Filmmaker Shelli Ryan's directorial debut, JAKE'S CLOSET has been invited to screen at the DC FESTIVAL 2008 on August 15th and 16th in Washington, DC. The DC FESTIVAL is a National Civil Rights Event, which supports family rights and other issues affecting children and their parents, during divorce and family conflict.

JAKE'S CLOSET explores the consequences of divorce and its' effect on children in a broken home. The film delivers an elegant and unforgettably powerful suspenseful story of a little boy coping with his family's breakup.

Ryan says "I was inspired to make JAKE'S CLOSET when I watched a child endure his parents divorce. With so many marriages ending in divorce, there needs to be a national discussion about the effects on children, along with the appropriate behaviors from parents and everyone involved in family courts. Often, the children get lost in the battle that everyone says is being fought on their behalf. I am proud to be presenting JAKE'S CLOSET at the DC Festival 2008, to give lawmakers and the public an intimate psychological portrait seen through the eyes of a little boy dealing with his parents' high conflict divorce."

With a remarkable performance by seven-year-old Anthony Demarco as Jake, the film takes you on a deeply moving journey as Jake navigates the landscape of his parents escalating divorce and finds himself haunted by something ominous lurking in his bedroom closet. When Jake finally confronts what lurks in his closet, it leads him to a chilling revelation in an unforgettable climax.

Hidden inside the heart of this edge-of-your-seat haunting tale is a profound and a long overdue film that explores the loss of innocence that comes with divorce.

As the Olympics start in Beijing (8:00 pm, Beijing time), the online premier of Yeti the Film will take place simultaneously on 08/08/08.

The film will be available to watch online as the Olympic ceremony starts in Beijing.
You can download the movie in different file sizes depending on your internet connection speed from http://www.filmyeti.com

Starting from August 15th YETI will be screening in more than 50 cities across the world.

YETI shows you how Tibetans look at the Olympic Games in Beijing as their best chance in 49 years, when the international media is closely following the happenings in Communist China where the human rights situation is at its worst. Its s a provoking visual documentary on Tibet, Tibetans and the worst possible steps they might resort to, such as self sacrificing monks blowing themselves up just for the sake of freedom and peace

YETI is a creative collaborate of various media-activists and professionals from around the world that features well known Tibet expert and the Dalai Lama s close associate Professor Robert Thurman a the well known poet and activist Tenzin Tsundue along with other voices

Musical contributions from the popular singer/songwriter Namgyal Lhamo from Holland and a background score composed by Arnav Srivastava / Namgyal Lhamo have greatly enhanced the soundtrack.
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The story of the Yeti has captured the imagination the Himalayan people since before any foreigner laid eyes on the forbidden land of Tibet or the Sherpa kingdoms around Mount Everest in the land of ice and snow where the Yeti is fabled to reside.
Because YETI is a non-profit, resource oriented project that will release online, all contributors to YETI have been working as volunteers. Without the support of so many talents from around the world this project would not have been possible.

Award Winning foreign feature film CAPTAIN ABU RAED was awarded two top honors yesterday at the 4th Traverse City Film Festival, garnering the Audience Award - Best Fiction Film and Best of Fest - Fiction Film.

Fimmaker and writer Amin Matalqa said, "From the beginning, I wanted Captain Abu Raed to be a Jordanian film for American audiences as much as anything else. I was blown away by the way it was received here in the Midwest. Experiencing it in Traverse City with 1000 people laughing and crying I am confident that we will see this film reach a wide release in the US one day soon."

Emmy award winning executive producer David Pritchard (The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy) Producer of Captain Abu Raed and President of Gigapix Studios said "While the traditional Hollywood mindset is that American audiences are not generally receptive to foreign language films, the reaction of the audiences at Traverse City is in stark contrast to that thinking. I believe American audiences want to see great films in theaters, and Captain Abu Raed is delivering that kind of exceptional audience experience. I really appreciate the support given this film by the Traverse City Film Festival, and in particular I want to thank Michael Moore. I would encourage any serious film fan to attend this festival; it was an exceptional experience with a disproportionate number of truly great films. Captain Abu Raed is in very rare territory getting these awards."

Captain Abu Raed, a universal story of dreams, friendship, forgiveness and sacrifice is the first independent film to come out of Jordan in the last 50 years. This heartwarming drama has already proven to be a festival favorite as it continues to charm audiences while garnering prestigious awards at each festival it screens at starting with Best Actor Award (Nadim Sawalha) at the 2007 Dubai International Film Festival. The film went on to win the Dramatic World Cinema Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Best Actor (Nadim Sawalha) and Best Actress (Rana Sultan) Awards at the 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival, Best Director Golden Space Needle Award (Amin Matalqa) at the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature World Cinema at the 2008 Maui Film Festival and Best First Feature at the 2008 Durban International Film Festival.

With contemporary Jordan as the backdrop, first time filmmaker / writer Amin Matalqa, a 31 year old AFI graduate and Jordanian immigrant, tells a powerful gripping story of the ordinary people we meet along life's path who change our destiny.

Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B), a leading global provider of media entertainment, and NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in self-service and assisted-service technology, have entered into an agreement to deploy Blockbuster-branded, state-of-the-art DVD vending kiosks in a pilot program that could be the first step of a national rollout of thousands of units.

