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R.I. Producers Host Festival After Premiering New Film

Published in Pawtucket Times, September 20, 2013

In 1999, little did Anthony Ambrosino and Nick Delmenico, working in retail stores at a shopping plaza in Coventry on Tiogue Ave., know at the time that their budding friendship would later propel them into the movie business, even putting them on the red carpet at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.

At that time, the twenty-two year old Ambrosino was just “messing around with a camera with friends,” he recalled, it wasn’t really a hobby nor a career. But, four years later, in 2003, Ambrosino, got tired of making comedy movie sketches,” this just pushed him into asking his younger friend, Nick Delmenico, age 19, to co-write a script.

“I dragged Nick in, keeping him from going into the corporate world where he might make a decent living,” quipped Ambrosino. After many rewrites, in 2005, the two novice filmmakers would finish their first script, beginning their filming of Sleather, a 92 minute “comedic adventure, about friends, family and fame.” In 2010, the independent film, costing under $100,000 to make, mostly self-financed by Ambrosino and a few investors, was completed and premiered at the Rhode Island International Film Festival were it received the Audience Choice Award for the most popular film.

Before filming Sleather, the young Rhode Island film makers created a production company, Sleather Studios, later changing their moniker to The 989 Project four years later when they took on a business partner. “You really need a production company to make movies to attract actors to the auditions, noted Ambrosino. “Are you are going to respond to an audition called by Anthony and Nick, probably not,” he said. “We just wanted to be taken more seriously.” Now, the company is referred to as Ambrosino/Delmenico.

Being in “the business” for over a decade, now seasoned, Ambrosino and Delmenico have become key players in the Rhode Island film scene. In 2005, they co-founded the Rhode Island Film Collaborative, where Ambrosino, 36, serves as the group’s Vice President and Delmenico, 30, its Secretary on the Board of Directors. The Pawtucket-based nonprofit film group fosters the growth and education of the local independent film community.

Ambrosino has worn many hats on the movie set, that being Producer, Director, and advocate for film and television production in Rhode Island. The West Warwick, resident, has worked on numerous productions throughout the New England region and has produced five independent feature films which have garnered several awards, including Best Film at Monaco International Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Ambrosino is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, a Producer and Programmer for the Pawtucket Film Festival, and currently sits on the Executive Board of the Pawtucket Arts Festival as the Marketing Chair.

Meanwhile, Delmenico is a Producer and Line Producer from Coventry, Rhode Island. Most recently he has completed four feature films, as well as several short films, which have won awards such as Best Film at the South African International Film Festival and a Spirit Award at the Boston International Film Festival.

Both are active in the Pawtucket film scene, being producers of the Pawtucket Film Festival, now in its 14th year. The three-day Pawtucket Film Festival celebrates the artists behind the films it shows.

Hot off the Press

With Ambrosino, serving as Producer, Delmenico co-produced Almost Human, which premiered in the 38th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Midnight Madness program. The TIFF took place in Toronto, Ontario, between Sept. 5-15, 2013. A total of 366 films from 70 different countries were screened at this prestigious international film festival including 145 world premieres that included the film from the Rhode Island film makers.

The TIFF programmers are very selective on what films get chosen, says Delmenico, noting that thousands may even be rejected.

Founded in 1976, TIFF is considered to be one of the most prestigious public events held for screening of independent films in the world. According to Wikipedia, in 1998, Variety magazine called TIFF “second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars and market activity.” The website free encyclopedia also noted that in 2007, Time noted that TIFF had “grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period.”

Some of the most notable and publicly acclaimed films that have been premiered at TIFF include Chariots of Fire, The Big Chill, Silver Linings Playbook, The King’s Speech and Argo.

Now Ambrosino and Delmenico have reached a new level in film making. The New York-based IFC Midnight announced on Wednesday that it had acquired the North American rights for their film, Almost Human, following its TIFF premiere. “We are thrilled about Independent Film Channel (IFC) Midnight picking up the rights to their movie. It’s huge to get our name on a film that will be distributed throughout the country,” said Delmenico, noting that only a very small percentage of films get distribution deals.

