LADIES AND GENTLEMEN... SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL AND CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL TIED OUR EVENT!!!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND SUPPORTING THE FIRST EVER DONKAPHANT FILM FUNDRAISER. IT'S YOUR INVOLVEMENT THAT ALLOWS US THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP TAKING STEPS FORWARD TO EDUCATE OUR AUDIENCE OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, THAT SOMETIMES WE ALL TAKE FOR GRANTED. THANK YOU, JUSTIN SCOT AND GRAHAM SIBLEY CO- FESTIVAL DIRECTORS
The Donkaphant Film Fundraiser, hosted by Jim Hayman (Executive Producer of “Ugly Bettyâ€), will be held on December 10th, 2007 at Cinespace in Hollywood,The festival, founded by two young actors, Graham Sibley (Sibley stars in “Nanking†(THINKfilm/HBO) which hits theaters on December 12th, 2007) and Justin Scot (Scot who has a recurring role on the hit show “Ugly Bettyâ€) saw complacency within their generation and community and felt the need to do something to change that. “We thought giving a voice to our audience might entice the kids we know and others to see tangible ways to change the world for the betterâ€, said Sibley.Scot and Sibley have assembled a very strong slate of short films with a political, social, and/or cultural theme running through them. The film slate includes “Kids + Moneyâ€, a new short film from award winning documentary filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield, the world premiere of “The Dear Leader†from award winning photographer Christopher Morris, “Wet Foot, Dry Foot†directed by Carlos V. Gutierrez, “Mr. Presidentâ€, directed by Jeff Lester, “Rebuilding Hopeâ€, directed by Jen Marlowe, “Ghetto Film Schoolâ€, directed by Maurice Marable, “Help Is Comingâ€, directed by Ben Mor, “Victoria†directed by Marc Carlini, and Fat Boy Slim’s music video “Don’t Let The Man Get You Downâ€, directed by Brian Beletic. “Our journey in finding these films has taken a while but all of them bring awareness to issues and themes that are affecting us everyday. It will be an exciting evening of thought-provoking short films. Hopefully we can raise a lot awareness for these issues and a lot of money for right guy, or gal that will lead us for the next 4 to 8 years†Scot said.On December 10th, an audience will gather and vote for which candidate deserves their hard earned cash. “It seems this writer’s strike is affecting everyone in our community on some level. The good news is it will end at some point. Hopefully for the night people can be reminded of some others issues that we have a responsibility to take hold of.†Sibley said.For more information you can go to: http://www.donkaphant.com/
THE DONKAPHANT FILM FUNDRAISER is the first interactive film festival, bridging the monumental gap between the political and entertainment worlds. This short film festival will play approximately 80 minutes in length and will raise social, political, and cultural awareness among our audience. Our audience will leave thinking deeper about their neighbors and their place in the world – and all of this under the umbrella of leadership in America and how we, as a democratic state, will decide who will lead us over the next 4-8 years. Through the purchase of an admission ticket the participants will be given mock ballots on which they will cast their vote, fill out their personal information, and give a cash donation for whom they want to see as the next leader of our country. During an evening of thought provoking, sometimes funny, sometimes controversial short films, drinks and conversations with campaign members, the ballots will be collected and then counted. Like our democratic state, the candidate with the majority vote will have the cash donations sent to his/her campaign. This is a "cutting edge", "never before seen", "happening"!
BEAT 1960! In the last 44 years, of presidential voting (1960-2004) the national voter turn-out has only been 55.1%. That means that roughly half of the country have been making choices for the entire population of the US. The highest turn-out was in 1960, when John F. Kennedy won the presidential seat. Why him (at 63.1%)? A very important quote by JFK, is "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." He asked for involvement. He asked for people to take interest in their lives as members of America and the world. This year as we travel, we are posing a nation wide challenge... 85% of our first audience (all of voting age) felt educated and excited enough to vote for who they would like to see lead this country over the next 4-8 years. On a national scale, this year, if we can educate America and get them excited about the issues, they will vote and we will BEAT 1960!!!!