AFTER A BUSY OPENING NIGHT FOR THE FILM FESTIVAL WHERE FLASHPOINT FILM CREWS JOINED NATIONAL MEDIA TEAMS ON THE RED CARPET AND THE STEP AND REPEAT LINE TO INTERVIEW STARS OF “THE BROTHERS BLOOM” INCLUDING DIRECTOR RIAN JOHNSON AND STAR RACHEL WEISZ, THE TEAMS DISPERSED TO COVER EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL VILLAGE.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY FILM CREWS WERE LITERALLY EVERYWHERE THAT ANYTHING IMPORTANT WAS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AT THE FILM FESTIVAL AND THE ONLY CREWS ALLOWED EXCLUSIVE FILM ACCESS TO THE MOST INFORMATIVE AND INFLUENTIAL QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS WITH ALL THE GREAT AND TALENTED DIRECTORS IN TOWN TO TALK ABOUT THEIR LATEST FILMS.

THE BUSY WEEK WRAPPED UP WITH A PANEL OF EXPERTS HELD AT FLASHPOINT ACADEMY ENTITLED: “MAKING IT IN THE MIDWEST”. NEXT UP – FLASHPOINT TEAMS WILL BE HANDLING THE RED CARPET FOR THE CLOSING AND AWARD SESSIONS AND THE SCREENING OF “GOOD” DIRECTED BY VINCENTE AMORIM.

Q & A SESSIONS

MIKE LEIGH – HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

GAVIN O’CONNOR – PRIDE AND GLORY

DANNY BOYLE – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

CHARLIE KAUFMAN – SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

DARREN ARONOFSKY – THE WRESTLER

NEW MAIN BROADCAST, FILM AND PERFORMANCE STAGE AT THE MERCHANDISE MART

DCP facilitates confidential match-making between those who have made proposals and DCP members (high-tech industry leaders in digital concepts) with whom the proponents wish to work.

Flashpoint Academy is developing a series of specific proposals and relationships thru DCP which will provide us and our students and faculty early and exclusive access to new digital technologies being developed in Japan years before these technologies are available to virtually anyone else in the United States.

This initiative is part of the City’s International Development programs and also a part of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program. Thanks to Tim Hill, Jr. from the Sister Cities program for helping to arrange this visit and relationship. We were ably assisted in our meetings by Dan Hodapp from our FP Admissions group who is a fluent speaker of Japanese.

Download Finished in a Flash Article About the Rapid Build-Out of Flashpoint Academy by Valenti Builders

Ken Nordine (born April 13, 1920) is an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trailers. One critic wrote that “you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you’ll almost certainly recognize his voice.”

The son of an architect, Ken Nordine was born in Cherokee, Iowa. In Chicago he attended Lane Technical College Prep High School and the University of Chicago. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1945. He initially attracted attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz on Dot in 1957. Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine’s narration over a cool jazz background. He began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat movement and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. However, some of Nordine’s “writings are more akin to Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe” than to the beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms. Some are lightweight and humorous, while others reveal dark, paranoid undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.

Nordine was Linda Blair’s vocal coach for her role in The Exorcist,and Word Jazz inspired Tom Waits’ spooky, spoken word-type pieces, such as “9th and Hennepin,” “Frank’s Wild Years” and “What’s He Building?”

On television, Nordine did a series of readings on a show titled Faces in the Window, and Fred Astaire danced to Nordine’s “My Baby” on a TV special. Nordine’s past radio series were Now Nordine and Word Jazz. He currently hosts a weekly radio program and maintains residences in Chicago, Illinois, and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin.

Ken Nordine completed a DVD entitled “The Eye is Never Filled” with a scheduled release date of 14 May 2007.

Flashpoint Academy will host a special Chicago presentation of the major new education documentary “Two Million Minutes” presented by its Executive Producer, Robert Compton, for Chicago Public School officials and other Chicago-based education leaders, foundations, as well as select City officials in the new FP screening room. Non-exclusive distribution rights to the documentary were recently acquired by The Gates Foundation and representatives of the Foundation and Microsoft education leaders are also expected to be present for the showing and panel discussion thereafter.

Details on the film (which has already been shown in a private presentation to Flashpoint students, staff and faculty) appear below or if you click here.

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