IndieFEST Award of Merit

Congratulations to filmmaker Misha Zubarev on receiving an AWARD OF MERIT from IndieFEST for his short film Cake: A Love Story!  My husband and I are very happy about this award because the movie is based on It Had To Be Us, an award-winning romantic memoir we co-wrote under the pen names of Harry & Elizabeth Lawrence.

IndieFEST discovers and honors the achievements of filmmakers who produce high quality films and new media. The AWARD OF MERIT honors “notable artistic and technical productions.”

A major goal of this festival involves promoting filmmakers of cinematic gems and unique voices to a worldwide audience.

We are proud of Misha Zubarev and his assistant V. Ulea for their sensitive adaptation of our story about how true love can stand the test of time. And we applaud the cast (Debra Lord Cooke, Richard Vernon, Nancy Lombardo, George Bettinger) and entire crew for their impressive work on this beautiful film.        

International Online Film Festival Selection

I am happy to announce that Cake: A Love Story has been designated an Official Selection of the 2017 NSAEN International Online Film Festival.

Cake: A Love Story is a short film based on It Had To Be Us, the award-winning romantic memoir my husband and I co-wrote under the pen names of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence. The book tells about our journey back together after a divorce and estrangement that lasted almost twenty years. Adapted and directed by Misha Zubarev with the assistance of V. Ulea, the movie stars Debra Lord Cooke as Elizabeth and Richard Vernon as Harry. Nancy Lombardo and George Bettinger portray Elizabeth’s friends. Congratulations to the cast and crew for this special recognition of their fine work!

It’s an honor to be part of the first annual film festival sponsored by the No Strings Attached E-News Online Magazine. This special festival was created to bring together filmmakers from around the world to showcase their work in an exclusively online format. Because online is the way many people today view movies, news and TV series, NSAEN folks want to recognize new media professionals who demonstrate craft and creativity and produce fresh entertainment.

A panel of celebrity judges will pick winners in eleven categories, and the results will be announced during December of this year.  

(Thanks to Denise Cassino for the lovely collage.) 

A Night To Remember

Talk about a stroll down memory lane. No, I take that back. Watching Brave New Jersey was more like a time travel trip to a special 1938 October night when my cousins and I were enjoying our weekly ride in the backseat of Uncle Frank’s car. After about fifteen minutes, we got a bit rowdy so Aunt Elizabeth said, “Turn on the radio, Frank. Maybe that will calm these kids down.”

But instead of calming us down, the program we heard just happened to be the infamous Orson Welles’ dramatization of Martian attacks. Unfortunately we got in after the announcement at the beginning of the show. And, of course, like many other listeners who tuned in late  -- we thought this was a news broadcast. Well, you can imagine how frightened we were!

Uncle Frank decided that we would head to the hills and hide from the monsters. By the time we arrived in the small mountain community near our town, we heard the announcer explain about this dramatization – and we couldn’t stop laughing all the way home.     

Brave New Jersey is so much fun.

You’ll chuckle lots before it’s done.

It’s based on facts about a prank

that we have Orson Welles to thank.

His hoax fooled folks in days gone by.

It made them fear and scream and cry.

This comedy shows a small town

in panic searching space men down.

Though not one creature can be found,

these folks still try to hold their ground.

Some lives are changed by this big night.

For the better? Yes, that is right.

The film excels production-wise.

Period look should win a prize.

The actors fit their roles with ease.

Their funny actions aim to please!

Director/writer Jody Lambert uses the impact of the Welles radio broadcast as the backdrop for his amusing movie. He deserves kudos for putting together a wonderful, diverse cast and crew to create a film that looks as real as possible. The sets, costumes, autos, and hair/makeup made me feel like I was back in 1938. (Full disclosure: I’m one of the few folks still living who remember what things were like during that time period.)       

Brave New Jersey proves that nostalgia can be exciting as well as fun.