ANOTHER LAUREL LEAF!

May 26, 2007

We won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at last weekend's Berkshire International Film Festival! We are particularly proud of this award because it was won in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, which is Tracy and Benjy Seckler's (Charley's parents) home turf. In addition to the regular screening at the film festival, Charley's Fund also hosted a private screening/benefit which raised a lot of money for the cause.

After a few days of rest, seven of us (Ben, Daniel, Collin, Sam, Kevin, Tbarn, and John) left yesterday for the Mountainfilm Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. We flew into Grand Junction, CO, arriving early in the evening, then had to drive 2.5 hours to reach Telluride. Our one and only screening started at 7:20 PM, and we were worried about making it on time for the Q&A. We literally walked into the Nugget Theatre in downtown Telluride just as the closing credits began. And we walked into a PACKED HOUSE!!! The crowd was so enthusiastic. In the audience was producer/director Tom Shadyac (Bruce Almighty, Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Nutty Professor II, Platonically Incorrect, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and more). He got up and announced that he has a new film premiering in mid-June and wants to fly Darius, his mom, and the entire DGW crew out to L.A. for the event!!! (Too bad most of us will be in London!). Another guy in the audience said he knew Oprah personally and promised to make a call to her on our behalf. So, it was a great night!

Mountainfilm Telluride has a unique program called "Next Step," in which they allow movies associated with causes to set up and man a booth during the festival so that word on their causes can be spread. They accepted a very limited number of applications for participation in this program, and ours was one of them. So, today, we all took turns handing out literature and talking to people about Charley's Fund.

We have more DGW "I am the thirteenth crew member" shirts we will be giving out to people who have earned them (this list is not complete, and we will be announcing more soon). Anyway, (in no certain order) here's who will be getting one of these coveted t-shirts: David Walker (Williamette Weekly), Margo Barbakow, Lyle Higginbotham, Marc Pickard (11 Alive News), Kelly Rodgers (our awesome webmaster), Madeline Van Dyck, David Hirsch (Google), Steve Bermen (Interscope Records), Clif Downie (Full EFX Auto Technique), Will White (former;y with UCP), Loreen Arbus (UCP), Kristen Andersen (formerly with Children's Wish Foundation), Marty Johnston, Mark Johnson (Shepherd Center), Grace Voorhis, Kason Rackley, Chris Williams, and Lynn Massey.

We have tiny quantities of these shirts and must reorder before handing any out, So, if you're on our list, sit tight.

Don't forget that these shirts can also be purchased by making a $1,000 donation to Charley's Fund. Folks who recently bought these limited edition shirts include: Stacy Nelkin & Marco Greenberg, Helice Picheny, and Frederic & Renee Keator.

Know about it!