I'm an Eddie Izzard fan, plain and simple.  Though not running around with a "Cake or Death" t-shirt or getting his autograph, I have seen him perform standup three times, caught his performance in A Day In the Death of Joe Egg and own just about all of his DVDs.  Perhaps not a fanatic (I'm not making my own "Cake or Death" t-shirts) but definitely a devotee. When the recent biography came out, Believe: The Izzard Story, I was intrigued.  I knew nothing about his back story. 

What I found was interesting insight into the life of this comedian.  Sharing his story, from childhood through his early years in standup, it follows the life of a man who refused to give up.  Through trials and tribulations, bad reviews and rejections, Eddie Izzard never lost faith in himself.  He always knew what he wanted to do and worked towards his goal, even when it seemed the universe was working against him.

He speaks about the obstacles he encountered through his career, both outside and internal and how he found ways to overcome them.  Mostly he talks about the importance of believing in yourself.  "If you want to be a singer, you've got to believe you can sing, if you want to be a comedian you've got to believe you can be funny."  In dealing with hecklers and critics, he tells of lessons learned during his street performing days - on a unicycle.  If someone walked by and said "don't fall" the minute he thought "I'm not going to fall, I'm not going to fall" he would lose balance.  Letting those negative thoughts in altered his confidence.  Instead, he turned his mind blank and let the moment pass.

Eddie Izzard is just another shining example of someone who followed his passion.  He recognized his strengths and talents (in some cases through trial and error) and remained true to himself.  And that is truly inspirational.

Take a break from the sun and see some films in NYC.

Millennium Film Workshop

66 East 4th street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue

There will be 2 screenings. One starting at 2pm and another at 5pm.

Screening I. at 2pm

Paul Gennaro's Washed Away
Juan David Gonzalez's Muzak for Invisible People
Tawania Pettus' Just A Peek
Karl Mendoca's Bombay_RGB
Cullen Gallagher's Camera Concerto
Reuben Meltzer's Cubism
Juan David Gonzalez's The Hole is Not Empty
Reuben Meltzer's Legally Bron'd
Reed French's Take One Down
Reuben Meltzer's Maggie Fuller
Maura Feeney's Wine Glass Colored Seas
Will Lucas' Hello
Reuben Meltzer's A Letter to My Film

Screening II. at 5pm

Reuben Meltzer's America 2037
Cullen Gallagher's Some Pictures
Adele Ray's El Paso, Vietnam
Ryan O'toole's Keep the Home Fires Burning
Reuben Meltzer's A Portrait of a Portrait of Jen
Joel Schlemowitz's Dame Darcey
Arielle Kilgore's Eve of St. Augustine
Juan David Gonzalez's You Dirty Little Rat You Took Us for a Ride Didn't You
Nina Singh's God's Acre
Reuben Meltzer's Spiral of Inspiration
Jonah Kruvant's Hear Me Out
John Zames Dog Eat Dog
Reuben Meltzer's A Second Life

Adele Ray's short film "El Paso, Vietnam" will be shown as part of this festival.  Check out a preview on Adele's website.

**** Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

To order tickets and find out more go to the Man In White website.

The 14th Native American Film + Video Festival will be held in New York City, March 26 - 29. Screenings are each evening, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. This year the festival, founded in 1979, celebrates its 30th anniversary, and includes feature films, short fictions, documentaries, experimental videos, animations and Native television productions. The festival showcases more than 70 outstanding films from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela, and the United States, and brings together Native media makers from throughout the hemisphere to introduce their productions and exchange ideas.

www.nativenetworks.si.edu
www.redesindigenas.si.edu

Again, it's the Year of Yes (I'm really having fun with this one so far) and accordingly I'm not turning down any potential adventures.

As I've mentioned before my friend Chris is in the process of making a film.  He and his partner started filming it about a year and a half ago.  Once they had enough footage, they put together a trailer and started shopping it around.  This year, they received the funding they needed and are able to finish the production. 

You can see the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WLwnw7JRFk

Knowing my friend Chris from the days we worked together at Morgan Stanley, I know how creative he is.   also know just how passionate he is with his work.  So when he asked if I was interested in helping with the final filming I had to say yes. 

My role was not a glamorous one, but then again I've never been all that into glamour.  I was a PA, helping out anywhere and everywhere I could.  I was Craft Services, Wardrobe, assistant to the Props Manager (Abby) and Extra.  Perhaps because it was a volunteer one day even, it was surprisingly fulfilling.  Because of the professional attitudes of the crew and cast, it was an absolute pleasure to work on. 

After working for myself, and by myself after the past few months, it was a fun role to play.  It reminded me that I was very good at my Production jobs.  The last place I worked was completely chaotic.  I wasn't learning anything, I was very unhappy with my role and management.  Despite completing my tasks timely and accurately, I never felt I was doing my job well enough.  That was my last work experience.

This was exactly what I needed.  It was a fun, creative environment in which we needed to meet actual, attainable goals within a timeline.  Everyone worked very hard, but everyone also had a great time.  It was one of the smoothest projects I've ever worked.

Who knew that was going to be such a fun reaffirming experience?  All said, it was another example of the power of saying yes to the world.