HollyBurg locals strike oscar gold
The Freeway Revival By Ashleigh Chevalier
By gary olsen I consistently win wagers proving that the Fredericksburg area plays a major influence in the lives of award-winning Hollywood film makers and performers for any five-year period. And the period under discussion in my next free film lecture on November 6th at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Rappahannock Library, 1201 Caroline Street, focusing on the Academy Awards from 2005 to 2009, is no exception. One of today’s most popular actresses is Sandra Bullock, winner of the Best Actress Oscar for 2009’s The Blind Side. Few know that Ms. Bullock is a native Virginian, born in Arlington. Her father, John, worked at the Army’s Military Postal Service, where he purchased a house in the Woodmont neighborhood of Arlington— 2925 26th Street North, to be precise—at Sandra’s birth in 1964. He continued ownership of the house while stationed in Germany before returning to Virginia to become a contractor for the Pentagon. Sandra attended Washington-Lee High School, where greatness in acting must be in the water coolers since the school has alums Forrest Tucker, Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine. While there, Sandra was a cheerleader (you can look up her high school cheerleading skills on YouTube) and honed her acting skills in school productions before graduating in 1982. A footnote: Sandra attended East Carolina University and was three credits shy of graduating when she decided to head up to New York City to launch her professional acting career. Speaking of Washington-Lee High School, another graduate (1964), Stan Wilson, was a special effects expert who broke new ground in James Cameron’s The Terminator. The University of Virginia alum (Class of 1968) was nominated for 10 Oscars for his special effects work and won three Oscars for his work in Cameron’s Aliens, Terminator 2 and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Towards the end of his life, Wilson was an
On Stage . . .
invaluable advisor to Cameron in his 2009 Best Picture nominee Avatar. Wilson died in 2008 from multiple myeloma. 2006’s quirky independent film, Little Miss Sunshine, received the Academy Awards’ Best Original Screenplay. Its scriptwriter, Virginia’s own Michael Arndt, was handed the Oscar for his work after he had revised the script over 100 times before production. Arndt, whose father was in the Foreign Service, was born in McLean, Virginia, and after his father’s short stint in India, returned to attend middle school in McLean’s The Potomac School before graduating from Langley High School in 1984. Arndt ended up in New York University and became a script reader as well as a personal assistant to actor Matthew Broderick. It was then he decided to embark on his scriptwriting adventure in Sunshine. Arndt was also Oscar nominated for his work in Toy Story 3. And he’s written a couple of scripts, including Hunger Games: Catching Fire, under the pseudonym Michael DeBruyn. Two other Oscar nominated performers during this time frame have local roots: Casey Affleck, Ben’s younger brother, attended Washington, D.C.’s George Washington University. He was nominated for his 2007 role in The Assassination of Jesse James. And D.C.’s very own Taraji Henson, who was nominated for her role as Brad Pitt’s adopted mother in The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, attended Howard University and worked two jobs to pay her tuition: at the Pentagon as a secretary and the Odyssey Cruise Lines out of D.C. as a waitress.
Gary Olsen gives film lectures to serve examples to the area’s youth that Hollywood dreams can be realized with hard work and incredible luck.
The Freeway Revival, formerly known to some of the locals as Same Ol’ Sound, is coming through. After six, yes six, cross country tours, supporting their debut album, Songs From Home, the band is excited to release their second album, Over The Mountain. The band, like many musical groups, has morphed through phases and faces of different members, but the core trio remains the same: Culpeper, Virginia raised identical twin brothers Adam and Jonathan Clayton, and guitarist, Joey Lee. Like many famed jam behinds before them (Phish, The Band, Grateful Dead), the three are multi-instrumentalists. Adam primarily plays keys, Jonathan plays guitar, but at any given show you can witness any one of the guys playing drums, bass, mandolin, guitar. Hard touring can wear a band out. It is not east living show to show, gallon to gallon on the highway, and couch to couch. But, “Seeing the people and friends we have across the country now, getting up and playing for people, having that one big show in the tour, that’s what keeps us going,” Lee shares. Over the Mountain is anticipated by many and promises an exciting new year on the road. Producer John Ryan (Allman Brothers, Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Imagine Dragons) helped craft a strong