Ambrosino said, “Getting acquired by IFC Midnight [owned by AMC Network] is crazy for a small film like this but it is a testament to Joe [Begos] and the rest of our cast and crew, he is a unique talent and the movie was a ton of fun to make.”

“We are so happy for Anthony and Nick as they had a dream to make movies and turned those dreams into actions. Throughout the years, I have witnessed them build their careers on various film and television production sets in Rhode Island. They gained experience, education, relationships, and together, have persevered to become wonderfully successful filmmakers with a phenomenal future ahead!, added Steven Feinberg, Executive Director, of the Rhode Island Film and TV Office.

Axe Murders and Alien Abduction

Written, produced and directed by former Coventry resident Joe Begos, Almost Human, which TIFF describes the 80 minute low-budget indie film as “… a raging inferno of axe murders and alien abduction…” and a ”… lean, mean, grisly indie horror flick,” was shot in February of 2012 with little fanfare and no big stars in front of or behind the camera. “I’ve always wanted my first film to be a gritty, dirty, low-budget splatter movie made with my friends just like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson did for their first features, and it feels amazing that it actually happened and that people are responding to it,” said director Joe Begos.

The plot of Almost Human is quite simple. On a very quit night on the outskirts of a small town in Maine, Seth (played by Graham Skipper) witnesses his best friend Mark (Josh Ethier) suddenly disappear in a brilliant flash of blue light. Two years later, Seth still faces the fallout from this unexplainable event, with many of the locals blaming him for his friend’s disappearance. With the occurrence of a number of grisly murders taking place in throughout the small rural community Seth comes to believe that Mark has returned. Teaming up with Jen, Mark’s ex-girlfriend (Vanessa Leigh), he seeks to determine if their friend is responsible – or is it something they can not understand (possibly the result of an alien abduction).

About shooting in his home state, Begos added, “I love the feeling New England adds, I grew up loving Stephen King and in his stories the setting of Maine is like its own character, and I wanted to elicit that same feeling with Rhode Island.”

“Ninety nine percent of the scenes in Almost Human was shot throughout the Ocean State, says Delmenico, specifically in Coventry, Cranston, Little Compton, and East and West Greenwich. Rhode Islanders are well represented in front of the camera as well. Many of the film’s stars are from New England with the majority being from here.

A final note…

Mark your calendars. The three-day Pawtucket Film Festival runs on Thursday (Night) September 26th, Friday (Night) September 27th, Saturday (Day and Night) September 28th, and Sunday (Day and Night) September 29th. Pawtucket’s celebration of film offers music, movies, and more at every event.

Patrons are provided with a unique festival T-Shirt, courtesy of Pawtucket-based Mirror Image Inc., an array of food from local sponsors such as Iggy’s Bread, and beverages, which regularly includes beer donations from Sam Adams. Music, Food, Drinks, Short Films, Features, and an official T-Shirt ALL for the price $10 (per scheduled time). For a schedule, go to http://www.thepff.com/#!aboutus/c2414.

Finally, for more details on Almost Human, go to http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/almosthuman.

Herb Weiss LRI ’12 is a Pawtucket-based writer who covers aging, health care, and medical issues, even the arts. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

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Paula Deen and Forgiveness

Published in the Pawtucket Times, June 28, 2013

This week nobody could escape the 24 hour news cycle reporting how American Celebrity Chef, Paula Deen, a product of her Southern upbringing, admitted that she had spoken a racially charged “N-word” decades ago. Once the dust settles, the nation will get to see if one of Savannah, Georgia’s most prominent residents can rehabilitate herself. Will she personally and professionally survive the swift backlash of the racial slur-controversy, or will the pubic respond to her tearful pleas for forgiveness and give her one last chance for redemption?

The Ugly “N-Word”

Deen now joins actors Mil Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Michael Richards (a.k.a., Kramer), reality TV stars, Dog the Bounty Hunter and hotel heiress Paris Hilton, along with musicians John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Jennifer Lopez, John Mayers, Eminem, even radio show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger who all stirred up the public’s wrath by uttering the “N-word.”

The 66-year-old former Food Network host, restaurateur, writer of cook books, actress and Emmy Award winning television personality, now suddenly finds her career unraveling, like many who have used the racially charged “N-word,” one of the most offensive words in the English language, a word that invokes ugly racial stereotypes.

