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Category Archives: Spotlight
international Talent, Interviews & Features!, Producer, Spotlight
Ask an expert: A "how to" of line producing
April 12, 2017 pressva	Leave a comment
Line Producer Esi Conway
I am Esi Conway, and throughout my years of being a line producer, I have worked hard to become recognized as one of the best at what I do. As a line producer, I build teams who can pull together to make great television shows. I am often one of the first people on the team. I usually start off with a budget, schedules and deadlines. I then build teams, find locations, and book the crews. Going around the world, I have worked on some of the world's most well-known television shows, for networks such as MTV, HGTV, BBC, Animal Planet, and more.
To be a successful line producer, you must be organized, disciplined, and have an in-depth knowledge of scheduling and budgeting, as well as an understanding of the technical accepts of TV making. On a day-to-day basis, you plan and schedule to get ahead of the project and forecast the needs of the team. You also trouble shoot any problems that arise. To succeed as a line producer, you need exceptional communication and diplomacy skills about to balance editorial expectations with the financial constraints of the budget. Here are my quick tips to getting into the industry and staying in the industry:
Getting into the industry
When I started out, nepotism was the name of the game. To get a start in the industry, you had to know someone working in TV. I had no such contacts, so I got a friend who studied design to make a cool eye catching resume and cover letter and sent it to every production company listed in the TV directory called "'the knowledge.' I was given a few weeks work as an office PA, and that's where I got my break. Thankfully, now there are sites you can go to where they advertise starting positions in TV.
Build relationships with your team
Gain an understanding of what each role does and the challenges they face as this will help you when it comes to problem solving.
Be flexible in your approach to problem solving
Editorial teams are constantly trying to squeeze more out of a budget. Listen to the idea and think is there a way to balance this request with the budget. Ask yourself "where might you be able to save to give them some of their additional requests?"
It is important that you know what's going on in the project, so it's important that you are approachable so that people come to you with ideas, issues, progress reports, and everything else.
Stay in contact with contractors
Be the connector person. In this role, it is important to have a great list of contacts with a proven track record in each area so that you can build teams for various projects. Who can pull together to produce hit shows?
Remember the working hours
Filmmaking and television don't allow for the 9-5, so it is often hard for those with families to maintain their positions at companies. You must be prepared to put in the hours, whether it be the weekend, or holidays to get the project completed.
Take a minute to enjoy the moment
Once you get your foot in the door, it's important that you maintain your enthusiasm and commitment. As it is a project based industry, you need to maintain your standards so that people want to employ you again. If you can do this, it can be very rewarding. I have worked with some top names in the industry, on television shows watched by millions. Although the hours are long, it doesn't feel like work as the excitement from the team and the project carry you through. From being on a safari shoot in South Africa, to shooting in the favelas in Brazil, to filming with the Queen in Malaysia, there is never a dull moment.
Actor, international Talent, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, Spotlight, Theatre, Triple Threat
Mariana Montes is bilingual triple threat in Too Many Tamales
March 6, 2017 pressva	Leave a comment
Actress Mariana Montes
For Mariana Montes, acting is more than a career choice: it is a chance to continuously grow as a person with each role she takes. She has conquered the stage both domestically and internationally, both in Spanish and English, both in comedy and drama. Whether it is as a small role or a leading lady, this versatile actress is doing what she loves, and giving audiences performances to remember.
Originally from Mexico City, Montes is completely bilingual in both English and Spanish. She has worked in successful plays, such as Second Chances directed by Connie St. John from No Weapon Productions, Oedipus Machina at the prestigious Odyssey Theater Ensemble directed by Ron Sossi, and starred in Uterine Affairs by French writer and director Celine Nyanga. Uterine Affairs was nominated as Best International Ensemble, and won for both Best Original Playwright, and the audience-favorite Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival last year.
Her Mexican heritage and love for language and travel is something she brings to her work as an actress. When starring in the play Too Many Tamales, she performed with The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts (BFA). The BFA has a 42-year history of commitment to all people in the greater Los Angeles area, presenting the finest Hispanic literary culture for both Spanish and English speaking audiences. BFA's presence is an integral part of the Los Angeles cultural scene, and provides an added dimension of understanding between the diverse cultures of the area by emphasizing the similarities of the human condition, which serve to unite us.
"I am able to identify natural talent, and Mariana is one of those gifted artists, overflowing with beauty, charm and charisma," said Cecilia Garcia, the Director of Too Many Tamales and the Artistic Manager at BFA.
Based on the story by Gary Soto, Too Many Tamales tells the story of the young girl Maria, who well helping her parents make the tamales for Christmas dinner, she sees her mother set her precious diamond ring to the side. Although only trying it on for a brief moment, Maria loses the ring. In a panic, she corners her favorite cousins, and the four of them secretly eat the 24 tamales in a goal to find the ring in the dough. After eating all the Christmas Eve dinner, Maria learns a lesson and witnesses a Christmas miracle.
"Being in this production was fantastic. I was surrounded by a great team of professional actors. I thought it was going to be hard to work with kids but I was mistaken. They taught me a lot actually, and it was always fun to have them around," said Montes.
Montes played Maria's Aunt Rosa, a middle class hard-working woman who is dedicated to her family and brings the rest of the characters together. For Montes, who does not often get to play fun roles like Rosa, the change was welcome.
"Rosa is the perfect Latino mom who has everything under control. She knows about her niece's secret, she can talk to the puppets but she is supportive about it because she once knew how to do it too, it's a matter of faith," said Montes.
While Too Many Tamales is a comedic musical, Montes typically is cast in dramatic roles. The actress is a true triple threat, as her acting, singing, and dancing abilities shine.
"Everything was full of charm and love. We did this show in Plaza De La Raza at Margo Albert Theatre that holds almost 300 people. It was amazing when we had full house and we could hear all the audience members singing our songs," described Montes. "At the end of the play, we would invite them to come and join us for a final dance. It was great to see how much they love the show. I was sad when it was over. People would come to me and congratulate me and the rest of the cast for our performances and you can see how happy they all were."
The true highlight of the experience for Montes was working alongside such a great cast and crew, saying they became a family from the experience. The production starred child actress Tiffany Galaviz, who was recently seen on television show The Voice: Kids, as well as Gloria Laino, known for the hit shows American Horror Story: Asylum and Weeds.
"Mariana is an incredible talented actress. I have had the opportunity to work with her in both film and theater, and I can tell you about her dedication and passion," said Laino.
Too Many Tamales is a Christmas classic, but it is so much more than that. For Montes, the message the play communicates is extremely important, especially in the divided nation that we see today.
"It's all about family and love. It's a play that leaves you with the desire to communicate how much you love and care for your friends and family. It is a play about friendship, love, and tolerance between cultures," concluded Montes.
Artist, Illustration, international Talent, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, Spotlight
Artist Alexandre Cornet has exemplary vision for CosmoVision
Alexandre Cornet was just a child when he discovered what his passion was. While many children are doodling in class, making stick figures as a distraction, his drawings were much more than that. This innate talent and enjoyment for art gave rise to a career in illustration and design, and he has never looked back.
Cornet's abilities have led to many achievements throughout his career, and he is sought-after by many companies looking to define the artistic side of their brand. This includes the internationally successful production company CosmoVision Media Group. CosmoVision is a production company that specializes in high-end natural history and factual entertainment, specifically documentaries. Their goal is to make films that spread awareness on environmental issues, and help "heal the planet" as they put it.
"I like CosmoVision's vision and the important subjects of their work and wanted to be part of it," said Cornet.
When Cornet was brought on board, CosmoVision did not have an identifiable visual aspect to the brand. He was in charge of creating a logo that would be instantly recognizable to those in the industry.
"It was a great experience, I had never worked for a documentary production company and I had to create a logo that would have some animated version for video credit apparitions. It took some time as I had to create the visual identity from scratch. I had to create a slick and minimal visual identity, adaptive to different mediums and formats," said Cornet.
When creating the logo, Cornet did not simply begin designing what he thought would work. He wanted to ensure the logo was suitable for the company, so he did his research. He began with several interviews and things started to take shape through the investigation process.
"I researched a lot to create a mood board and then spent a lot of times exploring possibilities sketching on paper, and developing selected ideas until approved. Once determined the idea and concept of the logo began the second phase of the work, which was to create some rules and guidelines, experimenting further for each application, and at last designing the basic printed materials such as letterhead and business card. Good communication and regular feedback made everything possible," he described.
After conducting his research, Cornet decided to create something subtle and minimalistic, easy and didactic, to fit and emphasize the richness of the content and purpose of CosmoVision's work. He had his work cut out for him, as the logo had to go into several mediums, such as print animation, and video, and would still work well on a business card. It had to work well being superposed onto moving images. The Idea behind the result is that the shape of the "C" of CosmoVision is eclipsing a circular light, like the moon to the sun, creating a different, unique and displaced "C" shape, bigger and standing out as the initial letter.
"I am happy I helped them to actually define their whole project and to know their satisfaction when they actually saw it in video opening credit use, on top of video sequences and when they printed their business cards and letterheads," said Cornet.
Cornet has known Jacob Steinberg, the director of CosmoVision, and the art director Paola Saavedra, for some time, and knew of their experience and dedication to their work. It was because of their reputation that Cornet initially decided to take on the project.
"They both have different personalities and are full of stories and inspiring experiences. It has been a great working and learning from each other," said Cornet.
Steinberg is an Emmy Award Nominated Cinematographer. His work has been screened internationally on television and in festivals. He is the owner and managing director of CosmoVision Media Group, a full-service production company specializing in high-end documentary film for television and cinema. He describes working with Cornet as a great experience.
"Alex was responsive, and took the time to be creative and interact with us throughout the entire process. He managed our feedback very well, ultimately producing a final product that we are extremely satisfied with. Alex's work represents the face of our company, and we are thrilled with it," said Steinberg. "Alex is a dedicated creative professional. He manages expectations well from the start, and provides the framework upon which to make progress effectively. He then is patient, giving and receiving his feedback, providing his own inputs simultaneously. He takes the time to really understand his clients' passions, priorities, and ultimate goals to provide exemplary final work that exceeds expectations."
