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Short Film, vlogs, side projects and other media from aspiring indie filmmaker Ben Andrews.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
Friday, May 4, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Untitled
Jesus came to turn the world upside down. Honor the poor and humblethe rich. So why do we do all we can to discredit those who seek change? Why do we protect the status quo? Why do stay silent when we see oppression? It's time to feed the poor, the widows, the orphans, to free the prisoners and slaves. It's time to leave our comforts behind, be revolutionary and radical. To do the opposite of the world, to realize the American Dream is a nightmare and waste. It's time we valued people not profits. Human beings are worth the ultimate sacrifice. We should die for one another, not judge and distance ourselves from "the other." In my 22 years on earth, I have not done enough. I am sorry for that.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Support Teenage Wasteland of the Arts - I am doing it!
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Teenage Wasteland of the Arts is an artist collective for teens aged 14-19. The collective was founded by both teens and adults in September of 2011 and last fall held two exhibitions at Small Form Space, an artist-run event-space in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Currently members of the collective meet once a week for 2 hours, at the gallery space of Human Resources, in Chinatown Los Angeles. The meetings are used to share ideas, critiques and make artwork together, as well as allowing the adults to help teen members navigate the college application process.
Our goal as an art collective is to create an inspiring, philosophical environment for teen artists to express their fears, dreams and nightmares, their hopes, angst and oppression, in a positive and safe way. This February, members of Teenage Wasteland of the Arts wrote their own artist dogma, aptly named TWA DOGMA 2012, which will serve as inspirational guidelines to frame the work made by the collective this spring.
Our current project is a two night gallery show at Human Resources scheduled for May 18th and 19th, consisting of work made by the teen artists in the collective. As well as the gallery show, we are planning to release a DVD catalouge with work by members of the collective, including work from the show.
To be able to produce the DVD catalogue and pay for expenses that come with setting up the gallery show, we need your help! The funds raised through Kickstarter will go towards production of the DVD, setting up the exhibition and equipment rentals.
Our incentives are all made by the teen artists in the collective, and include post-modern collage, mail art, wearable art, experimental videos and personal documentaries to name just a few.
Even the smallest donations help and we appreciate your support!
Any donations we collect beyond our goal will go towards buying equipment for the collective and future projects.
Please check out our website to see pictures and get more info on the collective
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Dave: A Father's Reaction to His Very Young Gay Son
Over the past few months my wife, HuffPost blogger Amelia, has been asked numerous times what I think about our 7-year-old son identifying as gay.
This is not something I thought I'd be writing so soon (OK, honestly, I never thought I would be writing a blog on an internationally known news website). When my wife and I were expecting our first child, we discussed what we would do if he or she were born with a disability or with a foot growing out of his or her head. Dealing with a child with a disability would be a life-changing event and something that we had to think about a lot. Possibly having a gay son or daughter wasn't like that. We didn't even have to discuss it, because it wouldn't be a problem. Although the head-foot would need to be dealt with immediately, we assumed we had 15 years or so before any of our kids said they were gay.
You know what they say about assuming: it makes all the asses come out in the comment sections of blogs -- people who don't know anything about my son other than the few guarded things my wife has written, and yet they seem to think they know so much. Let me say that most of the comments have been very supportive, and it's great to see the same people come to Ameila's defense whenever the occasional jerk butts into the conversation with some homophobic ideas. And many of jerk-butts (and some of the normal people, too) want to know what I think about this whole "gay thing."
The idea that I would be immediately disappointed/angry/suicidal that my son identifies as gay offends me, both as a father and simply as a human. It seems the further we all move along into the 21st century in terms of technology, the more some parts of society regress to the 1950s -- or the Victorian era, if we're being honest -- when it comes to ideas of social mores and attitudes on certain subjects: Ward Cleaver would have been angry if the Beaver had come out of the closet, so surely a father 60 years later would have the same reaction. I mean, come on, that's only common sense!
Excuse me while I roll my eyes for an hour or two.
I don't see how a father, or any parent, can look at their son, the one they've loved since before the child was even born, and upon hearing him say, "Dad, I'm gay," turn their back on him. The comments from men much older than me telling stories just like that break my heart. My wife always wants to adopt the teenage kids who write to her; I want to adopt the 60-year-old men who cry when they read that I tell my son how awesome he is. I don't care if they are as old as my father; they deserve love just as much as anyone else.
So many of the negative comments have been funny to Amelia and me because the people writing them obviously don't know our son. "Isn't your son's father going to miss teaching him sports?" "Isn't not having your child get married going to just break your heart?" "How does his father react to the prancing flamer that your son must be?"
First of all, as I write this, my shoulder is sore from throwing a football with him earlier. He loves sports (American Football is his favorite), and he can throw a really nice spiral, especially for a 7-year-old (although if he grows up to be my size, he'll either be a fine defensive end or the heaviest quarterback in the history of the NFL). And again, he's 7: as far as he's concerned, he's going to play all the positions -- at the same time. And if tomorrow he wants to start ballet classes, we will go to all his recitals and cheer him on just as loudly as if he were on the 50-yard line.
Getting married is up to him; single or married, he's still my son. If he and his maybe-some-day-far-far-in-the-future boyfriend want to tie the knot, they just need to tell his mother and me where to be, and we'll be there. Hopefully by then they can get married in whichever state they want, but if not, we'll just travel to one of the cool states and have a great time.
And the "flamer" comments... where to begin? Do effeminate men exist? Of course. Are all gay men effeminate? Of course not. But does it matter? Whether he grows up to be the manliest man in all mandom or the most effeminate guy to ever hit the drag-show circuit, he is my son. I want him to be loved, comfortable with himself and his friends, and happy. If that means he's the next RuPaul or Joe Montana (or just that nice guy in Accounts Receivable), he will know that being himself is important, no matter who he ends up growing into. And he will always know that his father loves him.
Follow Dave on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Dave_Blogger
This is the kind of father I wish I had, and hope to be some day.
COMMUNITY WALK - Northridge Live
Time: April 1, 2012 from 12:15pm to 2pm
Location: Meet at Vallarta Market (Reseda Blvd. & Chase)
City/Town: Northridge
Website or Map: http://salvador.pelaez@yahoo.…
Event Type: community, walk
Organized By: Sal Pelaez
Latest Activity: 2 minutes agoExport to Outlook or iCal (.ics)
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I know most everyone is going to the shooting range ribbon cutting ceremony, but this might also be a great opportunity to meet and Network with some of the local community leaders, residents and businesses owners. I'm going to try and make it to both events if possible for a little bit! Take some photos, shake hands, etc... If I can't make it to the shooting range please take some photos for our facebook page! Let people know they can like us at http://facebook.com/sundialmedia and follow us on twitter @sundialmedia :) Thanks Team!
Community Walk – RESCHEDULED FOR this coming Sunday, April 1, 2012 - NO FOOLIN'!!
Meet at Vallarta Market bike rack area (corner of Chase Street and Reseda Blvd.) at 12 Noon. Group leaves at 12:15 PM. We will walk west to Wilbur Avenue and Chase Street (visit future pocket park area). The group will then loop back to Reseda Blvd. and Chase Street.
At approx 12:45pm the group will then proceed north along Reseda Blvd. to Lum-Ka-Naad Thai Restaurant (8910 Reseda Boulevard). Arrival time is approx. 1pm.
If you wish to skip the walk and join the group for lunch you are encouraged to do so.
Rain cancels.
If you have questions contact Sal at salvador.pelaez@yahoo.com
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