music
Live Webinar Tonight: Copyright and Fair Use in the Art World and Classroom
Are you looking for ways to incorporate digital media into your teaching? Don’t understand the rules of online copyright and fair use?
On Wednesday, March 10 at 8:00 PM ET, join PBS Teachers and Classroom 2.0 for a special live webinar that will explore the implications of copyright and fair use laws in the classroom. The seminar will also explore how to share best practices in student media production.
During this event, you will have the chance to hear from and interact with filmmaker Kembrew McLeod, whose film Copyright Criminals recently aired on PBS’s Independent Lens, renowned law professor Peter Jaszi, and media producers and educators Chris Runde and Joe Fatheree.
Also, Annelise Wunderlich, national community engagement and education manager for ITVS, will present film modules and lesson plans based on the film and developed by ITVS Community Classroom.
At the close of the live webinar, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions and have a better understanding of what kind of tools and resources are available for your classroom or organization.
Bookmark this site and join the live discussion TONIGHT at 8:00 PM >>
Special Community Screening of P-Star Rising
A special community screening of the Independent Lens film P-Star Rising was recently held in Chicago. The film, which airs Tuesday night at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS, looks at nine-year-old Pricilla who wants to be the youngest female rap star ever and her single father who is determined to help her make it big. Find out what happened from Chicago-based National Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.
P-Star (aka Priscilla Diaz) and her father Jesse Diaz visited Chicago to participate in the 2nd Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago Hip-Hop Arts, presented by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by hip-hop poet Kevin Coval.
The morning began with a screening of P-Star Rising followed by a Q&A with Priscilla and Jesse. The audience at the Victory Gardens Theatre was full of families eager to hear about the struggles of navigating the often cut-throat music industry. After the Q&A, Jesse and Priscilla were treated to a performance by the Half Pint Poetics team, made up of 5th to 8th graders from Kuumba Lynx. Priscilla was deeply moved by the young talent and asked for some beat-box assistance from one of the young performers and showed her own skills with the mike.
The director of P-Star Rising –– Gabriel Noble –– joined Jesse and Priscilla during their week in Chicago for two screenings of the film for Chicago public high school and middle school students, courtesy of Cinema/Chicago’s Education Program. Schools participating included Curie High School, Dumas Technical Academy, Lincoln Park High School, Chicago Vocational Career Academy, Austin Career Academy, and King College Prep.
After the film, host Kevin Coval introduced the guests while the students greeted them with an enthusiastic reception. Several students in the audience spoke about their own ambitions for careers in the entertainment industry. Priscilla and Jesse gave sage advice on learning the business, honing your craft and not giving up despite the many setbacks that aspiring performers always encounter. And Jesse added that you should ALWAYS have a demo on you because you never know what opportunities might come along. For instance, Jesse is starting a label and looking for talent and said that if anyone had a CD they wanted to pass along, he’d be happy to check it out.
Check out these clips from the Chicago screening:
ITVS Celebrates Black History Month
Nine-year-old Pricilla from P-Star Rising, airing Feb. 9 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS.
Mine, premiering Feb. 16 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS.
ITVS and PBS offers viewers the opportunity to explore the rich and vibrant history and cultural contributions of African Americans throughout the year, but this month offers a special slate of new and encore programs in honor of Black History Month.
Independent Lens brings race to the forefront with four new films in February. Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness, debuting Feb. 2, explores the often-overlooked legacy of Jewish anthropologist Melville Herskovits, whose ideas in the 40s and 50s challenged the accepted assumptions about race and culture. Then, tune in on Feb. 9 for P-Star Rising, which looks at nine-year-old Pricilla who wants to be the youngest female rap star ever and her single father who is determined to help her make it big. This film also closes out the special line-up of compelling films as part of Independent Lens’s Music Month.
A third film, Mine, premiering Feb. 16, tells the poignant and powerful story of animals left behind during Katrina, and of the struggles of hurricane victims to reunite with their beloved pets. Finally, Behind the Rainbow, airing Feb. 23, unearths once-hidden realities of South Africa’s political obstacles on the path to democracy.
Other ITVS films airing this month on PBS include: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four, which looks at the pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement when four college students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960, and Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968, which investigates the continued cover-up of the tragedy of 1968 on the campus of South Carolina State University and follows ongoing efforts to seek justice.
Get local broadcast information >>
Thousands of hours of PBS programming are available on the PBS Video Portal, including a special collection for Black History Month.
