KIDS FIRST! Radio

The Train Master releases to DVD May 12th, immediately following National Train Day May 9th . Moving Pictures Film & Television LLC acquired The Train Master in late 2008 and the film is also available on Starz Pay for View.
Monterey Media, a long time sponsor of KIDS FIRST!, acquired Bracelet of Bordeaux this year and plans the theatrical for May 18th. The DVD releases July 14th  Check out more information www.montereymedia.com/independent/bracelet_of_bordeaux.html
Another KIDS FIRST! title, The Controller was featured on Starz Family and Friends in April.
Train Master
62 year old Jeremiah Wilson is truly the Train Master of Willamette Western Railroad. He lives, breaths, and eats railroad. When Brett Banner, 32 year old heir to New York Eastern talks his dad into purchasing Willamette Western, there is immediately a clash between himself and Jeremiah. Jeremiah is fired by Brett two years from retirement and turns into a angry, depressed grandfather. When Brett’s nine year old son Justin realizes Jeremiah’s grandson Thomas can drive a locomotive, he kidnaps and holds Thomas’ favorite dinosaur ransom. Justin, Thomas and 3 other children board an old engine in for repairs and accidentally turns it into runaway engine causing a chain reaction of events. Available on Amazon.com
Bracelet of Bordeaux
Written by: Frank Eakin
Directed by: Casey Kelly
Starring: Ally Claire Carson, Kelsey Edwards, Shane Kelly, Shane Savage
Someone is dognapping the canine citizens of Chem City, Texas! Two pre-teen girls overcome danger and conspiracies as they set out to solve the crime and administer justice with the help of a magical bracelet. As the girls battle the Mob, a punk gang and a crooked cop, they learn something about friendship, courage and the importance of hanging with the right crowd.

The Controller, a KIDS FIRST! Film Festival selection and winner, is playing on Starz Kids & Family. Set your reminder for Monday, April 20th at 9:45 am and 4:50 pm or Tuesday, June 9th at 4:50pm. www.starz.com/titles/ControllerThe

This fun, madcap action film is about a billionaire, who is stuck in his “perfect” world, until his wife is abducted. He is forced to join with teen video gamers and has only eight hours to win, or else! Starring: Bob Rue, Tank Jones, Lolita Sahwany , John Dobradenka, Vince Reign, Jeff Niemoeller, Jimmy Flowers, Carin Sprague. Directed by Frank Michels.

Santa Fe Film Reps represented The Controller in their contract agreements with Starz and Moving Pictures Film & Television LLC.

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film Will Award Two $5,000 Scholarships at the 10th Annual KIDS FIRST! Best Awards Day, October 17th
The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival in conjunction with the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville, TN will offer two scholarships to student filmmakers this year. Five thousand dollar ($5,000) scholarships will be offered in two student filmmaker categories: High School and College Student. Winners will also receive a $250 travel allowance to attend the 10th Annual KIDS FIRST! Best Awards Day, October 17th at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
High School and College student films accepted to the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival for the 4th quarter of 2008 and 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2009 are eligible for consideration for the scholarship awards, subject to selection by the judges and submission of a successful application to Watkins. Judges will consider live action, animated, narrative and documentary films and the films may be features or shorts. The winners will have up to 2 years to accept their scholarship. Judges will be from both KIDS FIRST! and the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film.
As part of Watkins College of Art, Design & Film, the Watkins BFA Film program is distinguished by a film curriculum that explores the artistic, technical, and business aspects of independent filmmaking. Students will specialize in one of the five concentrated areas of filmmaking, while developing competency in the entire filmmaking process. With a focus on dramatic narrative film, Watkins Film School helps students find their personal voice and style and helps them incorporate these factors into their narrative work. The Watkins College of Art, Design & Film is located in Nashville, TN.
KIDS FIRST! is a program of the   17-year-old, national, nonprofit organization,  Coalition for Quality Children’s Media  whose mission is to teach children critical viewing skills and to increase the visibility and availability of quality children’s media. The Coalition is a voluntary collaboration comprising more than 10,000 media professionals, lobbyists, policymakers, child advocates, educators, parents and families nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.kidsfirst.org.

This last Saturday, the Little Art Theater hosted a new children’s movie series, “Saturday’s Picture Show.” In Yellow Springs, Ohio, kids dressed in their finest (costume or otherwise) walked down the red carpet at the premiere. Screening Saturday “March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World” and “Unstable Fables: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show.”
Pictured are, from left, front row: Isaiah Crawford, Ibrahim Chappelle; second row: Liam Boarman, Sulayman Chappelle, Jeffery Crawford; third row: Chasilee Crawford, Laura Carlson; last row: Elaine Chappelle, Stacey Wirrig with Marin Wirrig on lap, and Lora Boarman. Photo by Susan Garner and courtesy of the Yellow Springs News. Follow the complete story at the Yellow Spring News.
 
