To see extra photos from the fashion shoot, visit southmagazine.com/extras

The real magic, however, seems to occur when two people with identical intentions to heal come together. Surprisingly it happens often, and the world is surely better off because of it. Equipped with both marriage and Hippocratic vows, all of these formidable couples are on a medical mission.

Read more on these power couples in the latest issue of South magazine!

“We’re behind, but we wouldn’t be called extreme if we weren’t,” said Dennis Lally, Transportation Captain for Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Lally has been with the show for three seasons and assured the reveal would still be today. The projected time frame to expect the reveal is some time between noon and 6 p.m., but Lally said it will more than likely happen between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The lucky Simpson family was pleasantly surprised last week by the makeover crew during a lunch with Paula Deen at the Lady and Sons restaurant. The family was selected for a handful of reasons, including their volunteer work throughout the community. But most notably, they were chosen because of the medical miracle, Zoe. He suffers from a life-threatening disease and after being born prematurely, doctors said he may live 24 hours and if he did survive, he wouldn’t be able to breathe on his own, see or walk. Now two years old, Zoe has beaten all the odds. Although he’s slightly developmentally challenged, he’s still a thriving little boy who exudes inspiration.

The process began between two and a half and three weeks prior to the “door knock” as James Brown from the Extreme Makeover Home Edition crew called it. The red tape is taken care of first to ensure the building process goes as smooth as possible, and to make sure all regulations of the city are met. The demolition officially began Saturday, November 13 and the process has been going non-stop ever since. The new home includes solar panels, a solar water heater and even a brand new pool.

The Extreme Makeover Home Edition crew assists with the interior design and decorating and the landscaping, but the building is always done by local contractors. J.T. Turner Construction is the contractor for this build, and C.S. Hurd is in charge of all the electrical work. The family receives the royal treatment during the building process, and the Simpsons have been vacationing on a Disney Cruise in the Bahamas. After the reveal today, Brown said the family will tour the home and then be taken back to a hotel in order for the home to be panoramically photographed before anything is rearranged.

Savannah is Brown’s 144^th straight episode for Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Wednesday he was selling merchandise under a tent near the build site. T-shirts, hoodies and fuchsia- colored tool belts were among some of the items for sale, and will probably still be on sale for a while today (debit and credit cards are accepted). Brown said the merchandise is exclusive to the build site.

“It’s kind of like going to a concert, you have to be there to get it, and you can’t find it anywhere else,” he said. A portion of the proceeds from the merchandise sold will benefit different charities like Habitat for Humanity.

This episode will most likely air sometime in mid January. There are real-time cameras set up to record the building process at all times, plus video footage shot by the film crew. All of this adds up to about 500 hours of footage that has to be cut down to about 45 minutes of show time for television.

Although the home is almost finished, you can still help out and donate to the cause. For more information, videos and photos, visit extrememakeoversavannah.com, or visit the Facebook page at facebook.com/ExtremeMakeoverSavannah. Everyone is invited to the reveal, so be sure to head down to Abercorn and help “MOVE THAT BUS!”

Photos by Dottie Smith

“I haven’t had too many opportunities to see some of the surrounding barriers islands and this was a great opportunity to meet new people and see some of the things Georgia Conservancy was trying to accomplish,” said Brian Jolly, manager of Halfmoon Outfitters who joined in on the excursion. “Plus, it was a great time on the water to see some amazing, undisturbed beauty.”

Guests enjoyed a thorough naturalist and historical tour led by Jim Bitler of the Ossabaw Island Foundation. The tour touched on the unique ecology of the island as well as its history as a slave-holding indigo plantation. The Ossabaw Island Foundation works with the state, through grant-funded work, and with individual donors to serve as resources for historical preservation, renovation and education.

“As an organization we are thrilled to be able to facilitate these trips for our members and friends. The coast of Georgia is home to some of the most treasured and off-the-beaten-path places. Providing people the opportunity to interact with these natural environments inevitably evokes awareness and a sense of stewardship.”

The Georgia Conservancy strongly supports the work of the Ossabaw Island Foundation and hopes that trips like this will help inform Georgians about their coastal treasures and the importance of protecting our barrier islands from threats of development. The event was part of the 2010 Coastal Tour. The organization will be publishing their list of events and trips for the 2011 Coastal Tour in the near future.

Since then, he’s continued to write and direct smallish, talky films based around what he knows best — interpersonal dynamics between Irish-American families in and around Long Island, New York. A devotee of Woody Allen, Burns injects his own attitude and personality into the films he’s at the helm of (as well as himself — he plays major roles in virtually all of his own projects), but also maintains a lucrative career on the side as an actor-for-hire, appearing memorably in such fare as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, ONE MISSED CALL and HBO’s ENTOURAGE series.

