The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment - NEW YORK: MISSION
ISE-NY (The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment- New York) is a collective of practical and artistic people from all corners of entertainment, film, theater, media, communication and innovative arts dedicated to envisioning and creating empowering, positive and spiritually nourishing entertainment
ISE-NY was formed to support media creators with networking opportunities, educational forums, practical support, fundraising services, audience outlets, film festivals, competitions and basically as many ways to empower its members to create excellent spiritual entertainment as possible or necessary.
ISE-NY monthly series offers networking opportunities and practical programs that are both informative and also provide hands-on-experience. Additionally, we offer a series of interactive seminars with knowledgeable media professionals, as well as screenings of films in various stages of completion. ISE-NY also invites producers and performers of live entertainment to participate and share their work.
ISE-NY MEETS MONTHLY every first Tuesday of the month 7PM-9:30PM. For details and to join the email list call 212 475-1875 or email Muriel@ISE-NY.org
BE INSPIRED, SHARE YOUR WORK, LEARN NEW SKILLS, MEET LIKE-MINDED MEDIA MAKERS!
The Director's Chair
Muriel Stockdale - Director & ISE-NY's Co-Founder and Spirit Leader
Greetings All,
Stephen has returned from the first annual Spiritual Cinema Circle cruise and I hear it was a huge success.
Our dream of a solid, dedicated community of spiritual entertainment artists and audiences is becoming increasingly realized.
Stephen is very much looking forward to being here in June and to meeting you all in person.
There is limited space available for his workshop on Saturday. However, the price of admission to the other events is $25 if paid in advance, so I recommend that you sign up right now in order to secure your reservation.
This is a fabulous opportunity for us all to get together over a few days and to really ground our visions for the future of your entertainment.
At these events you are likely to meet inspired artists that you may be working with for the rest of your career.
I look forward to seeing you all very soon.
Blessings,
Muriel
Upcoming ISE-NY Events
ISE-NY June Meeting
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
What is Spiritual Entertainment?
Program Description:
Panel:
Vanessa Arteaga, Senior Programming & Production Exec. for Wellspring Media
Paul Shavelson, Exec. Producer of Crossing Over With John Edward
Prof. Basilio Monteiro, Faculty St. John's University Department of Communications
Nick Day, Director, Short Cut to Nirvana
Moderator:
Muriel Stockdale
Program Date/Time:
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
7:30 - 9:30 pm
Program Location:
St. John's University Manhattan Campus- Saval Auditorium
101 Murray Street (Near WTC)
Admission:
Gratis-All welcome
A $5 donation to support the work of ISE-NY is gratefully accepted.
RSVP:
Info@ISE-NY.org
For more information:
Please contact Guirlaine@ISE-NY.org
ISE-NY: REVISIONING ENTERTAINMENT
June 9 - June 12, 2005
ISE-NY is proud to present a weekend of events celebrating and promoting spiritual entertainment with special guest Stephen Simon. Stephen Simon is a veteran Hollywood producer with a 30 year plus career and is the chief pioneer and spokesperson for Spiritual Cinema.
ISE-NY has planned an interactive weekend of seminars designed to inspire and empower spiritual cinema enthusiasts, established and emerging industry professionals and students to create and appreciate spiritual entertainment.
To Sign Up Go To: https://www.123signup.com/calendar?Org=ISE-NY
EVENT PROGRAM & SCHEDULE
Thurs. June 9, 7:30 - 10:00pm
Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives
Admission fee: $25 ($30 at the door)
ISE-NY presents an evening with Stephen Simon where Stephen conducts an engaging presentation and discussion of the nature of contemporary cinema and the direction of Spiritual Cinema. During this inspirational, informative, and fun evening, Stephen passionately explains that there is a genre called Spiritual Cinema (which he distinguishes from Religious Cinema) that has yet to be recognized by mainstream Hollywood. Stephen explores the state of the movie business-where it was, where it is now and where it's going and shows film clips from several of the films in this genre.
Fri. June 10, 6:30pm- 12:00
ISE-NY Mini-Film Festival & Reception
Admission fee: $25 ($30 at the door)
ISE-NY hosts a reception and mini-film festival of spiritual short films and a feature film. Attendees are encouraged to mix and mingle during the reception and enjoy refreshments and food provided. The screenings will be preceded by an introduction by Stephen Simon and followed by a Q&A.