The media reporting details of a May 17 deposition, resulting from a $1.2 million lawsuit filed by a former restaurant manager at the Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House, a Savannah, Georgia-based restaurant owned by Deen and her brother, created a public firestorm over her use of a very ugly word. Deen stated that she had used the “N-word” at times, decades ago, even detailing her plans to dress waiters at a 2007 wedding as slaves, “wearing long sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties.”

The Food Network quickly responded to news reports about announcing the dropping of her show, “Paula’s Home Cooking,” then announcing Deen’s contract would not be renewed next month. Later the Smithfield Foods, Inc., retail giant Wal-Mart, and Caesars Entertainment followed suit, severing ties with Paula Deen Entertainment.

Many of her business partners and sponsors, including Shopping Network CVC, which sells a line of her cookware, and Random House, publisher of her cook books, are monitoring the situation closely to determine their actions.

Trying to take control of an issue spiraling out of control, a teary Deen created two YouTube apology videos to offer her mea culpa for using racial slurs last week, also making a 13-minute appearance on Today with Matt Lauer on June 16 to address this controversy.

Public relations experts give mixed reviews as to how effective she was in reducing the negative impact on her brand and celebrity image using racial slurs. Deen’s salvation may well rest on the public’s short attention span and their desire to forgive, say the experts.

Circling the Wagons

Although Deen can not shake the financial impact of being politically incorrect, her fans are rallying behind her.

This week, thousands of irate Deen’s fans are rallying to support her by leaving their comments on the Food Network’s Face book page, to support the besieged celebrity chef, saying that the network moved too fast to oust her, even overreacting. Many viewed her sacking as political correctness run amuck, calling for her to be given a pass for the use of the “N-word.”

Just two days ago, a newly created “We Support Paula Deen” Face book page already has 418,452 Likes, with many loyal fan comments urging Deen’s sponsors to give her a second chance. Many noted that people make mistakes in life and who hasn’t told an inappropriate or off-color joke or used inappropriate words in private or with family.

Also, according to The Associated Press, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has agreed to help Deen try to make amends for her past use of the “N-word,” saying she shouldn’t become a “sacrificial lamb” over the issue of racial intolerance. Dean had called him to seek his guidance as to how to recover, noted the news wire.

Bravo for Rev. Jackson, who says in this press report that if Deen is willing to acknowledge mistakes and make changes, “she should be reclaimed rather than destroyed.”

The Baptist minister who was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997 says he’s more troubled by racial disparities in jobs, lending, health care, business opportunities and the criminal justice system.

Anne Rice, author of gothic fiction and Christian literature and erotic, best known for her popular and influential series of novels The Vampire Chronicles, joins Rev. Jackson in defending Deen.

On her Face Book Page, Rice says what is happening to Deen is “unjust,” comparing it to a “High Tech Execution,” a witch hunt and public burning that is a “horrible thing to witness.”

Furthermore, best-selling author, Rice, who has written 33 books, all novels except one personal memoir, quips, “It is all too easy to ‘hate’ a witch and join in the “fun” of a public execution, and to feel smug and superior and righteous for doing it. And that is what we are seeing now with Paula Deen. Pure ugliness. This is the very opposite of respect for the dignity of all persons.”

Finally, liberal Bill Maher even goes to bat for Deen on Real Time with Bill Maher in a recent episode on HBO.

The Power of Forgiveness

For those, like Deen, who have made terrible mistakes through their misjudgments and use of inappropriate slur words (like the “N-word”) many rarely survive the backlash of political correctness, even when they plead for forgiveness, as their lives are destroyed.

Deen’s racial controversy can positively impact our society by allowing more dialogue about and to confront both personal and institutional racism. Rather then allowing a single mistake to ruin a person’s life, give the individual an opportunity to take responsibility and learn from their inappropriate behavior and actions. Give them a second chance. What a great celebrity spokesperson Deen could become to bring the races together.

It is so important for individuals to learn to forgive their family and friends who have hurt or disappointed them. So, too must a society do this. Former South African President Nelson Mandela is an international role model as to how forgiveness can become the perfect way to way to heal the nation’s racist tendencies. At press time, the former President remains in critical condition in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, kept on life support, where he is being treated for a lung infection.

