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All Planet Studios "What's New..."


OCTOBER 16, 2004 
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PERMIERE


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



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