Cornet's vision for CosmoVision has been extremely well-received. You can view his work on the logo on the company's website here.
Artist, international Talent, Music, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, Spotlight, Uncategorized
Music Writer Nick Fulton's Manifest Destiny
August 4, 2016 pressva	Leave a comment
Nick Fulton has deftly parlayed his personal interest in pop music into a successful career as a professional writer. The New Zealand-born Fulton's concise, insightful style, impeccable taste and natural affinity for his subject have enabled him to go, in a decade's time, from startup blogger to internationally recognized voice. His groundbreaking Einstein Music Journal was one of the first web presences in the remote island nation and virtually introduced the music blog format there.
For Fulton, it came together almost by chance. "I started writing after a friend encouraged me to start a blog," he said. "In 2004 very few people in New Zealand were blogging, so it was pretty exciting to enter that space. It also meant that the people I connected with online were mostly outside my local community. I made friends and connected with other writers in Sydney, Los Angeles and London.
"Around that time I tried to connect with a couple of print publications that were based in Auckland, which is where all the major publications in New Zealand are based," Fulton said. "But I was living in Wellington and struggled to find my way in. As a result, I started writing more frequently on my blog, which later evolved into Einstein Music Journal (EMJ). I got another writer on board and used Myspace to reach out to bands and music blogs in other countries. Before long we had a steady readership, and when we eventually launched Einstein Music Journal in 2006 we were able to throw a massive party and sell out one of Auckland's best live music venues."
"We operated slightly differently to the traditional music media," Fulton said. "We didn't always go through conventional channels to secure a story. We quickly gained a reputation for being bold and enthusiastic, and many publicists and record labels responded well to us. On several occasions we managed to secure stories that much bigger publications and other established writers in New Zealand missed out on."
From this somewhat cheeky Do-It-Yourself start, Fulton, thanks to a reputation which was gaining respect and admiration beyond New Zealand, found respectability being thrust upon him and soon eschewed such pop guerilla tactics.
"My biggest achievement is finding an audience for my writing outside of New Zealand," Fulton said. "With EMJ, I had regular readers in New York. LA and Australia. More recently I've worked with influential writers like Jessica Hopper, Cuepoint's Jonathan Shecter and co-authored a column with hip hop writer Michael 'DJ' Pizzo. Being personally asked by Shecter to contribute to his publication was such an honor, and one that I will never forget. He wrote to me after I self-published an article on Medium, asking if he could republish my story on Cuepoint and if I'd be willing to join him as a writer and editor there."
This natural momentum has served the writer well, and Fulton's aim is always true—his 2015 Pitchfork magazine editorial "It's Time to Put Our Cameras Away" (which called for a cessation of fan cellphone recording at concerts) not only inspired a contrarian clickbait response from venerable NYC weekly the Village Voice, it coincided with the practical use at numerous music and comedy performances of a variety anti-cell phone technology, a practice that is steadily growing.
"I like writing about a potential trend, or an unusual observation," Fulton said. "My Pitchfork Op-Ed started a healthy debate online and had an overwhelmingly positive response. Pitchfork's Facebook and Twitter received a lot of comments, mostly agreeing with me, which was good. The only real dissent was shown by that writer at the Voice, who penned a response telling people to keep doing whatever they wanted. I think he thought I was being too politically correct."
With a kaleidoscopic range of subjects from world class pop superstars to offbeat independents like Italian noise rockers Father Murphy, offbeat New York hip-hop group Das Racist, New Zealand filmmaker-music video director Simon Ward or a behind the scenes piece of music studio production Fulton's analytical easy going methodology always holds the reader
"Nick's a great guy and a great writer," broadcaster David Klein said. "EMJ was one of the key music blogs in the country, and one that was a real defining authority. We met when he was a guest on a radio show I hosted. It was awesome to have Nick onboard, he always presented interesting new music, and could speak about it with a good understanding of trends, composition, and just the way music appeals to you at an emotional level. I'd trust Nick's taste, and the quality of his writing is what has made him so successful. And he is always expanding his range –I just read something about music studio production he'd written a few weeks ago, and it was great."
Now an almost ubiquitous figure in the local music scene, Fulton's achievements and variety of outlets continue to grow.
"Being viewed by the public as an expert in my field is one the highest honors," Fulton said. "I'm proud of the times I was invited on to radio shows, to comment publicly about a trend in music or share my thoughts on a popular band. Now my goal is to become a trusted voice outside of New Zealand and Australia. I'd like to immerse myself in the American music scene for a while and soak up as much knowledge as possible. I got a taste of it all when I visited in 2012, but there's still so much to discover and write about."
Fulton's elegant yet hard charging style has taken him far, but the writer is just now really coming into his own, and this success is very easily explained.
"Working with Nick was great," editor Katy Hall said. "He's the kind of writer you hope will stumble into your inbox at some point but rarely does. He's personable, professional, knows how to stick to a deadline, and most importantly, he always delivered really high-quality work. It was engaging, tailored to the publication's tone and needed no editing. I don't want this to sound cheesy or overhyped; it was just the reality of working with a great writer."
Nick Fulton
Film, Film Editor, international Talent, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, Spotlight
Spotlight on Award Winning Film Editor Shayar Bhansali!
June 24, 2016 lgreenbaulm	Leave a comment
Even at the start of his career as an editor back home in India, Shayar Bhansali was making innovative contributions to the entertainment industry with his work. The now multi-award winning film editor began his career as the visual media editor for The Big Indian Picture, India's premiere online cinema magazine. Whereas most of India's prior entertainment outlets focused on Bollywood fluff, The Big Indian Picture offered audiences a serious look at the world of Indian film; and the videos Bhansali edited for the outlet earned the magazine national attention.
Bhansali recalls, "I worked with the producers to edit interview segments, and these interviews turned out to be so genre-defining that they became the first ever web-produced content to air on national television on NDTV Prime."
After getting his feet wet as an editor in India, Bhansali moved to Los Angeles to complete his master's at the world renowned American Film Institute. Once in the states, he dove in with full force creating a reputation for himself as an exponentially talented editor in the narrative film world. Some of his recent work includes Cusi Cram's award-winning dramatic comedy "Wild & Precious," which earned the Best Narrative Award from the NYLA International Film Festival, Mattson Tomlin's family drama "Persuasion" and Stefan Kubicki's "Against Night."
"Against Night" film crew and talent from left to right: Shayar Bhansali, Elena Caruso, Stefan Kubicki, Saba Zerehi, Konstantin Lavysh, Lucas Lechowski at AFI Fest presented by Audi. (Photo courtesy of AFI)
In addition to winning awards at the USA Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, Ojai Film Festival, as well as being nominated for several more from the American Society of Cinematographers and Guam International Film Festival, Kubicki's drama "Against Night" also earned Bhansali international recognition for his work. Delicately weaving together the story of a cosmonaut who struggles to deal with the haunting memory of the loss of his wife and young daughter, Bhansali's work on the film earned the Festival Prize for Best Editing at the Kolkata International Film Festival in India and the June Award for Best Editing from the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards in the US.
For Bhansali, the art of editing is all about striking a balance between the director's vision and what his creative voice believes is best for the story.
"I find editing to be humbling and empowering at the same time – you're constantly making decisions about the way in which a story unfolds, but you do this within the context of the director's vision," he explains. "This balance of finding my own expression and balancing it with the larger creative arc is what drew me into the world of filmmaking, and editing became a way of life before I knew it."
One of the many unique aspects of Bhansali's gift as an editor is his ability to adapt to the needs of a project and use his creativity to solve potential problems in a way that allows the production to flow seamlessly. His work as the editor on Tomlin's 2014 film "Persuasion" speaks leagues to why these traits are such a vital asset to any production. "Persuasion" focuses on a father's process of coming to grips with his son's unnatural gift for controlling people's behavior with David Kopelev ("The Escort," "Heritage") starring as the son and Gregory Linington ("Indigo," "Dune") as the father. Early in the developing story there is a scene where Kopelev's character has a face off with a bear, an event that instills in the father the startling awareness of how truly powerful his son is.
Bhansali recalls, "Mattson was convinced that the only way to portray this scene in a realistic sense would be to shoot it with a real bear. Given that the child actor was only 7 years old, we had to come up with a way to use a motion controlled camera rig to shoot separate plates with the bear and child, and combine them in post production with the help of visual effects supervisor Mike Pappa."
To ensure that the production captured the two separate shots in a way that would make it possible for Bhansali to seamlessly combine them in post, the visionary editor actually spent quite a bit of time on set during those shoot days providing quick mock-ups to show the team what the scenes would like. When most of us think of a film editor we imagine them tied to their desk spending hours upon hours cutting and sewing footage together; and while that's mostly true, having an editor like Shayar Bhansali on set can mean the difference between saving time and money or having to go back and do those dreaded reshoots.
"This level of involvement is becoming more common for an editor and when done efficiently, I find it can be an irreplaceable tool for the director and production crew," admits Bhansali.
Much of what drives Bhansali's work as an editor is the inherent power that comes with job to change and shape the story; he enjoys the laborious and highly creative process of sifting through hours of fragmented pieces of footage, fusing the perfect shots into fluid scenes and purposefully forming a coherent whole that will impact viewers.
He explains, "I like the process through which we rewrite the story with editing, the power to manipulate and curate the emotions of our audience with every decision we make. I've always been drawn to the inner workings of a film, understanding how structure and scene construction influences the way we relate to characters and story – and editing for me gives me the opportunity to do this every day with every project I work on."
From his work as the editor of the interview series "Tete-a-Tete" broadcast on NDTV to the powerful stories he crafted as the editor of the films "Loveland," "La Bella," "Persuasion," "Against Night," "Zoya" and "Wild & Precious," Bhansali has amassed an impressive repertoire of work that spans several mediums and practically every genres.
Up next for Shayar Bhansali is the film "Rene" starring multi-award winning actor Xander Berkeley ("Taken," "Airforce One," "Justified"), and the film "Shinje," which is in preproduction and will be directed by Stefan Kubicki.
AFIAgainst Night filmAward Winning Film EditorsFilm editor Shayar BhansaliFilm editor spotlightIndian American film productionsIndian Film EditorsIndian filmmakersMattson TomlinPersuasion filmSahirr SethhiStefan KubickiWild & Precious filmZoya film
Brazilian Stars, Cinematographers, Film, international Talent, Spotlight, Television
Brazil's Samar Kauss is a Multi-Faceted Editor, Director of Photography and Humanitarian
Samar Kauss is a Brazilian filmmaking tour de force.
