Voice of an African Nation

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, AZ USA
How exciting! BAD T!MIN!G is now on imdb.com (Internet Movie Database). Now it definately feels official. We are filmmakers now and we made a movie to prove it! Any and everybody can now search it on the movie database. I think once you made it on there, then you made it because you have to apply for it. Not just anybody can do it. You have to show proof. Thanks to Cyndi she applied and we got it baby! We are intermixed with the big guys in the biz.

Here is a direct link: http://imdb.com/title/tt1207632/

Download file

Check it out and see everyone that was involved in it. It's only a matter of time when we will have the documentary up on there with it. Then we will have two films on there. Ha beat that. Yeah us! :)

Posted by Jeniece at 09:12 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, ARIZONA-
"Watch your life like a movie" is what Cyndi has told me. Not just my life but also watch other peoples lives. I realized that life is kind of like one big movie and we all play little characters in each other's lives. But sometimes we don't. It may have an effect on someone elses life which effects your life. Kind of like a dominos effect. Given that all the pieces are correctly in place. Sometimes you don't know how it will end and that is our key to unfolding what will happen. You can tell by watching others by the choices they make on how it will end or turn out. But in the end we all have the choice to making it a happy ending or sad. We will go through character changes or not. It's your choice. We have a A story "all about you", a B story "your family life", and hopefully a C story "your love life".And even a D story "the outside world".

About a month ago I was feeling really blue. I decided to go out with some friends to get me distracted but that didn't help. I was so tired and it was late that ended up falling asleep in my truck when I got home. Then I woke up about and hour later (2:30am) to the cold weather. I shut the door only to realize that I had just locked my keys in the car. To make it worst. I lost my spare. I then had to call my sister to come let me in the house. I looked everywhere (about an hour) for that stupid spare but it was nowhere to be found. So I went to bed not wanting to deal with it anymore. At least not until the next morning.

The next day was Sunday. I was planning on going to church but had to scratch that idea cause my keys were still locked in the truck and I was just poopy mood. I finally broke down and called a locksmith (my friend referred me to). I felt bad enough that I wasn't goin to church but then to make someone have to work on Sunday too made me feely even worse. When I called the guy, he was not in such a great mood. I apologized and was very kind to him but that didnlt make a difference. Neither did it help that he got lost. His fault not mine. I gave him the exact directions. When he finally found me he suddenly became nice. Maybe cause he was an older guy and I was a younger person. Not sure. But he was nicer and even tried to make a joke. "It takes longer to find the car then open it." Yeah no kidding. Took him about 2 minutes, including setting it up, popping it open and cleaning up.

I thought ok fine, pay the guy and then I can get back to feelin blue. But apparently that's not hat the guy had in mind. He talked to me for another 25 minutes, filling my head with information about Murphy's Law, TV and film trivia, the Gerber baby and among other things. I think cause I was wearing my filmzambia shirt. That might have gave him some sort of clue. Needless to say, thae man made me feel like an idiot. First of all I was not in the mood to have chit chat and second he was talking at me. Not to me. There's a difference. At one point I kind of tuned him out and saw him as a character. He actually looked like he could be a character in a movie. Because all of a sudden he was talking to me about in a making of an old movie, a woman had died from suffication from being painted in green paint. At that moment, he felt the urge to show me what its like to be sufficated by putting his hand around my head and over my mouth.

Have you ever watched a scarey movie and you're yelling at the screen because the chick is making stupid decisions when the killer approaches? And of course you put your two cents in saying "if I were her, I would have done....(you fill in the blanks)." Or "she's stupid for doing that". Well I can honestly say I was one of those stupid girls.

At that moment, with this strange man putting his hand over my mouth and pressing firmly (in broad daylight), all I thought was, "is this really happening? Is this how a killer gets his victims?" Honestly at that moment it felt like a dream. I just stood there. I just thought this is like some movie. "The Locksmith" starring Jeniece Toranzo and the Locksmith. dun dun duunnn..... (I have know idea what his real name is). Yep that was my life like a movie. About 10-20 seconds later he let go. It felt much longer though. He chatted with me for a bit more longer and then finally left. Very surreal. Later come to find out after googling it, the lady who "died" in the making of the 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger" was Shirley Eaton and she was cover in gold paint not green and she really didn't die. Here is a link to her info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Eaton

Shows not everyone gets their facts right about movie trivia. My guess is that he had a lot of knowledge that he had gained throughout his life and wanted to share it. I guess.......watch your life like a movie, see what you come up with.... drama...comedy...romance...thriller......?

Posted by Jeniece at 08:51 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, ARIZONA
Recently I came across this job posting on Craiglist. It's actually a response to a job posting. When I saw it I thought "wow that's so true." Most of the time, the people who are not in the industry and are requesting these types of services don't realize how much money and time actually does go into creating what you want. What you are paying for is the experience, the knowledge that the individually has that they may bring about the vision that you have. It also pays for all the expensive equiptment. So you have to decide what you think you are worth. Wether you are a writer, cinematographer, editor, gaffer...whatever it may be, believe in yourself and your talent or gift and believe that you are worth the price in your proposal in a specific project. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. You shouldn't go too little or too high. But be realistic and reasonable.

_________________________________________________________________________

Re: Videographer

Reply to: job-451298715@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-10-16, 7:28PM MST

Panasonic AG DVX100b Camcorder $3,500.00

Sennheiser Shotgun Mic $450.00

Sennheiser Lav System $700.00

Lighting Package $1,200.00

Tha fact that someone would even ask a professional
videographer to shoot with his own gear for $10 to $15
dollars an hour....Priceless!

Location: Out There
Compensation: As little as possible
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this
job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services,
products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 451298715
________________________________________________________________________________

Posted by Jeniece at 05:28 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA — After working on the video about the crew, I decided to make a video of just the faculty. After all, they are our teachers and they did keep us safe. Good lookin' out faculty. This time it only took me 2 days to complete compared to a few weeks on the crew. Well there were like 15 people, that I searched for footage about, compared to 3. Huge difference. Anyway, although we were pretty much all at the same playing field going over there to Lusaka, we still admired and looked up to them for guidance and inspiration. If it weren't for them (Cyndi, Jeanette, Kai, and Gingher) we would have been a complete total mess. Cyndi was the producer. She ran around all day with Pam to make sure we had locations in place with cast and crew on set. Jeanette helped with the cast and crew's needs and made sure that everyone was safe. She was like our mother hen. Kai studied film and therefore able to communicate with the people of Zambia in regards to the filmmaking process. She helped with meeting with people to get an educational exchange program going. Gingher also helped with the exhange program with Kai and Jeanette. She also used her drawing skills to make portraits of the cast and the children of Lusaka. I believe it was an amazing experience for all of them and that they were able to learn just as much as the student crew did. We all grew enormously in a way that would not have been possible had we had done this project back in the U.S. I know they will cherish this experience and apply it to their teaching of future students at MCC.

Posted by Jeniece at 08:05 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO – "GIDGET" – MESA, AZ — So, tomorrow is another big day with the District ... AGAIN. The hearing was only supposed to last one day and one day only. Ironically, on the exact same day last year we left for Lusaka, Zambia, AFRICA to shoot BAD TIMING. And ironically, the hearing tomorrow is the exact same day of our last day of shooting one year ago. What an amazing day that was! We first shot at the Angel Newspaper and then we went to the Le Triomphe Dolphin to film Danny performing. What a rush. So much was going on. It was amazing!

Well, since the first hearing on 8 August, we have had two more full days of testimony and now, tomorrow, will be the fourth (and we hope final) day of testimony with the Maricopa Community College District. One of the main purposes of the hearing is our fight for the rights to the films.

Read more on the article by Ryan Gabrielson from the Mesa Tribune online. And be sure to leave a comment. Tell us your opinions.....whether it's positive or negative, we about free of speech and sharing your voice.

Posted by Jeniece at 09:33 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, ARIZONA-Yesterday Cyndi was awarded for winning (this month's) "Woman of the Year" on 99.9 KEZ Beth and Bill. I was unable to attend and tape it because of work. We were not able to find anybody else available to fill in either. Now, almost half of the crew have moved on to bigger and better things. Shawn is in Los Angeles, Jacob and Alec are in New York, Heath is in Utah, Robbie's in Oklahoma, and Jared moved to Flagstaff. The ones that are left are Cyndi, Pam, Nick, Edgar, M.K., Carlos, Mike, and me.