His latest directorial effort is NICE GUY JOHNNY –shot for an amazingly paltry $25,000 on the acclaimed RED digital camera– has just been released and is turning heads for its innovative distribution model: it’s not being shown in theaters, save for a appearances at a few major festivals such as this one. Instead, it was made available simultaneously on DVD, as an iTunes download and through Video On Demand services.

The filmmaker believes this release model “represents the future of independent film distribution,” adding that he grew tired of fans telling him they hated waiting for nine months to a year to see his movies on video because they lived nowhere near a theater that specialized in smaller, indie films.

“Now,” he says, “when someone asks, ‘where can I see your movie if I don’t live near an art-house theater?’ I tell them, ‘anywhere you want.’”

I spoke with Burns on the third floor of SCAD’s Jen Library. Below are highlights form our spirited conversation.

Jim Reed: So NICE GUY JOHNNY won’t be appearing cinemas at all?

Edward Burns: Correct. No theatrical at all, for the simple reason is the average cost to market a film is 39 million dollars. Even the indie distribution companies will admit that they only use theatrical distribution as a loss leader. Now, we own the film completely and are just licensing it. So, we don’t need the satisfaction of seeing the film play in a theater. This is the twelfth or thirteenth film festival we’ve been to with this film, so we’ve gotten to sit in the back row with an audience and grooved on the vibe when they’ve laughed together or sighed together.

Jim Reed: I see what you’re saying, but only the people at the handful of those festivals have gotten that experience. Are you saying that the cinematic experience of a group showing in a theater is almost nostalgic at this point and that you assume folks are satisfied with watching things solely at home?

Edward Burns: Whether or not it’s nostalgic, the reality is the audience doesn’t support the films theatrically anymore. You know, there’s a reason Warner Brothers Independent, Picturehouse, Paramount Advantage, ThinkFilm all went out of business. There’s a reason art-houses are closing down in every city. The audience sits at home and has monster-size flat-screen TVs in HD. They have great quality programming from cable television. That was a big part of our decision. I mean, how do you convince an audience that has THE SOPRANOS or MAD MEN or BREAKING BAD or THE WIRE, or any of these great, well-written dramas with super acting — how do you convince them to get up and drive out on a Wednesday night to an art-house theater?

Our thinking was that the audience is there. They’re in their living room and they’re already used to watching this sort of thing there, so let’s just take it directly to them. The other thing is that we need to find a way to monetize these films. They;re just not making any money theatrically. You go down the list and really good movies with good reviews and movie stars – and nobody’s showin’ up! Do I wish that was the case? No, but it’s like the record companies who kept saying that people wanted to buy CDs. Guess what? Those guys are now shit outta luck. The same thing is happening in our business, and we simply didn’t want to lose money, quite frankly. We looked at the numbers and said let’s skip theatrical and just go straight to Video On Demand.

Jim Reed: And what has the response been to this so far?

Edward Burns: It’s doing so much better than we ever imagined. Now it’s just a question of how far is the tail.

Jim Reed: Have you had any negative feedback from anyone in the business towards your approach to distributing this film in this manner?

Edward Burns: Well, I think everybody’s watching it to see. There are always gonna be the purists who wish that this wasn’t the case — and I’m one of them, quite honestly!

Jim Reed: Well, it’s just a matter of being pragmatic.

Edward Burns: And you have to be.

]]> http://ww2.thesouthmag.com/dailies/2010/a-chat-with-edward-burns/feed/ 0 http://ww2.thesouthmag.com/dailies/2010/the-lost-boys/ http://ww2.thesouthmag.com/dailies/2010/the-lost-boys/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:22:24 +0000 Erin Wessling http://ww2.thesouthmag.com/?p=35858 It’s not very often that I am able to sit and chat with a group of people who have ultimately changed the lives of millions of viewers throughout the world, and are responsible for helping create a cult that lovingly refer to themselves as “Losties.”  So when I sat in the Lennon Bus today with the video, dialog and sound editors of Lost I was extremely eager to learn how it was all done.Chris Nelson, Scott Weber and Frank Morrone worked on the six seasons of Lost with the job of creating visual and audio suspense every week. If you are familiar with the show, the video and sound created 90 percent of the thrilling sequences viewers yearned for every episode.  Through a complicated web that is more or less seen as a major movie production than a television series, these three worked on enhancing scenes and in turn, the show’s plot, which is by no means an easy feat.

All three agreed that working on Lost was the most challenging job of their career.

“The amount of content was challenging. We had a smoke monster, plane crashes and a deserted island,” Sound Editor Scott Weber said. “Not only that, the environment they were filming was a busy, populated island, O’ Ahu, with a highway nearby, an Airforce base nearby and a lot of that audio had to be worked on in the studio.”

