Documentary Films: Witness of the Real
After working for one-school year as a part-time teacher for seven, wildly smart and creative middle school kids, Apple hosted a screening of our 30-minute documentary to parents, friends and the public on Wednesday.
Over 300 hackers vie for the chance to pitch their great idea in front of 1000 VC/tech industry insiders. Add to the mix a 20-hour time limit and you get a recipe for creative madness.
More than 40 groups of hackers spent 20 hours working their tails off to come up with next “big” idea. Each of the groups were given 90 seconds to pitch before a panel of industry experts. Three winners were chosen: Toronto-based Twitter Demographics, Future Mario and Worst Phone Ever. Continue reading “TechCrunch Disrupt: Hackathon Day 2”
For those tech disrupters ready to pack their bags and return to Palo Alto because pursuing a tech life in New York is unsustainable, think again. Continue reading “New York Becomes A Hub For Entrepreneurs”
Ishmael Beah talks to New York City high school kids about his memoir, A Long Way Gone, about his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone.
Released: 1996
Length: 45 minutes
Director: Jay Corcoran
Cast: Tom McBride
This striking documentary by filmmaker Jay Corcoran, details the life and death of Tom McBride, a New York actor and model dying of Progressive Multi-focal Leucoencephalopathy (PML), an AIDS-related brain disease.
Trailer: Life and Death on the A-List
McBride’s “All-American” good looks made him a familiar face in television commercials, print ads and films through the ’70s and ’80s. He even became that most emblematic of masculine images: the Winston man. For many gay men, McBride became an icon exemplifying life on the “A-List” — the whirl of sex, drugs, theme parties, and summers on Fire Island that made New York’s gay scene famous. But McBride’s glamorous life was stalked by his sexual obsession and compulsive drive.
Corcoran’s film takes an unsparing look at one man’s relationship to his beautiful body and how he copes with its disintegration. More profoundly, LIFE AND DEATH ON THE A-LIST is about us: our bodies, our fantasies, our dreams of sexual fulfillment. Tom McBride is a fallible, tragic hero pointing the way to a more humane vision of how we all — gay and straight — might view our lives, bodies, and the endless possibilities of life.
PEN World Voices co-founder, former PEN Executive Director Michael Roberts and co-founder Salman Rushdie and many others talk about the inaugural festival that brought international writers to packed theaters and venues across New York City.
Co-owner Julie Flakstad and others talk about the secret of Blow’s success.
First published in NYC24, The Hijinks Issue, 2008.
By Jay Corcoran
April Fool’s Day at Think Coffee, New York City.
Mildred Verrier was worried.
One night last week she planned to roller skate at her place of employment, Think Coffee, while dressed in her underpants and other accessories while playing the ukulele.
“The singing and nudity didn’t bother me,” said Verrier a coffee barista-singer, “it’s the roller stakes, I never did it before.”
Continue reading “Think Coffee”
Rock Bottom
Released: 2007
Length: 61 minutes
Producer/Director/Camera: Jay Corcoran
Producer: Colin Weil
Editor: Kenny Wachtal
Original Music: Scott Killian
Executive Producer: Joe Lovett
Click the “Watch now” button on the video below to watch the entire film, or buy the DVD below.
Rock Bottom follows the journeys of seven gay men struggling with meth addiction and recovery against a backdrop of an emerging second wave of HIV infection. From grappling with the drug’s effects on their physical and mental health to wrestling with their darkest sexual desires, Rock Bottom delivers a chilling portrait of a community in crisis. With an unflinching eye the film captures their stories over a two-year period, from sex clubs to hospitals to family gatherings. It takes enormous courage to face these demons, and even more to allow the world to watch. Continue reading “Rock Bottom”