Dear Friends of:  I just returned from Los Angeles after 17 days mostly promoting The Moral Premise by (1) helping Jack Hafer produce a segment of the Biola Media Conference, (2) giving a couple Moral Premise Workshops, (3) being honored as the guest of a networking event on the CBS Studio lot by The Greenhouse -- my thanks to Shun Lee and his team for his enthusiasm, humor and promotional assistance, and (4) visiting with a number of past and present story consulting clients, acquaintances and friends (including my high school locker partner, Phil Bray, from 47 years ago). With TV scribe Monica Macer. At the Biola conference's morning General Session I was privileged to interview TV scribe Monica Macer (right) (Lost, 24, Prison Break) and musician-music producer-film director, Steve Taylor. (Steve, I'm so sorry we didn't get a picture of us together.)  Monica and Steve have agreed to do extended interviews with me that will appear later on The Great Conversation in Cinema Blog.  With DeVon Franklin in his office in the Thalberg Building on the Sony Ent. Pict. lot.  DeVon Franklin, a VP of Development and Production, invited me to lunch at the Sony lot and I was able to pitch and deliver a script and treatment for a couple movie ideas. DeVon and I are fans of each others' books. His book is Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without losing your True Self that I highly recommend. He discovered The Moral Premise when it was recommended to him by Will Smith back in 2008. A few days after our luncheon we met in his office where we signed each others' books for ourselves and for friends. With The Blums in front of the St. Luke parish hall that they labored with others to see built.  I want to especially thank Temple City councilman Carl Blum and his wonderful wife Jeanette and their daughter Julie for letting me stay in a house they're renovating for Julie to live in with her caregiver.   I've stayed twice with the Blums and can highly recommend Temple City. It's only 4 square miles in size just five miles from the foot of Mt. Wilson. You can see the famous 100+ year old observatory (a white dot at the top of the mountain) from their street and they have a very rare redwood tree growing behind their garage. I discovered on this trip that The Blums are well-known in their community for the elaborate productions of plays in their backyard that their teenage children (Kathy, Veronica, Carl the 4th and Julie) staged and which were attended by hundreds. I saw video tape of Veronica (as Peter Pan) flying in on a wire and then flying off to the treetops with Peter and Wendy). They raised thousands for charity through their summer long projects dubbed by the press as The Hart Street Players. Amazing stuff for a backyard production -- but then Hollywood is nearby -- what'd you expect.  The Blums are fans of our work at Nineveh's Crossing. With John Ware (L) and Brian Bird (R) on the CBS Studio City Lot during the Biola Media Conference.  Pictured here is producer-writer friend Brian Bird (R) with John Ware (L), founder and president of the 168-Film Project, a annual film festival open to anyone, in any location around the world, in which prizes are awarded for the best short film written and completed within 168 hours. John gave me a DVD of the top entries (amazing work), and a beautiful color brochure describing all 73 successful entries from this  year's efforts. John and Brian encouraged me to promote the competition back here in Michigan and see if the state with two-hands might make some entries in next year's contest. Sounds like a plan. You don't have to be in L.A. to participate. And it's wonderful to be back in (cold) Michigan with my beautiful wife Pam. Sincerely, Stan Williams Pam and Stan aboard Family Ties on the Detroit River

Dream It For Another Promotional Brochure Complete

Here's a link (http://www.DreamItForAnother) to the project website, where you can download the four color brochure that accompanies the Business Plan. (See link/image upper-left of website).

Dream It For Another at the Supreme Court

The cultural salience of DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER (DIFA) was raised recently with the contraception debate pitting the Obama Administration against the Catholic Church, then when the Supreme Court agreed to consider a case regarding Social Security benefits for twins who were conceived with sperm that had been banked by their father before he died, and then implanted in the mother via in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Astrue v. Capato case will be decided next year.  Specifically, the Question Presented is:

Whether a child who was conceived after the death of a biological parent, but who cannot inherit personal property from that biological parent under applicable state intestacy law, is eligible for child survivor benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.

A few days ago The Christian News Service made it known that a filmmaker, a board member of NOW, a reproductive endocrinologist, two bloggers, and a pro-life legal group teamed with the Life Legal Defense Foundation to file a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.  The filing is designed to educate the Court about the "array of serious dangers" in vitro poses to women, children, and society at large. 

The dangers associated with IVF were part of the original motivation to write the DIFA story, although in its present form IVF is not the center of the story, but rather one of the things that our protagonist avails herself of, and confronts one of IVF's natural consequences. At its heart, DIFA is about "the inconceivable consequences of love that's thicker than blood."