Watch these video clips of upcoming new Independent Lens programs (check local listings):
Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness, Feb. 2 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS
Copyright Criminals Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS
“What’s the difference between creative ‘borrowing’ and outright theft? The Independent Lens documentary Copyright Criminals offers a thought-provoking discussion of the subject filtered through a history of hip-hop ‘sampling’ culture.”
- United Features Syndicate
Can you own a sound? As hip-hop rose from the streets of New York to become a multibillion-dollar industry, artists such as Public Enemy and De La Soul began reusing parts of previously recorded music for their songs. But when record company lawyers got involved everything changed. Years before people started downloading and remixing music, hip-hop sampling sparked a debate about copyright, creativity and technological change that still rages today.
Copyright Criminals premieres tonight, January 19, at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).
Learn more about Copyright Criminals and other special Music Month programs >>
From our first free preview screening event at the Saratoga Springs Public Library in Saratoga Springs, New York on October 3, 2009 to our last two events on October 29, 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina and Indiana, Pennsylvania Community Cinema thrilled audiences with live DJs, hip-hop dancers, and fascinating panelists from musicians to lawyers. Co-producer of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS Kembrew McLeod told us “I feel honored to be part of the Community Cinema program which has allowed the film to be seen far and wide by a diverse range of audiences. Plus, it’s free. Who doesn’t like free?”
In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs
Chicago Public Radio gives an in-depth look at the upcoming Independent Lens broadcast of Garbage Dreams, which also screened at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of Community Cinema. For decades, a group of people known as the “Zabaleen”, Arabic for “garbage people”, have been Cairo’s unofficial trash collectors, sorters and recyclers. They survive by recycling some eighty percent of the trash they collect. Compared to American cities, which recycle roughly thirty two percent of their waste, that’s no small feat.
“Even for someone who cares about the environment, [Jamie Lee] Curtis says Dirt! [The Movie] was an education. ‘I was as astonished as you will be when you see the film, about the earth being alive.’”
“Sam Cooke: Crossing Over on American Masters: The PBS series takes a respectful look at the life and death of the silky smooth singer, first in gospel and then in pop.”
“One from the heart, the documentary Mine relates yet one more wrenching, infuriating story about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation wreaked both by the storm and by human error and indifference.”
“What’s the difference between creative ‘borrowing’ and outright theft? The Independent Lens documentary Copyright Criminals offers a thought-provoking discussion of the subject filtered through a history of hip-hop ‘sampling’ culture.”
Video Interview with Bob Cilman and Steve Martin of Young@Heart
Bob Cilman, the director of the Young@Heart Chorus, and Steve Martin, a chorus member, stopped by the ITVS offices yesterday — on the day of the television premiere of Young@Heart on Independent Lens on PBS.
In the video below, they talk about what it was like to participate in screenings across the country as part Community Cinema and what they hope people will take away from the television broadcast.
This month, Community Cinema is presenting Garbage Dreams, which follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo.
Learn more and find screenings near you >>
Even if you’re not a senior citizen yourself, chances are you’ve crossed paths with an older person who shattered all of your assumptions about what it is to be “old.” Share your inspirational stories of aging. Upload video, photographs, and text. Share your story >>
Young@Heart Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS
“[Young@Heart] offers an encouraging vision of old age in which the depression commonly associated with decrepitude is held at bay by music making, camaraderie and a sense of humor.”
We’re kicking off a month dedicated to music on Independent Lens –– four films in four weeks about the power of music to shape and enhance our lives. Tune in tonight to rock with the most entertaining golden oldies you will ever meet in the senior citizen’s chorus Young@Heart. With a show only weeks away, they must learn a slate of new songs ranging from James Brown to Coldplay. The chorus’s director leads them through tough rehearsals, proving that rock and roll can be hard work — especially if you’re hard of hearing! Climaxing in a triumphant performance, their inspiring story celebrates the unbreakable bonds of friendship and the life-affirming power of music.
Young@Heart premieres tonight, January 12, at 9:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).
Community Cinema presented Young@Heart at over 42 free preview screening events in December 2009. Find out what we’re previewing now.
PBS’s Independent Lens Turns up the Volume With Four Music Docs
The Winter/Spring line-up of Independent Lens will truly bring music to your ears.
Kicking off the music-themed indie film line-up is Stephen Walker’s Young@Heart (January 12), featuring the New England senior citizens chorus. With a show only weeks away, they must learn a slate of new songs ranging from James Brown to Coldplay. The director leads the chorus through tough rehearsals, proving that rock and roll can be hard work — especially if you’re hard of hearing! Climaxing in a triumphant performance, their inspiring story celebrates the unbreakable bonds of friendship and the life-affirming power of music.
