Coming Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tune in Tuesday, September 7th. at 7PM (PST) as KXLU Los Angeles proudly presents Center Stage with Mark Gordon featuring special guests: Micki Dickoff (NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM), Daniel Raim, (SOMETHING'S GONNA LIVE) and Sharon Letts (BEHIND THE CURTAIN).

NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM takes us back to 1964 when a mob of Klansmen murdered civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in the small Mississippi county of Neshoba. These young men, two Jews from New York and an African-American from Mississippi, were in the Deep South helping register African-American voters during what became known as "Freedom Summer." Although the Klansmen bragged about what they did, no one was held accountable until 2005, when the State indicted the mastermind of the killings, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old Baptist preacher and notorious racist.

SOMETHING'S GONNA LIVE captures the lives and work of some of the most acclaimed art directors, story board artists and cinematographers of Hollywood's golden era, such as Robert "Bob" Boyle (NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE BIRDS), Henry "Bummy" Bumstead (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE STING), Albert Nozaki (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS), Harold Michelson (THE GRADUATE, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE), Haskell Wexler (WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, MEDIUM COOL) and Conrad Hall (IN COLD BLOOD, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID).

BEHIND THE CURTAIN looks at the Humboldt cannabis grow scene and the social and political impact of growing marijuana in America including legalization, preparing for the future, violence surrounding grows, environmental havoc, and subsidy issues (many business in Humboldt are subsidized by grows out of necessity - incomes are brutally low in this rural area.). Published weekly in the the Arcata Eye, the series is based on fact from real accounts/examples of the grow world in nearly every neighborhood in Humboldt County. BEHIND THE CURTAIN is currently being developed for a possible feature film and subsequent television series.

THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE "MISSISSIPPI BURNING" MURDERS

NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM tells the story of these three American heroes and the Mississippi County still divided over the meaning of justice 40 years after their murders. The film takes an unflinching look at ordinary citizens struggling to find peace with their town's violent, racist past in today's America. Filmmakers Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano gained unprecedented access to Killen, following him from shortly after his indictment through his trial. For the first time, the film captures the outspoken views of a Klan member charged with a civil rights murder and takes viewers on a journey into the mindset of a man who still feels the murders were justified as "self-defense" of a way of life.

Micki Dickoff is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and social activist. He was haunted by the slayings of the three civil rights workers, kids only a few years older than she was at the time. "I wanted to register voters too, but my father wouldn't let me go. He grew up in Mississippi in the only Jewish family in his town," she explains. "The unpunished murders helped shape my politics and my art. When Ben Chaney called me about making a film, I jumped at the chance." Teaming with Pagano, an award-winning director of photography, they began shooting on the 40th anniversary of the killings in Neshoba County, Mississippi where the three civil rights workers were slain. Pagano makes his feature directorial debut on NESHOBA. "When Micki introduced me to Andrew Goodman's mother Carolyn, I knew I needed to tell this story," says Pagano. "Micki's passion for the truth and Carolyn's passion for justice were doubly inspiring." Through intimate and surprisingly candid interviews with Killen, the families of the victims, and black and white Neshoba County citizens with diverse points of view, the film explores whether the prosecution of one unrepentant Klansman constitutes justice and whether healing and reconciliation are possible without telling the unvarnished truth. As Dickoff puts it, "James, Andy and Mickey, and hundreds of others in the civil rights struggle, died so Barack Obama could be elected President. Their legacy is our heritage. We must never forget them or the "price of freedom." We hope our film reminds us how far we've come in race relations and how far we still need to go."

"I was Robert Boyle's student at the American Film Institute from 1997 to 1999. As the grand old master of production design, Bob inspired his students, not only with his insights into the craft of filmmaking, but even more with his views on the philosophy and humanity required to make great movies. During my first year at AFI, I approached Bob about making a movie about his life and his work. The resulting, Academy Award-nominated, documentary short, "The Man on Lincoln's Nose" includes footage of Bob rappelling down Mount Rushmore by cable, taking photos that would become the backdrop to the legendary scene in "North by Northwest" (originally titled "The Man on Lincoln's Nose").

During the making of the short, I also filmed a reunion with some of Bob's friends and contemporaries, including legendary production designers Henry "Bummy" Bumstead, Albert Nozaki and Harold Michelson, as well as master cinematographers Haskell Wexler and Conrad L. Hall. Several years later, when Bob and I watched footage of him meeting with his pals, we were struck with their passion for the art of cinema. Bob looked at me and said, "I think you have another film to make." While Bob is the central thread of "Something's Gonna Live", I ultimately made the film he originally hoped I would make - a film that preserves Bob and his friends, and their thoughts about the meaning of filmmaking." -Daniel Raim

SOMETHING'S GONNA LIVE opens in Los Angeles on September 10.

Writer, Producer and Publicist Sharon Letts began her career as a gardener at the tender age of 24 in Southern California. When a television programing manager asked her to produce a gardening show for local TV, she had no idea it would change her simple life of gardening forever. She went on to produce more than fifty episodes of "In and Out of the Garden," This lead to executive produce an additional series for PBS in California titled, "Off the Beaten Path." After producing on many levels for others, Sharon followed her daughter, Rose, to Humboldt County five years ago and began writing feature stories for newspapers. Today, she's a working publicist in Humboldt County. Her series, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, a fictional account based on fact of the Humboldt cannabis grow scene, is published weekly in the the Arcata Eye. The series is currently being developed for a possible feature film and subsequent television series. Of her career in television and writing Sharon said, I'm a gardener at heart and always will be. Everything else is happenstance."

Comments

[Steven]

FWIW -
Re the documentary 'Neshoba', you stated that "no one was held accountable until 2005, when the State indicted the mastermind of the killings, Edgar Ray Killen..."

This is incorrect info. In 1967, the Federal govt tried and convicted several men
on civil rights violations, resulting in sentences up to 10 years in federal pen.

What you meant to say was that the State of Mississippi brought no charges until Killen.

[Mark Gordon]

Steven,

Here is feedback from the director of the film Micki Dickoff

"The person who made the comment is technically right and we added the words "for murder" in our synopsis. "No one was held accountable for murder until 2005, when the State indicted the mastermind of the killings, Edgar Ray Killen.." This, of course, is made very clear in the film. In 1967, the Feds indicted 18 men for violating the civil rights of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. Seven men were convicted and sentenced to short prison terms. It took the State more than 40 years to seek justice in this case.

My very best to you,

Micki Dickoff"