Feature III Director Steven Soderbergh's appearance garners another hit for Film Streams gala Story courtesy of Film Streams. Photos by paparazzibyappointment.com.
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gala celebration featuring Academy Award-winning filmmakers Steven Soderbergh and Alexander Payne and Peabody Award-winning journalist Kurt Andersen raised more than $217,000 for Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater, Omaha’s nonprofit cinema, in
February. The event, Film Streams’ Feature III, featured a conversation with Soderbergh about his prolific and diverse filmmaking career (including “Traffic,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Out of Sight,” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” series), as well as reports of his impending retirement. Andersen, the host of the Peabody Award-winning radio program Studio 360, conducted the interview following introductions by Oscarwinning writer-director Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “About Schmidt,” “Election,” “Citizen Ruth”). Both Payne and Andersen are Omaha natives and Film Streams board members. The fundraiser, held at the Holland Performing Arts Center, was the third such event since Film Streams opened the Ruth Sokolof Theater in 2007.
Top: Alexander Payne. Above: Kurt Andersen and Steven Soderbergh.
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Big Dreams, Big Hearts JDRF Gala raises more than $550,000 toward "Real Hope for a Cure" Story and photos courtesy of JDRF.
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he Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) raised more than $550,000 for research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes at its 14th annual gala, titled “Big Dreams, Big Hearts…Real Hope for a Cure,” in February. More than 580 guests enjoyed a night of fun and excitement with Chief Dream Officers Janice and Bob Batt and event chair couples Dawn and Doug Buchanan, Robyn and Bob Freeman, and Susan and Bob Knapp at the Qwest Center Omaha. The Bob and Janice Batt Juvenile Diabetes Cure Fund was the Presenting Sponsor. Special guest speaker, Husker player Ben Cotton, started the evening off with his story of living with type 1 diabetes, telling guests to always “Dream Big” and never let type 1 diabetes keep you from fulfilling your dreams. The live auction included a Taylor Swift concert package, and a one-week trip for 10 people to Telluride, Colo. For more information, visit the JDRF web site at www.jdrf.org.
Top: Special Guest Speaker Ben Cotton(right) and his family: Coach Barney Cotton and Christine Cotton and Ben’s date Caitlin Schultz. Above: Event Co-Chairs Bob and Robyn Freeman, Chief Dream Officers Bob and Janice Batt, Event Co-Chairs Susan and Bob Knapp, and Event Co-Chairs Dawn and Doug Buchanan may/june | 2011
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