Independent Lens then presents three docs that examine the world of hip-hop music. Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod’s Copyright Criminals (January 19) examines the creative and commercial value of music sampling and it’s implications, featuring Public Enemy, De La Soul, and George Clinton. As hip-hop rose from the streets of New York to become a multibillion-dollar industry, artists such as Public Enemy and De La Soul began reusing parts of previously recorded music for their songs. But when record company lawyers got involved everything changed. Years before people started downloading and remixing music, hip-hop sampling sparked a debate about copyright, creativity, and technological change that still rages today.
Check out the video below with Independent Lens host Maggie Gyllenhaal to get a sneak peek of what’s ahead.
Independent Lens Kicks-off Winter/Spring Season with Four Acclaimed Music Documentaries
This winter, Independent Lens, hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal, launches the second half of the 2009/2010 season with four weeks of compelling documentaries that explore both the art and business of modern music. If you’ve been attending Community Cinema this past Fall then you’ve previewed a few of these films for free. Be sure to tell your friends to watch when your favorites air on PBS.
The slate includes the television premieres of Stephen Walker’s critical and box office smash YOUNG@HEART, an inspiring portrait of the indomitable members of a New England senior citizens chorus who cover musicians from The Clash to Prince; Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod’s COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, which examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law and money; and Gabriel Noble’s P-STAR RISING, a gritty, personal look at Priscilla Diaz, a.k.a P-Star, a determined young Harlem rapper trying to fulfill her family’s dreams of success. Also airing is an encore presentation of Byron Hurt’s HIP HOP: Beyond Beats And Rhymes, one of Independent Lens’s biggest hits, a film that goes beyond the bling to explore gender roles in hip-hop and rap music.
Day of Jazz at the Chicago Cultural Center
WTTW Reception for Young Musicians and Their Families
This past Saturday, Community Cinema hosted a truly one-of-a-kind event for the film YOUNG@HEART in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center. ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator, Naomi Walker, shares her experience at the event.
Thanks to our wonderful partners the Jazz Institute of Chicago who teamed up with Community Cinema, WTTW Channel 11 and The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs to present YOUNG@HEART and a day of jazz greats young and old at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The events began at 12:15 with a concert by Chicago Public School’s All-City Youth Jazz Ensemble. The young people showed their dedication, passion and talent and showed us the wide range of jazz forms. Shaunese Teamer, Manager of Community Outreach and National Publicity at WTTW invited the young musicians and their families and friends to a reception after the concert. The Ensemble and their fans mingled with WTTW members in the beautiful rotunda at the Cultural Center. Our guest speakers all met at the reception to the delight of the jazz aficionados in the crowd. Jazz legends Fred Anderson, Mwata Bowden, and Willie Pickens have all known each other for years. Mwata and Willie have made regular appearances and Fred’s famous club, The Velvet Lounge.
L to R: Fred Anderson, WTTW's Shaunese Teamer, Mwata Bowden, ITVS' Naomi Walker, and Willie Pickens
Over 150 people braved the shopping hordes and the snow to come downtown for the free screening of YOUNG@HEART.
Shaunese Teamer welcomed the crowd and gave a hearty kudos to Independent Lens for its 10+ years of groundbreaking programming.
Audience members commented that the film inspired them to want to go into show business and take to the stage. Here are some of their other comments from after the event.
“I’m going to look for a local choir for my husband!”
“Made me want to join a chorus even if I can’t sing.”
“Their singing keeps them going. That gives them something to live for.”
“IT WAS SUPERB! Made our holiday great.”
L to R: Mwata Bowden, Fred Anderson, and Willie Pickens
After the film, the jazz legends came onstage and shared their stories of persistence, passion and their secrets of longevity. Jazz was in its infancy when they were starting out, so there was no one to really show them the way. Now each of them make it a point to mentor the young musicians. Willie and Mwata each spoke of the great contribution that the Velvet Lounge has made in giving jazz musicians young and old a place to experiment with the form and continually push the envelope. Earlier this year, both Mwata and Willie participated in a star-studded tribute to Fred Anderson on his 80th birthday, where Fred’s compositions were performed by a large orchestra in Millenium Park.
Multi-instrumentalist Mwata Bowden spoke about passion.
Pianist Willie Pickens explained that constantly exploring such a vast art form keeps one young at heart.
Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson shared his formula for survival.
All photos by photographer Fred Hickler. Thanks, Fred! Thank you too to our partners and to the folks who joined us for this day of exploring youth and maturity in jazz.
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