So much to do at 2nd Saturdays Downtown on 11/12/11

Every month on the 2nd Saturday of the month, our dilemma is what to do downtown on Congress Street. Should we go to a concert the Fox Tucson Theatre, or listen to music at the Scott Avenue Stage, or watch a Cinema La Placita movie at the big empty lot on Congress Street, or, or, or….

There’s so much to do that the choices are overwhelming. Sometimes it’s just fine to walk along and about Congress Street between the Hotel Congress and the Fox Theater, and just enjoy the Parasol Project mute performers, the street minstrels, the circus folks on stilts, the food wagons, classic cars, the children enjoying their world of fun. And don’t miss the monthly athletic acrobatics of Les Avenge (this month at the SW Corner of Congress St./Stone Ave. 6pm-10pm).

Since August, 2011 a group of independent film makers have been showing free films on 5th Avenue:

The Short Film Showcase is a major event in Tucson, Arizona and will be a revolving event that will take place on the second Saturday every month on 5th Ave between Broadway and Congress on the south end on the Rialto Building Patio. Several local talents from Tucson, Arizona will have their shorts screened at this event. It is free to the public and will take place on November 12th, 2011 outside and will start at 7pm and last till 9:00pm. Short Film Showcase Facebook contact –TucsonSFS@groups.facebook.com or Daniel Geffre, geffreap@live.com/520-271-1026 or Yuri Machado, authenticproductions@live.com/520-331-2451.

Right up the street from this Short film Showcase is a brand new urban coffee bar, Sparkroot (for more photos, click here).

Also new to downtown is the Mars & Beyond exhibit in the Rialto building (catercorner from Sparkroot), which opened on October 22. Here’s the description from the 2nd Saturdays Downtown website:

Mars & Beyond 300 E. Congress St. 622-8595. 9am-9pm. The wonders of Earth’s neighborhood, our solar system, in stunning color and clarity, with an emphasis on Mars, including some of the latest cutting edge scientific work by UA teams on NASA’s HiRISE Mars high-resolution orbiting camera, the Phoenix Mars Mission science lab lander, the upcoming OSIRIS-REx, and more.

For the entire event schedule for Nov. 12, click here. And as for food, most of the restaurants are open, plus there’s all types of inexpensive food at the wagons parked along the south side of Congress Street between Scott Avenue and Stone Avenue. There’s even a booth on Scott Avenue selling delicious-looking, decorated cupcakes.

Enjoy 2nd Saturdays Downtown in November!

Short Film Showcase (for free downtown) on August 13

Here’s your chance to see independent, innovative film shorts on Saturday August 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. along with 2nd Saturdays Downtown.

SHORT FILM SHOWCASE TUCSON ARIZONA AUGUST 13TH, 2011 (press release)

The Short Film Showcase was created by a group of producers, writers, directors and promoters from Tucson, Arizona who are using this free event to help local filmmakers by screening their work for a live audience. Helping to enrich the arts in Tucson and allow local filmmakers the opportunity to meet investors and help build the local film industry. The members and primary individuals that are involved are Mark Headley, Benny Lee Kennedy, Ben Lopez, Yuri Machado and Daniel Geffre.

The Short Film Showcase is a major event in Tucson, Arizona and will be a revolving event that will take place on the second Saturday every month on the corner of 5th Avenue and Congress Street, next to the King Tut Exhibit on the Rialto block. Several other local talents from Tucson, Arizona will have their shorts screened at this event. It is free to the public and will take place on August 13th, 2011 on 5th Avenue between Congress Street and Broadway Blvd, in downtown Tucson. The street will be closed for this event during 2nd Saturdays Downtown.

Mark Headley is one of the key players for the Short Film Showcase. He originally started in film at the age of 17 in which he acted in John Huston’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. He’s done major work in Tucson, including being appointed to the Tucson Film Commission, for which he served until the mid 80’s. Shortly after he left Tucson and went on to become a Producer, as well as a Director, Line Producer and Unit Production Manager in over 70 feature films.

Benny Lee Kennedy is a promoter for Tucson event’s and has been called “Tucson’s Promoter” for the past 10 years. During that time he’s either coordinated or produced over 1,000 events. With a degree in Marketing and Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix, Benny is a wiz at social media promotion and community organization. In January of the year 2000, he developed a media company called “Project Benny Blanco,” as well as a PR company called “The Kennedy Group, Tucson.” He’s a member of the Screen Writers Guild West and the International Film Association of Southern Arizona and has written many screenplays for film.

Ben is a writer, producer, director and president of VientoFuego Productions. He began his career as a production assistant to British director Rob Walker and the Latino Producers Academy, a National Association of Independent Producers signature program. In 2005, he started to produce a series of shorts films in Arizona and Mexico, including five with award winning director Rudy Joffroy. During this period, Ben also wrote, produced and directed several shorts, most notably, Cristos, a collaboration with Arizona-based cinematographer, Jorge Luis Urbina. In 2006, Ben founded VientoFuego Productions. In 2007, Ben wrote, produced and directed La Venganza, a Spanish language feature film. In 2007, Ben wrote and produced Caramelo, a Spanish language feature. While supervising post-production on Caramelo, Ben co-wrote, produced and directed Sexo en Paraiso (Sex in Paradise) and Amor de Lejos (Love from Afar).

Yuri Machado is a graduate from the University Of Arizona with a Bachelors in the Arts program. He’s also a graduate from Pima Community College with three degrees in the same field, (Liberal Arts, Associates of Art and Digital Film & Video Arts). His most popular and recent work is directing the short film, S.O.L. A film about the relationships between four male friends and the way they interact with the opposite sex. It was screened at The Screening Room in Tucson, Arizona on July 8th, 2011 to a sold out crowd. With the help of Daniel Geffre and especially Julio Rodriguez, a documentary of behind-the-scenes was made for this short. Julio nearly took on the entire documentary as the main editor and directed the interviews as well. The press release for S.O.L. has been distributed to several major local papers and Yuri received major attention for himself as well as the short which was published in an article of the Arizona Daily Star’s Caliente section, the day before the screening took place. S.O.L. and the documentary will both be screened as one of the headliners for this event.

Daniel Geffre is a graduate from Pima Community College with a degree in Digital and Film Arts. He was a producer and publicist for Yuri’s S.O.L. and wrote the press release for it as well. His short film The History of the Door will be screened at this event as one of the headliners. It’s a comedy/mockumentary and it follows a narrator, who explains that the door was invented only to end arguments, and he uses two roommates to illustrate this theory. He wrote, produced and co-directed this short. He also starred in it as he played all three parts. It was originally screened in Tucson in 2009. He’s done some other comedy writing but S.O.L. and The History of the Door are the two projects he was a major factor in.

Short Film Showcase Facebook contact
TucsonSFS@groups.facebook.com

Daniel Geffre
danielgeffre@live.com

Yuri Machado
authenticproductions@live.com

web info: http://www.wix.com/authenticproductions/sfs