Writer Simon Kent, in a June 10, 2013 post on the Toronto Sun’s web site, states that the frail 94-year-old leader’s legacy to the world is teaching us “forgiveness.”

When Mandela’s National African party won the election that would end apartheid in South Africa, he forgave his white political foes, says Kent, noting that the power of forgiveness kept the black majority ruling party from seeking revenge.

Kent said: “He didn’t hate the political system that had barred him from voting.

Mandela didn’t hate the rest of the world that for years had turned its back on non-white South Africans.”

Mandela just “offered mercy both to his tormentors and his foes and urged fellow South Africans to do the same” added Kent. Yes, forgiveness.

According to Kent, at his 1994 inauguration, Prisoner 46664 — Nelson Mandela — had kept a seat set aside for a very special guest he wanted to witness his swearing-in as President, the highest office in the land. This person, one of his former jailers from Robben Island, where he was held for 18 years of hard labor, he said.

If Mandela can easily forgive his former jailor and a white society that kept his black brothers and sisters enslaved for centuries, why can’t we just forgive Paula Deen, for saying the “N-word” decades ago. Simply put, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Herb Weiss, LRI ’12, is a writer covering aging, medical and health care issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Childhood Passion for Gardening Blooms in Retirement

Published in Pawtucket Times on June 21, 2013

Looking back over sixty years ago, Michael Chute smiles when he remembers how a childhood hobby, has firmly taken root in his retirement years. After 34 years, Michael and his wife Angelina, closed down their Pawtucket-based sign shop near McCoy Stadium in 2012. Now the retired couple makes use of their combined green thumbs, love and knowledge about rose gardening, spreading the gospel of growing the perfect healthy and attractive rose, through their speaking engagements before garden clubs and in their writings in a blog, newsletters and even a book.

Childhood passions can be ignited in later years, says Michael. “When anyone is introduced to gardening or even sports or reading for pleasure or art or writing at a very early age, it will stick with them for the rest of their lives.” So true.

A Child’s Chance Encounter

In the early 1950s, Michael’s chance encounter with a “neighborhood dad” in his quiet Pinecrest neighborhood, would ultimately lead to his life-long hobby and passion for gardening. From this meeting, the five-year old child would take home a little bit of knowledge about how to grow plants and, along with a few leftover radish seeds, given to him by this older man, to start his own small garden.

Michael said that tiny seedlings soon appeared from watering his seeds everyday. “How else could those hard little brown seeds turn into tiny green plants,” he thought, believing that this must be the result of magic. His mother nodded, when he told her this, agreeing with his assessment.

Now, making daily trips to visit his “gardening mentor,” Michael became to learn more about the basics of gardening, now his new little hobby. “I learned that tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, Ralph Kramden, Ike, and DeSotos were good and that weeds, woodchucks, no rain, stray cats, slugs, grubs, and the Yankees were bad,” he said.

The budding, gardener ultimately learned to tell the difference between good bugs and the bad ones. Even at his young age, Michael would realize that using horse manure, “gardener’s gold,” was one way to separate real gardeners from fakes. Lugging his bucketful of nature’s fertilizer to his home, he dragged it right into the kitchen, saying, “Hey Ma, look what I’ve got.” The “gardener’s gold” went right out the back door, he said, because of his mother’s stern command.

With his radish seeds now six inches high in his backyard, he yanked one out, brushed off the dirt and popped it into his mouth. Beginning to chew the “incredibly sharp intensity of bitter flavor that only comes from very fresh radishes assaulted his tender tongue,” he remembered this resulting in his eyes watering and his ears ring. He promptly spit out the radish bits out.

Even with memories of eating the foul-tasting radish, the youngster continued to garden, even learning the principles of germination. In time, he would have worked his own backyard garden. Over the years, flowers, especially roses, have replaced the vegetable patch of his youth and middle years, he says.

Michael would later meet his wife, Angelina, a Newport native, at the Library, a URI coed who expressed little interest in gardening. The young couple, in their early twenties, married in 1971. One year later, they moved into their newly purchased ranch-style home in Riverside. The young man, remembering his childhood training, began to grow and harvest tomatoes, green peppers, egg-plant, and string beans, even strawberries, plucked from his quarter acre garden plot.

