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CHICAGO 10 Los Angeles Panel Featured Brett Morgen, Aaron Sorkin, Paul Krassner, Jeremy Strick and Chris Connelly

LOS ANGELES LAUNCH FOR NEW DOCUMENTARY CHICAGO 10 FEATURED LIVELY PANEL DISCUSSION WITH BRETT MORGEN, AARON SORKIN, PAUL KRASSNER, JEREMY STRICK AND CHRIS CONNELLY

Vanity Fair, Participant Media, River Road Entertainment and Roadside Attractions Hosted Event at Pacific Design Center

Highlights and Photos Available for Viewing and Download on www.takepart.com/citizensummits

In celebration of the new documentary Chicago 10, Vanity Fair, Participant Media, River Road Entertainment and Roadside Attractions hosted a panel discussion and screening entitled "Speaking Your Piece; Activism Through Art," on Wednesday, February 20th at 7:00 PM, at the Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles. Highlights and photos from the event are available for viewing and download at www.takepart.com/citizensummits.

The panelists included Chicago 10 director Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture), award-winning writer/producer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War), famed ‘60s activist Paul Krassner and Los Angeles MoCA director Jeremy Strick.  ABC/ESPN reporter Chris Connelly served as moderator.

This event is one of four "Citizen Summits" that took place around the country during the month of February as part of the Social Action Campaign for Chicago 10, which opened February 29.

In discussing the profound impact that art and artists - hailing from a diverse array of backgrounds - have had on activism through the years, some notable statements were made by each of the panelists.  These include:

Aaron Sorkin
“I think the rules of storytelling are different from the rules of journalism.  They’re different from the rules of documentary-making, and they’re very different from the rules of activism.  And those (the rules of storytelling) are the rules you have to tend to first.”

“There’s a danger I think in making anything about the 60s, because the 60s, perhaps sadly, the activism has become and the aesthetic has become such a common punch line that if you’re earnest or overly earnest about it, forget it, you’re in trouble.”

Jeremy Strick
“Works of visual art crystallize images and allow people to see issues, to see ideas, in a very concrete fashion.  And at times, the effect can simply be on a few individuals.  But at other times, depending upon the medium, the effect can be quite broad.  At MoCA, we’re concluding an exhibition right now , just here at the Pacific Design Center Gallery of the art of Emory Douglas.  Emory was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party.  And he produced all of the graphic images in the Black Panther Newspaper…posters, handbills and such.  He really created the identity of the Panthers.  Images we still remember, still think of, identify with the Black Panther Party and the movement were images that he created.  So it had a very profound effect, and one that still lasts.”

Brett Morgen
“If you want people to come to the party, you got to give them something entertaining. Which Michael Moore has done so successfully by using comedy and entertainment to drive the issues in the film, and which Morgan Spurlock did with Super Size Me.  So Chicago 10 was an attempt to make a really entertaining pop movie about a subject, and trying to reach an audience that would otherwise have no interest in a film about 1968.”

“Chicago 10 is really sort of a myth, and one that’s really more about my time and my generation in a way, as least as I was trying to make it, than it was the subjects’ because obviously, I wasn’t around at the time.

Paul Krassner
“One of my biggest contributions to the Yippies was to invent the name.  Because as a journalist, I knew that you have to have a who, what, when, where and why.  And so, the Yippies was a who.  And it was effective—the Chicago papers had headlines like ‘Yipes, the Yippies Are Coming.’ And so we could see before our very eyes a myth becoming a reality.”

In response to whether the Left has lost its sense of humor:
“Sometimes it’s hard to joke about things that really make you heartbroken.  So I could understand it.  But also the Left wanted to be respectable.  And if you are silly as we were, it doesn’t give the image they want to give.

About Chicago 10
Written and directed by Brett Morgen (THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE), CHICAGO 10 presents contemporary history with a forced perspective, mixing bold and original animation with extraordinary archival footage that explores the build-up to and unraveling of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial.  Set to the music of revolution, then and now, CHICAGO 10 is a parable of hope, courage and ultimate victory, the story of young Americans speaking out and taking a stand in the face of an oppressive and armed government.

At the 1968 Democratic Convention, protestors, denied permits for demonstrations, repeatedly clashed with the Chicago Police Department, who waged a week-long terror campaign that resulted in riots witnessed live by a television audience of over 50 million. The events had a polarizing effect on the country.

