Month of July, 2008

Robert Bahar, Joann Lo, me, Lupe and Maura last year at the World Premiere of Made in L.A. (Photo by Lauren Ruane AFI)

In June, Robert and I attended Silverdocs, where just a year earlier, Made in L.A. had had its World Premiere. It was June 2007, and we had just finished the film a few days before the festival (we didn't even have this website!) Lupe and Maura came with us and "starred" in the premiere, where we all received multiple standing ovations from an audience of nearly 400 people.
It was extremely moving...

With Peter Broderick at Silverdocs Documentary Conference 2008

So it was especially beautiful to return to Silverdocs one year later to present a case study of Made in L.A. and to share with other filmmakers the path we followed to raise funds over the five years making this film. We also had the honor to have distribution consultant Peter Broderick moderate the workshop and to place our experience into a broader context. You can read some notes from the presentation on Erica Ginsberg's (Docs in Progress) blogs about the Silverdocs Conference.

With Sky Sitney (Silverdocs Director of Programming) and Steve James

In addition to the panel, I was especially honored to be invited to serve as one of three members of Silverdocs' Sterling World Competition Jury. Although it is hard to judge fellow filmmakers (we should all be awarded just for persevering and being able to finish a film at all!), it was an incredible opportunity to think deeply about films, and a joy to share the jury experience with legendary filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Stevie) and with the charming Igor Blazevic International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival.

I have the feeling that life is giving me second opportunities to make up for what I wasn't able to do before. Last year we were so busy (as we were also having our West Coast premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival a week later!) that we spent far too much time working in the hotel room - day and night. So this year we went to as many screenings and parties as we could - and I am happy to say that we were able to make up for what we missed!

The Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences just held special screening of Made in L.A. in Madrid as part of the "Discover the New Spanish Documentary Film" cycle. It was an honor! It was well-publicized, and we had a full house, with both Robert and myself there for a long Q & A. The previous day, the Academy held a round table with filmmakers Javier Corcuera (Winter in Baghdad), Gerardo Olivares (14 Kilometers), Isaki Lacuesta (The Legend of Time) and myself discussing "The borders between fiction and non-fiction film". It was fun!

We are so happy to announce that Made in L.A. has been nominated for Best Documentary for the  prestigious Imagen Awards, which honors positive portrayals of Latinos and Latino cultures in television and film, and works to enhance opportunities for Latinos in front of and behind the camera. The awards will be presented on August 21 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

We are also proud that Made in L.A. is a finalist for the Alma Awards in the category of Outstanding Made-for-TV-Documentary. The Alma Awards are given by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. NCLR created the ALMA Awards in 1995 and "the show was named "Alma" (Spanish for "spirit" or "soul") to represent the determined spirit of the Latino people."

We are thrilled to report that Made in L.A. has been nominated for an Emmy!!! The film is nominated as part of the 29th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards in the category "Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story, Long Form."

The nominees were announced by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). The News & Documentary Emmy® Awards will be presented on Monday, September 22 at a ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York City. We will of course, be there!

As one might imagine, this was very exciting news for everyone who has been part of making this film. A friend of ours wrote us to say: "A rockin' film about immigrant workers rights gets an Emmy nomination! I've died and gone to heaven." That's kind of how we feel...!