KUCI: Get the Funk Out!

FANTASTIC HUMANS features guests from all walks of life whose passion is contagious and awe-inspiring.

Creator and host Andrea Westmeyer will premiere her immersive talk show on Saturday, August 26th @ 5:30pm, at the Harmony Gold Theater in Hollywood, and has sponsored a fundraiser for The Rhythmic Arts Project (TRAP), a charity founded by her guest and musician Eddie Tuduri.

Tuduri is a prolific drummer who has worked with many of the world’s greatest entertainers, both touring and in countless studio recordings. His tenure includes the Beach Boys, Dobie Gray, Del Shannon, Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Dr. John, The Five Man Electric Band, Wha-Koo, Marianne Faithful, Martha Reeves, John Stewart, Steve Perry, Kenny Neal, Tata Vega, Ronnie Laws, Englebert Humperdinck, Dwight Yoakum, Johnny Rivers, Freddy Fender and Charlie Rich, Michael McDonald, and Jimmy Messina.

In 1997, a catastrophic surfing accident left him a quadriplegic, with medical experts saying he would be wheelchair-bound and never walk or play music again. He proved them wrong, making a miraculous recovery, and went on to develop his innovative educational curriculum, TRAP. The program is designed for individuals with intellectual differences, teaching them life-enhancing skills, and is currently available in 20 countries worldwide.

The evening will begin with a screening of Eddie’s episode “Rubbing Shoulders with Angels,” which takes us on a fantastic but humble human's unprecedented journey. A Q&A with Westmeyer & Tuduri, moderated by Fantastic Humans’ producer Sean Michael Beyer will be immediately after, and a special performance from a TRAP alumnus and some of the fantastic professional musicians who support Eddie’s program. A cocktail reception will follow.

What: Fantastic Humans Premiere

proceeds benefiting TRAP

When: Saturday, August 26th, 5:30pm

Where: Harmony Gold Theater

7655 West Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046

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In his latest solo comedy show “Unassisted Living,” now airing on Tubi, Fritz Coleman reminds audiences why he’s been welcome in people’s homes for nearly four decades, whether as a legendary Los Angeles weatherman or as a tireless comic always developing new material for his act. “This one is about getting older,” says Coleman, “and, as always, it’s just the truth of my life lately.”

As a young-ish 70-something who has dealt with aging in the time of Obamacare, big pharma and the pandemic, Coleman was actually eager to get back to a “regular” comedy routine after two years of pandemic-era entertainment. He continued to co-host the Media Path Podcast with Louise Palanker, trading observations on pop culture with a variety of guests from Pat Boone to Henry Winkler to Congressman Adam Schiff, but was eager to get back to performing comedy in front of an audience, even as nightclubs were still closed.

Fortunately, his age and peer demographic started working for him.

Coleman and his production team on “Unassisted Living” also took advantage of a Covid-era bingeing – in this case, the acclaimed HBO series “Hacks” – for inspiration. Delighted by the episode where Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) “revives” her tired act in a small nightclub, they sought out the same venue (“The Marilyn Monroe Forum” room at the El Portal Theatre) as a location. “It was a great cabaret-style setting, about 80 people, and we staged it the same way, lit it the same way, because it was perfect for the act.”

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Toll shares the story of her journey to becoming what Forbes called “a real-life Professor Sprout from Harry Potter” and founder of the Herbiary stores. From her early years as a seeker yearning for a life filled with magic, to her apprenticeship in Ireland with an acclaimed herbalist and healer, Toll’s colorful account reveals how her relentless search for magic led her to live the life of her dreams.

About Letting Magic In

From Maia Toll, the best-selling author of the Wild Wisdom series and The Night School, comes the enchanted story of her own magical awakening, a journey from Brooklyn to Ireland that will inspire readers to uncover their own inner magic.

What is the word for craving a relationship with the earth, plants, rocks, and stars? What do you call someone who finds their spirit sparked by these relationships; whose concept of the sacred is altered by the scent of jasmine in bloom or the deep indigo of a sky awaiting nightfall? We’re taught that doctors know our bodies and priests know our souls. But what if you’re a person seeking to understand both for yourself without an intermediary? What is the word for these feelings and the person we become when we honor them?