Brazil's Samar Kauss has proven herself to be a filmmaker to watch, as any project she is attached to gains immeasurable success. Hailing from Brazil, Kauss has established herself as an internationally recognized editor, lending her services to some of her home country's most distinguished productions over the past decade.
Native Brazilians may recognize her for her sustained work on the highly popular television show GNT Fashion, the Brazilian equivalent of E! News, which examines all things fashion, pop culture, and celebrity gossip. Since 2001, Kauss worked as an editor for GNT Fashion for several years, working alongside some of the country's most notable celebrities, directors, and creatives across the entertainment industry. The show, distributed on Brazil's leading network TV Globo, one of the country's largest broadcast stations, reaches over 180 million homes in Brazil, rivaling that of even some of the most popular American productions.
Kauss does not let the bar lie with only one immensely popular television show, however. She has also worked as an editor for the highly popular series Mesa Para Dois, (Table For Two), a culinary series hosted by the renowned Brazilian celebrity chefs Flavia Quaresma and Alex Atala. The two chefs are nationally famous for their entertaining, yet informative series in which Kauss' job is to propagate the show's energetic pacing, and to support the comedic timing of the two chefs as they dive through local community's in search for the most rich and flavorful recipes around Brazil and internationally. As a longstanding editor on the program, Kauss ran a tight ship, and was able to understand, envision, and articulate through her cuts exactly what the directors and producers of the show had in mind for the final visual product. The show's executive producer, Alessandra Casado, had this to say: "Thanks to the tight, polished editing skills demonstrated by Samar, Mesa Para Dois was received tremendously well and garnered a substantial viewership of up to 183 million Brazilians."
In addition to her work as an editor, Kauss also has worked hand-in-hand with the Australian government's Department of Health as a leading Director of Photography for their government-funded educational documentary, aimed to raise international awareness and pledge support to a large and thriving aboriginal tribe known as the Wadeye Community, who live in the rural Northern Territory of Australia. The documentary has had a significant impact on the aboriginal tribes of Australia, and was hailed for its significant cultural impact across the community.
Whether it's landing leading roles on Brazil's leading television networks or extending her talents to a noble, humanitarian cause for Australia's Department of Health, Editor and Director of Photography Kauss has certainly taken the international entertainment film and television industry by storm.
Actor, Actor Profile, Canadian Talent, Film, international Talent, Spotlight, Stuntman
Veteran Film-TV Stunt Performer and Actor Carson Manning shares his story
For more than 25 years, Carson Manning has brought his stunt performing and acting talent to film and TV productions.
The inspiration was sparked for Carson Manning when he was growing up watching films and TV shows in Toronto with his grandfather, Frank Billing. Manning was raised by Billing and by his mother, Pixie, after his father left when he was born. Manning and 'Grandfer' took it all in together, from classics to sitcoms to reruns, and everything in between. The magic of moviemaking and television stirred an irresistible urge to be a part of it all.
"As a small boy, I never missed watching the Academy Awards, even till now," Manning said. "I always dreamed I would work and act in the film industry. I always enjoyed the amazing talent I would see and how actors could become someone else."
What started as a boyhood dream would materialize into a rare reality. Manning's destiny wasn't to view from the audience, but rather to be an on-screen figure entertaining them. He tapped into the perilous world of stunt performing and is also a formidable actor of praiseworthy merit nearly 30 years experienced.
Manning has braved car and motorcycle stunts, fight scenes, hard falls and hits in Fox's box office smash, "X-Men: Days of Future Past," Columbia Pictures' "Pixels" starring Adam Sandler, 2014's "RoboCop" reboot starring Joel Kinnaman, Sony's "Pompeii" starring Kit Harington and New Line Cinema's "Shoot 'Em Up" with Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti, to name a few.
This year, Manning served as stunt performer, stunt driver and stunt rigger for the highly anticipated "Suicide Squad" from writer-director David Ayer. Warner Bros. is releasing the picture globally August 5 and it features a star-studded cast including Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and others.
Manning has collaborated with and engaged his talents alongside a list of names analogous to the Hollywood Walk of Fame including Oscar winning actors Denzel Washington, Rod Steiger, Timothy Hutton and Halle Berry. Other notables Manning has worked with include the late comedy legends George Carlin and John Candy, as well as the famed Second City "SCTV" cast, Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey, Oscar nominees Will Smith, Hugh Jackman and Sir Ian McKellen and "Star Trek" icon Sir Patrick Stewart.
First showing a flair for performing when he was going through public school, Manning was inspired by classic comedy shows such as "Saturday Night Live," the Dean Martin Roast and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." He actually went to St. Clair Jr High School with Kiefer Sutherland in Toronto and developed a reputation as a class clown who found himself in trouble often for disrupting lessons with improv and mime skits of his own creation. When the charades caught the attention of Manning's school principal, he was made to go from class to class performing the skits that otherwise resulted in discipline. Manning would go on to take improv and comedy classes, but never ventured into the world of stand-up. His performing future laid elsewhere.
Many stunt performers come from a martial arts background that allows them to deliver the needed action sequences on film with authenticity. Manning's path instead included stints in athletics that proved similarly befitting. He exceled in track and field, and has played hockey since he was 4 years old. When he was young, his grandfather gave him a unicycle that sharpened his balance early on, and Manning also participated in dancing, horseback riding and dirt biking.
"I used to love driving anything and fast," he said. "So with all that, it gave me some very great skills that I learned to perfect for what I ended up doing later in life."
Acting, though, came before stunts. Manning was initially steered to break into the business by taking extra work. One of his very early roles came in 1987 where he played a gang member on the award-winning CTV crime drama, "Night Heat." A year later, Manning played a rioter on an award-winning CBC series called "Street Legal." That inception to filmmaking was all Manning needed to discover his true passion.
On TV, he would go on to act in William Shatner's "TekWar," Paul Haggis' "Due South," HBO's Golden Globe nominated "Gotti," Fox's hit "Goosebumps" series, the Stephen King, Emmy-winning mini-series, "Storm of the Century" and more. Manning got his start in film acting in 1994 when he played prisoner characters in both "Car 54, Where Are You?" with David Johansen and John C. McGinley, and in "Trapped in Paradise" with Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey. He would go on to act in the cult comedy classic "Half Baked" starring Dave Chappelle, in Bryan Singer's "X-Men" and in "The Hurricane," from seven-time Oscar nominated producer-director Norman Jewison ("Fiddler on the Roof," "Moonstruck," "Jesus Christ Superstar").
In "The Hurricane" – that stars Denzel Washington as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who was wrongfully imprisoned for murder – Manning played a prison guard and shared scenes with Washington. In one on-screen instance, Carter meets Canadians in prison for the first time who are trying to help him. Carter gets mad and tries to leave his table when Manning's character gets in his way and assures him to relax.
"It was a nice, moving scene," Manning said. "It was a pleasure to work with him and of course having Norman Jewison direct me. It was a big thrill working and acting for Mr. Jewison."
Manning's stunt performing career is littered with coveted credits both on TV and the big screen. He got started with stunts in 1993 on CBS' Gemini-nominated action series, "Top Cops." Since then, Manning has performed, rigged, coordinated and doubled stunts for shows such as FX's "The Strain," the CW's "Beauty and the Beast," Syfy's "Defiance," History's "Gangland Undercover," the CW's Emmy-nominated "Nikita," Syfy's "Alphas" and more. Manning has most recently performed stunts for the independent action film, "Gridlocked," starring "Prison Break" star Dominic Purcell. He's also done stunts for and plays an assassin in NBC's forthcoming "Taken" prequel series based on the film franchise that starred Liam Neeson.
Stunt coordinator/performer Brian Jagersky has worked on more than 100 different films and TV series including "The Incredible Hulk," "300" and "X-Men." Jagersky and Manning have collaborated in delivering stunts for several productions, namely "Shoot 'Em Up," "Pompeii" and for the Emmy-nominated CW action series, "Nikita."
For "Nikita," Jagersky served as stunt coordinator and said, "Carson performed stunts in many key scenes in the show, demonstrating his extraordinary prowess in precision driving and fighting skills. One of his most notable action scenes was a scene where he breaks into a house to look for someone. After stepping into a kitchen with all-glass windows, machine guns and explosions begin bursting the windows and Manning gets hit causing a big chest explosion, and then gets jerked across the room backwards into a large gas stove. This scene was incredibly performed and demonstrated his exceptional technique."
Training and fine tuning the body is a necessity for stunt performing, but it doesn't stop there. "As a stunt man, you always have to be training and keeping your body in tune and you have to have the skills to accomplish stunts that you are called upon to do," said Manning.
Those types of skills showed up again with Manning's work with TJ Scott, a 30-year, Canadian Screen Award winning director-writer-producer. Scott has directed hit shows such as "Orphan Black," "Gotham," "Spartacus," "Longmire," "Dark Matter" and many more.
Scott directed Manning in episodes of "The Strain" and "12 Monkeys." "In "The Strain," Scott said, "Mr. Manning performed wonderful stunt acting that totally brought the episodes to life with his natural way of simulating action. He played a father being harassed by a group of marauders who ends up getting away in a car with his family and crashes into stuff along the road. On the episode of "12 Monkeys," Carson played a scientist who gets killed in a cross fire of an important scene. Mr. Manning is a stunt performer who has done wonders in both the film and television industry, and is certainly well-known and revered to come out of Canada."
Manning has stunt doubled for many actors throughout his career including talents such as Hugh Jackman, Joe Penny, Graham Greene, Tim Daly, Victor Webster, Colm Feore, Scott Highland, Jay O. Sanders, John Shea and others.
"As a stunt double, I work very close with actors so they feel confident that they have a double who is going to make them look good, as well as be there for them when they need me," he said. "Sometimes the lead actor will do his own stunts, so it is my job to make sure the actor is safe along with the stunt coordinator. I will make sure the actor is padded in case they have to fall down or if the actor is throwing a punch or taking a punch, I demonstrated the proper way to execute that without actually getting punched in the face, but make it look like it did happen."
Combining Manning's dual talents – stunt performing and acting – makes for an invaluable qualification when it comes to film and TV production that's few and far between. It's not often casting decision makers elect stunt performers for character roles, but the paradox is one defied by Manning's career achievements. He brings a wealth of know-how from stunt perspectives and has also proven to be a talented asset as an actor, a notion that makes budgeting sense for producers.
"Being a good stunt performer who can act is great for a production," Manning said, "as they save money by having an actor who can do his own stunts, as well they do not have to spend more money bringing in a separate double for the actor too."
In looking back from when he was a boy watching movies and TV shows with his grandfather to where he's ascended to today, Manning says, "All I can say is I love the business, I feel very fortunate and to be a part of it has been a thrill."
The journey continues for Manning, who has been attaching to act and perform stunts for forthcoming projects in 2016 including writer Sebastian MacLean's feature film, "Tuff," writer-director Travis Grant's "Time Man" and other exciting projects that are presently under wraps.


