Industry Social Night First Monday of Every Month We are taking temporary hiatus from our monthly Industry Social Night, but they will resume soon. Keep checking back for more infomation! Friday May 3rd, 2002 This special evening featured performances by DISHA’s very own Purva Bedi and Rizwan Manji as well as fellow actors Lina Patel and Gita Reddy. Purva Bedi and Lina Patel performed an excerpt of Keshni Keshyap’s That’s the Noise and a sketch by Purva Bedi called The Toasty and Cookie Show. Rizwan Manji and Gita Reddy performed Rehana Mirza'a Love Story/Arranged Marriage. Lina Patet also read excerpts of her poetry. The performances was followed by Q&A session about the differences in the acting industries of Los Angeles and New York. Bedi and Patel are actively pursuing roles in the Hollywood scene in LA, while Reddy and Manji are both New York residents pursuing theater and film here. Monday April 1st, 2002 After a successful Industry Social night in February, the April Social Night was a great success as well. The concentration for the event was in the field of casting. Two speakers were present for the event hosted by the A.I.R. Gallery in Soho. They included ADAM MOORE of NON TRADITIONAL CASTING and ELSIE STARK of STARK NAKED PRODUCTIONS. Both guests spoke about their experiences in the industry as casting professionals and tips for actors on how the industry is changing for the future, when it comes to multicultural casting in theatre, film and television. The event was held at A.I.R. Gallery, a women’s art gallery, at 40 Wooster Street, in Soho. If you missed the social, but would like to send you headshot/resumes to our latest speakers, please read their bios for further information. Adam Moore, Assistant to the Executive Director and Artist Files Manager at the Non-Traditional Casting Project (NTCP), is also currently completing his B.A. at Columbia University in Writing and Film. Only in New York for the past year, Mr. Moore grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles's South Bay. At NTCP, he assists the Executive Director in all aspects of running this not-for-profit advocacy group for artists of color and/or disability; such as grant writing and consulting. As Artist Files Manager, it is his duty to maintain the database of 3,000 artists, located both in the office and on the company's website, www.ntcp.org. This online service is free to artists (actor, director, writer, designer, choreographer, stage manager, etc. ) , so please send your information with union affiliation to AFO, Non-Traditional Casting Project, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1600, New York, NY 10036. Elsie Stark has over 20 years of experience in the industry first in production, as an agent and, for the past 20 years, as a casting director. She has an extensive knowledge of the unlimited talent pool in New York, as well talent union regulations and contract negotiations. In addition, Ms. Stark's language expertise, have been called upon to cast for Spanish language projects as well. Film credits include the independent feature films “Because of You” (Concorde/New Horizons, 1996) for director Ryu Murikami, romantic comedy “What’s Your Sign?” (New Ideas Prods./Siren Films, 1998, “Blue Diner” (1999) directed by Jan Egleson for PBS and slated to be released in 2001, and "Lost and Found" (2001) directed by Felix Olivier. Theater projects include the critically acclaimed drama "Trophies" (1993) which ran at the Cherry Lane Theater as well as the musical "Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi" (Jewish Rep.), "A Perfect Diamond" starring Josh Mostel, "A Silent Thunder" starring Nestor ! Carbonell written by Eduardo Ivan Lopez for the Apple Corp. Theater, the American New York debut of “Ourselves Alone”(1997) by award winning Irish playwright Anne Devlin, and “4 Guys Named Jose…and a mujer named Maria”. She has cast over 2000 commercials of every conceivable type. She works for MTV, VH-1 and Comedy Central. Past television assignments have included the pilot for "Coral Gables", NBC's "Missing Reward” and the novella “Emerald Chain” for Solomon International Enterprises. Elsie is a member of NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION, and she is on the Advisory Board of Directors of (H.O.L.A.) the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. She worked on the N.Y. ADDY AWARDS from 1991-1996 and was a co-chairperson in 1995. In addition Ms. Stark is a member of the faculty of The School for Film & Television where she teaches classes to actors in audition techniques for commercials. To submit your headshot and resume, send to Stark Naked Productions, 39 West 19th Street, ! New York, N.Y. 10011. February 4th, 2002 The kickoff DISHA Industry Social was a beautiful event, held at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery at 137 Greene Street in Soho. With approximately 40 attendees, the gallery lent towards an intimate networking setting and our artist community was able to meet one another as well as speak with our invited guests: Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru.com, Deepa Purohit of Rising Circle, and Diane Spence from the IFP. Our knowledgable speakers covered a variety of topics, but the theme of the evening seemed to be "Connect, connect, connect - It's all in the relationships." Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com and box office analyst for CNN Financial News, will be speaking on the many possibilities for South Asians to build a niche in the entertainment industry. Gitesh is the producer of the hit indie film, "American Desi", and is a media consultant specializing in the marketing and distribution of South Asian films. Diane Spence of the Independent Feature Project, one of the foundational cornerstones of the New York Indie film scene, will speak about the IFP and how South Asians can become involved in the organization that has created the premier market for emerging American independent talent and attracts buyers from around the world to view feature and short films, documentaries, works-in-progress, and scripts seeking financing. Some of the leading independent films that have been discovered at the IFP Market include: Clerks, The Brothers McMullen, Metropolitan, Poison, Reservoir Dogs, Roger and Me, Slacker, Stand and Deliver, Stranger than Paradise, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and more... Deepa Purohit, an actress and co-founder Rising Circle, will speak of the artistic process and of various support networks for fledgling artists. Her organization, Rising Circle, is a community of theater artists whose primary goal is to create, workshop, and perform theatre works that encompass the often untold stories of people of color. The members of Rising Circle are not only committed to creating or reinventing work for themselves, but also to nurturing and supporting the work of their fellow members. With two successful showcases amongst their accomplishments, their belief holds true: ***When one strives alone, the obstacles are many. Linked with others, the circle rises together*** (l. to r.) Diane Spence, Gitesh Pandya, Deepa Purohit South Asian artists mingle with our guest speakers. Andy Brown (Disha Webmaster) and Gitesh Pandya discuss trade secrets.