For writer Maia Toll, that word is magic. Magic points to something intrinsic to, and necessary for, the wholeness of the human spirit. It’s a marker for the gnawing craving for a connection which includes, but also stretches beyond, the human realm. The exploration of this word was part of her search for both personal empowerment and a sense of cosmic connectedness, the yin and yang of our lives. In Letting Magic In Maia shares the story of her own magical becoming—from the untimely death of a friend that leads her to abandon Brooklyn in favor of the small town of Beacon, NY, to taking a yearlong sabbatical of exploration, and finally to Ireland, where she studied under an herbalist and learned the true magic of listening to the earth itself.

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Lisa Cornwell never shied away from standing up to bullies.

As a freshman in college, she saw a man punch a woman in the face while a paralyzed crowd stood by and watched. Seconds later, she took matters into her own hands—with a 3-iron from her golf bag.

This impulse crystallized years later when Cornwell publicly spoke out against the misogynistic culture she and others experienced at the hands of their employer, Golf Channel/NBCUniversal. Throughout her time at the network, she challenged the toxic environment and was quickly branded a “troublemaker"—a label that often accompanies women who refuse to play by an antiquated set of rules.

In this authentic and unreserved memoir, Cornwell takes readers inside the boys’ club of sports media and reveals how powerful corporations cover up wrongdoings. For her, what began with retaliation exploded into a public smear campaign and, ultimately, her dismissal. She also shares the unlikely yet formative touchstones of her life: a close friendship with Tiger Woods when both were nationally ranked junior golfers; her cousin, Bill Clinton, being elected President of the United States; and the private demons she battled as a young adult that almost cost her everything.

Candid and compulsively readable, Troublemaker serves as a reminder of the ability we possess to stand up to a Goliath...and the virtue in finding one’s own path.

Farewelling is a wildly creative psychological thriller made out of the deep frustrations the creators were feeling from the pandemic. The Director particularly wanted to focus on the challenges women specifically went through during the pandemic, and through the female lens. There were so many mental health challenges women faced, but yet due to prioritizing everyone else’s well being above their own, they neglected their own mental health.

Logline of film: In the midst of the pandemic and aftermath of her best friend’s overdose, Jenna finds herself in crisis as she reunites with those still around her. Questions of her own ethics and morals surface as she grapples with the “why” of everything, eventually discovering what it takes to truly break us.

Director/ Writer/Producer Rodes Phire. Executive Producer by Ty Gordon. “Jenna” is played by Cristen Coppen (Shameless).

After nearly thirty feature films as a director, and another several dozen credits as a stunt performer and coordinator on major Hollywood blockbusters, filmmaker JESSE V. JOHNSON Is wrapping up work on no fewer than three action features to be released in 2023. With the western-influence crime drama “One Ranger” (with Thomas Jane and John Malkovich), the period action adventure “Boudica” (with Olga Kurylenko, “Quantum of Solace”), and the CIA spy thriller “Chief of Station” (starring Kurylenko and Aaron Eckhart), Johnson continues to bring new life, energy, and imagination to the world of action-oriented filmmaking.

Growing up the Winchester, UK, Johnson was raised far from the trappings of show business, but fell in love with the cinematic art form through watching great westerns and other classics that gave him a unique sense of the storytelling possibilities of the American west. “My heroes are John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, Anthony Mann, Budd Boeticher,” he says. “Their films often reflected characters pushed to the very limits of their endurance, they were universal themes and timeless.”

That can certainly be seen in Johnson’s first release this year, “One Ranger,” which features Thomas Jane as a modern-day Texas Ranger who is recruited by British intelligence to help stop a potential terrorist attack on the UK. The dogged, relentless pursuit for justice gives hero Ranger Alex Tyree a strong moral compass that compliments his extraordinary skills as a tracker.

getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Told through individual stories with families, and grief experts, the documentary explores how we can normalize grief in our society and actively help others to process the pain of losing a loved one. Actor-author Anthony Rapp (Broadway’s RENT, StarTrek: Discovery), author and grief expert David Kessler (Finding Meaning, ABC Good Morning America contributor) and actor John Farley ( the brother of late comedian Chris Farley), will attend the world premiere on Sun July 2 @ 12:15 PM to share their experiences dealing with grief, both personally and collectively, in a country reeling from multiple tragic events in recent years.

