The Week in review 3/7

To begin with, I have been busssssyyyyy! Busy doing what you say? Well since my last post I have been working on festivals, a Service Learning project with my Collin Class (a doc is in the works), and of course, my Thesis project. So put on your seatbelts and let us begin...

FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Okay. so for those of you who haven't been able to check out Andy

docs on Facebook, "Wally" won the Best International LGBTQ

Documentary Short at the Texas Ultimate Shorts Film

Festival. "Gonzales: Come and Take It!" was also an official selection at this festival. The organizers of the Festival were excited about "Wally," as were Wally and his daughters. And speaking of his daughters and festivals I was also honored to learn that "Wally" was an official selection at the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.

At this Festival "Wally" was an official selection for February (see attached link see attached Facebook link ). So again you ask, what does this have to do with his daughters? Well I was invited to the awards ceremony... but it is in Los Angeles. Who should live nearby, but Catherine Linebarger, daughter o' Wally and one of the stars of the film. I contacted her, contacted the festival, and hopefully she will be able to attend.

I almost forgot to say that the UNT Media Arts and I celebrated Texas Independence Day with a public showing of "Gonzales Come and Take It!"

Here is a pic of the Movie poster, and here was the Trailer I made for the show: Gonzales: Come and Take It! trailer The showing went great. Some History professors at UNT even sent their students to come and see the film. It was a great night!

Other festival decision dates are approaching and hopefully both of my documentaries will be selected.

SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT:

Caught by the devestation wrought by a Tornado that swept through Collin, Rowlett, and Garland shortly after Christmas I was wondering what I could do. The answer was to see if I could get my students involved in a Service Learning project. I hoped that this would expand their experiences to see such devestation and upheaval so close to their own areas. On the Facebook site Andy docs I covered some of my initial going out and seeing the work crews. I even created a short piece to show my students to try to get them excited about the project: A Call for Community . Did it work? Well yes.

Two of my students drove, or got their parents to drive the 42 miles to

the work site. It was an interesting morning as some of supervisors of the program did not show up. This in turn caused only my students and I to be at the project site. Rather than the moving lumber from trees knocked over by the Tornado, my students would be cleaning up a commercial area that had been devastated by the storm.

Both Keegan and Marissa however were undaunted. They rolled up their sleeves, put on their work gloves, and dove into the work.

As they, and a local Pastor were the only ones working at this specific site, the work was hard. To add to the fun, the students also had to make sure to keep an eye out for a bulldozer that was working another

area of the site. Both of the students did an amazing job and were able to get out on time. A good thing for Marissa, as she informed me that she had to get to her ballerina lessons by 1:00.

I was also able to get an interview with the director of Service Learning at Collin College this week and know that I will have to go back later and get some transitory shots.

THESIS:

Okay, so my thesis project is going to be about a problem that many like to overlook: the Homeless. Not only is this a national problem, but one we have in Dallas and the surrounding areas. I however want to focus on those services and organizations' who are striving for change. One such location is the downtown branch of the Dallas Public Library. They have won national recognition for the services and support for that is offered to these members of the community. Gremlins however like to mess with the best of plans. Undaunted I have continued to keep those I met in my mind as I have gone to their organizations and have a lunch meeting tomorrow. Sorry if I sound vague, but so much is still in the works, and as an artist... you have to keep a little mystery.

So this is what has been going on. I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you are interested in getting posts about what is going on in the documenatary side, let me know.

Andy Galloway

Andydocs

Andy Prodcutions L.L.C.