Concurrently, with National Cyber Security Alliance's CyberSecure My Business workshop, will be a day-long Nutanix Technology Bootcamp and education series.
Learn how hyper-converged infrastructure can help lower cost for your small business! Hyper-converged infrastructure is empowering IT organizations of all sizes to reduce the physical footprint of their datacenter infrastructure, increase leverage of underutilized resources, improve IT security, and expand the choices of hypervisor upon which to run virtual infrastructure. These benefits happen to reduce cost and complexity. We'd like to show you how.


With the addition of cloud technology, the benefits expand. But what does all this mean to data management in clinical trials? And what IS the Cloud?
In the life sciences industry, making informed research decisions is critical, given the time and cost associated with the design, build-out and validation of a manufacturing site or the ecosystem needed for research and development (R&D) success.
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Desert Festival? Why didn't they just call it Knockin' On Heaven's Door and have done with it?
Music fans who like to mix their morbid curiosity with four course paired-wine dinners will be reaching for their wallets on Monday, when tickets to a three-day music event next October go on sale.
Call your dad, and your granddad too. Because Desert Festival's six acts – Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, The Who, Neil Young and Roger Waters – fall firmly into the catch-'em-before-they-pass-away category.
The festival's blurb speaks of a "once in a lifetime" event, with the acts "serving up three incomparable nights of rock'n roll".
It neatly skips past the large, existential elephant in the room – the fact, given the age of the performers, this is indeed very likely to be a "once in a lifetime" chance to see rock's 1960s survivors in one place. That said, grim mortality never went that well with the 60s' spirit (though perhaps the Stones could repurpose Miss You at short notice if needed).
Putting cynicism to one side (always necessary when reading about the Rolling Stones), and discreetly ignoring the mind-blowing ticket prices (general admission starts at $399, with an extra $99 to pitch your tent, and that's before the wine pairing) could it all be worth it?
If you're a hedge fund manager flying business class to Palm Springs the answer is a comfortable 'yes', not least because you can squeeze six legendary acts into three days while enjoying four course meals ($225, plus fees). Stomaching a Neil Young rant on the evils of corporate America is unlikely to present a problem breeze, particularly given the excellent bar facilities.
But for fans who are – to put it bluntly – poorer, there's a less of a pull. Any rock listener worth his or her salt has seen some or all of these acts previously or, if they're like me, has turned down the chance to.
More to the point, the groundbreaking recordings many of them have made have become, after half a century in some cases, separate from the acts themselves.
The 20-something Bob Dylan who performed the thin, wild mercury sound of Blonde on Blonde will not be in Indio, CA, nor will the angry Pete Townshend behind Won't Get Fooled Again or the Roger Waters who co-wrote Shine On You Crazy Diamond for his pal.
This music is out there, with a life of its own, long distanced from its composers. Very little can bring us back 50 years in music, history or people's lives – not even the opening riff of Satisfaction.
Mind you, it would be worth $399 to see the look on the hedge fund manager's face when Bob Dylan embarks on an hour of Frank Sinatra covers.