The evening's narrative feature film is The Instrument
THE INSTRUMENT (Color/Digital/USA, 100 min.)
Director: Adam Nemett;
Starring Hilton Carter, Richard Kalter, David Hittson, Heather Iandoli, Ajay Kapur, Jamie Klassel, Jose Mertz, Taryn Wayne, and Cornel West
Original Music by David Hittson, Ajay Kapur, Dimitri Hamlin, Dan Iglesia, Paul Lansky, Clemens Morgenroth, Arthur Purvis, Nick Yu, and the Princeton University Orchestra.
"Damn near unclassifiable...the music, costumes, art direction and personalities-in-formation that contribute to this lively exercise in art and/or gestalt therapy provide a potent draft of vicarious pleasure."--LA Weekly
THE INSTRUMENT (100 min.) is about an enigmatic art school custodian, Arthur Zarek (Richard Kalter), who dies and leaves behind the blueprints for a new system of ritual worship--one based on music. Seven students inherit Arthur's sacred space and agree to undergo a collective rite of passage. But when the rituals take a dark turn, the sacred space becomes a window for the fantasies and horrors of the human mind.
Conceived by faculty and students at Maryland Institute College of Art and Princeton University, this project is a landmark collaboration between the two institutions. It contains contributions from over 100 members of the Princeton community, including professors Paul Lansky, Joyce Carol Oates, and Cornel West. Featuring an eclectic musical score and an uplifting message, THE INSTRUMENT is a narrative portrait of musical meditation--the spiritual power of Sound and Silence.
Adam Nemett (Writer/Director/Producer/Co-Editor) While majoring in Religion and Creative Writing at Princeton University, Adam completed the script for THE INSTRUMENT under the guidance of award-winning author, Joyce Carol Oates. He served as Editor-in-Chief for The Nassau Weekly, and was founder and president of Modern Improvisational Music Association, now a nationally recognized non-profit organization devoted to education through improvisational music. Since age 13, Adam has been a meditation practitioner and from 2000-2002, he engaged in a series of week-long silent meditation retreats which informed much of the spiritual framework of THE INSTRUMENT. Adam has since worked as a developer and producer for non-fictional television programming and several music-based films, including the recent documentary for the Bonnaroo 2004 Music Festival (Dir. Danny Clinch). His novella, "Verity's Million" won the Frances LeMoyne Page Award for Fiction in 2003 and has since been adapted into an award-winning screenplay. THE INSTRUMENT is his first film, and can be seen at screenings and film festivals in Baltimore, New York, and Los Angeles.
For more information, please see www.TheInstrumentMovie.com
Sat. June 11, 9:00am - 5:00pm
Spiritual Filmmaking 101: Insights & Intrigue
Admission fee: $250 (Limit 25 persons - $275 at the door)
ISE-NY presents a unique opportunity for participants to attend an all day in depth interactive workshop on Spiritual Cinema with Stephen Simon. The workshop is designed for established and emerging industry professionals (e.g. actors, writers, directors and producers) and film students who wish to advance their understanding of the entertainment industry and their role within the genre of Spiritual Cinema. Stephen will share his insights into and challenges of the industry, filmmaking, story development and distributing your project. Participants should bring projects they are developing, such as a scene from a script, act from a play or chapter from a book, to workshop with the group.
Sun. June 12, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Interactive Pitch Fest
Admission fee $25 ($30 at the door)
Stephen Simon will moderate an informative discussion among the panelists on the art of pitching. Participants will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas within the context of Spiritual Entertainment and receive constructive feedback.
Panelists:
Stephen Simon
Mickey Lemle (Director, Ram Dass: Fierce Grace)
Vanessa Arteaga (Senior Programming & Production Executive, Wellspring Media
Anna Darrah (Director of Acquisitions, The Spiritual Cinema Circle
Special Weekend Pass: $300
(Limited to first 25 persons to sign up)
For more information:
Please visit our Web Site: WWW.ISE-NY.ORG
Contact: Muriel Stockdale @ 212 475 1875
Send an email to info@ISE-NY.org
Featured Artist
Elli Fordyce
(a) Tell us a little about Elli?
