"Game Over" Directors Statement


As an artist I started travelling around the world very early and met a lot of versatile and extraordinary people. I was fascinated by human relationships, special communities, underground movements and social interaction and that led to my study in sociology. Shortly before I started writing my master thesis I met a guy whose behavior seemed irritating, strange and as if he was reciting a speech or a theatrical pattern. My interest was captured and I started researching things he did and said. That’s how I found out about the secret community of pickup artists.

The pickup artists see themselves professional seducers. They train manipulative and psychological techniques to seduce women. It’s a whole industry of coaches, internet forums, local groups, books, internet forums. They use their own vocabulary and the more women you “lay” the higher you get in the hierarchy. I wrote my master thesis about “pua’s” and when my studies were published there was a huge public awareness. Newspapers, tv networks, radio stations and magazines wrote about me and my studies.

The pua’s reacted with lots of hate mails, threats and insulting phone calls. Yet, I still started working on my PhD about pickup artists in 2012. Because I am not only a researcher but also an artist I wanted to express my knowledge about the community in an artificial way, too. I wanted to inform people about the existence of puas, make them see the phenomenon through a young girls eyes. That was when I started working on a theater play and later on a screenplay for Game Over and wrote the story of Gloria and Julien.

Trailer: ARCANE, directed by Bastien Belvaux

Constantly running away in a world that doesn't accept him, a man will have to find, in the depths of himself, a way to turn his difference into a strength. He will then be able to stop hiding.

Directed by Bastien Belvaux.

Trailer "Game Over" (written, produced & directed by Leonie Viola Thoene)





Its about a game. A game of manipulation and love, power and show business. Its Magnolia meets High School Musical. Fight Club meets Black Swan. A story of a secret seduction community called pickup artists, a web of crucial plans, use and betrayal behind the curtain of the dazzling and colorful world of music, dance and theater. Its about a guy who is hiding a secret and invented the rules when playing with peoples minds. And the story of an innocent and gifted girl searching for the truth and finding her voice. A musical trip that will make you wonder whats real, who's faking and who's crazy.

Starring

Derrick Redford (Julien Michaels)
Leonie Viola Thoene (Gloria Johnson)
Christopher Cass (Adam Johnson)
Preston Mui (Gordon)
Sarah Kozlowski (Ms. Hurt)
Marina Dishka (Brianna)
Kim Romano (Amanda)
Patrick Ferroni (Josh)
Ondina Frate (Betsy)
John Combs (Philipp)
Natasha Marcuse (Violet Johnson)
Jaime Venum Burgos (Bboy)
Jonathan Legacy Perez (Bboy)
Oren Flearock Michaeli (Bboy)
Dave Birr (Dancer)
Angela Gacad (Dancer)
Morgan Nagatani (Dancer)
Tomas Protivinski (Dancer)
Paulina Pulido (Dancer)
Arielle Fernandez (Alice)

Director of Photography - Tobias Deml
Video Editor - David Schenk
Music Editor - Alex Niedt


Bidder 70

Bidder 70 is the story of Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student, who on December 19, 2008, halted the outgoing Bush administration’s controversial Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale, bidding 1.8 million dollars to save 22,000 pristine acres around Utah’s National Parks. Tim had no intention to pay or drill; now he’s paying for it with his future.

Check out Bidder 70's trailer here:

http://vimeo.com/17927160

The Fourth World [A Billion People At the Bottom of the Pile]




First World. Second World. Developing World … Slums.
There's a hidden world out there that is getting ready to explode:  The world of slums.
A seething mass of humanity--1 billion people--inhabits this hidden world and if the United Nations is right--that number will triple in the years to come.
Who are these people and what are these slums? Are they a danger? A menace? Or are slums a breeding ground for entrepreneurs? A transition point for people on a desperate journey from poverty to middle-class respectability?
The Fourth World takes you inside slums on three continents to meet individuals caught up in the largest people migration in the history of the world. Understanding 'a billion people' is almost impossible, but meeting a handful of slum dwellers strips away the statistic and begins the process of building understanding.
Journey with the filmmakers to Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines to meet slum dwellers. Listen to published experts--leaders in their fields from three more continents--as they bring understanding to the 'why' of slums, and foreshadow what's going to happen if the world ignores this social powder keg much longer.
Mark Volkers has won multiple national and international awards for his work. He has filmed in more than 20 countries over the past 15 years and brings his unique storytelling style to this powerful documentary film about how one in six human beings live.
The stories are real. The implications of turning a blind eye to this situation are real. We ignore this at our own peril.

Run Time: 54 minutes

Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds (2012) - Trailer

Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds




There is one vibratory field that connects all things. It has been called Akasha, Logos, the primordial OM, the music of the spheres, the Higgs field, dark energy, and a thousand other names throughout history. The ancient teachers taught Nada Brahma, the universe is vibration. The vibratory field is at the root of all true spiritual experience and scientific investigation. It is the same field of energy that saints, Buddhas, yogis, mystics, priests, shamans and seers have observed by looking within themselves. In today's society, most of humanity has forgotten this ancient wisdom. We have strayed too far into the realm of thinking; what we perceive to be the outer world of form. We have lost our connection to our inner worlds. This balance, what the Buddha called the middle way, what Aristotle called the golden mean, is the birthright of every human being. It is the common link between all religions, and the link between our inner worlds and our outer worlds. Check out www.innerworldsmovie.com for more.

Trailer: Finding Your Voice

The Finding Your Voice film is designed to promote discussion and help children make healthy choices when faced with challenging situations.  Happy to receive the 7th Surge Film Fest Award I would like to acknowledge the hard work, professionalism and creative commitment of both the cast and crew without which this film would not have been made. They include Peter Wigand, Amy Dzambo, Yazzie Gabler-Alonzo, Haidyn Harvey, Henry Venrick, Eve Cohen, Austen Martinez, Michelle Guasto, Chris Canfield, Devon Orand and Dustin Lawrence.

http://vimeo.com/49572178