So unfortunately she had to go by herself to receive her award. I think it's awesome and if it weren't for Pam writing in and nominating her then it wouldn't have happened! This is something she needed right now especially with all the drama going on with the films trying to be taken away.

Here is the description of what the "Woman of the Year" must accomplish.

Schumacher Mercedes-Benz and 99.9 KEZ presents The Beth McDonald Woman of the Year Award. This year-long feature celebrates Arizona's amazing women!

Each month Beth McDonald will choose one woman who has made a difference.

-Has shown an incredible act of generosity. (UMM.... HECK YEAH! CHECK! THE ZAMBIA PROJECT.... just to name one...)

-Is a trendsetter and has paved the way for others. (CHECK!- THE WHOLE MEDIA ARTS PROGRAM AT MCC. Not to mention a numerous student successes in the field!)

-Has made a difference in someone's life. (CHECK! WOULD THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY COUNT?! And of course-all of her Art Media Art Students!)

-Represents the image of a true best friend. (CHECK! HER "JOHARI WINDOWS" ARE ALL ALWAYS OPEN! So She Is Totally Open And Tells You How It Is And Is Completely Loyal To All Her Firends.)

-Has achieved success in business. (CHECK! YEPPERS! YOU BETCHA! She was with FilmZambia Project and she was trying to do that with the MCC Media Arts Program, but NOoooooo. A certain somebody from MCC wouldn't let that happen. Sounds like jealousy if you ask me.)

-Show dedication to education. (CHECK! THIS IS WHAT SHE LIVES FOR 24/7! She's a natural and looooves it! She even taught some classes for free at MCC just so the students would be able to graduate!)

-Has shown an act of heroism. (CHECK! EVERYDAY. EVERYTIME SHE GETS KNOCKED DOWN...SHE GETS RIGHT BACK UP. SHE TOOK THE RISK....WHEN NOBODY ELSE WANTED TO. ...... to the Akon tune "you can put the blame on me....you can put the blame on me....")

ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI CYNDI!

Posted by Jeniece at 08:08 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA- I just received an email the other day from Johnaphan Mvula, Jabbes Mvula's nephew. I can't believe he remembered that it has been a year since the crew and I were in Lusaka, Zambia. It's AMAZING that it has already been a year! It feels like such a dream now. I am so glad that we had most of it documented because I wouldn't have believed it myself that we actually went! Exactly one year today, which was Sunday, we were filming the N'goni Warriors. What an amazing experience that was. I remember that we had just arrived into Lusaka, Zambia on Friday. That same day we arrived at the Krazulu Kraal and met Dr. N'goma. Everything was happening so fast. We barely had enough time to get to the Lodge and unpack. Before we knew it, we were off to Mandevu. I was so excited! That place was so amazing and the people there were so beautiful and all so friendly! Everywhere you went was a "kodak moment" and so rich in color. It truly was a neat experience. One of my most favorite memories, I remember Cyndi always yelling my name and then had some of the other crew yelling for me because they were afraid that I would get lost since I'm vertically challenged. Yes...that's right. I am short. You know, I asked God if I could be taller....but He said "No."

At Mandevu, there were so many people and tons of children all curious as to why there were a large amount of "white" people coming with all of these cameras. They are so cute and photogenic. The camera really loves them and they really love the camera. It was amazing to be able to exerience that for a moment. After that we started to leave and saw a group of grownups playing a game with rocks. I'm not exactly sure how the game went. I wasn't paying attention when the gentlemen were trying to explain it the Cyndi. I got distracted buy a large bus full of mostly women and children, singing and piling out of it. It literally was shocking to see how many people came out of that thing. It was like watching the clowns at the circus coming out of their little bug and you can't help but say "how'd they do that?" It was definitely a neat little trick. Nothing you'd see back in the states that's for sure. Then the most hilarious thing happened. They were all singing and Alec started to dance the "harlem shake" with them. They just loved it. It was a great way to end our first big excursion out into the community.

The next day we went to shoot the N'goni warriors. On the way up to the village, the warriors all sang and clapped hands. As soon as we arrived to the village, everyone quickly got out of the but and started photographing and recording the warrior dancers. It all happened so quickly. I helped Carlos by being his guide (so he wouldn't trip while he walked backwards in the village) while he shot closeups of the warriors dancing. It was all too surreal.

In the end the whole trip completely changed my life. I believe it changed all of us, for the better. I am NOT the same person I was a year ago and I am glad. I have come out of my shell tremendously and learned to express my feelings more. Man, I sound like a guy. Ha-ha, I realized that I matter and that everyone else matters too. Everyone is entitled to his or her own feelings. And it only took me 25 years to figure that out. Ha-ha...Cyndi once told me that when she first met me, she thought I was frighteningly shy. All I was thinking was "Dang! I knew I was shy, but not frighteningly shy." I can only laugh at that cause it's really really ridiculously funny.

The past few weeks have been tremendously hard. As I watch all of the clips and photos of the cast, crew, and the locals, I can't help but get emotional. Yep, this is where the girl side of me comes out. I can't believe what an amazing crew we were and are. We did such an amazing thing. Cyndi asked me to put together a video of all of the cast and their experiences. I really dug through everything to find images that capture everyone. And, it only made me miss it all over again. You can watch my short video on the impact the journey had on the FilmZambia Crew.

One year ago, to the day was August 8, the day we left for Zambia. This year, that same day, I was on my way to the MCCD hearing, regarding the films, I got in a car accident. Go figure huh? "Bad timing" if you ask me. Who knew that one year to the day, we would have to fight for our rights to the film? This only goes to show that what we did was amazing and wonderful. And no matter what anybody says or does, we still went to Africa and made TWO films and changed the hearts of the people there....we hope it gave them a voice. We hope for a better future in the years to come. Zikomo Kwambiri, Makumba.

Posted by Jeniece at 02:53 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA-I found these two motivational articles that my grandpa used to collect. He was an awesome man. He was very wise and a great man. R.I.P. Here is something to think about if you are struggle with things in life. It definitely helps me to keep motivated and have hope and faith! Believe in yourself and keep your voice alive by telling your story! That's what FilmZambia.com and FromScriptToSundance.com is all about! Everyone has a voice that matters. Use it. Share it. Express it. Film it.

ANYWAY!

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway!

If you do good people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway!

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway!

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway!

Honesty and frankness makes you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway!

The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down
by the smallest men with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway!

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for some underdog anyway!

What you spend years building may be destroyed over night.
Build anyway!

People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway!

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway!

-Karma

21 SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.

6. Be generous.

7. Have a grateful heart.

8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.

9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.

12. Commit yourself to quality.

13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

14. Be loyal.

15. Be honest.

16. Be a self-starter.

17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.

20. Take good care of those you love.

21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities.
They vary in their desires to reach their potential."
-John Maxwell

DARE TO DREAM.
TEST YOUR OWN LIMITS AND KEEP GOING.
IF THEY CAN DO IT, YOU KNOW YOU CAN.
MANIFEST IT.

Posted by Jeniece at 10:11 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA USA - It's interesting to see how the contact process works. Who has connections to which production companies? If you start at the bottom of the email and read up, it shows how this event started, who contacted who and how the invite came to Jeanette who then sent to the crew. It's crazy to think that it's like a domino effect and somehow we are all linked to each other.

On the night of the party, we also went to crew member Edgar's graduation. Luckily, the locations were right down the street from each other. Although both events were starting roughly at the same time we were able to attend them both. So what we did was go to Edgar's party for a little bit then run over to the museum party and then back to Edgar's party again. When we arrived at the museum party, there weren't many people there because most had dropped in earlier. In the end, we enjoyed it because we were able to converse with people. It was nice and intimate. The place was amazing to look at and to see of all the film related equipment in the early stages of television and filmmaking. Check that out. The emails are actually from the Director/Producer themselves! I guess it goes to show you that who you know can really be helpful!

You can check out a video of that night.

Film Party (Large QT)

Film Party (Small QT)

---------------------------------

Here is how the the whole thing went down:

This email was sent to all the crew members from Jeanette. Thanks Jeanette. Good looking out!