Nonetheless, here are the dangers that the brief discusses in regards to the dangers of IVF. 

IVF risks the child's physical health. Studies have begun to document the increased likelihood that: 

A. An IVF baby will suffer from a variety of adverse conditions:

• Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome
• Major structural defects
• Gene Expression maladies
• Retinoblastoma

B. A genetic Mother faces risks to her physical health

• Ovarian cancer
• Adnexal Torsion (ovarian twisting)
• Injury from the Egg Collection Process
• Death

C. Death or freezing of "extra" human embroys

D. Dismantling the family

E. Negative effects on the child's psyche

G. Creation of exploitative markets

Si vis Pacem, para bellum

Regarding the screenplay we're hawking: PARABELLUM. Some readers have not known what PARABELLUM means, although they like it better than "Naughty Little Nazis."  There's a great article about it on Wikipedia, if they're not shut down in a political protest.

Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin adage translated as, "If you wish for peace, prepare for war" (usually interpreted as meaning peace through strength—a strong society being less likely to be attacked by enemies). The adage is from 4th or 5th century Latin author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus's tract De Re Militari, book 3. (More HERE)

PARABELLUM is also the nickname for the Lugar 08 manufactured in German before and during WWII. The gun plays a significant role in the story we've created. When people say they've never heard the word, at first I hadn't either, although I took two years of high school Latin and now recognize the words. But then the story's original 13-year old screenwriter, Nikita Mungarwadi, is pretty good at research. And when I started looking on-line, I was surprised at the plethora of modern cultural uses. At the bottom of the above referenced Wikipedia article is a long "bulleted" list.

For the rack card photo (upper right), we purchased a Lugar 08 dummy gun for Louisa to pose with. It looks and feels real, but has a solid barrel. Otherwise the Spanish manufacture claims it to be like a real gun, although the photos I've seen of a real Lugar 08 have a burnished silver metal and brown grips, and the dummy we purchased is all black. Yet, on the left-side of the dummy gun above the grip is the word "PARABELLUM". And above that is the Lugar designation "P-08". (see image taken with my iPhone. Great auto macro capability.)

I suspect the PARABELLUM on the side of the gun is to remind the user what kind of cartridge to use in the magazine. Reminds me of the cars that could be nicknamed "USE UNLEADED FUEL ONLY".

Brian Bird Attached as Ex. Producer

I'm very glad to announce that Brian Bird has agreed to come on board as Executive Producer for DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER. Welcome, Brian. Your expertise and insight will make this project a success. Brian's attachment gives DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER instant legitimacy and we should be able to put together a security offering for the first equity investments. Once we get some serious investors on board we'll be able to approach key actors and distribution points. Until then we need to raise about $22,000 for preliminary expenses. You can help us through D.I.F.A.'s Crowd Funding Site. Thank you.

You can read Brian's bio HERE.

DEWETTE is now DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER

DEWETTE is now DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER

This is almost silly, but we knew DEWETTE was a placeholder, as a name. Somewhere I even wrote at some length about the wonderful meaning it had -- as I tried to justify its coining as a word. But I knew it wasn't right.

This effort started out as TIGER'S HOPE, then it was A DAUGHTER'S HOPE, then DEWETTE.

I believe titles should, at first glance, tell you something about the heart or the meaning of the film. Yes, I suppose they should hint at "the moral premise." But nothing came to mind.

Then, the other night, as Pam was reading the last page of the latest draft (and I was watching her... like a producer sitting in the back of the theater during a screening) she came to the last refrain of the last song that Tiger sings, and indeed it is the last line of the script.

Tiger and Jake are on stage singing a duet ("Dewette") of the title song, but this time it's a jazzed up, antiphonal version, with slightly different words. The lyrics (and the movie) end like this:

Tiger: You're never too old
Jake: to believe in a dream.
Tiger: If you can...
Jake: Yes, if you can...
Together: Dream it for another.

And Pam says, "That's it." They found happiness is fulfilling the dreams of another, willingly sacrificing their own happiness. That last line says it all."

Wow! She was right. The film has always been about selfishness vs. selflessness.

And there was the title we were looking for, and  it's been in the project from the very beginning. How fascinating. thank you Janet Pound, who wrote those lyrics (and James Stonehouse for the haunting melody.)

DEWETTE DRAFT COMPLETE

Finished the first complete draft of DEWETTE today. Which is actually the 11th revision of the story since it was first conceived a few years ago as a short called TIGER'S HOPE. It's amazing how many people come out of the woodwork and tell you they didn't like something, AFTER you change it.  So, it's time again for readers. Honest, candid readers. Any takers?