Check out the photos at the Flickr Photostream of our Red Carpet Opening:

Remember Drive in Movies? Well they may be a thing of the past, but over the last few years, KIDS FIRST! has partnered with difference venues to host outdoor screenings from Los Angeles to Florida. One of the most fun programs was the Summer Series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Every Friday night, families gathered under the stars to enjoy outdoor screening of current films. The kids even had their own screen, complete with bean bag chairs! 

This spring, KIDS FIRST! is partnering with Hollywood Outdoor Movies (www.hollywoodoutdoormovies.com) to bring fun family entertainment to the Southern California area. Hollywood provides all the equipment, including the fantastic blow up screens, projectors and technical support AND a popcorn machine. KIDS FIRST! provides the films. Why not sponsor a fundraiser for your school or church? How much fun would that be? 

If you aren’t in the Southern California area, that’s OK, we can connect you to the local provider. Contact KIDS FIRST! at 505-989-8076 for more info.

For the 5th straight year, KIDS FIRST! is providing great programming for the USA KidFilm festival in Dallas. This year’s top film is one of the KIDS FIRST! favorites for the year, Finn on the Fly. This wacky film from Canada is about a boy, his dog (Finn) and a nutty neighbor whose experiments cause Finn to turn into a boy. . . Finn on the Fly screened at the Santa Fe Film Festival and will also be screened this spring at a number of KIDS FIRST! festivals, including Tiburon Film Festival, Beloit Film Festival, and Sedona International Film Festival. Check out where this fun film is screening at www.kidsfirst.org/fest.

Santa Claus made an appearance at the screening of Finn on the Fly and gave away Eloise: Little Miss Christmas, Thomas and Friends: Ultimate Christmas and The Happy Elf to all the kids attending. They also received Wubbzy stickers and toys at the Santa Fe Film Festival, Saturday, December 6^th.
The 5th Annual IFFS has held in Las Vegas this week. Both Ranny Levy and Ann Church from KIDS FIRST! attended the summit that started Sunday, December 7th. Ranny participated on a panel discussion regarding year around programming. This is an important summit for film festivals to attend as it is truly the only networking location for festival people. I was able to finally meet many of the festival directors that we have worked with over a number of years, including Denver, Ashland, Oxford, Atlanta and made some incredible contacts interested in children’s programming.
Many of the events addressed and were moderated by the large festivals, Sundance, Tribeca and Telluride, but the small breakout sessions were the gems of the summit. Additionally, afternoon gatherings allowed for easy interaction between the attendees and sponsors, B-Side, Without a Box and IMDb. The summit ran a full 2 ½ days and one way to determine the success is that on the final afternoon, the room was still full and the conversations still interesting.
As with many young festivals, there is still much that can be added to help the small to mid size festivals.  This year’s hot topic seemed to be about film distribution and the economy, with some sessions designed to help with budgeting and board retention. I suggest that if you are a festival director or programming, this should be on your radar for next year. www.filmfestivalsummit.com

Beginning Monday, November 17^th, the Saugatuck Center for the Arts starts its run of KIDS FIRST! independent films. The lineup includes student films, including Super Kitten and the Power Pets, from middle schooler, Peter Gundling to one of my personal favorites, Dear Fatty. Public screenings are Saturday, November 22^nd. This is the first year that KIDS FIRST! has partnered with SCA, which is located in Saugatuck, MI. 

For tickets and information, go to www.sc4a.org or call 26*-857-2399. 

In 2001 a group of citizens established a fully-recognized 501 (C) 3 not-for-profit corporation and purchased the factory building that housed the former Lloyd J. Harriss Pie Company at

, Saugatuck. With grants from the State of Michigan “Cool City” initiative, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), the ARCUS Gay and Lesbian Fund, The Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, The Perrigo Foundation, and generous corporate and private donations, today the renovated pie factory is the home of Saugatuck Center for the Arts (SCA). The SCA runs a year-round program of high quality arts programming. 

KIDS FIRST! has partnered with the Santa Fe Film Festival for children’s programming year around and its annual film festival, which is Dec. 3-7. November kicks off a new partnership with a local sponsor, Los Alamos National Bank. The bank sponsors weekly free screenings at the Film Center. The new Emma Watson film, Ballet Shoes is screening November 1st. Free tickets are available at both Los Alamos National Bank lobbies. Free kid films are every Saturday morning at 10am at the Film Center on St. Michaels Drive. www.santafefilmfestival.com

Favorites for Halloween are the R.L. Stine Goosebumps stories, One Day at Horrorland, Monster Blood and A Night in Terror Tower. As Jon Bowman, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Film Festival says, “If you are going to scare kids, this is the time of year!” The Goosebumps series has been in the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival for several years and will play this coming weekend at the Key West Film Society, the Film Center at Cinema Cafe, the Denver Film Society and the Austin Public Library. For the younger set, KIDS FIRST! has Fat Alberts Halloween Special. Be safe and have fun!