Burning Man 2009

The starry night sky reluctantly allowed a dilute light to spill over the horizon - we raced on our bikes across the playa toward the wooden temple, eager to get there before liquid gold filled the east. We had spent the entire night dancing to music that shook our bones, and now it was time to salute the sun with thousands of other creative, loving, searching beings who temporarily called Black Rock City home.

I cried upon first seeing the temple - so many feelings coming up at once - the beauty of the structure, the pain of letting go when it would be burned that night, the thousands of prayers written on its wooden walls, the sense of community I felt with others, the loss of loved ones in my life, and the gift of being totally authentic for the past week.

Everyone knows Burning Man is where people go to get high and have sex, right? Well, I'm not saying that's not happening - it is. But it's so much more than that. You can party anywhere. But in my lifetime, I've never been anywhere that so completely allowed the radical self-expression that Burning Man does. There's no money allowed, so a "gift economy" is created. But that doesn't mean people go around saying, "Hey, I'll trade you this box of cookies for that bottle of juice." No, instead, people approach each other knowing that each person is unique, an opportunity to connect and grow. And often once the relationship has been established, one person will "gift" the other with his or her special treasure. One of the best physical gifts I received this year was from a talented electronics artist - he made me a little blinky necklace that responded to different sound frequencies. It made dancing even more fun, and he was uniquely suited to create it.

Even more wonderful though than physical gifts is the way people give of themselves. Since personal transformation is the bedrock of Burning Man, I knew I wanted to open my heart to change, so I wandered over to the "Evolutionary Temple" tent. As I approached, I could hear hundreds of people repeating different affirmations such as "I listen to my intuition even though I sometimes fear it will mean changing my life" and "I forgive my mother for doing too much and not taking care of her own needs." Most of the participants were crying - this work goes so deep. The teacher gives of herself because she knows how powerful and essential it is for us to be ourselves, and she is creating an organization that helps veterans express themselves fully and heal from the wounds they've endured. What an inspiration.

At Burning Man, there are no cars unless they have been "mutated" - meaning that unless you have decorated your vehicle for the purpose of beauty and radical self-expression, (and registered it with the Department of Mutant Vehicles) you can't drive around Black Rock City. That means that 50,000 people are riding around on pimped-out bicycles. The sense of freedom is incredible. And since we've all agreed to be part of the community, there is no theft. I left my wallet, phone and camera in an unlocked bag next to my tent all week with absolutely no problems. This led to so much love and trust for every stranger I encountered during the week.

Many times people will say they're incredibly grateful for an experience they've had. In this case, I can say with no hesitation that I am so grateful for the existence of Black Rock City and the privilege of helping to create the community. I'm inspired to do more and look forward to elevating my contribution in the coming years.

Love, Love, Love
-Harmony

All Dressed Up nominated for Best Soundtrack by Maverick Movie Awards

Everyone who has seen "All Dressed Up" loves the music. Including the Maverick Movie Awards! Maverick Movie Awards nominated "All Dressed Up" for best soundtrack - congratulations to Jason Rabinowitz, Avi Wisnia, Rebecca Jupiter and contributing musicians Joe Wielgosz and Shir Yaakov for the fantastic tunes!

More info available at Maverick Movie Awards

All Dressed Up a hit at the Valley Film Festival!

The audience laughed their hearts away as "All Dressed Up" screened in the opening position of the Girls on Film program Friday October 2 at 7:30pm.

All Dressed Up screening at Kodak in Hollywood!

All Dressed Up screened last night at the plush Eastman Kodak screening room in Hollywood. The event was hosted by Women in Film Independent Film Series.

Attendees loved the film, saying the film is "fabulous" and "made me laugh" and also that Rebecca Jupiter is "a great talent."

Up next: All Dressed Up will screen at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in Santa Monica in October. More details to come!

All Dressed Up enjoyed by many at Palm Springs ShortFest film market

All Dressed Up received a lot of positive responses from viewers in Palm Springs. Thanks to all those who watched!

Some of my favorites from the festival included Cigarette Candy, Brotherhood, Blue-Eyed Mary, Desert Wedding, Stop Requested, The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space, My Four-Inch Precious, Lost Paradise, Multiple Choice and This is Her. If you can catch any of them at other festivals, I highly encourage it! They were all wonderful.

Dances With Films Premiere of All Dressed Up starring Rebecca Jupiter

Here is a pic of the Q & A after the film.

Dances With Films Opening Night Party - in costume of course!

I had so much fun meeting the other filmmakers and wearing a beautiful costume! Here are two quick pics - in the background you can see the interviews being done. When I have a link to my interviews I'll share those!

Amazing review on MyDisguises!

All Dressed Up is so blessed - Manny Mayor of My Disguises has reviewed the film *glowingly*

Please take a look! Click here to go to mydisguises.com.

You'll see some photos of costumes that appear in the film. Fun!

All Dressed Up Trailer is now live

Watch the trailer here!

If you like it, post your comments on the youtube page and forward to everyone you know!

Tix now available for All Dressed Up premiere!

http://www.danceswithfilms.com/09_schedule.html

Fusion Shorts Group 1

Monday June 8th at 5pm

$10 before June 4th
$12 after

Can't be there? Consider buying a ticket and donating it back so I can invite industry guests - agents, casting directors, etc.

Thanks!