A Jazz singer off-and-on professionally all over the US and some elsehere for 50 years, a film/tv actor in NY for 4-1/2 years, on a winding spiritual road for 38 years, a native NYer, I also teach and help students resolve their "pesky" performing issues.
(b) How did you get to this place in your life?
I've been on a long and winding road with lots of trauma and drama, returning over and over to metaphysics/spirituality and for 4-1/2 years have stayed closer to that path.
(c) What are you most proud of?
Taking the leap to audition for acting for the first time at the age of 63 and immediately getting cast in a film, and sharing metaphysical/spiritual tools and wisdom with people all over the planet.
(d) How does spirituality inform/influence you as an artist?
Spiritual work directly led to my first singing gig at age 30, to returning to singing at 57 after a 15 year trial-separation, and to my first acting audition at 63. Spirituality profoundly and constantly informs and influences everything I feel and think and I most-strongly experience it when performing.
(e) What brought you to ISE-NY?
I'd been trying to attract, locate and work in and with these sorts of genres and collaborators for 38 years; for several years after seeing an email mentioning spiritual cinema I pulled on various strings and contacted folks until it finally led to Muriel Stockdale and the first ISE-NY meeting.
(f) Where are you going?
Good question: I have my first vocal on a soundtrack (an indie feature film which premiered May 20th in LA and will open July 1st in NY, along with appearing in 5 other cities in between), a nearly-finished first jazz-vocal CD that's awaiting a small windfall to complete, am in multiple indie film projects at various stages of pre-, during- and post-production or festivals or distribution, I'm always auditioning for more films, and it would be nice to earn a living acting and singing.
(g) What do you see as your legacy to humanity?
Each of us has an audience of folks who need to hear "the message" in his or her unique voice. I want to find, reach, impact, uplift and help inspire and/or enhance the experience, ability, connection and wisdom of those in "my" audience and contribute to their alignment in spiritual and material increase and abundance and to that alignment and increase worldwide.
FILMOGRAPHY
Science of Breathing
| E: This is as brief day player in "Science of Breathing," a short New York Film Academy student film. |
 |
Cartoon Network Commercial
E: Elli with Lucky and Zorro in a spec commercial for the Cartoon Network.
Mrs.Green's Commercial
E: I am playing a customer in a commercial for the Connecticut and Westchester health-food supermarkets, Mrs. Green's, where in truth I felt like I "WAS" that customer when I said "I LOVE this place!
iPod Commercial
 |
E: I am reacting to a lap dance by a fellow resident in a senior-citizen home, in a spec commercial for iPod. |
Student Film
E: These are from raw footage from an incomplete student film.
Jacoby & Meyers Commercial
E: These are from a commercial for Jacoby & Meyers which has been airing in NY for over 4 years with voice over about how cancer can be misdiagnosed [by doctors like my character who pay inadequate attention].
People's Postures
E: I loved doing this short, one of my first, in which I play mom in "People's Postures," by School of Visual Arts student, Zach Werner.
For further information about Elli's acting, please visit www.actorspost.com/ellifordyce or www.euroclubdejazz.com/ellifordyce
* * *
For Elli's vocal jazz, go to http://patinkc.powerfulintentions.com/library/view/722 (for an MP3 of a song on the sound track of the feature film "Sex, Politics & Cocktails," now in theatres, from Elli's first CD in progress), http://www.teahouseforum.com (for an MP3 of a duet with Jim Malloy from Elli's first CD in progress and the URL to her jazz-vocal website including two more vocal clips).
* For further information please contact Elli ellifordyce@msn.com
Related Programs of Interest
VISIONARY CINEMA SERIES presents
Jacob's Ladder with Oscar-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin.
InspiredMind Films invites you to take part in the Visionary Cinema Series at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Join us each month for screenings of contemporary and classic films that transcend, transform, and expand the boundaries of the cinematic language. Followed by open discussion with renowned artist Alex Grey.
A very special guest in attendance for our June screening of 'Jacob's Ladder' will be the Academy Award winning scriptwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost, My Life). His screenplay, Directed by Adrian Lyne, is about Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer, a postal employee suffering from intensely frightening hallucinations and flashbacks. His paranoia leads him to suspect that he and his fellow soldiers may have been victims of a misbegotten Army experiment. The boundaries between dream and reality erode as visions of demons, heaven, and hell invade Jacob's life and lead him toward an unforgettably haunting climax.