From: "JeanetteRoe"
Subject: Fwd: NATAS Holiday Invite
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:37:33 -0700
Hi again,
I found the email. The invite came from:
Ben Avechuco
Producer/Director
EIGHT / azpbs.org

Jeanette Roe
Media Arts Faculty
Mesa Community College

Begin forwarded message:

From: Matthew Ford
Date: December 9, 2006 11:27:49 AM MST
To: jroe@mail.mc.maricopa.edu
Subject: Fwd: NATAS Holiday Invite

Jeanette,
Got your message, Ron mailed me a copy, so I'm forwarding it to you, for class on Tuesday, hope it helps. The info should be in the attached file/jpg.
Matthew Ford
dustbunnypictures@yahoo.com
www.dustbunnypictures.com

--- Ron Rangel wrote:

To: dustbunnypictures@yahoo.com
From: Ron Rangel
Subject: Fwd: NATAS Holiday Invite
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 17:29:59 -0700

Matthew ... FYI

Ron Rangel
Coordinator Video Production
Mesa Community College
1833 W Southern Ave
Mesa, Arizona 85202
480-461-7603

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ben Avechuco
Date: December 6, 2006 5:23:34 PM MST
To:
Subject: NATAS Holiday Invite

Ron,
Thanks for talking with me about the Theatre/Film Program at MCC. I hope that NATAS can be a good resource for your students, since they are the future content creators four the industry. I've attached a printable invite to the holiday party. I hope you can come! If you have any questions, feel free to call me at KAET: 480.965.3506

Ben Avechuco
Producer/Director
EIGHT / azpbs.org

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter

Posted by Go Zambia at 07:16 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA USA- O.K. so this should have been done a long time ago! But, better late than never right? Or what I like to call-fashionably late. Ha ha. O.K. so I started this little project just a few weeks after we got back. It shouldn't have taken so long, but it did. It ended up on the back burner for awhile due to some really gnarly deadlines we were trying to meet. We won't go there though. All I had to do was color correct, change the size and some photo touch ups. Then import the photos into Final Cut along with the music. Then arrange the photos to where I want them. After that, go to After Affects to create the title and end piece (didn't like the plain simple ones that Final Cut offers). After creating both titles, render them out then go back to Final Cut and import them. Then add a fade in transition on the title and end piece. Also add a fade out on the music at the end.

Finally, save (of course I'm constantly saving often and saving early) and then export it to Quicktime. Then of course, if it's for the web, you want to import it into Sorenson Sqeeze to sqeeze the little buggers out of 'em. I mean make them smaller in order for it to play well on the web. Of course make sure you have at least two options-a small and a large video. So, anyway, here is a short quicktime video for all of ya's to enjoy! A trip down memory lane....awww good times, good times. I really do miss it.

Letting Off Steam in Lusaka, Zambia (Large QT)

Letting Off Steam in Lusaka, Zambia (Small QT)

Pictures were taken at "The Dolphin" restaurant where we shot one of the scenes for BAD TIMING. We ate dinner there with the whole crew and a few of the cast to celebrate the films. Heath and Edgar sang the karaoke. Soooo funny. We then went to a club to dance with the locals. It was amazing and awesome! Everyone is such great dancers and play awesome music! Love it!

Posted by Go Zambia at 10:14 AM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA USA. One day when I was walking out of my apartment and towards my truck, yep I'm a chick with a truck, something caught my eye. As I was walking I was looking down at the sidewalk. Yes, I tend to walk with my head looking down at the ground. Hey, I would like to know what I'm stepping into. I do not want any surprises waiting for me.

Anyway, I noticed a shape engraved or embedded into the sidewalk. The shape didn't look like it had been purposely put there. It didn't look like it was created by hand. It looked like it was an accident or some weird freak of nature that happened.

Every day I would walk by this location and I never noticed it. I saw it, but I didn't really register what it was. I realized that this shape was the shape of Africa! If you don't beleive me, I have proof! I'll show ya. Crazy huh? Couldn't believe it too when I first saw it.

I thought it was the weirdest thing. Every day now, I look down at the shape and remember all the things we did in Lusaka, Zambia Africa. It is a reminder for me of all the wonderful things we accomplished there. It's a reminder to count all the many blessings that I have received. I guess you could say it's my "gratitude rock" (hint-this is from "the Secret"). So I am truly grateful for the experience that Cyndi Greening gave me. Something that I will never forget. Thank you! Say cheese please.:)

Posted by Go Zambia at 11:34 AM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET" MESA, ARIZONA USA- O.K. so who here has watched "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne? I know I have and I loved it. Although I do believe that it could probably be shortened to an hour. I can see that it must have been hard to edit. Writers feel like all of the information is valuable and interesting. In the past I have heard things and read books on how powerful the mind is and how changing your thinking pattern can have an effect on you and your goals. I didn't really get it. I get it now! THE SECRET used interviews of other respected and inpired individuals who reinforced the concepts being discussed in the movie. It helped to have visuals and examples. I totally get it now and I LOVE IT! Now my favorite word I use so dearly and quite often is MANIFEST! But you have to say it three times ....manifest manifest manifest. Why? Cause it sounds better. It makes it feel more real and more meaningful. I don't know why really-it just sounds good ok? So say it with me. Manifest manifest manifest. And don't forget! You have to say it really really ridiculously fast! If you say it too slow, it just sounds boring and goofy.

Anyway, this has really helped me have a new perspective on life. I apply it to as many things as I can which is everything! It also helps to have other supporters to encourage you and know what the heck you're talking about. OK so I have a story...goodie goodie gum drops huh? Ha ha Just kidding, but no really I do have a story. And here it is....

O.K. so a few weeks ago, I was out with my girlfriends celebrating a birthday. There were three of us in the car. We decided to go into Scottsdale and everyone knows that Scottsdale is terrible for parking. We even went into a parking garage and was literally driving around for about 10-15 minutes. We just kept going around and around and up and down the levels and yet no parking. Several other people had the same idea. Some would have luck and get a parking spot right before we could get to it so it was just frusterating us all! All of a sudden I said" Let's manifest it. We need to manifest a parking spot". Now I'm sitting there thinking-this will work. Why, up at Sundance Pam, Cyndi, and I and sometimes Nick would be in the car and we would all say "Ok, now let's manifest a parking spot". And wala, there would be a perfect parking spot for us 9 times out of 10. It worked great! And when it didn't, it was because we knew we were pretending to believe. O.K. now so when I said it this time....it didn't quite go the way I was expecting. One of the girls said "What the....manifest? What the heck is that? Don't ever say that word again. What's next? Are you going to say you believe in aliens?" At first I was offended then shy about even saying it. Then I thought-hey! This is a great word that everyone should know about! I asked them if they even heard of the word and they only said that maybe people used it back in the day like ancient times or something like in murders. They really didn't know the true meaning of the word and how powerful it is. And how often the bible uses it! So I explained what it meant as best as I could and they kind of sort of got it, but not really. "Just don't used that word in public" is what one girl said. At this point, I wasn't offended anymore and now I laugh at how my friends reacted. I kept telling them "it's a great word and you're going to hear it more!" I told them that you have to say it three times fast.

Next time I know to only say it around people who know about it. I felt like a complete goober. Make sure you watch the movie too so you know what the heck I'm talking about. You won't regret it. I don't! And for all those Oprah fans.... the movie "THE SECRET" was mentioned on there also...twice! So you know once it's on Oprah, they mean business huh?!

Well a few days past since that night. Then I received a message on my myspace that said "Manifest it Baby!!! Manifest it!!!" And this was coming from my friend who told me to never say the word again! And then a few days later another message "manifest anything lately???" My point? They love the word! See I manifested that people will start saying it even if at first it's weird. You're gonna love it. Can't stop the inevitable. What are you going to manifest today? I challenge you and you can't give up and quit. Manifest manifest manifest.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:37 PM | Permalink

BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA — Working on the film trailers has us revisting all of the shooting days and recalling the terrific, dedicated work of our amazing FilmZambia crew. Their dedication and determination were unparalleled. So, a reminder to take a look at their reels if you're looking for a crew member who will do whatever it takes to get your film done!

• Cinematographer Carlos Espinosa
• Line Producer MK Racine
• Cinematographer and Editor Robby Brown
• Editor, Cinematographer and MakeUp Artist Jeniece Toranzo
• Editor and Unit Photographer
• Assistant Director, Editor and Script Supervisor Nick Marshall

Posted by Cyndi Greening at 09:11 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, ARIZONA, USA — Background-I haven't seen by triplet brother since our 24th birthday back in May. My sister and I drove up to see him and our younger brother, in California, but we only stayed for a day. Bummer. Of course we planned on visiting him again before he had to be deported to Iraq in August. Both our brothers are currently serving in the Marines and stationed in California. So visiting whenever we want isn't exactly easy. Well of course, summer came and went and we didn't get a chance to visit our brother because he was sent to boot camp for training to prepare for Iraq. I found out that he was able to come visit us here in Arizona just a few days he was about to leave. Just my luck, it was the same weekend that I would be in Africa. I called it "bad timing". Go figure, the title of the movie we were working on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see him, but I did get to talk to him while I was there. Boy oh boy did it take some calling cards. It kept dropping the calls from left to right. Overall, I'm glad that I got a chance to talk to him for a few moments.