“I grew them, she cooked them,” he said.

Michael’s modest backyard garden steadily grew in size over 20 years with his renewed interest in gardening. Gradually, his three rose bushes, quickly increasing in numbers, would replace his tomato plants. Today, the couple has grown hundreds of rose varieties in their back yard, even digging up their front yard 6 years ago and turning it into a trial area for gardening without pesticides, even picking off by hand pests.

As to his philosophy of growing rose bushes at his home garden, “each rose bush gets two seasons to please me. If not, good-bye,” he says, noting that he only has so many holes in the garden and there is great competition for admission,” he says.

According to Michael, in the early 1990s the URI Master Gardeners asked him to speak about roses at a meeting, this leading to other speaking engagements for the couple. The flower shows bookings followed in the late 1990s and the Chutes began traveling throughout New England and New York to spread the gospel about rose gardening. When Michael and his wife joined rose societies they made new friends, but also gained opportunities to share their growing knowledge about rose gardening with these individuals.

Nationally Recognized in the Rose Business

Today, the Chutes are co-owners of RoseSolutions, a landscape consulting company that offers educational programs, workshops, seminars and consulting services on rose horticulture. They are both certified American Rose Society Consulting Rosarians and University of Rhode Island Master Gardeners. Mike is an accredited ARS horticultural rose judge. They served as Guest Editors of the 2008 American Rose Society Annual; authored the chapter “Roses” in the University of Rhode Island Sustainable Gardening Manual; and were co-founders and past presidents of the Rhode Island Rose Society.

The Riverside couple maintains an active schedule of lectures and workshops throughout the New England area, including the Boston Flower & Garden Show, the Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show, the Newport Flower Show, the University of Rhode Island Symposium and Tower Hill Botanic Garden. They recently were featured on Rose Chat Radio, a nationally broadcast internet radio program.

Publishing the Definitive Book on Growing Roses

“From our many lectures on rose gardening, it became apparent to us from the same questions we got, home gardeners wanted to grow roses but did not know how,” says Michael. “There was no definitive book, specifically addressing rose gardening in New England,” he added, adding that not even an easy-to-follow, well-written hands-on guide to sustainable rose gardening (gardening without the use of pesticides), was not on the market.

“There was a niche we needed to fill,” Michael said.

Ultimately, years of gardening experience would be detailed in a self-published book, Roses for New England: A Guild to Sustainable Rose Gardening. The idea of writing a book on rose gardening in New England initially came from people attending the Chute’s workshops who requested their handouts, recommended that they be compiled into a book.

But, it took the couple over four years to write their first book, published by Forbes River Publishing, in 2010. Four years earlier, they had vacationed in Sugar Loaf Mountain Maine, to ski, says Michael. During a blizzard, that kept them away from the ski slopes, Michael and Angelina penned an outline of the book on a legal pad. Later, an internet search would reveal that no book had been written about growing roses specifically in the New England Region, he added.

While the book probably could have been writing in fifteen months, the longer period of time it took to write gave “us an opportunity to see things we initially did not see,” says Michael.

In the near future look for a sequel to their initial book, says Michael. “We are on it now, the book,” he adds, noting that it will detail tips for easy-care rose gardening; including lists of sustainable rose varieties; short bios of modern rose breeders of such roses; along with information on companion plants.

Do What You Love, But…

Aging baby boomers are living longer and working longer, may find themselves in unfulfilling jobs. Michael warns those hoping to reignite a childhood hobby into a new, challenging, and career in their later years, and should proceed cautiously. “Do what you love but be careful because hobbies do not always segue into businesses,” he says. .

But, for those just learning the art of gardening, Michael recommends, “Don’t make your first rose garden too big even if you’re going to plant lower-maintenance roses.”

To purchase the 146 page book ($21.95, free shipping), Roses for New England: A Guild to Sustainable Rose Gardening, go to http://www.rosesolutions.net. Visit the Chute’s blog, too, at http://www.therosejournal.wordpress.com.

Herb Weiss, LRI ’12, is a writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.