduring concept that strikes at the heart of our cultural history. The youth group proudly sang "Freedom isn't Free" during the Vietnam War years. And "Freedom isn't Free" after all, now is it??? Not surprisingly, like the Liberty Bell, Up With People developed a major crack (or two) over the decades but in the end, its members' idealism for a better world continues in spite of it all.

Please spread the word about our Philadelphia screening this Saturday, October 24 at 6pm at the FirstGlance Film Festival. It's going to be a great crowd and tickets are selling fast.

Franklin Theater at The Franklin Institute
222 North 20th Street
Philadelphia
October 24 @ 6pm

http://www.firstglancefilms.com/philadelphia/boxoffice

www.smiletilithurts.com

This is a great opportunity to see SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS on a really big screen, so please tell everyone you know and let's fill the house!

It's definitely something to SMILE about!

Up With People archival---and pre-order DVDs?

OK, I've decided to post photographs and memorabilia, maybe some of the research documents supporting SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS, our documentary on Up With People. We'll start with a few and build the slide show on the blog. Look closely and you might find yourself or someone you know. It doesn't matter if you traveled with Up With People or not: we guarantee the archival history is rich viewing for everyone! We'll try and organize by place, or year, or by category, i.e., "world leaders", "celebrities" or "just for fun." Please let us know your comments as we unveil some of the most fascinating and surprising aspects of Up With People history.

Soon we will also post a place to pre-order DVDs on the website. We are getting many requests and the Google searches are noteworthy! Thanks for passing along the word about this amazing new doc. We are rushing to do everything we can to make it available to you.

And remember to smile! In spite of it all, and no matter what, be authentic and as positive as you can. Life is good.

New Clips Posted

Thanks to all for your patience while we uploaded the Q&A's from various film festivals since the premiere of SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: The Up With People Story at the Slamdance Film Festival. We tried to select the "best from the fests" to avoid being repetitive. We hope you enjoy them and please check back for more. We also plan to post promotional archival materials not yet seen....!

Don't forget these upcoming screenings of SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS:

1. Temecula Int'l Film Festival, Sept 10-11 @5pm @ The Movie Experience in Temecula, CA
2. FirstGlance Film Festival, award winning, Oct 24 @ Franklin Theater in Philadelphia, PA
3. Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, Nov 6-8, Colorado Springs, CO (time TBD).

See you there!!

Is Temecula, CA burning? --SMILE screens Sept 10 & 11

Hi friends,

We have another Southern California screening of SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: The Up With People Story. Come check it out at the Temecula International Film & Music Festival this coming Sept 10th and 11th. http://www.tviff.com/films.html#documentaries. I've no idea how this will work with Southern California ablaze. Let's send good thoughts to our firefighters and hope the fires are contained soon. It's certainly a difficult time for a film & music festival, especially one that's as active and entertaining as Temecula. If you are in Southern California and would like to see SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS, please swing by Temecula and show your support! Here are the details:

THURSDAY, SEPT. 10 @ 5PM
FRIDAY, SEPT. 11 @ 5PM
The Movie Experience
Tower Plaza Shopping Center
27531 Ynez Rd. Temecula

The music festival follows immediately after. Woohoo!

Due to other commitments, I won't be able to attend this festival and join you in the Q&A, but we hope to send a team so you'll have some interesting folks to chat with after the screening. SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS raises a ton of discussion topics----that's for sure!!!!!!

Hope to see you there!

Spirit Awards for SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: The Up With People Story

Woohoo! We are finalizing our application for the Spirit Awards! They are due September 14. It's so much fun to have the opportunity to file for such a prestigious award. In the scheme of things, how rare and awesome is that?! :) And the IFP already recommended SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS for a Gotham Award, so onward! Let the award season begin!

Last week we filed our "Documentary Film Entry for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Turns out you are not supposed to include contact information on the DVDs--it was an oversight on our part because we used the same DVD screeners we've been sending to film festivals. However an industrious fellow at the Academy volunteered to "Wite Out" that info so we didn't have to burn another 30 DVDs. Remember that stuff?? Since computers have taken over the word-processing world, I've wondered why Bic (the manufacturer) still sells "Wite Out" and what useful purpose it may have. Now I know!!! Hey, if we get short-listed for the Oscars, maybe Bic will want our endorsement?! We could certainly use the money to help pay for the life-long debt I've incurred in making SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS! Let's hope the industrious A.M.P.A.S. volunteer is also an artist. Otherwise an Academy voter might notice the Wite-Out on our DVDs and think: "Hmmmmm, another struggling documentary filmmaker!" I doubt Sony Classics or HBO would accidentally send in a marked DVD. They have bigger production budgets.

So now we wait! And attend Film Festivals. And pretend we are not waiting. But we are. All of us in that small pool of Oscar contending films are, well, waiting!! In the spirit of 6 degrees of separation, should you know someone that knows someone that knows an Academy voter, please send extra good karma for SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS and well wishes their way!

Toodles for now!

New Festivals Announced! Nov. 6-8 in Colorado Springs

NEWSFLASH:

Hip Hip Hooray! SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS has been officially selected to screen at the 22nd annual Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, scheduled for November 6-8, 2009. We are extremely excited about screening our documentary on Up With People at the longest running women's film festival in the world. Up With People is headquartered in Denver, Colorado so we hope many UWP alumni will have the opportunity to come to this festival. Stay tuned and we'll announce screening times as soon as possible. In the meantime you can check out general information at the RMWFF website at www.rmwfilmfest.org.

I can't wait to travel to the high county again!

Smile!

FirstGlance Film Festival, Philadelphia--Oct 24 @ 5pm

NEWSFLASH:

Our screening at the FirstGlance Film Festival will be held on:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 @ 6pm
FRANKLIN THEATER at the FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
222 NORTH 20th STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA

If you are in the area, please join the fun and participate in the captivating dialogue.
It will be a night to remember. Come learn about youthful idealism and what images and ideals we sell to the rest of the world. You'll never think of the "melting pot" in the same way....or, maybe you will!

"Up, up with people, you meet 'em wherever they go!
Up Up With People, there the best kind of folk we know!
If more people were for people, all people everywhere,
There'd be a lot less people to worry about
And a lot more people who care!"