KIDS FIRST! Radio

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.

As they have in the past, Verizon Business is teaming with the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) to offer toll-free calling to the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline.  From 4a MST December 24  through 3a MST December 25, kids in the US and Canada can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to check on Santa’s progress (if you happen to live in the local Colorado Springs calling area, then dial 719-556-5211).  Additionally, kids/parents can track Santa’s location in real time on maps and via SantaCam video at www.noradsanta.org, where the information is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish and, for the first time, in Chinese.

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

Saturday at 10 am at the DeVargas Theater, join KIDS FIRST!, the Santa Fe Film Festival, Los Alamos National Bank for a FREE screening of Finn on the Fly. Also showing is the delightful short, Dear Fatty. Santa will be there before the show with goodies, including Wubbzy give aways. Tickets are FREE, but need to be pickedup in advance at the festival box office at 519 Cerrillos. For more info www.santafefilmfest.com. See you there!

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!

Get Involved in the Voting Process! Play “Road to the Capital”

It is five days before the national election and all of the media are at national election headquarters for the National Student/Parent Mock Election, watching as the results come in from all 50 states and 14 countries/territories around the world where Americans reside. The voices of millions of young Americans are about to be heard.
The students have studied the candidates and their positions, held issue forums and debates, mock press conferences, cable call-in programs, and get-out-the-vote campaigns. They have been preparing for weeks and months for this event. At many of the state election headquarters, governors, senators, congress members and candidates are joining the young voters as they cast their ballots. Tonight is their night.
Which party will win control of the Senate? The House? Will the incumbent or the newcomer be on their way to Washington, D.C.? Who will be the next governor? What issues matter most to other students in their state? In the nation?
   
 Millions of students, and sometimes their parents, are voting in classrooms, schools, community centers, state capitals, even hospital rooms, all across the nation today and reporting their vote totals to their state election headquarters. Each state is tallying its results and sending them in to national election headquarters. The media are flashing the results across the country.
Millions of students, and sometimes their parents, are voting in classrooms, schools, community centers, state capitals, even hospital rooms, all across the nation today and reporting their vote totals to their state election headquarters. Each state is tallying its results and sending them in to national election headquarters. The media are flashing the results across the country.
Mock Election Day is the culmination of months of learning the power of participation in our democracy.
www.nationalmockelection.org