All Dressed Up World Premiere June 8th at 5pm!

Come join in the fun and fantasy as quirky Daphne searches for her true love... in costume!

Monday June 8th at 5pm

Dances With Films festival

Sunset Laemmle 5

8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

Tix available soon at www.danceswithfilms.com

Coming to the premiere in costume is welcome and encouraged!

If you're excited about the film, please join our fan page on Facebook!

All Dressed Up postcard

The trailer is coming soon!

All Dressed Up has been accepted to its first film festival!

I'm thrilled and proud that "All Dressed Up" has now been accepted to its very first film festival!

I hope you'll join me in early June in Los Angeles - as soon as I have the confirmation and exact screening date and time I will post it here.

I have also purchased www.alldressedupmovie.com and I am working on the website, trailer and graphics.

The film is now on imdb - just search for All Dressed Up and make sure you look at the one made in 2009 - there was an old film with the same name. It's also easy to reach from my imdb page.

Thank you for the outpouring of love and support - I know that you will enjoy this film! It is funny, uplifting, sweet and unique.

logline: Quirky Daphne's love of costumes gives her another chance at love after a series of hilarious dating disasters.

"All Dressed Up" is ready for festival submissions!

In case you have just met me or somehow I haven't told you about my film...

I am producing "All Dressed Up" a short (14min) film - a romantic comedy about quirky, slightly neurotic Daphne, who has trouble meeting the right guy until she focuses on her love of dressing up in costume. That's when Mr. Right comes along.

The final cut is done, the dvds are in, and I have already submitted to one festival. More to come.

Hooooraaaay!

Three film roles, update on "Shortened"

With Pradeep Paga producing, I shot "Struggle" - I played a girl on a blind date with my friend Kevin Ashworth. We met on the internet, and he may have neglected to mention a key piece of information... we go from connecting deeply to me dumping him in a matter of minutes!

With Aaron Sherill producing, I played the mother in flashbacks to the 1970s, complete with Farrah Fawcett hairdo. So much fun.

Then I shot the role of a board member in USC film "Over and Again."

I'll keep you updated on all these films.

As for Shortened, which I shot a while back, Ed Magalong tells me there's a rough cut so things are moving along!

Latest news and projects

The world is flying by, folks!

I can barely keep up with myself.

On Saturday I shot the role of the mother in "Tunnels" directed by Ryan Ovadia.

On Sunday I helped out on the set of Jonathan Dane's "Just Married (aka Taxes)." - the pic is of him and his "new wife" - Christine Lakin, as well as the director and some other folks.

Today I recorded the vocals for the final song of "All Dressed Up." The track is called Dreamworld, and like most of the score for the film, was composed by Jason Rabinowitz of The Bloodsugars.

Tomorrow I have the first day of shooting for a UCLA project directed by Elizabeth Wallace.

I'll never complain about being busy, but I do think I could use a day off...

ESPN Australian Open spot

So, my day was actually pretty cool...

I was shooting a commercial for the Australian Open that will be shown on ESPN. They asked me to be their "Russian ballerina" so I was wearing a fluttery skirt doing a lot of leaps and pirouettes and footwork.

One of the most exciting things was that they were shooting on the new "Phantom" camera that shoots hundreds, thousands, even a million frames per second (it depends on the resolution) so the shots looked AMAZING. I hope to put the link on here when the spot is ready. There will also be a fire breather, gymnast, trampolinist and others on the commercial, so it's pretty high-concept.

We were shooting at Quixote Studios next to Griffith Park, which is where they shoot Criminal Minds. Anyone watch that show?

Music Video and Commercial

Okay, it's 2009 and I'm ready to work!

I just booked a comedic music video "Hey Man" and a commercial for the Australian Open. In the music video, I will play a sexy ringside girl at a boxing match, and in the commercial I will play a Russian ballerina doing a leap.

I hope to share more good news with you soon. In the meantime, I'm interning 2 days a week at a casting agency, and I'm almost finished with my short film "All Dressed Up."

Happy 2009!

Hoping to go to the inauguration

The Obama campaign asked why I'm excited about the inauguration (in a few words.)

As a Jewish 14 year-old from San Francisco, I flew 3000 miles to attend prep school in New Hampshire on an academic scholarship. I was in a dorm with 33 other girls from all over. The girls I became closest with were all African-American girls from New York City. We understood each other as products of urban, not-so-wealthy neighborhoods. We all took a trip down to Boston to see "Fires in the Mirror" by Anna Deveare Smith. I wished at that moment that race relations in our country could improve, and that we could begin to move on from our past, not by ignoring it, but by changing the future. So I have been so excited about President Obama's potential to begin our healing as a nation. He has many, many gifts, not least of which is his ability to bring people together. Togetherness and dialogue will be our strength.

Latest Projects

Tomorrow I'll be shooting a short film called "Shortened." I play the main character's boss. Ed Magalong is producing.

I'll also be shooting the pilot of "America's Best Cheerleader" with Apple Cart Productions. Let's hope it gets picked up so you can see me kicking, cheering, cartwheeling and doing the splits!

Visit Apple Cart Productions to see other projects they've done.

On Tuesday I'll be doing a comedic photo shoot of "Strangeness in Suburbia" with Jesse Strigler. I play a dominatrix, people. What could be more fun?

Visit Jesse Strigler's site to see his beautiful photos!