The powerful independent thriller American Yearbook will have its upcoming
Bay Area Premiere at the East Bay's Orinda Film Festival. Screening in
Orinda's historical Renaissance Orinda Theatre Saturday Oct. 16, this will
be American Yearbook's first local screening since shooting on location
literally miles down the road at Acalanes High School in Lafayette last
year.
American Yearbook is the true-to-life story of high school dreamer,
Will, whose hope of being a successful photographer is ripped from his
grasp, as he is relentlessly targeted by a vicious pack of local bullies.
Will befriends a mysterious, brooding character named Chance who is also
a target for the bullies, and convinces Will that they should acquire guns
and "pull a Columbine". Amanda, the girl that Will starts to get close
to, pleads with him to set aside revenge. In a film that truly shows the
tough choices created by school violence, and how recent school shootings
can influence the thoughts of at-risk kids, this is an emotional story
that is very intense, but manages to responsibly convey the deadly consequences
of revenge without glorifying violence.
Writer/Director Brian Ging is very passionate about his work stating,
"There's no reason that a filmmaker can't make a powerful statement in
the 90 minutes an audience gives them, without it seeming preachy or less
powerful. I plan on making every film I work on socially conscious and
impactful in some way. In American Yearbook, I'm exploring teen bullying
with a post-Columbine spin, but focusing on the intense emotions of the
teenagers and not just guns and gore. My goal is to bring the important
subject of school violence to light in a story that people can identify
with, and to strongly impact the audience with the powerful emotions that
victims of bullying actually deal with every day."
The film has been rounding the festival circuit, recently world-premiering
in England at the Filmstock Film Festival in June, followed days later
by a U.S. premiere at Danceswithfilms, an L.A. film festival where American
Yearbook was a festival favorite, walking away with the 2004 Audience Choice
Award. The film also landed a glowing four star review byÝ filmcritics.com.
Upcoming Screenings: American Yearbook will play at the Mt. Shasta Film
Festival in Northern California Oct. 10 at 1:20pm, followed by the Orinda
Film Festival Oct. 16 at 6:30pm, and the SMMASH Film Festival in Minnesota
Oct.Ý 17 & 21.
Ging continues his connection to edgy, yet socially conscious, films
by recently signing on with Reel Kids Films Inc. of Oakland as a Writer
and Producer. Reel Kids is a non-profit film production company dedicated
to making tough narrative films that explore diversity and youth issues
while involving underprivileged kids from diverse backgrounds in the production
process. Their first feature film called times like these, again will be
co-written by Ging and Director Buck Sierra, with Ging as Producer. More
information at http://reelkidsfilms.com.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Ticket and Premiere information is available online by checking
http://american-yearbook.com
or the film festival websites below:
http://www.shastafilmfest.com
http://www.orindafilmfestival.org
http://www.smmash.com
(The Press kit for American Yearbook available through official
website above.)
--- New Legend Productions
707-803-8822 |