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IndisciplinéEs. InsoumisEs. 23 ans de pratiques artistiques féministes.
Whore-ta-culture
Publié par Laura Beeston
"Shame is a lie someone told you about yourself."
Getting to the bottom of this lie is at the crux of this year's headlining bill Les Demimondes, whose Operation Snatch played at Studio 303 March 30 to April 1.
Featuring a veteran Edgy troupe via Toronto consisting of syndicated Montreal Mirror sex columnist Alexandra Tigchelaar (Sasha Van Bon Bon), Cat Nimmo (Kitty Neptune) Jesse Dell and Andrya Duff, their evolved work (described as 'Dada-ist cabaret') is all about the complex relationship and history sex workers have with art, media and law.
And oh, did these women ever have a story to tell about whores.
Smart, satirical and full of moxie, the multi-media performance engages video art and dance where whores tell their own narratives — with Prostitution Herself delivering monologues that cut to the heart of the way their stories have been culturally misappropriated and misrepresented over the last 3,000 years of whore-hating. She asks us to consider, "Were these women fallen or were they pushed?"
ART: "A whore, wrapped in an actress, wrapped in a whore; a metawhore."
Exploring nuances between so-called "high" and "low" art, the first act of Operation Snatch sets a tone with Prostitution Herself handily taking down 20th century critic, satirist, and enemy of whores Dorothy Parker in her first monologue. See, Parker once purported that "you can lead a whore to culture but you cannot make her think," while Le Demimondes assert that, in fact, whores are culture.
Perching her pelvis atop a bed with red satin sheets, Prostitution Herself mimes a mounted fucking gesture. "Culture," she argues, thrusting, "is on top of us all the time."
Punctuating her point throughout, Operation Snatch explores and re-imagines a variety of prostitution-based pop culture from the ages. La Travaiata, The Police's infamous "Roxanne," 1971 hooker-slasher film Klute, Toddlers and Tiaras, and especially the iconic images ofPretty Woman, are whipped down to size by deconstructive attention to their hollow mainstream whore narratives.
Besides, we're asked, who profits from the art work of sex work? What is a muse worth on canvas and in person? What are the bullshit themes in stories we hear about whores all the time and why are they forever being regurgitated?
The Message is the Media
"I have never felt vulnerable with a client like I do with the media," declared Tigchelaar after the curtain came down and the artists spoke at an informal Q&A with Edgy Artistic Director Miriam Ginestier.
Tigchelaar lamented she is exhausted of "having morality conversations" with reporters and needing to forever push beyond the religious fundamentalism bent in the kinds of questions she's asked as both a sex worker and artist.
"We're trying to strike a different chord about sex work," she tells us. "Sex is a part of culture as well, but sex workers have no privilege. The representations out there are not made by sex workers. But we see, and want to comment on it, too. […] But the biggest betrayal I have ever had was by the media."
Tigchelaar's desire for 'real talk' in whore reportage, specifically the way their stories are told and who are telling them, found a prominent place onstage. Snatch turns the tables on the media-makers who make working girls feel "constantly interrogated" about their choices of work and what myths are perpetuated through this medium.
Calling out bad journalism from the sensationalist exposé's of eras bygone right up to a contemporary Toronto blogger notorious for outing and shaming sex workers, Opearation Snatch takes aim at the way whores are marginalized and criminalized in the cultural production of 'news.'
Fear is the mother of morality – Nietzsche
While this play cackles along, tight-trope-walking all you thought you knew about the work and lives of whores with a lively array of performance and dance, perhaps what is the more compelling than hilarious wit is the feeling that you're finally hearing a different voice explain what it is to do the oldest profession in history yet receive none of the cultural kudos.
"I enjoy my job. There's validity in my work," says Nimmo during a monologue, radiant in a white power suit as she looks each audience member directly in the eye. "Humans need intimacy, spaces to work through the problems with monogamy and the stifling ideas we have about our partnerships."
Sharing what she's learned about affection, tolerance, and the changing needs and desires between people, Nimmo spoke to her work as an escort as "the most enriching job I've ever had." Admitting she unabashedly enjoys what she does. And we can tell. It's really beautiful.
The realness of the women onstage is undoubtedly the best part about this performance. Their downright heart and humanity cuts through whatever preconceived notions out there we might have believed, but can't anymore. And, under the red lights, I couldn't help but feel like something timeless was liberated in the studio those nights.
If shame has pursued whores forever, it is a play like this that will put an end to it.
(Text by « Lois Lane »)
> RETOUR
EDGY WOMEN / REDUX : De 1994 à 2016
Présenté par le Studio 303 à Montréal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Why I Review
Beyond New York
John Osburn has devoted a career to the many arts of performance. His interests range from Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekhov, to ballet, opera and contemporary dance, to Afro-Peruvian jazz, the Argentine tango and the Portuguese fado. He has been writing the reviews featured on this site since 2009, mostly in New York, where he lives and works, but sometimes from as far afield as Madrid, Buenos Aires, or Medellín.
"For me, reviewing the arts is a creative practice, a literary response to an experience in the world... read more.
What Tango Means
Liner essay to 10, Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet, ZOHO Music
Shakespeare on Film (podcast interview)
NeuroTango: Brainwaves in Sync? (participant dancer)
Shakespeare Sonnet Slam #71, #91, #107, #150
MigranTango (interviewed)
johnosburnphd.com
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Our Last Tango
April 24, 2016 August 13, 2016 admin
The Wim Wenders produced OUR LAST TANGO, by German Kral, reconciles art with life and narrative cinema with documentary. The lives are those of María Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes, probably the longest enduring couple in Argentine tango as a performing art. I am careful how I put that, because there are social dance couples too, and types of tango that are not Argentine, with their own couples. They related, in any case, onstage and off, for half a century, with breakups in both that didn't necessarily correlate. He invented (I don't know of a counter-narrative) the tango show, with a structure that lasts to this day, first conquering Avenida Corrientes in Buenos Aires, the South American equivalent to Broadway or the West End, then Broadway itself, most famously as choreographer of the Parisian import Tango Argentino in 1983. She was, in the patriarchy in which they flourished, his muse, or, as he puts it in the film, the "Stradivarius" that he, as the lead, played. He did not, by any fair account, treat her decently in the personal realm, although he seems (and probably is) a decent man, and it is around that irony that the film gathers its power and fascination.
A corps of dancers is compiling material for a recreation of Nieves and Copes' lives, personal and artistic. Documents are pored over (photographs, newspaper clippings, film of their performances, clips from his popular TV show) and the couple, along with friends, family and associates, are interviewed. He is taciturn and enigmatic; she is, for all intents and purposes, the film's narrator, and it is her story that prevails. There is a soundstage through which she wanders, wistfully, of the locales of their story, fingering the props as though they were artifacts, and she revisits some of the tango sites that the couple haunted in the '50s: nostalgia is at its height not when a place has vanished but when it is marked by change. Still larger changes are marked by some of the crispest aerial shots of Buenos Aires I've seen. They are, if one knows the city, ironically pristine, as stage tango in comparison to the social. It is as though to say that the city is worthy of the art it is most known for: glamorous and, in its stories, infinite.
Kral fades to the past with a fictive grace that softens the boundary between cinematic flashback and musical drama. When Juan Malizia, as Copes, meets Ayelén Álvarez Miño, as Nieves, in one of the milongas they went to as adolescents, it is more dream than reenactment. It's brilliantly stylized, and witty; they play, as only skilled artists could, a young tanguero not yet secure in his lead and a young woman (not yet a tanguera) who doesn't know the first thing about following. The awkwardness is exaggerated to exactly the right degree; it is, if one knows tango, funny not just on its own terms, but because it is recognizable. Later, as a more skilled Nieves and Copes, they tango in the rain, playfully aware of the special effects, calling to mind, although they are a couple, the Gene Kelly solo, their tango uncannily like his improvised masterpiece. The choreography, in all the film, plays with surprise. There's a scene of Malizia and Álvarez shot from the knees down in which her feet come literally off the ground: one assumes that he is lifting her, but when the shot pulls back, something else entirely turns out to have been happening, courtesy, no doubt, of Brenda Angiel, the aerial tanguera who is one of five credited choreographers.
The work by Alejandra Gutty and Pablo Verón as the somewhat older Nieves and Copes is stylized in a different way. The expressive Gutty looks a lot like Nieves, and Verón alludes to Copes' style, posture and footwork. The real Nieves, coaching them, provides a mini-history of tango's transition from social dance to theater, the intimacy of the embrace opening to accommodate the showier moves. Some of those, we hear from Nieves and see in archival footage, were both virtuoso and harrowing, to her, to perform, such as dancing breakneck on a café table, the which, she confesses, terrified her on each occasion. The new choreography juxtaposes easily with the film of Nieves and Copes, never inviting an unfavorable comparison. Neither naturalistic imitation nor homage, it works as a story remembered and retold, with fondness, imagination, and respect.
Nieves and Copes, now in their early 80s, are shown dressing and making up as though for a reunion, and we do see them step onto the same stage. But the last tango, or "one tango more" (in Spanish, Un tango más) of the title is, on some level, the film we are watching, the interplay of a lively, expressive woman with an impassive but elegant man, the personal in dialogue with culture and art, different only in kind from the tango itself.
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Dance, Film *Photo, Aerial Dance, Brenda Angiel, Broadway, Buenos Aires, Documentary, Tango, Tango Shows Permalink
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Granada, MAC BETH, Beatriz Nunes, St. Matthew Passion, Emel Mathlouthi, Pablo Estigarribia, Tatiana Eva-Marie, Flamencos y mestizos: Lara Bello, Doruntine, The Bedbug, The Tango Fado Project, María de Buenos Aires
Beyond New York (14)
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>> Community
Seen on Scene: At the Dam Short Film Festival
Ron and Wendy Krajewski of Henderson greet the audience after the screening of the documentary "My Paintbrush Bites" on Friday at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival at Boulder Theatre. The film documented the life of their late horse, Metro, who learned how to paint.
By Celia Shortt Goodyear and Hali Bernstein Saylor Boulder City Review
(Hali Bernstein Saylor/Boulder City Review) Angela Condon, left, and Julie Wignall, who have been volunteering with the Dam Short Film Festival for two and three years, respectively, helped with the silent auction at the theater Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.
Celia Shortt Goodyear/Boulder City Review Actor Steve Coulter, left, arrives at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 8, with the festival's Director of Development Tsvetelina Stefanova and friend and producer David Silverman. Silverman's film, "The Producer," starring Coulter, was screened at the festival held at the Boulder Theatre.
Celia Shortt Goodyear/Boulder City Review Ron and Wendy Krajewski of Henderson greet the audience after the screening of the documentary "My Paintbrush Bites" on Friday, Feb. 8, at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival at Boulder Theatre. The film documented the life of their late horse, Metro, who learned how to paint in his later years.
(Hali Bernstein Saylor/Boulder City Review) Film aficionados pack the Boulder Theatre for the Dam Short Film Festival on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.
Celia Shortt Goodyear/Boulder City Review Writer and director Mick Dow explains how a stunt was done in his short film, "Hope in a Box." The film was screened at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Boulder Theatre.
Actor Steve Coulter, left, arrives at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 8, with festival Director of Development Tsvetelina Stefanova and friend and producer David Silverman. Silverman's film, "The Producer," starring Coulter, was screened at the festival held at the Boulder Theatre.
Writer and director Mick Dow explains how a stunt was done in his short film, "Hope in a Box." The film was screened at the 15th annual Dam Short Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Boulder Theatre.
Hali Bernstein Saylor/Boulder City Review
Angela Condon, left, and Julie Wignall, who have been volunteering with the Dam Short Film Festival for two and three years, respectively, helped with the silent auction at the theater Saturday.
Film aficionados pack the Boulder Theatre for the Dam Short Film Festival on Saturday.
By Celia Shortt Goodyear and Hali Bernstein Saylor
Boulder City Review
Posted on: Community
Business at Home: Horses, children benefit from Farmers agent's devotion
By Hali Bernstein Saylor Boulder City Review
When Dawn and Jason Lee opened their Farmers Insurance Group agency in Boulder City two years ago, she said they made it their primary goal to get to know the community, what it's about and support it as best as they could.
New director's lifelong love of locomotives led to career at museum
Like many boys, Christopher MacMahon enjoyed playing with toy trains when he was younger.
Lend A Hand receives $20,000 grant
Local nonprofit organization Lend A Hand of Boulder City has been awarded a $20,000 Community Grant from Dignity Health.
Business at Home: From show dogs to CBD products, Gebers works to be No. 1
A desire to move away from the gloomy weather common in Northern Oregon brought a major change in life and new business to Curt Gebers.
Boulder City Nuggets: Carver gives thanks with wooden angels
Bob Pearce has been woodworking for most of his life, but it wasn't until about two decades ago that he started using it to encourage others.
Time is ripe for pruning
By Bob Morris Gardening
This is the time of year when you can take large amounts of wood from trees, shrubs and many of our flowering and nonflowering plants. Break out your loppers or handsaw and make sure it's sharp, adjusted and sanitized before you start pruning. Remember, you can remove small amounts from trees and shrubs any time during the year using hand pruners but now is the time for removing stuff using the "big guns."
Compost often steams in cold weather
Don't be fooled because when compost is warm, it produces steam. It may look like it's hot, but during this cold weather steam is very commonly found with warm compost. The temperature of compost when it's cooling is only about 105 F. In the center of the pile it might be hotter but it's not hot enough to damage plants.
Some plants more susceptible to freezing temperatures
January 5, 2022 - 3:37 pm January 5, 2022 - 3:37 pm
I went outside very early in the morning to put something in the recycling bins when I noticed frost on the lids. I thought, "We must've had a light freeze last night." I checked my phone weather app for the low temperature. It said the low was 45 F. "No, that can't be right." I checked other sources for the low temperature and it varied from upward of 36 F. My trash lids won't lie. Phone apps are good for predicting a possible freeze and needed protection, but nothing replaces verification that an actual freeze happened.
Boulder City Nuggets: Passionate about pets
December 29, 2021 - 3:31 pm December 29, 2021 - 3:31 pm
A passion for pets and their well-being is what keeps the staff at Professional Pet Room &Groom in Boulder City motivated each day.
Film fest remains virtual for 2022
The 2022 Dam Short Film Festival is following in the footsteps of 2021 and will once again be held virtually.