The initial deployment of 50 Blockbuster-branded kiosks should begin in the third quarter of 2008 with all units expected to be installed by year-end. The pilot vending kiosks will initially offer DVD rentals, but the machines will allow for future applications, including digital download, and other services, such as sales of DVDs and video games. The companies have not announced the markets or site locations for the first units.

Earlier this year, Blockbuster and NCR announced an agreement to test digital movie downloading kiosks in select Blockbuster locations. The first of those units is expected to be installed in two Dallas stores this summer.

"With NCR's advanced technology, these machines will dispense a wide array of DVDs and could offer digital downloading in the future, all under the Blockbuster brand," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster chairman and CEO. "This initial rollout provides consumers increasingly convenient access to their favorite movies and is one more step in the fulfillment of our mission to transform Blockbuster into a multi-channel provider of media entertainment."

"This alliance with Blockbuster is an exciting step for NCR as we pursue our mission of becoming the leader in the market for entertainment self-service solutions," said Bill Nuti, NCR chairman and CEO. "Looking beyond this initial deployment, our mutual goal is to have 10,000 kiosks installed within 18 months. We are energized and thrilled to be such an integral part of Blockbuster's strategy for providing consumers with greater choice and convenience."

Analysts are projecting DVD vending kiosks could grow by more than 60 percent over the next three years, increasing from 9,300 units at the end of 2007 to more than 22,400 by the end of 2010. Additionally, consumer spending on movies from vending machines during that same period is expected to grow from $197 million to more than $760 million.

Both screenings will be followed with a question and answer session with the filmmaker, Debra Pascali-Bonaro who is flying in for the event.

Orgasmic Birth, a documentary film by internationally renowned childbirth educator, doula, and birth activist Debra Pascali-Bonaro, had its world premiere on May 16 at the fifth annual World Respected Childbirth Week conference in Prague, Czech Republic, followed by a screening in London and presentations by the filmmaker in Paris and Glasgow. The film will be featured on ABC-TV.

Award-winning filmmaker Bryan Ortiz and Film Classics Productions will premiere his latest short film, "Four Minutes Till the End", on Wednesday, August 13.

"Four Minutes Till the End", a science-fiction thriller about a young family (played by actors Rick Carrillo, Nikki Young, and Gabi Walker) threatened by a mysterious force, was written and directed by Ortiz and produced by Michael Druck as part of the 48 Hour Film Project, an international program that challenges competing teams of filmmakers to show their creativity by producing and delivering a completed short film in only two days. Each film must incorporate common elements (a prop, a character, and a line of dialogue) into an assigned genre chosen at random by the filmmakers at a launch event, held in San Antonio on Friday, August 8. This year marks San Antonio's second year in the 48 Hour Film Project.

Ortiz, who won awards for Best Direction and Best Musical Score for "Last Chance", his entry in 2007's 48 Hour project, drew "Thriller" as his genre. "I was excited it wasn't 'Musical/Western'," jokes the Brownsville native, who now calls San Antonio home, adding that the thriller genre "let me open up creatively as far as what I wanted to do. It was a thrilling experiment - pardon the pun." For Druck, Ortiz's partner in Film Classics, the genre is a perfect fit for the filmmaker, whose prior credits include the short films "Spiral", a psychological thriller, and "Goodbye Digital or The 5 Stages of Grief in Digital Dating", a romantic comedy in which Ortiz explored the mystery of finding love online. "No one does thrillers like Bryan Ortiz," Druck says. "If you look at his films, they're all about suspense, whether they're psychological or romantic. So when he drew 'Thriller', I thought, 'Wow, we're going to have fun.'"

To join in the fun, Ortiz recruited a cast and crew featuring veterans from past Film Classics projects, including Carrillo, who starred in the director's first feature film, "Doctor 'S': The Movie". "Last year I didn't get a chance to be a part of the 48 Hour Film Project because of scheduling conflicts," says the actor, "and I'd been bugging Bryan, since I first heard they were going to do it again this year, to include me in any which way"; instead of the crew position Carrillo was expecting, Ortiz offered him a leading role. For Liz Moise Gonzalez, who co-stars in the film, working with the Film Classics team for the first time (after previously meeting Ortiz in an acting class he facilitated) was "one of the best experiences I've had"; in fact, she was so excited to be a part of the film that she offered the use of her house as its shooting location.

In writing and directing the film, Ortiz challenged himself, his cast, and his crew with the decision to shoot "Four Minutes Till the End" in a single, continuous shot. "I don't know why I just can't do small things," he jokes. For the Film Classics team, however, challenges are part of the nature of the 48 Hour Film Project. "That's the fun part," says Ortiz. "You have to have a plan to change your plan."

That plan produced additional challenges for the actors, who already had to prepare for the physical demands of making a thriller. Carrillo, playing the father fighting to save his family from the invading creature, compared the single day of shooting "Four Minutes Till the End" to three weeks of work on "Doctor 'S'": "It was one solid day of just running, running, running. It felt like those three weeks combined." "It's the 48 Hour Film Project Workout," adds Young with a laugh. Nonetheless, the cast and crew enjoyed the opportunity to work on such an ambitious project. "When time is against you and you're running up the stairs and trying to get the shot and the performance just right and you know you only have that day to get it done, it's a real test of your abilities as an actor and as a filmmaker," says Young. "I got caught up in all the excitement," says Walker. "It was exhausting, but it was also a lot of fun."