Well since I have been back, I have not heard from him until a few days ago! I was so surprised and excited to hear from him. Especially since there were a lot of tension and drama between him and the family-which I will not mention. But things are great now! I guess time does heal all wounds...well most of the time. Right? Normally I am a private person and don't share things about my personal life, but having the experience in Africa definitely changed me and who I was. I also believe that going to New York and Sundance also changed me. I think now I am more open and willing to put myself out there. Eek-scarey! I know huh! Anyway so here is the email that I received from my brother. And he actually took the time to google me while being in Iraq?! Amazing.

THE EMAIL---- "Man, I finally get an email from you. I tried emailing you a few times but I didn't get anything. I even told Jaclyn about it. I thought it was because you were mad at me. How have you been? Man I saw a few pics of you on your school website. I just googled you and your website just popped up. I'm really proud of you. So what did you think of Africa and New York? Man, I'm jealous of you. So what else have you been up too? I should be home right after dad's birthday. I heard you got a new truck. What did you get? How much are your payments? How much did you buy it for and at what APR? Man your coming up in the world. Did you trade in Grandpa's vehicle? That was the probably the best thing you could have done. Man I miss you guys. I hope your not mad at me for what I put you guys through. Have you talked to Justin lately? How is he doing? I haven't talked to him in awhile. He supposed to be getting out in like 3 weeks. I can't believe that. So how much longer do you have in school? What are your plans after that? Do you planning on staying in Phoenix after Mom moves to Pa.? Man I cant wait to come home and kick it with you guys. I want to take a vacation with you guys. We'll I hope everything is good with you guys and I wish you guys the best. I love you guys and I'll see you very soon. Take care. -Jason "

I am so proud of him and of how brave he is and for all that he and my other brother has done for this country. I was so touched that he cared about what I was doing in my life. Can you believe that?! He googled me! How surreal is that? To be googled? It's weird to think about cause people google celebrities or objects and stuff. You wouldn't think that people would google you. It's like "hey, I think I'll google my friend or sister -so and so......" It's funny cause after I read his email, I went and googled myself. Yeah it was weird alright. To see your name pop up and think "hey, that's me. What am I doing there?" And not just like once or twice, but a whole lotta times! I found out that Pam said that someone she knew googled her too! It's neat to think about that the other crew members are google-able too. If that is such a word. I don't think it is now that I look at it. I think I made it up.....yep....just checked the dictionary and it does not have it in there, but okay, we'll just go with that. Unless someone else can think of a better word? Until then, it's google-able. So check and see if you're google-able! Wow, I've just been googled!

Posted by Go Zambia at 04:15 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA - Well it's been about two days since we have been back from Sundance. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to stay for the closing award show. During our stay at the Marriott Hotel, I became friends with a few of the employees there. They are so nice and fun to talk to. Of course, they were guys because mostly guys tend to work the lobby area. Let's see, there was Eric "behind-the-counter-boy", Mark "popcorn-boy" and his sidekick, Dan "hot-chocolate-boy". And then there was "pool-boy" who Pam and I met late at night but I forget his real name. Sorry "pool-boy" if you happen to be reading this. And why shouldn't he .... cause it's the most awesome site there is! Why you ask? Cause we're on it! But of course! Wink wink. Ha ha. Just kidding y'all. No, but seriously, we are cool. So read up, k? There's going to be a pop quiz....to be continued....

Anyways.....back to the story. The last few days, we ended up giving some of our tickets away to "hot-chocolate-boy". He was stoked about that! Especially when two of the tickets were for the Saturday Night Closing Party! Too bad we had to miss that. Hope he had a blast though! It was nice because most of employees didn't get the opportunity to watch many movies because of all the tourists in town. Like us!

There were a few times we sold our tickets to the wait listers. One time, Nick and I had two extra tickets to GRACE IS GONE for the 8:30 a.m. showing. As soon as we got off the bus, there was a lady waiting to ask people if they had an extra ticket to sell. So we sold her one. Well that was easy. Now we just had one left. We walked up to the wait list line and people heard that we had one ticket left. There were three people wanting that one ticket. How do you decide? I felt bad. Two of them decided to compete for it. "Paper...Rock....Scissors." Best out of three was the rule. Well, the lady won ..... until the gentlemen in the beginning of the line decided that he also wanted it. So there was another game between them. Only this was the game of "Who is willing to spend the most." So in other words, how much are you willing to spend on this ticket? Yet again, the lady won. Spending $25.00 for the ticket! Wow! The man was only willing to pay $20.00. Bummer for you dude. The wait list tickets go for $10.00. Must have been her lucky day or she must have manifested it. What a steal huh? Got money in the bank.... well for Cyndi that is since, after all, it was her ticket to begin with. Not too bad huh? She was pretty thrilled I must say.

In GRACE IS GONE, John Cusack played an excellent role as a father of two whose wife in killed in Iraq. I can see why people wanted to see the movie so badly. It was a very touching and heart-warming movie. Definitely made me cry. So make sure you bring lots of tissues and wear waterproof makeup or none at all, to make it easier.

Posted by Go Zambia at 07:15 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO PARK CITY, USA — SUNDANCE 2007 — I have never been to Sundance before. Yep. I’m a Sundance virgin. This year I got the opportunity to go. Yesterday was our first day in Park City. The place is amazingly beautiful! The weather is very nice. Surprisingly, it’s not as cold as I thought. Knock on wood- real wood that is. There is a lot of lumber here. And, a little snow but, at least so far, not too much cold. This is nothing compared to New York! Now that’s some cold weather. The streets aren’t as crowded as I thought they would be either. Especially since it’s Sundance! Hellllooo….where is everybody? I mean come on, I always thought Sundance as like the NBA or the NFL for filmmakers.

So far, I’m not gonna lie, it’s not exactly what I had expected Sundance to be like. I guess I thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it is. I kind of thought it was going to be more Hollywood-ish with all the glitz and glamour. Although, it’s not exactly what I had pictured, I am still having a great time. I am learning by watching films. And as a filmmaker that is what it is all about. After we saw some short films, I have more confidence in our films and our skills. I was not real impressed with the 10 short films that we have seen so far. The ones that stand out in my mind are Kohl Glass' DER OSTWIND, a powerful short entitled ZARIN, and MAGNETIC POLES. I loved the animation in DER OSTWIND, the cinematography and color in ZARIN and the storyline in MAGNETIC POLES. The others were rather disappointing to me.

Today, we had the opportunity to go to the AOL party for the pre-launch of NANKING. The event was filled with industry people mingling with cast and crew. It was interesting to watch everyone trying to build interest in the film they finished quite some time ago. We are in the same place now with BAD TIMING an our documentary VOICE OF AN AFRICAN NATION. We finished principal photography in September, we're in post-production now ... and THEN we have the real work of selling our films. We watched it happening last night. While we there, Nick and I were the camera crew, Mike did unit photography, while Pam and Cyndi did the interviewing. The whole experience was amazing and worth it. Okay, so let’s do it again. Ready…. Aim…. and Shoot!

Posted by Cyndi Greening at 09:40 AM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, USA — Kohl Glass, is the director and creator of DER OSTWIND, a short film that will screen at this year's 2007 Sundance Festival. Kohl is a former student at Mesa Community College who then earned his film degree at Brigham Young University. Although, I never had a class with Kohl, we did have a teacher in common at MCC — Cyndi Greening. She often mentioned her former students especially those who went on to higher education or found successful jobs in the film and animation industries.

I do remember her mentioning Kohl's name and I saw him around campus a few times, but we were never properly introduced until a few weeks ago. Cyndi, Nick and I had dinner with Kohl and his wife, Chris, to discuss the selection of Kohl's film in the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. We had a family-style Italian dinner. They are very nice people and they both love film! Kohl is a writer, director, editor. Chris has worked as an Assistant Director and Casting Director on a number of films. During the meal, Kohl mentioned that the project started at Mesa Community College in 2000. Later the animation students at BYU took the film on as a class project. If that's not dedication and patience then I don't know what is. After our experience in Zambia, I have come to see that hard work does pay off.