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EAVI Test
Test your digital awareness!
The EAVI TEST has been launched! Its aim is to help everyone reflect on the role media plays in our lives. There are ten (10) questions in total, and it will take 3 minutes to finish the test. Your replies will be anonymous.
The test is inspired by the work of Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and the late Hans Rosling, who founded the Gapminder Foundation.
Click on the button below to take the test and see your results immediately. Follow us on social media for updates and more insights. We will share a report about the overall results and analysis!
How have other people replied?
Many people have already done the test. Are you curious to find out what they answered?
The average score is 31%, meaning an average responder got only 3 questions right.
Question 1: ____ days is the total time spent online annually by the average internet user globally
An average person spends 100 days online per year. According to the Digital 2019 report, the average internet user spends more than a quarter of their life on the World Wide Web.
Question 2: Around the world, the number of men who use the internet is higher than the number of women. In the past five years, the global gender gap of internet users has ___.
Around the world the number of men who use the internet is higher than the number of women . In the past five years the global gender gap of internet users has increased.
Question 3: In the first nine months of 2019, personal data has been stolen through 5,183 reported data breaches exposing 7.9 billion records. Which economic sector was targeted the most?
In the first nine months of 2019, personal data has been stolen through 5.183 reported data breaches exposing 7.9 billion records. The economic sector that was targeted the most was healthcare.
Question 4: In 2019, Facebook paid a fine for privacy infringement in the USA. That amount was ____.
In 2019, Facebook paid a fine for privacy infringement in the USA. That amount was $5 Billion (the cost for basic vaccination for 125 children).
Question 5: How many European companies ranked among the world's 20 biggest internet companies in 2019?
None (0) European company ranked among the world's 20 biggest internet companies in 2019.
Question 6: In Europe, the number of internet users increased from 425 million to 727 million between 2009 and 2019 (increase of 70%). In the same period in Africa, the number changed from 86 million to ____.
In Europe, the number of internet users increased from 425 million to 727 million between 2009 and 2019 (increased by 70%). In the same period in Africa, the number changed from 86 million to 522 Million (an increase of 600%).
Question 7: __% of the 150 most viewed YouTube videos on COVID-19 contained misleading information.
27.5% of the 150 most viewed YouTube videos on COVID-19 contained misleading information.
Question 8: How many fake accounts did Facebook delete in 2nd quarter of 2020?
Fakebook deleted 1.5 Billion (16.7 Million Accounts per day) in the 2nd quarter of 2020.
Question 9: In 1983, 90% of US media was controlled by 50 companies; in 2020, this number was ____ companies.
In 1983, 90% of US media was controlled by 50 companies; in 2020, this number was 6 companies.
Question 10: Google accounts for __% of worldwide ad spending in 2019.
Google accounts for 31.1% of worldwide ad spending in 2019.
Learn more about media literacy with EAVI!
We live in a digital era with technological advances that affect many aspects of our everyday lives. It is crucial to handle these changes to benefit from them.
Media literacy is the key to several global issues. By being able to access, critically evaluate, and create media, we can create a better future not only for us but also for broader communities. Media literacy is a tool that can promote democracy, peaceful societies, and active engagement among citizens through various procedures.
Follow the sources below to find out more!
Ad Tech Fuels Disinformation Sites in Europe - The Numbers and Players | Global Disinformation Index
Automating Inequality - Paperback
Online Course on Digital Literacy | The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
A Real-Time Website Privacy Inspector
The Next Billion Users | Payal Arora
Fighting Disinformation | European Council
The High Privacy Cost of a "Free" Website | Blacklight
Read Research Brief
Automating Inequality
How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
Virginia Eubanks
The Digital Literacy Lab for Educators (DLLE) offers an essential course of personal and professional development for instructors, mentors, learners, and anyone interested in new approaches to education. The course is centred on supporting individuals to become more responsible 'netizens' or engage in good 'netizenship'. For student and educator alike, it is essential to have good digital literacy skills to participate meaningfully and responsibly in the online world. The uncertain future facing the education sector and indeed, society at large as triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, makes the need for widespread digital literacy even greater. DLLE sets itself apart from other resources in the digital literacy space by connecting the dots between critical thinking and literacy, and the digital world. This means that the focus is on cognitive skills rather than technical knowledge development. Participants will be pushed to rethink how their activity online and offline contributes to their personal and professional development.
Who is peeking over your shoulder while you work, watch videos, learn, explore, and shop on the internet? Enter the address of any website, and Blacklight will scan it and reveal the specific user-tracking technologies on the site—and who's getting your data. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Scan Site
Disinformation on the coronavirus is thriving. It is important that you get updated information from authoritative sources only.
We suggest that you follow the advice of your public health authorities, and the websites of relevant EU and international organisations: ECDC and WHO. You can also help by not sharing unverified information that comes from dubious sources.
The fight against disinformation is a joint effort involving all European institutions. The EU is working in close cooperation with online platforms to encourage them to promote authoritative sources, demote content that is fact-checked as false or misleading, and take down illegal content or content that could cause physical harm.
All our efforts to fight disinformation, misinformation and foreign interference have been stepped up and outlined in a Joint Communication by the Commission and the High Representative.
The fight against coronavirus misinformation and disinformation saves lives. The European Commission is deploying all available tools and funding research to help in the fight.
Learn More on ec.europa.eu
The High Privacy Cost of a "Free" Website
"I don't track users," Zajac said. "Not everyone in the military is wanting to be known for being trans. They might not be out yet. So any time we can protect privacy in that way, we try to do it."
Are you interested in Media Literacy? Do you want to contribute further?
Help spreading EAVI Test all over the world!
Help people reflect by translating the test into your language! We will upload it here! Send us an e-mail to conversations@eavi.eu.
Thank you for taking the EAVI test! We constantly look for ways to improve it and we would appreciate your feedback! and know how it helped you! Also, there will be a more in-depth feedback session and we are looking for participants!
Visit EAVI site
Do you want to learn more about our projects and initiatives? Visit the EAVI webpage, subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned!
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to explore more about EAVI's Media Literacy!
Share your ideas with us!
Do you have any article or project ideas? Then, you can share them with us, and we will help you implement them! Contact us on eavi@eavi.eu and contribute further!
Copyright © 2022 Eavi Conversations - eavi