It was funny however, to find out that with all the technology they had at hand  to create, distort and hide sounds and visuals, it turns out that some time old tricks-of-the-trade were still in use. The infamous clicking of the smoke monster was the sound of a New York taxicab printing a receipt that Morrone recorded before he worked on the show.

Here to speak to SCAD students about editing as a profession and the realities they face in the business, I asked each of them what lessons of the profession they wanted to relay and they all had the same ideas: teamwork, observation and most importantly, leaving the ego at the door.

Nelson was quick to respond with a quote from his first boss, Gloria Clark.

“The moment you start loving your work is the moment you stop getting better at your job,” said Nelson. He also stressed if you want to be great in this business you have to be a good student of human nature.

Morrone noted that 50 percent of the job is how well you relate to people, “that and networking! Get out and meet as many people as possible.”

Nelson summed it up well by saying success is an equal combination of “talent, personality and luck.”

Be sure to check out the video above for more of this exclusive interview.

Eluding the watchful eyes of a Lucas Theatre usher, two Southern starlets seized the opportunity to act like kids in a candy store. From striking a pose on stage to running amock in the ticket booth, they display the high-fashion side of behind the scenes at one of the city’s most beloved theaters.

Aside from a mentorship with Zac Posen, April Johnston was a regular senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design until she received an e-mail that would hurtle her quickly toward realizing some of her biggest dreams. Getting to be a contestant on Lifetime’s Project Runway, she believes, “came her way for a reason.”

South Magazine: How did you get on the show?

April Johnston: On the eve of SCAD’s fashion show, I got an e-mail from a casting director from the show. They had seen some of my portfolio work online and told me I had a shot at being a contestant on the show. This was the same weekend as the fashion show, as well as my graduation, and I ended up driving back and forth from Atlanta to Savannah that whole weekend.

SM: What was the actual selection process for the show?

AJ: I had to submit extensive photos of my portfolio work. I had to tell them why I wanted this, tell them all about myself. I had to bring clothes I’d made, which was easy for me because everything I’ve ever done has been made by me. I haven’t sent anything out. I also had to submit my sketches and ideas.

SM: What were your original goals upon starting school at SCAD, and how has your experience changed them?

AJ: I did exactly what I came here to do. My goal was to come here, graduate with a good GPA in fashion design and ultimately find a job with an established house in the industry. This opportunity came my way for a reason. Close to graduation, I was really freaking out because I didn’t have anything lined up yet. I realized what an opportunity this is to show my work. I was excited to have the chance to expand on different levels. Entering the show, I was the “newbie,” but people are responding well to my stuff.

SM: What was the filming process of the show?

AJ: We spent six weeks filming in New York City. Then, we got to come home. I leave tomorrow to go back to New York to film the second part, as we will be filming Fashion Week live.

SM: What everyone wants to know: What’s it like to work with Heidi Klum?

AJ: Before I got into fashion design, I really wanted to model. I studied all the famous ones. Then after having been at SCAD, and having seen some famous people, I was a little better about being starstruck. When I saw Heidi, she looks just like she always looks in magazines and on TV. She’s a really funny in person. I got to see a lighter side of her and wish I’d had more time to spend with her .

SM: What’s your own favorite outfit to wear?

AJ: I love the colder months. So I love to wear vintage fur coats. I go thrifting a lot in Savannah and find great ones. I also like to wear blazers with a long T-shirt dress or leggings. Nothing too fitted because I’m always moving. I want to be comfortable yet still look fashion forward.

SM: What makes your designs unique?

AJ: I want to make things that I would wear. I consider myself a young trendsetter. In my clothes, I want women to feel sexy, edgy, different, like they are ahead of the game. I often have a dark twist to my designs, a dark romanticism. For instance, maybe a beautiful gown made of vintage inspired fabric. I like to mix in a modern, edgy style.

SM: What are your immediate plans for the future?

AJ: Once the show is over, I need a job. I just got out of school, so I’m not ready to start my own line, just now. I would like to, one day, though. I’m going to work on establishing myself as a name and get myself out there. I’m going to work hard at getting started in the fashion industry.

Margaret Thatcher and Colin Powell have taken tea in the Mercer Williams House. Five films have been set on the property, the most famous of which brought with it Hollywood kings Clint Eastwood, Kevin Spacey and John Cusack. Within its thick walls, it encapsulates thousands of stories, some humorous, some deathly serious, some true and some up for debate. But when all the chatter and excitement settles, the structure itself remains impeccably designed and nothing short of magnificent on the grandest of scales … just see for yourself.

Photography by Eric Prine, Attic Fire Photography