After a discussion about how the first "person" in outer space was a monkey, Kohl had a silly thought, "What if the first fighter pilots had been monkeys, too?" So, DER OSTWIND started out as a humorous film about an ace German pilot who discovers he's been beaten by a monkey. When Kohl presented the idea, people were upset at the monkey subplot so he reworked the story and it became more serious. You can look at the early DER OSTWIND animatics and concept art to see how many of the elements remained even though "Wilber" disappeared.

We got to watch the film and I have to say that I loved his short film. There is some talk of expanding it into an animated feature. I think it has a lot of potential to be very successful. I love the crisp animation, creative shots and excellent compositing that was used in his final piece. I found out that Kohl also work on another short film, THE PROMETHEAN. We had watched that film in Cyndi's filmmaking class. I was impressed how well it was shot and liked the curiously circular story. People are always asking Kohl if he's going to expand THE PROMETHEAN into a feature as well. He says he just can't imagine it ... yet.

It's neat to see a person about the same age as me, who went to the same school, and was able to make it into the Sundance film festival. It motivates me to keep working on my craft and striving to tell interesting stories in visually creative ways.

Posted by Cyndi Greening at 10:09 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, USA — I must say, yesterday was an interesting yet amusing night. After work I went and met up with Cyndi and Nick at Wildflower for dinner. YAY! They finally had the soup bowls! Every time that we went there or Paradise Bakery, they were all out of them. Bummer huh? During dinner we discussed Sundance, projects, and miscellaneous topics. "Tippy toe, tippy toe" After dinner, we decided to help Cyndi with her returns so we went to CompUSA first. We found the MAC aisle and were checking out all the goods. Cyndi ended up buying a sweet lookin' microphone! It definitely makes you sound more professional when you have to interview people at Sundance!

After that, we went to Target and did a return there. You'd think out of a pile of 500 receipts that we had, one of them would be a match for the drawer liners we were trying to return. But nope, we did not have the right receipt. Go figure huh? Since Cyndi couldn't get her money back, we had to do an exchange. So we had to go pick something else out. But get this. We could only get something from the "A" section. Not the "B" or even the "D" section, but the "A" section and only the "A" section at Target. None of us had ever heard anything like that. We had to spend the money in the same department. We wondered what would happen if something from the "B" section or some other section "accidently" got into the mix of our stuff. Hmmm. Makes you wonder huh? I sure do. Ha ha. It was tempting to try it out but we didn't. We were good and followed the "rules." At first we weren't sure if there was anything that we could exchange it for because all we found was the pet aisle. Soon we realized, after walking around some more, that the "A" section was a lot bigger than we thought and there were more items that we could choose from. It actually ended up being a lot of fun. We were all silly and goofy while quoting some lines from SEINFELD and just having fun. We went from aisle to aisle picking out the necessities that Cyndi needed. When we got to the soap aisle, Nick and I had fun sniffing the different Dial soaps. We were trying to pick a good smelling one for Cyndi. We ended up getting four different scents. We agreed that we didn't like the foaming ones because it feels like you are washing with air and not really killing all the germs and what not. At least that's our theory and we sticking with that. I must say, the whole experience reminded me of the show "The Price is Right." Trying to find enough stuff to just barely go over the limit without having to go back and get another thing.

Later, we alll went back to Cyndi's place and helped her put her cabinet drawers together to put her dvd's and tapes in. Nick and I are kind of opposites when it comes to hands-on projects. He mentioned that he didn't really care to build things and yet he was willing to come and join us and work as a team. It was awesome. I must confess, I love to build things and figure out how to put them together. When I watch my sister's kids, sometimes I take them to Home Depot to buy a supplies so we can build things together. It was funny cause Cyndi said that I looked like a girly girl and it didn't look like I would know what I was doing.

Maybe that's why I enjoyed Zambia so much. It was one giant puzzle that we had to figure out. I thought it was really neat when Alec and Jacob made a whole new light kit out of thin air. And then, when they built the budget dolly, that was cool. When we were working on the feature, we had to do the same sort of thing on set all of the time. We would need a jail cell or a court room or something else we didn't have and we'd have to build it out of nothing. Somehow we were able to do almost everything. The only thing we couldn't "build" immediately were bunches of children for the scenes in the schools.

We couldn't stop laughing as we tried to put the cabinet together because of some of the conversations we were having. There were a lot of priceless moments, if you asked me. We mentioned that we should have had the Doc cam there. There was the time where I had to get inside the "box" in order to put the screws in right. I felt like the little asian man on "Ocean's Eleven" when he came out of the box in the safe. I also felt like I was one of those clowns in the circus -- you know where a whole bunch of them come out of this itty bitty car and you're like "what the.....how'd they do that?" It was fun though, yet I'm sure it was goofy to look at. We had moments when we felt like we were in Zambia again. Good times, good times.

(By the way, my feet are NOT that big. The photo was taken with a forced perspective making me look like I could have been in LORD OF THE RINGS without the prosthetic feet.)

Posted by Go Zambia at 04:26 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, USA - Today, a few of the crew members had the chance to go to Phoenix College for the Annual Convocation of the Maricopa Community Colleges to present some of the Zambia footage and talk about the projects with interested Maricopa faculty and administrators. Everyone seemed impressed and interested on what we had to say and the experience we went through. There was a nice display of the clothing, jewlery, and other related objects from Zambia with footage from the documentary, feature film, Kabwata Cultural Village and storytellers playing on the projector. It was a nice warm feeling and joy to see the footage again. The night before, I was helping Cyndi put the presentation together and we watched the footage for the first time in several weeks. We both felt joy and started talking about wanting to go back again. It just brought back so many good memories. It was a good thing that she decided to put it together the night before because it wasn't as easy and quick, like we thought it would be, to put the projector together and and get it properly connected to the computer. We would've looked like idiots if we didn't. Good lookin' out huh? Oh yeah.

Here is something that is interesting to me for those who don't know. About once a week and at the end of the year, MSN likes to post "Week in Pictures" or "Year in Pictures." They have different styles of pictures and categories, but each one very unique and amazing in both color and composition. I love looking through the different pictures for inspiration or just to be educated on different events that have happened around the world that people may not know about. Wait. I take that back. I should, can and will only speak for myself...they are some things or current envents that I don't know about due to me being too busy or whatever. Next to each picture that is displayed, there is a brief description and explanation of what was captured. I think that Mike Montesa would be really good at doing this line of work since he loves photography. Overall, I think that each picture is captured beautifully. It's amaaaazing......for sure.

Here is the link. You can look at other past archives. Just click on the different links and go. MSNBC Photos. Enjoy!

P.S. Warning! Some of the images may be offensive or disturbing because after all.... it is real life events that were captured.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:24 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO MESA, ARIZONA - For Christmas, I thought I would buy Cyndi a set of LOST mugs that change from black to white when the liquid in them gets hot and reveal mysterious symbols. On the NBC site, I also decided to get a t-shirt with the LOST "numbers" since she is a fanatic of the show. You can't blame her for loving the series. I never really watched the show until this season. While we were editing the films at the Inn Suites, everything came to a standstill on Wednesday evenings because Cyndi had to watch the show. As filmmakers, we immediately liked the show because of the production value and the acting. We didn't understand all of the undercurrents but it was fun to watch.

Lately , a few of the crew members have been getting together to watch the series from the beginning. Cyndi has the complete first season and was always going on about how amazing the show really is. Now, that I've been watching from the beginning, I understand why she was so enthusiastic. So far we have watched about 7 or 8 episodes and I have to tell you, it is amazing.

I keep wondering how the Director/ Creator Jeffrey Abrams came up with the idea. He has asssembled a good team to help him create a great show. The cinematographer captures each scene beautifully. The scenes are good to look at and they reveal both the plot and character. I am hooked on the show, too. After doing makeup in Zambia, I'm very aware of how all of the characters look. The set design is good. Of course they are shooting in Hawaii so they're starting with some natural beauty but I know it still takes a lot of hard work to accomplish a show with the feel and energy that LOST delivers. It would be an amazing experience to have the opportunity to one day be able to work on a series like this one.

