Join Our Video Contest:

As an organization always looking for new and creative ways to engage students, we at Pencils of Promise wanted to let you know about an innovative contest that provides your students with a chance to showcase their talents while making a positive impact. We hope to engage your students through our very first Pencils of Promise Video Contest.

Pencils of Promise is a nonprofit organization working to build schools in the developing world and train and engage socially conscious young leaders domestically. In just over two years, we have built 23 schools and created a movement of over 135,000 online supporters. Please visit our website for more information about the organization: www.pencilsofpromise.org.

We believe that the power and the talent of young people can truly make a difference. With this years theme “While one person can make a change, only together can we change the world,” not only will your students be participating in a video contest, but they will also help spread awareness of the ongoing international education crisis. In fact, the video contest winner will receive two tickets to join us in Guatemala to see, first-hand, what they have helped Pencils of Promise accomplish.

We encourage you to find ways to integrate this contest into your classrooms and school programs. The contest is open to any U.S. citizen 13 years of age and older, so please help us spread the word by posting the contest's information within your local community. A contest flier for posting, complete contest details, and the official application, can be found at www.pencilsofpromise.org/videocontest Submissions will be accepted as early as March 24, 2011; however, all submissions must be in by 11:59pm on May 11th, 2011.

Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions or concerns at video@pencilsofpromise.org.

Sincerely,

Justin Fitzgerald
Pencils of Promise
Video Contest Coordinator
About the PoP Video Project:

The next AiD Portfolio Show -

Senior Film Showing -

Art Institute Portfolio Show -

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Meet the New Pro Tools Family

Come out and see the new Avid® Pro Tools® family—live at an event near you. Meet our Pro Tools experts as they take you through all the exciting things you can do with the new line-up:

* Work the way you want—more than ever—using Pro Tools 9
* Get the benefits of Pro Tools HD in a native solution with Pro ToolsHD Native
* Hear what you’ve been missing with the Pro Tools HD Series interfaces
* Expand your mixing options with the Artist Series and Pro Series (formerly Euphonix) controllers/consoles
* Elevate recording with the all-new Pro Tools Mbox® family

Join Avid and The Audio DAWg and test-drive the latest gear in our workstations, get your questions answered, and mingle with your peers over hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. This event is free, but space is limited, so RSVP today to reserve your spot.

December 2nd Dallas, TX : Register Now

Free "Still to Motion" talk -

The FREE talk will be held Thursday, November 4, 2010 from 7:00-9:00pm.
Doors open at 6:30pm.
Location: Angelika Film Center Theater, 5321 East Mockingbird Ln, Dallas, TX

Still to Motion is a presentation about the transition from still photography to video format. Speakers Jonathan Chapman and Stewart Cohen will present and discuss their work as well as give insight about changes, challenges and advancements photographers face in the industry. A Q&A will wrap up the discussion. The event is moderated by Leslie White, Director of Photography from the Dallas Morning News.

Jonathan Chapman is a Minneapolis based photographer and director specializes in people and places for advertising, corporate and editorial clients. He embodies a fresh approach
creatively and visually, tapping his photojournalistic roots for both still and motion based projects. Since the advent of HDDSLR cameras, and their capabilities, Jonathan has enthusiastically embraced their presence and potential for application in his commercial work. Recent clients who have brought Jonathan in for combined still + video based projects include: McDonald's, Sprint, AARP, United Health Care and Boeing.

Stewart Cohen is a Dallas based advertising photographer and commercial film director is the winner of over fifty prestigious industry awards and numerous other honors. His work has
appeared in every major advertising and photography publication and has been exhibited in museums, galleries and corporate art collections across the country. Cohen’s work has graced the cover and he has been profiled in Communication Arts and Photographer’s Forum. Adweek selected him as Photographer of the Year. His many clients for print, advertising and commercials include MasterCard, Fender, NFL, Amstel Light and Bank of America.

Leslie White has been Director of Photography at The Dallas Morning News since September 2006. As photo director, Leslie led the department's transition from a strict still image newspaper environment to its increased emphasis on video, multimedia and multi-platform content creation. She hails from New Orleans and worked as a staff photographer at the Times-Picayune before joining TDMN.

Dallas Chapter - American Society of Media Photographers
The Dallas Chapter is one of 40 chapters nationwide of the American Society of Media Photographers, a trade organization that promotes photographers’ rights, educates photographers in better business practices, and produces business publications for photographers. It was founded in 1944 by a handful of the world’s leading photojournalists and is recognized internationally for its leadership role. Photographers helping photographers since 1944.

For more information, or to join, visit: www.asmpdallas.org.

Helping Students Find Actors -

Allow me to introduce myself to all of you. I am Ralph Goin, actor and moderator of the DALLAS TABLE, a group of industry professionals dedicated to supporting all facets of the film-TV-commercial-industrial and stage aspects of the entertainment industry. Our members include all vocations behind and in front of the camera. We are a chapter of the L.A. TABLE, founded 19 years ago, by Marc and Elaine Zicree, long time writers and directors in Los Angeles. As a way of demonstrating the support of our members, we are particularly interested in helping our members find quality student films to practice their craft in. This is a very rewarding for our actor members. We know how intimidating this process can be for students. So, we are having a special DALLAS TABLE meeting next Wednesday evening, during which we will have a group discussion on this topic, from the perspective of the actors your students are trying to contact and cast.

The reason this topic came up is that many of us, who have made a practice of auditioning and acting in student films, have noticed in the recent past, that the quality of the notices and the audition process for student films in the DFW area has not been as high as we have seen over the years. Many of us have not been auditioning for as many student films as a result of this trend. By making the faculty members aware of this challenge, we hope to increase the success rate of your students' auditions. We will also tap into the expertise of the producers and directors attending the meeting.

We therefore would like to extend an invitation to a faculty member of your film school to attend. Just reply to my email so we can have an approximate count of attendees. We usually have 40 to 55 of our 145 members at our meetings.

Our next meeting will be next Wednesday, 11/3/10, at 6:30P.M. at the Golden Corral Restaurant, 3312 Forest Ln., Dallas. That is just East of Web Chapel. Our meeting room is in the far right hand corner of the restaurant as you enter the facility. If you wish, you may purchase a serve yourself dinner. We really hope your school will be represented. We look forward to a healthy exchange of ideas. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 972.998.4910.

Sincerely,

Ralph Goin