The Day After

We are fine here in Jackson Heights.  We even have electricity!  But we are also stuck:  all the subway lines running under the East River are flooded, and most of the bridges are closed too.  Portions of La Guardia's runways, just two miles from us, are under water (the same with JFK).  It makes us realize that we live on an island off the mainland of the United States.  Our friends in lower Manhattan didn't fare so well: streets flooded, no electricity, no subway or bus service.  Also, our favorite beach, Breezy Point, in the Rockaways, is a disaster scene.

Hurricane Sandy!

As I write this, the winds are kicking up and the storm is barreling toward us here in NYC.  We've stockpiled canned food, lots of water, batteries for the flashlights and radio.  Logan and Jett are thrilled to be out of school.  Hopefully, we're prepared.  Heather arrived on a flight from Nashville, her plane being the last to get into La Guardia before it shut down.  Here we are in the busiest city in America and there are no subway, trains, or planes moving.  Eerie.  So, now, we wait.

NYC Indie Film Festival

How can it be October already?  I mean, it was July, like, yesterday.

Okay, time for an update:

In August, Can't Dance screened at The Feel Good Festival in North Hollywood.  I was amazed at North Hollywood's transformation since my L.A. days.  It's no longer a cultural wasteland of tract houses and strip malls -- far from it!  It's a hip community of ethnic restaurants, loft apartment buildings, and art galleries.  This town has come a long way since the Northridge Earthquake nearly flattened it.

At the festival, I particularly liked the feature film Barmy, the story of a disabled misanthrope who falls in love with his nurse.  I owe a big thanks to my generous friend Susan Cartsonis for offering to let me stay with her at her home in Santa Monica.   What a dream to wake up every morning and walk the beach!  I teach with Susan at the Wilkes University M.F.A. program, and she's the talented producer of films such as What Women Want.

While in L.A. I saw Herington High School buddy Craig Meyers who -- how is this for a small world story? -- happens to randomly know Susan.  We all went to dinner at the L.A. Farmers Market on my last night in town, laughing and eating too much.  I was sad to fly out the next morning.

In September, Can't Dance screened at the D.C. Shorts Film Festival to a packed house, along with
a line up of films from around the world.  It was beyond cool to be screened on Pennsylvania Avenue, just blocks from the White House, and across the street from the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Headquarters.

While in D.C., Heather, Logan, Jett and I stayed with Stacy Parkinson, former First Lady of Kansas.  She and Governor Parkinson have purchased a new home in Bethesda, Maryland, and we were their first overnight guests at the new digs.  Stacy took us on a nature hike along the Potomac River, and Logan and Jett actually jumped in to cool off!  Man, is D.C. humid in August.

Can't Dance will next screen at the NYC Indie Film Fest on October 20, 11:30 a.m. at the Producer's Club, 358 West 44th Street in New York City.  Please come out.  After NYC Indie, Can't Dance will be distributed by Indie Flix and will be available on-line for all to see.

Finally, My Kansas, the memoir/documentary I'm collaborating with Don Cato on is plugging right along.  More on that experimental film soon...

The New Film & Los Angeles

Hi Folks,

July started in Kansas where we shot five hours of new footage for the latest film project, a remembrance-of-things-past documentary about growing up in the geographical center of America in the 1970s and 80s.  This new non-fiction film is an experimental departure for me, combining 8mm home movies, photographs, animation, vintage films from the Kansas State Historical Society and local news reports from the era.  I'm thrilled Don Cato, filmmaker and co-director of the Queens World Film Festival, has come aboard as producer!

Back in New York, Can't Dance played at the New Filmmakers New York series at the Anthology Film Archives.  A week later the film was shown at the New Hope Film Festival in Pennsylvania.  Attending these festivals has opened my eyes to the fact technology is allowing a new generation of filmmakers to create electronic visual stories for very little money, and the results are often quite impressive.  Thanks to the digital revolution it's never been a better time to make movies.

Now it's off to Los Angeles and The Feel Good Film Festival.  Can't Dance will be shown at the Laemmle NoHo 7 Theater at 5240 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, at 11am this coming Saturday.  Please tell your friends!  I'll be on the Q&A panel afterward. The block of films we will be screened alongside look terrific.  Check out the festival's trailer on YouTube.

Stay cool, everyone!

More News!

Hi Folks,


More great news for Can't Dance.  The film has been chosen by New Filmmakers New York to be screened on July 9th, 2012, at the Anthology Film Archives, Courthouse Theater, 32 Second Avenue, at Second Street, New York City. We will be shown along with three other short films starting at 6pm.  Please come see the movie!  Invite your friends and neighbors!  Heck, invite your enemies!  Then join us for a drink afterward!


More announcements soon... 

"Can't Dance" Goes Hollywood!

Karen Lynn Gorney in "Can't Dance"

I just found out "Can't Dance" is a finalist in the Hollywood Feel Good Film Festival.  If you are in L.A., please come see the film on August 4th at the Laemmle NoHo Theater, 5240 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood.

Now, for the East Coast:  "Can't Dance" is a official selection of the New York City Independent Film Festival.  Details soon.  I'm receiving a lot of emails from people asking when and how can they see the film.  I have accepted an offer from Indie Flix to distribute the film on the web and on DVD; however, the film can't be broadcast until we have finished the festival circuit.

Thanks again, everyone, for supporting "Can't Dance".

We Won!

Great news:  Can't Dance, the short comedy film I wrote and directed, just won the Short. Sweet. Film Festival. in Ohio!   Thanks to the cast and crew for making this film work in the best of ways!  This photo of Catherine Wolf, "Phyllis," says it all.

The Latest: Fellow KGB Agents

The Latest: Fellow KGB Agents: Thank you all for coming out to KGB Bar Thursday night for what turned out to be a fun night of prose and poetry reading.  I plan to put u...

Fellow KGB Agents

Thank you all for coming out to KGB Bar Thursday night for what turned out to be a fun night of prose and poetry reading.  I plan to put up clips on YouTube soon.  Because of the audience's positive response to my memoir, I'm psyched to finish the book.  Patricia Florio, Brian Fanelli and Taylor Polites, it was an honor to read with you guys.  Sandee, I'm sorry the spider bite kept you in Pennsylvania.  Many thanks to Monique for organizing and emceeing.

I finally have a blog

Hey everyone,

Yes, I finally have a blog!