Filming in Zambia was only the beginning. All it takes is a lot of persistence and even more determination. A bit of talent is also helpful. I think the most important thing is to believe in yourself no matter what anyone else tells you because, face it, there will always be who will tell you that you can never do the thing you want to do. In Zambia, more than one person told us about a thing that happens in their country called "PHD" which stands for "Pull Him Down" or "Pull Her Down." They told us that sometimes people would get jealous if you would start to be successful and try to get in the way of your success. I don't think it's unique to Zambia. I see that sort of thing happening in America, too. So, the most important thing you have to do is keeping believing in yourself and find TRUE supporters. True supporters really push you to do your best and be the most you can be. They want you to succeed. I feel that most of the FilmZambia crew is really supportive of one another. We really learned to count on each other when we were "Almost Lost in Zambia."

We all have learned that the front of your hand always comes along with the back ... there are good days and bad ... good, bad and sometimes the ugly, too. But, as German philsopher Frederich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) said, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." Like the characters of LOST, we are all struggling through the tough times of our lives to strengthen us for that which we will ultimately accomplish. As long as we keep moving forward, our proper paths will be found.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:40 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET", MESA, ARIZONA, USA-Better late than never right? I just wanted to wish you a happy Happy Birthday! I hope it was an awesome and memorable one. Thank you for everything that you have done for me. I am truly grateful for the experience that you gave me in Africa. One that I will never forget. You truly are the angel and Pam is the wings! I am grateful for time that I have gotten to know you. You are truly young at heart and I only hope the best for you in everything you do because you deserve it baby! Remember... tippy toe tippy toe!

Posted by Go Zambia at 04:45 PM | Permalink

BY CREW FILMZAMBIA, MESA, ARIZONA, USA

Cyndi and younger sister Sandy in the driveway on Grandma Greening's farm in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Sandy found the haircuts quite alarming ... Prince Valiant, anyone? The shoes are something else, too! Mine look a little large while Sandy's look a little on the tight side. Notice how her feet are punching up like bread rising in a pan. Sandy was one of my best buddies in my youth and continues to be one of my closest allies. Seeing the photo of the two of us is a terrific birthday gift!

Pamela, "BA" Bowman
Happy 50th birthday!
There are so many things I could tell the world about you. Nervous? You should be! Let’s see…

You are who you are and “you are quite clear” on what you want. What is unique about you is your ability to help others gain clarity on what they want. I have benefited from your constant teaching this year. You have given those you know such a profound gift of self. As you have given us a sense of who we are I have watched you discover more of who you are. It is true we call you the GT (giant toddler), but in truth we all need to be more childlike. We all need to accept and love people as they are. This empowers all to become more of who they are intended to be.

Thank you for all you have done this year. I am quite confident that your next half century’s contribution to the world will be very significant, valuable and LARGE! Your brilliance is shining brighter all the time. We are not blinded by the light, but guided by it.

Thank you Cyndi. I celebrate your life.
Always, Pamela

M.K. "Gypsy Punk" Racine
Joyeux Anniversaire, Cyndi!

This is the second year I have been able to be part of your birthday and I hope to continue this well into the future. You have come to be a major part of my life, Cyndi. Academically you enabled me to flourish in the creative and supportive environment you so patiently and consistently provided. And eventually, the technical expertise you supplied me with, met the creativity I had within. Thank you!

Professionally, you entrusted me in roles and responsibilities far beyond that of which I thought I was capable. Again, I learned from you not in a classroom, but in the openness of a country primed for growth and opportunity, a reflection of me. How can I possibly thank you enough?

Personally, Cyndi, you have become a dear friend, one who provides humor, words of wisdom, comfort, compassion, knowledge, a positive perspective, and timely wit, among so many other gifts.

I don’t believe there is a birthday gift ample enough to show my appreciation for you and the various ways in which you have enriched and impacted my life. This birthday I wish you all the happiness you can handle through the gifts of love, friendship, good fortune, success, prosperity, good health and all other gifts important to you. Thank you and Happy Birthday, Makumba!

Je t’aime! –MK

Carlos "Shake Shake" Espinosa
Feliz cumpleanos…

Cyndi, well what can I say, even though I have known you for quite a few years already, I have not formally said happy birthday to you, You always hide it so well.

The big Five-0; well you are young at heart. It has been a privilege to be one of your students, to learn from you, to be motivated by you, to get pushed like nobody has pushed me before and more importantly to have your friendship. You have given me many wonderful gifts in life and this I cannot repay you...thanks for everything you have done for me.

So far, you have accomplished great things in life, and it seems that you are just getting started, I hope to be part of many more birthdays and experiences.

Te deseo felicidad, prosperidad, salud, amor y dinero……Cheers!
Carlos

Nick "Tick-Tock" Marshall

Cyndi,

Well wishes for all birthday celebrations! Thank you for sharing some of your knowledge and honesty with me. You've been a patient teacher and a caring friend. I hope your birthday is joyful and fun.

-Nick

Jared "Grace" Moschau
I wish you a happy birthday and the best big 5-0. You have been a great influence on me and have pushed me to do things that I wouldn’t make myself do and I am not the only one. You are a role model to everyone that is part of the crew and also like a mother. I appreciate everything you have done for me and the opportunities that you have given to me. I hope you have another 50 great years.
Happy B-day Cyndi,
Jared

Robby "NPB" Brown
Hey Cyndi, Happy Birthday…The way I see it, the glass is half full…love you, Robby!

Michael Montesa

Happy Birthday Cyndi. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for being my awesome mentor and for letting me work with you through all these years. Thanks for all the advice and thanks for being sweet and caring friend.

MALIGAYANG KAARAWAN.

More birthday wishes to come throughout the WEEK!!!!
Alec "Sleeping Beauty" Hart
Jacob "Jacobo" Felix
Shawn "Nikolai" Downs
Edgar "Billie Jean" Rider
Heath "Karaoke King" McKinney

Posted by Go Zambia at 12:51 PM | Permalink

Mike Montesa and Jeniece Toranzo's Photo Gallery is up for viewing. You can check out all of the wonderful things they are doing and seeing while they are visiting New York City. They met up with FilmZambia crew members Alec Hart and Jacob Felix and headed over to Rockefeller Center. Jacob, Mike and Jeniece also went down to Ground Zero. When they return to Arizona, they promise to put together the NYC vcast. So, stay tuned!

Posted by Go Zambia at 10:34 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA, USA - Well today is Thanksgiving and I am blogging. Yep, you heard me or I should say, read me, I am blogging on Thanksgiving. I just want to first say how grateful I am that I had the opportunity to go to Zambia and build lasting friendships with the Zambia crew. I want to thank them for being such good friends to me and that we had the opportunity to work together. So thank you all very much for your hard work and kindness.

This year, for Thanksgiving, my sister and I went to our parents house in Apache Junction. We had some family from Tucson come up, which I must say is a big shocker because practically every holiday, we usually have to drive down to Tucson to meet up with the family. They normally never come up here to visit us, but because our parents just remodeled their house, I think that was more motivation to come north.

After we visited and did the dinner thing, My mom suggested that I show the family the footage I had of Africa. First of all, my grandma had no idea that I went there. I didn't tell her because literally, she worries about every little thing and sometimes she can be a little racist. Not to mention, she is pushing 72. So I was a little worried on how she would react to my news. To my surprise and eveyone else's, she was very interested and cool about the whole thing. I played the feature and documentary video first. It was going great at first because everyone was in the room watching and amazed at all the footage and impressed as to what we went through. Then after about two minutes into it, all the kids were getting distracted by each other and decided to leave the room. So then, of course, the parents had to check up on them and left the room too. By then, the only one was left was my grandma. My mom and aunt were in and out of the room, but my grandma stuck it all the way through. Even more surprising is that she was asking all kinds of questions and very excited to see me whenever I would come on. It made me feel good. She was very impressed with it all. It was funny when the end credits came on and my name showed up. My grandma and aunt got all excited. That was cute. I love my grandma and will miss her dearly when she goes. Everyone gives her a hard time about being such a worry wart, but I know she means well. She is an awesome humble person and very down to Earth.

I would have to say the funny part of the evening would have to be when she was trying to work her cell phone. And, she had received a text from an unknown person and didn't know how to work it. The person must not have realized that the phone number now belonged to a 72-year-old woman because the text was not exactly appropriate for her age. And of course, you know me, well those of you who do, I did bust out my video camera and filmed the fam. And of course they just LOVED it ... NOT. But hey, if I want to hack it in the film industry, I need all the practice I can get! Happy Thanksgiving everyone and remember how lucky we are to be in the UNITED STATES. Special thanks to my two brothers who are currently serving in the marines and fighting for our country; Jason who is currently in Iraq. Love you both! God bless and may He be with you!

