HUMBLE BEAUTY Campaign Update

Great News!
HUMBLE BEAUTY’s distributor, American Public Television, took a vote of its member stations (public TV stations all over the country) to see if they wanted to air the film. We needed 25 stations to say YES. We got 66 stations! And 19 more said maybe. So it’s definite now. APT has sent a deal memo. If we can raise the money to re-edit the film, make it conform to PBS’s standards, extend the music rights, etc.-- by our September 15 deadline -- national distribution will happen for HUMBLE BEAUTY. Thank you APT member stations!

New Video
There are new videos in the Gallery including “How To Get To Skid Row” with the fascinating, moving stories of how very different people from varying backgrounds became homeless and wound up in Skid Row. They were at the bottom of their lives and gradually the simple act of making art transformed them, helped them reclaim their lives. They reinvented themselves, recognized their own innate talents, and found a reason to live. We think you’ll find it compelling. Please share it with friends! You can watch it by clicking the “Gallery” tab when you go to:

http://www.indiegogo.com/HUMBLEBEAUTY

While you’re there make sure to look through the images. Many of the paintings you’ll see are being offered as prints for your contribution. You’ll also notice we have a donation level for every budget, so if you haven’t supported the film yet, take a look at what awaits you when you do.

The Blogosphere is talking about us!
Many writers are spreading the HUMBLE BEAUTY story on their blogs including a behind-the-scenes interview with the producer/directors of the film. Here are some of the links you may want to read & share with friends:

• Interview with HUMBLE BEAUTY directors Judith Vogelsang and Letitia Schwartz on Extra Criticum.com, Interview with filmmakers
• Call to Support the Campaign, Writing without Paper
• LA community support, Studio City Patch: Arts & Entertainment 

Tweet, Tweet
And we now have a TWITTER ACCOUNT: @HumbleBeautyDoc. Follow us and send us a tweet! We’d love to hear from you.

Thank you
HUMBLE BEAUTY: Skid Row Artists is into week three of its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Donations have come from all over the country and we are thrilled at the generous support. We want to thank all of you who have expressed support, written to us, helped to spread the word through your own networks, and generously donated on the Indiegogo site. We deeply appreciate it. With friends like you, we will reach our goal and HUMBLE BEAUTY will be screening on public television stations across the country!

HUMBLE BEAUTY is a fiscally-sponsored project of From the Heart Productions, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Special thanks to Carole Dean, head of From the Heart Productions, who has been fiscally sponsoring deserving films since 1992.

HUMBLE BEAUTY will air nationally on PBS stations this Fall -- with your help! American Public Television, the main programming service for public television stations, has accepted HUMBLE BEAUTY for national distribution.  This is a dream-come-true!  However, there is no payment to the filmmakers for this privilege and there are many, many expenses to get the film ready for PBS standards.  We have to re-edit the film, extend music rights, buy broadcast insurance and pay for publicity, just to name a few.

We've launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the costs.  There are great donor prizes from DVDs, T-shirts and original artwork to Tours of Skid Row and Your Name on the Credits!  Click to see our pitch video, our text description and the many images of the stunning artwork from the Skid Row artists.  We hope it inspires to you donate.  All contributions are TAX DEDUCTIBLE thanks to our non-profit fiscal sponsor, From The Heart Productions.

We realize many people cannot donate and still want to support the film.  You can help by spreading the word to friends, family, colleagues and other like-minded people who appreciate the film's empowering theme:  art transforms lives.  Post our link on Facebook, Twitter, wherever you hang out on line and put in a good word for HUMBLE BEAUTY.  You can include our website too, www.humblebeauty.com, where there are videos and more info about the film and the artists.

Check out our campaign site on IndieGoGo!

HUMBLE BEAUTY DEBUTS ON KCET LOS ANGELES

HUMBLE BEAUTY premiered on KCET, public television in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 in a fund-raising event for the station and its non-profit partner for the broadcast, The Midnight Mission. Hosted by Val Zavala and Leyla Farah, Ed Begley, Jr. was the spokesperson for the Mission. Filmmakers Letitia Schwartz and Judith Vogelsang were interviewed during the pledge breaks. Graduates of the Mission's rehab and many other programs spoke movingly about their life stories and how the Mission helped them. The phones were ringing off their hooks that night at KCET. In lieu of sending a thank you gift (like a mug or a tote bag), when you donate $60 or more to KCET they will provide food, shelter and toiletries to men, women and children in need through the services of The Midnight Mission. It was a win-win-win event for all concerned.

KCET will air HUMBLE BEAUTY uninterrupted several times over the next three years-- through 2014. We are thrilled that so many Los Angeles viewers will be able to see the film and peek into the window it provides to a remarkably talented community of people who are so often "invisible" to mainstream society. Please check the KCET schedule for the next showing of HUMBLE BEAUTY.

What HUMBLE BEAUTY is about

An hour documentary that tells the story of a group of talented homeless and formerly homeless fine arts painters who live and create their art in the worst area of LA . It's also about the ubiquity of art in human life. People strive to make art no matter how difficult the circumstances and in return art transforms their lives. It's a window into a rarely seen world, people on the fringes of society often invisible to most Americans.

For four years, we followed the lives and progress of several artists from LA's Skid Row, the homeless capital of America. We used several techniques to tell the stories including cinema verite, interviews and narration. Spontaneous moments from their lives, intimate interviews, their fascinating life stories, their evolving artwork and life's progress are documented. We meet oil, acrylic and watercolor painters, charcoal, pen and crayon sketchers and collage makers. Some artists find their art supplies in garbage cans and dumpsters. They draw on old paper bags. Many have joined art workshops led by dedicated and remarkable artist/social workers and are given paint, canvases, frames, easels and the technical, creative and supportive guidance to create stunning, often therapeutic works of art. Several of these art workshop members have shown --and sold -- their work in downtown Los Anglees galleries. Their tight-knit Skid Row community nourishes their artistic abilities.

Art changed their lives dramatically. One woman told us that coming to the workshop was the only reason she has for getting up in the morning. A directionless hustler has become a known painter and active community leader. A shy immigrant who creates, in classic primitive style, riotously colorful scenes from his childhood in a tiny Mexican village has suffered a set-back. He's been admitted to art school at the University of California, Berkeley and awarded a scholarship but can't attend due to his immigration status. One artist was a 12-year old runaway from an Oklahoma Indian Reservation in 1941 and has been on the streets of Skid Row ever since. Art has given their lives meaning and a reason for existence. There are many stories among the artists of LA's Skid Row to bring to the attention of a wide audience.

HUMBLE BEAUTY Screens in 2 Film Festivals in April

HUMBLE BEAUTY screens at the FirstGlance Film Festival Hollywood on Saturday, April 9th at 3:30 pm at the Chaplin Theatre, Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038. Filmmakers Letitia Schwartz & Judith Vogelsang will attend the screening as well as some of the artists and mentors from the film. Tickets are $8, available in advance at http://firstglancefilms.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=346186 and at the door on the day. Audience members have a chance to vote for HUMBLE BEAUTY as Best in Festival.

HUMBLE BEAUTY also screens at the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival on Thursday, April 14th at 4 pm at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa, Lake Arrowhead, CA. Filmmaker Letitia Schwartz will attend the screening. Tickets are available at the door on the day. Festival Passes (to multiple films) are available in advance at www.lakearrowheadfilmfestival.com/cart.

Come out and support HUMBLE BEAUTY at one of these screenings! We look forward to seeing you there.