“Meet Me Where I Am” is directed by Grant Garry and produced by Stacy Roque, Lisa Kauls and Sharolyn Schmiederer. James Slaven, Director of Photography, worked with Garry for the duration of production, collaborating on their worldwide tour of interviews for the film, The 86 minute documentary also features a mixture of families, counselors, grief advocates and experts including Ron Marasco, Julie Shaw, Cynthia O’Neal, Donna Schuurman, Jana DeCristofaro, Lisa Kauls, Mike Reynolds, Ken Ithiphol, Alicia Forneret, Julisa Golden, and Natalie Kazarian.

Director Garry has always been curious about grief, from his first experience when his grandmother died when he was a teenager to his most recent loss, the death of his uncle. "Meet Me Where I Am" is the culmination of that curiosity, and a dedication to ensuring we all feel better equipped to talk about grief. “After being contacted by our film’s executive producer, Lisa Kauls, and hearing her story, I knew her grief and others’ grief must be witnessed. I was honored to sit down with some of the world’s most renowned grief experts as well as individuals with lived experiences. The rare opportunity this film provides is that the expert talkers also have unique experiences of grief themselves, “ says Garry.

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Based on a true story, a sheltered little girl spends an unnerving afternoon with her estranged father and is left with only her imagination to stop time and escape impending disaster.

“Five and a Half,” an unsettling drama about a little girl on an afternoon drive with her ex-con father, will make its West Coast premiere at this year’s Dances With Films (DWF) Festival, June 22-July 2, 2023 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.

Based on a true story, writer-director Heidi Nyburg and producer Kristin Higgins evoke a heightened sense of peril for little Abbie (Lauren Jude Rosa) as her mother Jess (Katherine Cozumel) reluctantly gives her just-paroled husband Chuck (James Hal Hardy) permission to take Abbie for an afternoon. As the two set off in a red convertible, there is an uneasiness that surfaces and increases as we see that Chuck is not a responsible parent. Little Abbie must utilize her own imagination and grit to survive this ill-fated outing.

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“Angie’s Cure,” the story of a rape victim’s disturbing road to recovery, will make its World Premiere at this year’s Dances With Films (DWF) Festival, Thursday, on Tuesday, June 27th, 9:30PM at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.

The film tells the gripping story of Angie, a former rape victim, who uses the thug robbing her shop to take out her repressed anger. When she decides to prolong the experience by secretly keeping him a prisoner in her basement, the victim turns vigilante, and has a small window to play God. But what will be the price for the sins committed against her? Will the sweet taste of revenge turn her into the very monster she’s feared for all these years? This thrill ride will keep you on the edge of your seat, causing you to blur the lines between what’s right and what’s wrong. With ever shifting power dynamics, Angie’s cure begs the question, “How far would you go to put your trauma behind you?”

“Angie’s Cure”, a New Breed Entertainment production, is directed by Corey Grant, written by Brian Kelsey, Lanett Tachel and Grant, and produced by Audrey Kendrick, James Searles, Tachel and Grant. Tachel stars in the title role, along with Essence Atkins (The Noel Diary), Sean Nelson (A Father’s Pride), Vanessa Williams (Candyman, Days of Our Lives), Denise Boutte (The Bounce Back), and Jennifer Freeman (My Wife and Kids).

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Julia Morizawa is a writer/producer/actress whose work spans all media. Her improvised feature film, JesusCat (or How I Accidentally Joined a Cult), won Best Comedy Feature at the Asians On Film Festival in 2014 and the Movie Heroes Rising Star Award at the Action On Film Festival in 2013. She earned a Best Female Filmmaker nomination at the Action On Film Festival in 2007 for her short, Sin & Lyle. Her play Twenty-Two premiered in Los Angeles in 2010, and her audio drama American Comedy Horror Story: Orphanage, is available worldwide on most podcast apps. Her acting career highlights include Judas Kiss, Scandal, SEAL Team, Masha No Home, Without Annette, Galactic Galaxy, and Star Trek: Odyssey. She is best known for playing the titular Dr. Bright on the hit podcast The Bright Sessions for five seasons and two spin-offs.

DRAGONFLY is written, produced, and directed by Morizawa. Executive Producers are Brian Sturges, James Babbin, John Titchenal, Lucas A. Ferrara, Derek Kolterman, and Christopher Luk. Maria Marta Linero was the Animation Director, with Eva Benitez as Lead Animator. The music is composed by Aiko Fukushima and the Sound Design by Giorgia Garcia-Moreno. Morizawa, Erika Ishii, Miya Kodama, and Thomas Isao Morinaka lend their voices.