Posted by Go Zambia at 09:55 PM | Permalink

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA, USA - So I started reading the book IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE by Walter Murch. So far, so good, although, to be honest, I am only at the beginning of the book. The book refers to digital video editing with Avid which is a high end editing program that the film pros like to use. Maybe I should check into this program and see what it is all about. The book also refers to the movie APOCALYPSE NOW. But of course, I have not seen this movie yet. Of course it's only been out since, what 1980 something? I think when I was just kid still. Yeah those were the good ol' days. Young and innocent. 1979! It was made in 1979. Ok, so I cheated and Googled it. So with that in mind, I wasn't even born yet so therefore have an excuse to justify why I haven't seen it, yet. After all, I don't think little girls should be watching those kinds of movies at that age. The rating standards were more stringent then, when the world wasn't desensitized yet.

Funny thing happened this week. At least I thought it was pretty funny and weird. I was speaking to Alec on the phone on Sunday. We got on the topic of computers and he asked me if I had one. I told him "No." He asked, "Has it always been like that or just recently?." I told him that when I used to live with my parents I had a computer, but now I live with my sister so now I don't. He said that he would go crazy if he didn't have his computer. I told him that it didn't really bother me that I didn't have a computer any more because I wasn't all that dependent on the computer when I did have one. I just occupied my time (and mind) with friends and other things to do. He then started using an example from a movie to share his thoughts with me. The movie was called THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY. It's a story about how the African people in a remote village were happy and content with what they had (which was very little). Then, when a Coca Cola bottle is thrown from an airplane, they found many uses for it and fought over it. So, until they had it, they didn't know how much they wanted it.

Ironically, at work yesterday, my boss and co-worker were discussing that movie and telling me all these funny parts of the movie. Then my co-worker started telling me the exact same thing that Alec had told me. I thought it was weird yet funny. So with that, apparently I must rent this movie and I watch it. How could I not, now? At lunch, I was walking in the parking lot and out of no where, a black cat crosses my path ... that can't be too good huh?

Posted by Go Zambia at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA, USA-I don't know what it is, but it seems to me that every time I meet up with the crew, I am a complete klutz. Ok, so I have some examples and then you can decide for yourselves. At our "Mastermind meeting" on Tuesday, Mike and Robby were helping me unload Cyndi's computer from my truck to her car. Mike was putting the computer in the back on the floor and he asked me to go to the front and pushed the seat back. Well as well coordinated as am, when I went to open the driver side door, I was looking forward and then quickly turned my head to the side and.... Whack! Hit my chin on the door. Oh boy did that ever hurt! I had to walk it off cause it was throbbing. Then to make matters worse, Mike and Robby were wondering what had happened because I started to walk off. So I came back and showed them what I did and I ended up hitting it again! What a goof.

Another story... some of the crew got together and went to a Vietnamese restaurant to eat dinner. Well it didn't start off too good because after we received our drinks, M.K.. asked me if I wanted to try her drink. I thought she mentioned that it was a coconut drink and I thought "hey I like coconuts" so why not? Well as soon as I took one gulp, I about puked. It was not what I had in mind. Low and behold, I did not realize that this was the real deal. That coconut actually tasted like this. All of the other times that I had a coconut flavoring, it was artificial. Go figure. I was so used to the fake stuff that I didn't even know that it was an imposter and that the real stuff was so very different. Puke. That bummed me out because here I'm thinking and telling people "Yeah, I love coconut flavor." Boy that's a lie now. Now I must rephrase my comments to "I like the fake stuff," instead. It didn't help that I was drinking water so I had some of Cyndi's soda to take away the after taste. Next we received our meals. I ordered a noodle soup like dish like I have one other time before. They serve the soup with a side dish of bean sprouts, peppers, and some green stuff that I can't recall the name right now.

Anyway, I couldn't remember if I put ALL of that stuff in my soup so I asked Cyndi, who was sitting right next to me, if you're suppose to put that stuff in. She said "Sure, only if you want to." So I put the bean sprouts in and then asked "even the peppers?" Not realizing that these were jalapeño peppers and not bell peppers, like I was thinking. She said "sure, why not," thinking I knew what they were and only half kidding because she knew that I can't handle spicy foods. So I put them in and started eating. I started eating the bean sprouts and thinking "boy these are kinda getting a little spicy. Why?" Then I took a bite of the jalapeño and about died when I found out why the soup started to taste hot. Oh you better believe it burned going down. Again, only had water to drink, so I had to drink some of Cyndi's drink. I mentioned that it burned and then took a drink of my water, and Cyndi said "It's gonna burn even more coming out the other end." It didn't hit me what she meant by that until I repeated "out the other end," and took a drink of water and realized it then. I choked on my water and it burned coming up! My eyes started to water and all I remember doing was getting up and running to the corner to ketch my breath. Then I went to the bathroom and splashed water on myself. When I got back to the table, Cyndi was so nice to order a plate of rice to calm down the burning. By then everyone of course was laughing. I must say, it would be funny to be the one watching all of this happening instead the being the person it happened to.

Let's not forget the Sweet Tomatoes incident either. Now do you believe me? Crazy huh? With all of that being said or rather typed, it made me realize that each person's life is a story that is played out like a movie. We are all the actors or actresses playing a role. Throughout our lifespan, we will encounter many roles trying to figure out what role it is that we really want to play as. Some may play the villain, the hero, or just your average Joe. With every life, there is a beginning, middle, and end with a climax-just like a movie would. Some lives may be a drama, a comedy, or a horror. The only thing that is great with this life movie is that everyday, we have a chance to change it from a comedy to a drama which in that can become a suspense movie. Each moment we have, changes the outcome of it all. If we all didn't do anything at all, then it would be a pretty boring movie that no one would want to watch. With that in mind, get up and do something then, right?! They say that within the first 10 minutes of a movie, you will know if you like it or hate it. Unfortunately, in life they say you will know if you like someone within the first minute. Actually, I think I heard within 30 seconds. Ouch. Then you definitely better make a dang good impression, huh? Good luck with that. But know this, your movie could have an effect on mine. It makes you think then on who you really want to cast in your life and who you don't. There are always surprises though unlike with an actually film, you have a script to follow with minimal improve. Maybe that's why with most films, we can relate to them and that's why we end up hating it or like it. So what is your life movie? Are you a comedy, drama, horror....what? I'd say for me, right now, it's a comedy.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BY JENIECE TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA, USA - Slowly the crew members are moving on about their "normal" lives. There are still a few hardcore members that still come together and meet ... of course, I am one of them. We recently formed a "Mastermind Group." I don't think that is our official name. We don't have one yet, but it will come soon and it has to be good...but of course!

Well I finally finished my Demo Reel. Cyndi keeps saying, "Slow and Steady wins the race". Especially when it came to editing the Documentary. Phew! Getting that done has been a bugger! We're not done yet! I've edited several short films for class and the thing I know is that I always think that I could do better or make parts stronger. I think that's what all editors think. Sometmes, I've even gone back and started over to get a better film. It's a good thing that I love editing. I know I may be slow, but hey, it's got to be right. Don't you think? Especially, if it's something that is representing you. Get it right, get it tight!

Ok. So tonight is the "meeting." My goals or tasks, whatever you want to call it, were short and somewhat simple. Depends on who you ask, I suppose. My results aren't as good as I'd like them to be. It's a little nerve-racking (yet exciting) knowing that you are on the track to pursuing your passion.

My goals/tasks....whatever:

1. Demo Reel.......(check).
2. Watch How to Make-up Artist videos.......(nope).
3. Update Resume.......(nope-well almost done).
4. Blog.......(I guess that would be what this is......so check).

Okay, okay. So two out of four isn't bad. But it isn't good either. So it's mediocre....I'll have to step up my game for next time.

Now I must go....VOTE!

Posted by Go Zambia at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BY JENIECE "GIDGET" TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA- The other night, Tuesday, some of the crew (Nick, Carlos, Mike, M.K. Cyndi, and I) went to Sweet Tomatoes in Phoenix. It's a great place. All you can eat. Can't go wrong with that. Of course, we started our meals out with a gigantic salad. I think they have you start out with that cause you can definitely fill up on that and not be able to eat as much on the good stuff. Just a theory. After the salad, most of us went for the soups. Yeah, you can tell we have a big hearty appetite right now-huh. All the soups ended up being low fat and most of them were tomato based. Sounds yummy huh? Yeah if you have some kind of a tomato fetish I guess.