text:
Lil Reese Arrested For Beating Up His Girlfrend
Subscribe to HipHopDX on Youtube for daily Hip Hop News:
http://bit.ly/dxsubscribe Check out more of DX here on social media:
http://instagram.com/hiphopdx Script: Kyle Eustice
Voiceover: Pro https://www.instagram.com/jaysnprolifiq/
Video Edit: CT https://www.instagram.com/goodluckct/
Video Manager: Jeremy Hecht
http://www.instagram.com/jeremy_hecht
Executive Producer: Sharath Cherian For over 17 years, HipHopDX has been at the forefront of Hip Hop culture online, featuring over 2.7 million readers per month. As one of the longest-standing Hip Hop websites, DX not only stays current on Hip Hop culture, but continues to influence it, encourage it, and simultaneously reflect on its past. Our insightful, honest editorials, unbiased reviews, premier audio and video sections, and original video content, draws one of the most loyal followings online. Check us out at http://www.hiphopdx.com Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N46qT8wL_QY


text:
package org.apache.sshd.common.util.logging;

import java.util.logging.Level;

/**
 * @author Apache MINA SSHD Project
 */
public interface SimplifiedLog {

    /**
     * An "empty" {@link SimplifiedLog} that does nothing
     */
    SimplifiedLog EMPTY = new AbstractSimplifiedLog() {
        @Override
        public boolean isEnabled(Level level) {
            return false;
        }

        @Override
        public void log(Level level, Object message, Throwable t) {
            return;
        }

        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return "EMPTY";
        }
    };

    boolean isEnabled(Level level);

    void log(Level level, Object message);

    void log(Level level, Object message, Throwable t);
}

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Home » » Hyper and Linux arrive in Tableau 10.5!
Hyper and Linux arrive in Tableau 10.5!
Tableau 10.5 on Linux here!
Releasing 10.5 of Tableau server on Linux. Tableau server on Linux has capabilities to bring Tableau Server to Linux platform. This is the first version of Tableau Server available on Linux. There is no upgrade path. Tableau Server on Linux is the new product. The management of Tableau Server on Linux is very easy. It supports the most popular distributors of Linux (CentOS 7, RHEL 7, Oracle Linux). It easily meshed into existing Linux environment, either on premises (occupied by a business) or in the public cloud. In this Blog hyper and Linux arrive in tableau 10.5!, we can see understanding between tableau and Linux.
On Linux, we have more work ability with architecture, it has capability add and remove an instance of the key process. By using this you have an option to change a several VizQL, background and application servers without any need to restart the other Tableau server processes. It is a new product that include features are: Tableau server supports Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). All data source do not support by the Tableau Server on Linux, have some limitations of upgrading too Linux. Some important data resource that is not supported on Linux. MemSQL, Exasol, Microsoft Analysis Services (OLAP cube), Microsoft Access, Oracle Essbase, Splunk, SAP Skybase and NetWeaver, MonetDB.
Tableau helps people to understand data and data transfers without limiting visual analytics. They can share the work and make an influence on their business. Around the world, small companies and small business. More than 65,000 customers are using Tableau to turn data into actionable insights and 300,000 people using Tableau public to send public data on their websites.
When we want to upgrade to 10.5 you will automatically have Hyper. And 10.5 is finally here.
Announcing hyper with Tableau 10.5 beta. By using this we analyze the data easily. This single task drives us and makes to feel thrilled our customers every day. In sometimes we have a chance to extend our task at hyper speed.
In data processing for all sizes, it gives faster analysis.
Increase data transformation, data integration and data merging.
Computation of analysis and transaction system.
It supports big data attempt by supporting semi-structured and unstructured data.
They thrilled to say welcome to the Hyper team, not just because of design. But to achieve high-speed technology. Without any doubt it helps Tableau especially to introduce new methods. Joining in Tableau, there is a chance to receive Hyper technology into peoples hands who are having a big crash with data daily.
Read more about the Tableau Technology by visiting Tableau Online Training.
Upgrading gives the smooth and continuous process; no reallocation is needed. Just we upgrade 10.5 and start using Hyper today on wards!
In particular If you want to use these data source and want to relocate is to contact the seller and request Linux drivers.
They have also hyped up your dashboards and Vizzes in Tableau 10.5 with Viz in Tool-tip. To illustrate this new feature you can make your data attractive at a deeper stage and increase dashboard real estate without writing a single line of code.
Annotate (comment) and share available at present on Tableau Mobile for iOS, make it easy to send a note. Finally Add text and draw on starting a via snapshot and send it through text, email.
They added 75+ local connectors and capability to connect more or less web data through Web connector with a new connector to Box. Moreover they guide you deeper integration with AWS platform. Hurry up! upgrade today to start taking benefits of Hyper.
Learn more about this technology Tableau Online Course this overview.
Anybody can learn Tableau if they don't have technical degree with basic coding knowledge. Trainers of OnlineITGuru will teach every topic and they are real-time experts.
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Plane measures approx. 9" sole is smooth no cracks or chips in throat. Most of origianl japan remains has X no. 4 stamped on toe and Union Pat 12 8 03 stamped towards heal. Has a vertical post. Front knob is low has the ring around bottom no cracks handle has been repaired at one time. Lever cap has 445 1/4 with four dots on underside. Blade has Union Mfg. Co. New Britain Conn USA stamped on top and measures approx. 7" long. Lateral in working condition.
Plane measures approx. 9" long has a corrugated sole no chips in throat. Has O4 stamped on toe. Japan is present has the grain painted handle which has been repaired also front knob has grain paint and is low profile no cracks. Lever cap has a chip on the left corner top. Blade has Ohio Tool Company Columbus Ohio USA Auburn NY stamped on top and measures approx. 7 1/2" long and heavy duty frog and lateral, adjustment nut all good.
Plane measures approx. 9" long has a smooth sole no cracks or chips in throat. Has Bailey no. 4 stamped on toe made in USA towards heal. front knob has hairline on bottom but solid has some paint. Handle has a chip on very back top no cracks has the wartime steel adjustment not brass. Lever cap has Stanley on front with pat no. 1918750 on the back no chips. Blade has the Stanley SW logo and measures approx. 6 1/2" long lateral a little sloppy but intact.
plane measures approx. 9" long has a smooth sole no cracks. Has Bailey no. 4 stamped on toe and made in USA towards the heal. Has the frog adjustment and blade adjustment has the wartime rubber composite type. Knob and handle have no cracks handle has a chip at very top right corner. Lever cap has Stanley and pat no 1918750 stamped on it. Blade has Stanley made in USA rectangular logo and measures approx. 7".
Plane measures approx. 9" long has a corrugated sole. Front knob is wood and low no cracks handle has the rubber material no cracks logo is worn on side. Lever cap has a chip blade has the Diamond Edge Shapleighs Hardware logo and measures approx 7" japan is worn frog has the brass adjusting knob.
plane measures approx. 9" long has a smooth sole no cracks. Has Bailey no. 4 stamped on toe and made in USA towards the heal. Has the frog adjustment and blade adjustment. Knob has no cracks but wear handle has been repaired. Lever cap has Stanley stamped on it. Blade has Stanley made in USA rectangular logo and measures approx. 7 1/2"