Needing to find a scapegoat for the riots, the Government held eight of the most vocal activists accountable for the violence and brought them to trial a year later. The defendants represented a broad cross-section of the anti-war movement, from counter-culture icons Abbie Hoffman (voiced by Hank Azaria) and Jerry Rubin (Mark Ruffalo) to renowned pacifist David Dellinger (Dylan Baker). Seven of the defendants were represented by Leonard Weinglass and famed liberal attorney William Kunstler (Liev Schreiber), who went head-to-head with prosecution attorney Thomas Foran (Nick Nolte). The eighth defendant, Bobby Seale (Jeffrey Wright), co-chair of the Black Panther Party, insisted on defending himself and was bound, gagged and handcuffed to his chair by Judge Julius Hoffman (Roy Scheider). From the start, the trial was a circus with the eight defendants on a collision course with the governmental authority. 

Eschewing talking-head interviews and omniscient narration, CHICAGO 10 allows the viewer to experience the drama and tragedy of Chicago in a unique and dynamic style.  The film moves back and forth from the streets of Chicago to the courtroom at an exciting and accelerating pace that brings the past into the present.  Ultimately, CHICAGO 10 is more than a historical drama; it is a new style of documentary with a visceral and emotional core.

About Participant Media
Participant Media is the leading provider of entertainment that inspires and compels social change.  It is a Los Angeles-based production company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films and documentaries.  Participant Media is headed by CEO Jim Berk and President Ricky Strauss and was founded in 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman.

Participant’s 2008 releases include Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10, Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor, Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure, which was awarded the coveted Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, and Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker’s Pressure Cooker. Recent films include Louise Hogarth’s Angels in the Dust, Jonathan Demme’s Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, Ted Braun’s Darfur Now, Marc Forster’s The Kite Runner, Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War, George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck, Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana, Niki Caro’s North Country and Davis Guggenheim’s Academy Award®-winning An Inconvenient Truth, one of the highest grossing documentaries in history.

For information, visit www.participantmedia.com.

About River Road Entertainment
In the past five years, River Road Entertainment has emerged as one of the leading independent production companies known for financing and developing unconventional films and documentaries that astonish, inspire, reveal and provoke. Breaking new ground as well as box office records with the Oscar® winning epic, Brokeback Mountain, the company has produced an impressive slate of films, with more promise on the horizon.

Earlier this year, River Road co-financed the Sundance Film Festival opener, Chicago 10, Brett Morgan’s documentary about the violent clash between activism and the establishment during the1968 Democratic Convention. The Company’s other credits include Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey, Jr.; Jonas Åkerlund’s I’m Going to Tell You a Secret featuring Madonna; and Robert Altman’s final film, A Prairie Home Companion.

Originally formed by Bill Pohlad in 1987, the Minneapolis company initially made its name producing numerous commercial, corporate and documentary film and video projects. In 2001, Pohlad drew on his discerning taste to lead River Road Entertainment back into the feature film business, with a steadfast commitment to produce quality films. Still retaining an office in the Twin cities, River Road Entertainment is primarily based in Los Angeles.

About Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions is an independent film distribution company committed to championing films that entertain, delight, and enlighten audiences of all kinds. The company works with filmmakers to devise innovative marketing strategies that encourage audiences to see films that are not typical studio fare. On February 29th, Roadside will release Academy-Award nominated director and producer Brett Morgan's part-animated documentary CHICAGO 10 that interweaves footage of the brutal clashes between police and demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic convention with 3-D animated reenactments of the outrageous trial that followed it,  it is an electrifying experience told with up-to-the-moment immediacy. In April, David Fincher and Spike Jonze will present world renowned commercial director, Tarsem's latest feature film, THE FALL. Starring Lee Pace and introducing Cantica Untaru, the film was shot in  over 25 countries and creates a visually sumptuous fantasy world of exotic bandits, evil tyrants, dream-like palaces and breathtaking landscapes.

Previous theatrical releases include the Academy Award(R) nominated SUPER SIZE ME, Independent Spirit Award winner THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO, box office hits such as AMAZING GRACE, LADIES IN LAVENDER and WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW? and more recent releases include the Toronto Film Festival People's Choice winner, BELLA; Andrew Wagner's STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, starring 2007 Tony Award(R) winner Frank Langella which has garnered 2 Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best Actor and Cannes Director's Fortnight hit CARAMEL.

Contact:
Heather Lylis or David Falkenstein
Sunshine, Sachs & Associates
212-691-2800

Jeffrey Sakson
Participant Media
310-550-5109

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