Anyway, back to the story. M.K. had one of the soups and added Tabasco sauce in it. She had me try it. Boy oh boy was it spicy! That's a spicy soup! I about died! I had to eat a cookie after that to calm it down cause it was a burning in my mouth! Never again will I do that. What was I thinking cause I already know that I can't handle the spicy foods. Yeah kinda goofy huh when I'm part hispanic. Carlos was making fun of me. I was eating my chicken noodle soup, by the way, I don't think the noodles are cooked all the way. Just an FYI. I was eating the broth part of the soup and I was hovering over the bowl when I see Carlos out of the corner of my eye, next to me, rub his hands together. I thought he was making fun of me and I busted out laughing so hard that I almost spit the soup out. But really, he was just asking me for a napkin. I don't know what was up with me that night because another incident happened. I remember at one point, coming back from the soup area and going back to the table, I got all sad and Cyndi knew why and had to put me on the spot. It was because the last time we were at a Sweet Tomatoes, Alec and Jacob were there with us and we were sitting pretty much in the same area as we did last time. Cyndi said," just pretend that we are waiting for them, like usual. They are taking longer to get ready." That kinda helped because it was easy to do. But I was still bummed knowing that they are gone now and off doing their own thing which I am happy and excited for them. I will miss them very much. We were like the three musketeers. Only I'm a girl, not a boy. We can improvise though right? Right. I guess it just sucks because this project is coming to an end soon and the relationships that we have built with everyone will soon fizzle down. I hope to keep in touch with everyone, but that's easier said than done.

After that, Cyndi went and got a new straw and mentioned that the one she had was broken. I could not help it but laugh and I was laughing for about 10 minutes! It was a long time and no one knew why which made it even more funnier. I even started to cry. I eventually spitted out what I was laughing about. It was because before we sat down, I went to get a drink and a straw. I tried to open the straw by tapping it open and ended up breaking it. You know how you can just tell, once you bust it. So I got a new one and left the broken one on my tray. When I sat down, Cyndi grabbed the other straw off my tray (the broken one). I didn't tell her that it was broken. For some reason I thought, well maybe it's not broken and if it is, then she will find out. Well she didn't say anything about it throughout our whole dinner until we were almost done.Then she got up and went to get a new straw and said "that straw was broken. I've been sucking this whole time through a broken straw. This time I got two just in case." I must say, it was the funniest thing to me and no one knew why. I don't even know why it was so funny. I haven't laughed like that to where I start to cry, in a long time. Aww...it felt good. You should try it sometime.:)

Posted by Go Zambia at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BY JENIECE "GIDGET" TORANZO, MESA, ARIZONA - Since working on the post production, we have been naughty about eating good. When we're racing against time my friend, it's all about fast food. Last night at the Inn Suites hotel, where we are currently working at, Cyndi gave MK and I the responsibility to handle dinner while everyone else was working on the post production. As usually, no one knew where or what they wanted to eat. "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know. What do you want to eat?" After about 10-20 minutes of I don't knows, I suggested Chick-fil-a. I love Chick-fil-a because they are pretty healthy and have good quality food considering it's fast food, unlike some other fast food joints. No need to name names. We know who they are.

After we had all, well except two, agreed to Chick-fil-a, I went online to find locations as to where they were at. I don't know my way around Tempe so doing a google search on it sounded like a good idea. MK and I studied the map and then wrote down the number "just in case". As we started to drive, we were debating on what the best route would be to get to our destination. We thought of several ways but settled on just taking side streets instead of the freeway. That was our first mistake. Going down Baseline was just peachy if you minus all the little red lights we had to stop at. We finally got to Mill Ave. road and I forget that I hate driving down there because the road splits into weird directions. Well of course I ended up going the wrong was and we had to keep turning around. When we finally got to the road where we thought Chick-fil-a would be at, it was no where to be found. Just our luck. We kept going to little side streets hoping that we would "accidently" stumble upon it. It's a good thing that M.K. was with me because we ended up finally stopping and asking for directions. I would have just kept driving around or givin up if it were me. Yeah yeah, typical guy thing huh. Somehow I was blessed with that trait.

Well, we found out that Chick-fil-a was located at ASU. After asking several more people and circling around the school campus some more, we figured out that it was on campus inside the one of the buildings and upstairs. While we were asking for directions from several students, M.K. made a comment "feels like we're back in Zambia again". We laughed and thought, who knew it be this difficult to get food in the states too! It took over an hour just to get dinner and the place was only a few miles away! Oh well, I guess it's something to laugh at now. M.K. and I shared a priceless moment that is now just a memory to us. Thanks M.K.! Love ya girl!

The next day, of course, I had the responsibility again to handle dinner. Like always, it took an hour to even decide where we were going to eat and calling for locations. It was a toss up between Baja Fresh, Rubios, and Chipotle. Well, Chipotle won the votes. I said I wuld go pick it up again for everyone. I was gonna go by myself, but apparently Jacobo wanted to go with me since he hasn't been out of the hotel that day. I knew they didn't want me to go by myself though, but it's nice to know that they care. Well, it was a good thing he did come because low and behold, it was Zambia all over again, I tell ya. Again, it was only a few miles away and we drove around trying to find the place for almost an hour! Jacob finally decided that maybe we should stop at a gas station and ask for directions. Well we started to pull into the gas station when we both chickened out and changed our minds about asking. It was a funny moment I must say. We just ended up going back on the road and driving up and down the street some more. Finally after calling Carlos for directions, which weren't exactly accurate and not helpful, Jacobo finally figured out were it was at. It took some thinking and use of his memory to solve the case. Chipotle ended up being behind some buildings next to the freeway. They definitly need a bigger sign or something because it's not very noticable at all. Since I have never been there before, I had no idea what to look for. Not much help I was, huh. To make matters worse, I didn't realize that they weren't a drive through either. Trying to order 6 different burritos was not all that peachy either because one, they play their music really loud which makes it difficult to hear and two, if you don't know their ingredients then it's hard to understand what they are talking about. I felt like a goober, but it's a good thing Jacobo had my back and knew what to do. Good looking out Jacobo! Ha ha. Jacobo is funny because he wanted to make up a lie to the crew as to why it took us so long. There were a long line of a highschool band with their brothers, sisters, mothers...(wink wink). He's funny. I will sure miss him when he and Alec move up to New York City! I will cherish the moments that I have spent with ALL of them.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BY JENIECE TORANZO "GIDGET", MESA, ARIZONA - We have been back from Zambia for 18 days now. I can't believe it. It's crazy! Each day that goes by, is another day closer to finishing the project. It feels like a race against time and we all know that time waits for no man. I hope we can make it to the finish line. It could be a tie breaker though. We'll see though. Could be a close call, but that's what makes races exciting. It's suspenseful and intense.

I must say I am a little sad. As I go through the footage to log, all the memories and feelings with them come back to me. It seems so long ago when we were there. It feels more and more like a dream. Having footage and photos help confirm that we were there and we did make a feature film and documentary. It is hard to let go of that life we had back in Zambia. I want to hold on to the feelings of joy and excitement we had when we were there. We were doing what we loved and we grew closer as a crew. I have to be honest, it's hard to see some of the crew back in their old lives again. Some are moving on in new and different directions. I will definitely keep in touch with some of the crew. Every time we get together, I believe we are more ourselves and we continue to learn and grow from each other. Sometimes we don't like something someone does, but overall we except each other for who we are.

Moments I will never forget...

You know your in Zambia when...
Our big purple and white bus (the added seats were useful).
Looking under the gates at the children at the Kwazulu Kraal Resort.
Our nicknames.
Constantly eating pizza (Im sick of it at the moment).
The Arcades.
Always having my camera and Carlos laughing at me for it.
Everyone always looking out for me, since I was the one always lagging behind.
Washing our clothes in the tub (thank goodness for washing machines).
The "Boob Room".
The Doom Squad.
The dance clubs (everyone dancing).
Scene 89, take 1 ahh (and everyone making jokes about it).
The "Animal in Man" speech.
The plane ride back to the U.S.
The music and playing pool and cards with the boys.
Musical beds.
Being on set.
Doing make-up for the children (and making some of them cry - oops).
Kwacha and haggling for gifts.
The crew and faculty (building special friendships with some of them and getting to know all of them).
Cyndi ... and the experience she gave to us all. An experience of a lifetime.
The list can go on and on...I will miss every moment I had because it shaped me into the person I am today.

This whole experience....is priceless.

Posted by Go Zambia at 03:27 PM