sound for the gents’ original tunes; a blend of rockin’ Americana sounds, ranging in influence from southern blues to classic country western, are brought back to their acoustic origination. The Freeway Revival has a sound all their own, unique and diverse like The Band, yet relatable like Skynyrd. As far as these guys have roamed, they always bring it back home. On Friday, November 28, The Freeway Revival will host their CD Release at The State Theater of Culpeper. Special guests Ron Holloway, include a famed international tenor sax player. This is an event of the season for Americana music followers. This will be a show to say, “I was there when…” Get a sneak peak, meet the guys in person, and pick up a copy of their first CD, Tuesday, November 5 at The Silk Mill where they will perform a short set for CVTV in Concert, airing LIVE for national television. Maddie Sunshine and Leon Rector will open. This film studio experience opens to the public at 7:30p.m. Check out TheFreewayRevival.com, and of course find them on Facebook and all the other social medias. Ashleigh Chevalier is a Blues/Jazz/Rock Musican - Vocalist, Songwriter, Music & Media Journalist and, a mother living in Fredericksburg
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Startup Weekend the ideas that became reality by christina ferber
The 10 by 10 team after the big win! #SWFXBG — with Elizabeth Hall Colon, Ben Muldrow, Christa Hall Huntley and Joshua Walton Need some living dirt? How about a way to keep your friends in check on those late nights out? Both of those products and more are now accessible thanks to the recent Startup Weekend that was held at Germanna Community College on September 26-28. From the first pitches offered on Friday night to the final pitches given on Sunday evening, the event proved to be an all around success. After twenty-plus pitches in the opener, eight teams were formed around
THE POETRY MAN - BY FRANK FRATOE
Our Week On a Fall noonday parching Cornell St. The first dry leaves jangle the sidewalk as a catbird meows camouflaged in shade and pumpkins glow along the porchsteps. It’s that week again when we first met after your birthday and one year later married in acceptance To vow joy together cut short by death which I must accede. But someone is here walking alongside me underneath maples in the autumn hush and a voice cries out That is not my own near a rockgarden as bluejays fly away. Frank Fratoe lives and writes in the city
the ideas with the most traction, and although they were all working on different products the environment was one of collaboration. “Essentially we were all competing against each other, but it never felt like that. Everyone in the room was supportive, friendly, and excited for you and your idea. It was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had,” says Christa Huntley, team leader for first place team 10 x 10, an app aimed at matching trade shows with vendors. Lights by Paul, a team led by Paul Glancy of Paul’s Bakery fame, produced small durable lit gingerbread men for Christmas and came in second, while Downtown Farm came in third. Though Sarah Perry originally thought of Downtown Farm as a place to bring urban youth and the environment together, she made a huge switch and pitched “Living Soil,” a soil amendment product made locally, as her final product. “We had a Startup Weekend first,” says Christine Goodwin, one of the event’s organizers. “A team sold dirt and made $1500.00 worth of sales doing it. It was really an incredible pivot from the original idea that was pitched.” Other business products showcased during the final pitches came from Rdius, a way to map the stories of your life through geo-journalism, Audio Stream, a portable streaming device, and Start on Foot, an app that marries fitness Art-Y Y also and gaming. Whoopsie and P-A pitched during Sunday’s presentations and proved that your first pitch may not always match the final one. Whoopsie was first pitched by Rachel Seats as an app to obtain sexual consent, and instead changed to an app that offered brainteasers and other tools to keep group members together during a night on the town. “My idea changed several times through the 54 hour sprint, and even though we didn’t win, we scored countless connections and relationships
that continue to develop.” says Seats. Alicia Hurst, team leader of P-ArtY pitched a non- profit art center as a way to bring the arts to all, but pivoted to a for-profit business of giving art parties. “I learned a lot about transforming ideas into ways to make money, finding the right team, and the importance of social networking,” says Hurst. From learning the importance of identifying and validating customer base, to listening to and following other’s advice and creating a lean business canvas, teams ended up building impressive finished products with many continuing on as viable businesses. “Despite all the false starts and pivots I thought everyone made an amazing effort. I especially liked watching people who hardly knew each other come together, take an idea and flesh it out into an impressive presentation and viable product. It gave me a real sense of what is possible even when resources and time are short,” says Max Lupton, a team member of P-Art-Y. It’s the experience that the weekend provides that keeps people attending these events. “The unexpected successes of the weekend keep us passionate about continuing this in Fredericksburg,” says Goodwin. “We get to be a part of people changing their lives and making a dent in the universe in ways that they had never imagined.” The next Startup Weekend is March 6-8th and will be targeting veterans. Volunteers and sponsors are currently being sought. Anyone interested in participating or sponsoring can email christine@fredxchange.org. Other Startup Weekends are planned for summer and fall 2015. Christina Ferber got the startp bug as an observer at January’s event and got hooked. She can’t wait to get her creative juices flowing again at the next event in March 2015.
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