PIFVA CINEMA SPEAKEASY: BULLYING

TURNING LEFT 2 GO RIGHT, 30 min. Written, Directed, Produced by Ed Shockley and Lary Moten of Mosaic Theatre. Produced in collaboration with Arts Sanctuary.

TURNING LEFT 2 GO RIGHT (TL2GR) shows how a dysfunctional 'in tact' classroom of youth  from Arise Academy slowly took ownership of a film project and attempted to shoot the short comedy, HATER-AIDE. Arise Academy is an experimental, publicly funded, Charter School in Philadelphia that is run by the Department of Human Services. It's student body are a volatile combination of foster care, adoption, group home, kinship care and court mandated youth.   Ultimately truancy and time lost made it impossible to complete the comedy film but the interviews surrounding the project made it a far more significant film.  TL2GR captures the desperate and inspiring attempts by youth in often intolerable situations to somehow rise above the challenges of unstable home environments in order to pursue personal success.  It also offers insight into the confused thinking that is an enormous obstacle to young men and women forced by circumstance to raise themselves.  

BIOS:
ED SHOCKLEY bio:  TURNING LEFT 2 GO RIGHT director/writer/producer and co-founder of Mosaic Theatre Productions.  Award-winning theater artist Ed Shockley served for over 10 years as Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center (PDC) and in more recent years for the American Concert Theatre (ACT). He is author of more than 70 plays, dozens of these produced, as well as numerous professional articles and educational materials on the arts of playwriting and directing.  He has designed and taught theater courses at Temple University, NYU, Nassau Community College and continues to teach play/film writing and World Theatre history at the University of the Arts and is currently on staff at Rutgers Camden.  Major awards include the $100,000 W. Alton Jones Foundation grant, which he shared with musical collaborator James McBride. to produce their box office record setting urban opera, Bobos, at Philadelphia’s American Music Theatre Festival.  Bobos then won the much-coveted Richard Rogers Award as well as the Stephen Sondheim Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Musical Theatre.  Shockley won the prestigious PEW PLAYWRIGHTING FELLOWSHIP. This follows on the heels of two PA STATE ARTS COUNCIL FELLOWSHIPS.  The financial freedom of this large grant has enabled him to leave teaching posts at University of the Arts, Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival and MacCarter Theatre so that he can concentrate exclusively on writing, duties as artistic director for Mosaic Theatre Productions and his role representing playwrights for YOUTHPLAYS.COM.  Current projects include a martial arts film trilogy, an examination of THE BOSTON MASSACRE, and the 36 episode radio series, THE LAST STAND OF MAN.

lary moten:    TURNING LEFT 2 GO RIGHT editor/producer and co-founder of Mosaic Theatre Productions.  lary comes to Philadelphia as a transplant and is an excellent example of how life truly is circular.  Though away from acting for a number of years, he likes to - humbly - think of himself as “Mr. Diversity” due to the varied career he has been fortunate to have.  Film Editor in college and “Hollyweird”; USAF DJ, Newscaster and Television writer/producer/host for AFKN in Seoul, Korea; Historian for the Strategic Missile Evaluation Squadron at Vandenberg AFB; Stage Manager for KPIX in San Francisco; Desk Assistant for ABC?s GOOD MORNING AMERICA in the Washington, DC News Bureau; Assistant to, then Director of Development for filmmakers Euzhan Palcy?s and Willy Rameau?s Saligna Productions in LA and Paris; degrees in Film Production, Broadcast Management (Howard University) and Critical History/Film Theory (San Francisco State University) with theater training at Temple University and Hampton Institute.
lary edited Ed’s latest book, NOTES FROM A PRACTICING WRITER, a collection of essays on the craft and career of playwriting was recently published.
He has been in productions by Vagabond Acting Troupe, Philadelphia Theater Caravan, American Concert Theater (ACT), The Brick, ACTOUT Theatre, The Adrienne, Hedgerow Theater, The Arden Theater Company, The Walnut, The Shubin and often seen in Philadelphia Dramatist Center (PDC) readings and productions.
For the two most recent Mosaic digivideos, lary directed/edited/shot/produced THE ART OF PEACE,  a documentary short exploring the health and spiritual benefits of Aikido, the only martial art dedicated to protecting the attacker and served as editor/producer for TURNING LEFT 2 GO RIGHT.

ART SANCTUARY

Art Sanctuary, founded in North Philadelphia, uses the power of black art to transform individuals, unite groups of people, and enrich, and draw inspiration from the inner city. We invite established and aspiring artists to help create excellent lectures, performances, and educational programs.http://artsanctuary.org/about-2/mission-statement/

Honor and Pride by Danielle Erwin. 2011

Director: Danielle Erwin Production Company: 7th Seed Productions

Jacob Peterson, an intelligent high school student struggles with being a gay teenager in today’s society. On what seems to be an ordinary afternoon, Jacob and his best friend, Kyle Lewis are heading home from school enjoying their usual walk through the park. They had no idea that the trail they were walking on would change their lives forever after being chased down and badly beaten by bullies. With the support of his loving family, a caring teacher, and his Pastor Jacob finds his voice for the millions of teenagers who experience bullying everyday. This coming of age story proves how one boy’s journey of strength and self worth can make a difference.