In2hula: Hoop for Fitness is working in collaboration with the Heart Foundation of New Zealand to provide a hula hoop based physical activity programme for early learning services and centres.
This programme is called Hoop with Heart: Kia Ngākau Pīrori.
The Hoop with Heart programme is designed to fit with the Heart Foundation NZ Healthy Heart Award, and the New Zealand Ministry of Education's early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki.
However, the programme is suitable for use in any early childhood setting around the world and is available in a digital format on this website for those outside of the Canterbury area.
30 minute practical hula hoop physical activity sessions with children in collaboration with staff.
Activities are conducted to music and develop motor skills, brain connection pathways and imaginative play. We aim to provide a positive learning environment where the children can try new things, gain confidence and have fun being active.
There are 10 session options to choose from including some sessions which are suitable for an indoor environment.
Family (whānau)/community events are where children can demonstrate what they have learned, and others are encouraged to participate such as a lunchtime 'Have a Go' session and shared healthy lunch, or a late afternoon 'Hoop Olympics' event.
In2Hula can provide equipment and a facilitator for these when they are being run by Canterbury early learning services.
The workshops teach basic hula hoop moves and a variety of hula hoop based activities that you can do with young children.
Workshops run by In2hula facilitators include a downloadable PDF manual.
An instructional video is included with the manual for the online version of the programme.
Hoop with Heart (HWH) is a hula hoop based physical activity programme for preschool children consisting of activity sessions for the children, family/whanau events and professional learning and development workshops for early learning service teachers.
The activities in the programme range from dynamic sporting type movement, through to dance-like movement through to imaginative movement which gives it a wide appeal to a variety of children. This range of physical activities means that it can be adapted to both indoor and outdoor environments, and provide an enjoyable and accessible option for physical movement indoors in poor weather. HWH aims to provide a positive learning environment where the children can try new things, gain confidence and have fun being active.
Sign up for the Hoop with Heart newsletter to hear up-to-date news and reviews about the programme, and receive a FREE copy of the complete PDF session plan, including a suggested song playlist, for Session 1 of the Hoop with Heart Programme.
In2hula is recognised as a leader in the fitness industry. Bernadette Smith was nominated in the 2015 New Zealand Exercise Industry Awards 'Own Choreography' section.
In 2016 In2Hula was recognised for the work they have been been doing throughout New Zealand and was awarded the Community Excellence Award by the Exercise Association of New Zealand.
In 2017, In2Hula was chosen as one of the 3 finalists for the New Zealand Exercise Industry Initiative Award for the Hoop with Heart programme.


text:
Q: How can I make Terraform replace a null value with a default value? The Terraform documentation indicates this should already be happening:
https://www.terraform.io/docs/language/expressions/types.html

null: a value that represents absence or omission. If you set an argument of a resource or module to null, Terraform behaves as though you had completely omitted it — it will use the argument's default value if it has one, or raise an error if the argument is mandatory.

I'm calling a module "foo" that has the following variable file:
variable "bar" {
  type    = string
  default = "HelloWorld"
}

Example 1
When I call it using this code:
module "foo" {
  source = "../modules/foo"
  bar = null
}

The result is an error.  Invalid value for "str" parameter: argument must not be null.  Trigger when bar is being used.
Example 2
When I call it using this code (omitting it, rather than nulling it):
module "foo" {
  source = "../modules/foo"
  # bar = null
}

The result is that it works.  The "bar" variable is defaulted to "HelloWorld".
This appears to be a bug In Terraform that someone else also raised but wasn't resolved.
https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/27730
Does anyone know a solution or a work around?
Version information:
Terraform v1.0.5
on linux_amd64
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/google v3.51.0
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/null v3.1.0
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/random v3.1.0
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/time v0.7.2

Workaround
Based on @Matt Schuchard's comment and some research there's a ugly solution using the conditional check:
variable "foo" {
  type    = string
  default = "HelloWorld"
}
locals {
  foo = var.foo == null ? "HelloWorld" : var.foo
}

Why
My use case is an attempt to avoid duplicated code.  I have 2 very similar modules, one being a subset of the other.  The solution I'm using is to put the modules in sequence calling each, i.e. a grandparent, parent and child.
I want to have the variables available to the "grandparent" but if they're omitted then the module below "child" should set them using a default value, e.g. "HelloWorld".  But to exposed those variables all the way through the family line I have to include them in all modules and in the high modules (grandparent and parent) I want to default them to null, allowing them to be optional but also still causing them to be set to a default in the "child" further down the line.
...I think I need a diagram.

A: This is for older versions of Terraform
Use the nullable approach if using Terraform 1.1.x or above and if you do not need to support older versions of terraform

You can set the default to null and set the real default value in the local via a coalesce function
Use try

*

*This works for a null and empty string

variable "foo" {
  type    = string
  default = null
}

locals {
  # return var.foo if it's not null
  # return "HelloWorld" if var.foo is null
  foo = try(length(var.foo), 0) > 0 ? var.foo : "HelloWorld"
}

output "foo" {
  value = local.foo
}

Use coalesce

*

*This only works for a null string and not an empty string

variable "foo" {
  type    = string
  default = null
}

locals {
  # return var.foo if it's not null
  # return "HelloWorld" if var.foo is null
  foo = coalesce(var.foo_coalesce, "HelloWorld")
}

output "foo" {
  value = local.foo
}

Using the default value of null returns HelloWorld
$ terraform apply -auto-approve

...

Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

Outputs:

foo = "HelloWorld"

Using a new value negates the default set in the local
$ terraform apply -auto-approve -var="foo=HelloUniverse"

...

Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

Outputs:

foo = "HelloUniverse"

A: As of Terraform 1.1.0, variable declarations now support a nullable argument. It defaults to true to preserve the existing behavior. However, any variable with nullable=false that is unspecified or set to null will instead be assigned the default value.
main.tf:
variable "nullable" {
  type    = string
  default = "Used default value"
}

output "nullable" {
  value = coalesce(var.nullable, "[null]")
}

variable "non_nullable" {
  type     = string
  default  = "Used default value"
  nullable = false
}

output "non_nullable" {
  value = coalesce(var.non_nullable, "[null]")
}

terraform.tfvars
nullable     = null
non_nullable = null

Note the use of coalesce in the output blocks. Terraform elides any outputs that are set to null, so this ensures that any null value still shows something in the output.
After applying this configuration, we can see from running terraform output that when nullable=true (the default) a variable keeps an explicitly set null value but with nullable=false any null value is ignored in favor of the default.
# terraform output
non_nullable = "Used default value"
nullable = "[null]"

A: I hope a combination of contains() with a condition can solve the problem (terraform versions > 1.xx)
I could solve a for_each solution based on this combination.
In the following example, the .value part contains a set of attributes.
A bit lazy to experiment with the exact problem ;) , but this may help.
your_target_attr = contains(keys(each.value), "your_possible_attribute_value") ? each.value.your_possible_attribute_value : var.your_default_value

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