Afterwards Bruce will discuss his original story that seamlessly integrates multiple dimensions of reality and non-linear storytelling making this one of the most visionary scripts and films of all time. Come for this rare opportunity to have an intimate discussion with one of the leading filmmakers in Spiritual Cinema.
June 2, 7:30pm
$10; popcorn and drink included
Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM)
540 W. 27th St., 4th fl.
New York, NY 10001
212-564-4253
www.COSM.org
For more info or to be notified of upcomming screenings email: VisionaryCinema@InspiredMindfilms.com
Spiritual Cinema Comes To Life: An Award Show for the Genre of Spiritual Cinema
An evening acknowledging and celebrating artists and luminaries who have contributed to this fast growing genre. Accepting awards are Stephen Simon, director of Indigo, producer of What Dreams May Come and Somewhere in Time, also founder of The ISE, Inc. (The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment), Elaine Hendrix, co-star of What The Bleep Do We Know, Amber Tamblyn, star of Joan of Arcadia, as well as other accomplished filmmakers in this genre.
When: Saturday June 4th 6-10pm.
Where: Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave, building I (Writers Boot Camp), Santa Monica, CA 90404
Cost: $100 per seat
VIP tickets $2,500 (Be our honored guests for the night, sit with the stars, and know that you are contributing to the evolutionary movement to change the world for the better through the immensely powerful medium of entertainment.) Tickets must be purchased by June 1st.
Hosted by ISELA - The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment Los Angeles, this event will include dinner, awards ceremony, live music and dance theatre, door prizes, silent and live auctions and movie clips of those being acknowledged. All the monies raised will go towards ISELA's continued development of motion pictures and television in genre.
ISELA is the first of over 100 ISE spiritual communities worldwide to produce a film using it's members. It is a 14 minute short entitled The Gentle Barn, Thomas' Story that is based on a true story about an Alzheimer's patient who found healing through the animals of The Gentle Barn. ISELA is currently in pre-production for the pilot The Healer- the future of western medicine is in the hands of eastern philosophy.
ISELA was founded in September, 2004 by Amanda Robinson and was developed out of The ISE, Inc. founded by Stephen Simon. Stephen will next be directing and producing the film version of Neil Donald Walshes best selling Conversations with God series of books. Production begins November 7, 2005 in Ashland, OR for a Fall 2006 release.
Contact:
Amanda Robinson
The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment Los Angeles - ISELA
PO Box 260101
Encino, CA 91426
Tel: 310 770 0011, Email: Amanda@ise-la.org, Web: www.ise-la.org
An Evening with ISE-NY's own Shoshanaa Gleich: "Panty Hose Haz No Snaps"
You are all invited to a workshop of "Panty Hose Haz No Snaps" a one-woman-on-roller-skates show written by and starring Shoshanna Lakshita Gleich.
Per Shoshana:
"My show is based on my true story about my search for an environmentally healthy home and dealing with the challenge of being environmentally sensitive that is allergic to environmental toxins such as cell phones, and towers, transformers, fluorescent, lights and pesticides. This allergy caused me to move 61 times in 9 years living with everyone from my Hasidic aunt with her 16 children to almost out of desperation moving in with the KKK to living in my car with my dog Fellini. My adventure is interspersed with interactions with Dustin Hoffman who I befriend at my day job selling frozen yogurts. It is a journey to regain health and is very positive and inspiring. While it is a unique story about someone who is allergic to environmental toxins it is also universal because the health of our planet affects us all weather we are consciously aware of it or not. The story is also universal because it is about overcoming obstacles which is something we all face. People who have come to the work in progress love it and I am sure you will too."
Date: June 8, 2005
Time: 8 pm
Place: Where Eagles Dare 347 West 36th between 8th and 9th. Ground floor.
Admission $15. You can purchase your tickets a the door.
Please call Shoshanna at 212-252-2323 if you have further questions.
T E L L T H E M W H O Y O U A R E
Opens Friday, May 20th in New York City
at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas & Angelika Film Center
"you will want to weep
the richest documentary of its kind since Terry Zwigoff's 'Crumb.'" -Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES
