Kiros Pictures is a small film production company founded by two screenwriter/producers that, to date, has produced five short films and is transitioning this year into feature film development and production.  Kiros comes from the Greek word meaning “a moment of divine time,” referring to the opportune moment in which something should be brought into existence.  The company’s goal is to bring unique and interesting film to the world at just the right time.  Kiros Pictures’ writer/producer Joe Brouillette tells us more…

Who or what have been your biggest influences?

Screenwriter John August (Go, Big Fish, The Nines);
Writer/Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins);
Playwright/Screenwriter Tom Stoppard (The Real Thing, Arcadia, Shakespeare in Love).

What has been Kiros Pictures’ greatest success to date?

Winning a $10,000 Grand Jury prize in a national contest for our first short film, Sissy Frenchfry.  That, and figuring out our first business tax return.

If you could collaborate with any creative mind, living or dead, who would it be?

Tough question. Either Oscar Wilde or Paul Rubens.

You’ve been a member of Fractured Atlas since March of 2007.  How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

Fiscal sponsorship and film production insurance.

Complete this sentence: “A world without art is…”

“…a world that has stopped evolving.”  Seems complete to me!

What projects are on your horizon?

We’re currently co-producing a children’s feature film with Persistent Entertainment, and trying to get studio funding for it.  In addition, we have five indy feature film scripts in search of financiers and/or producing partners.  And we’re writing more all the time.

How can we see and learn more about your company’s work?

You may visit the website for our first project at sissyfrenchfry.com or myspace.com/sissyfrenchfrymovie.  A company website will be developed soon.

Founded in 2001, Stone Soup Theatre Arts creates collaborative work based on relevant social issues. Each season, the company chooses a theme and begins with a published work, usually by an international playwright.  The season culminates in a collaboratively-created piece based on research, workshops and travel.

Stone Soup gets its name from the Grimms Brothers’ tale about a town that comes together, with what little sustenance they have, to create a magical meal.  Managing director Leigh Goldenberg says, “Our company is always looking for contributors — artistic collaborators or audience members — to our pot!  This means anyone who wants to join in the conversation and bring a little something with them…”

Recently, we talked shop (soup?) with Leigh and artistic director Nadine Friedman…

Who or what are your biggest influences?

The founding members of Stone Soup Theatre Arts were moved by the work of the Group Theatre — its collaborative nature and socially significant work.  Now, our influences are less often particular styles of theatre; we focus more on what is inspiring in current events. If we can’t stop talking about something, and feel our audience shouldn’t either, then we know we have to find or create a play about it.

What has been your greatest success to date?

Our production of Elie Wiesel’s “The Trial of God” was a big turning point for the company, and probably our most significant success. The play was artistically challenging, both in the text and our approach to the casting. We were proud to receive our most substantial press for this piece, which brought in an incredibly diverse audience for us. Having Chasidic Jews in the audience watch a black woman onstage playing a rabbi was completely unforgettable. “The Trial of God” also furthered our company’s mission by uniting us with five other Off-Off Broadway companies to produce “The UnConvention,” an artistic protest to the Republican National Convention in NYC in 2004. The entire festival felt vital and relevant and we were lucky to work with our peers to create a cohesive, provocative statement.

Stone Soup has been a member of Fractured Atlas since 2003. How do you use your membership?

Primarily, we use Fractured Atlas (FA) as our fiscal sponsor, which has been invaluable. We use the donation history tool [that comes with fiscal sponsorship] as a fund-raising database. We have also gotten general liability insurance through Fractured Atlas, and special offers that are available to FA members, such as discounted publicity work from Wise Elephant. We regularly check the FA website to see what our peers are up to. We have found the events calendar to be an incredible resource to attract like-minded artists to our master classes and audition workshops. And our company members are also excited about taking courses on Fractured U!

Finish this sentence: “A world without art is …”

“…unrevealed!”

What’s ahead for Stone Soup?

We are currently in the planning stages for our 8th season — Diagnosing the Present — an exploration of healthcare. We plan to produce two plays in repertory in Spring 2009, one original and one previously published. We are also continuing our workshop series this November and hosting a gala in December.

How can we learn more about Stone Soup’s offerings?

We welcome everyone to join our artists in our Souped Up Sundays Master Class workshops this November, or to attend our annual benefit on December 6th. These are casual ways to meet company members and see how we operate.  We also throw unusual fundraisers ranging from bingo picnics to dog beauty pageants!

Our website, www.stonesoupkitchen.org, has background on the company, details about upcoming events, and our e-newsletter sign-up.

Name: Nicholas DeMaison
Websites: www.myspace.com/operacabal, www.southhadleychorale.org
Hometown: Rochester, NY; now resides in New York City
Artistic Disciplines: music composition, conducting
Fractured Atlas Member Since: June 2007
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Development Grant, Fiscal Sponsorship, Event Liability Insurance, Calendar of Events

Both a composer and conductor, Nicholas DeMaison is the founding music director of Opera Cabal, a fledgling experimental opera company bent on the creation and production of new music, new opera and new theater; and the director of the South Hadley Chorale, a 90-voice symphonic choir in South Hadley, Massachusetts.  Recently, he took the time to answer a few of our questions…

Who/what are your biggest influences?

As a composer, the usual suspects, from Perotin to Feldman, Manoury, Scelsi, and Lucier; as a conductor, Boulez, Carl St.Clair, Gustav Meier, and Lucas Vis; as the builder of artistic communities, organizations like the The Walden School, The La Jolla Symphony and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).

What has been your greatest success to date?

It seems that “successes” for me always come in unlikely places and forms.

When the South Hadley Chorale decided to hire me, I was pretty stoked  despite the fact that I would be making a 150-mile commute every week from NYC up to central Massachusetts.

And Opera Cabal’s biggest success so far was also, strangely, its biggest disaster.

We typically make use of non-standard performance spaces: private homes, art galleries, old warehouses…whatever.  About a year ago, we organized and booked our second 4-day festival of new opera/music/theater (Delusions : 2007) at the Zhou B. Art Center in Chicago’s Industrial Bridgeport neighborhood.  Artists and musicians were coming from New York, San Diego, Madison, and Buffalo to perform/display their work.  During the performances on the second night, the commissioner of the Chicago Police came to the gallery and shut down the festival, citing the gallery’s lack of a Public Presenter’s License.  Turns out, the gallery had run into this problem before…

(Editor’s note: Read more about the gallery’s closure here.)

We left that night completely defeated, feeling that nearly seven months of planning, preparation etc. had just evaporated.  On Saturday morning, some friends who had heard about our disaster offered to let us use a large performance space in their home.  We scrambled for the next 9 hours, moved our entire setup (sets, lights, sound equipment…everything) across town to Hyde Park, and at 7pm, Phyllis Chen’s Toy Piano Roadshow, the Nonsense Company, and Opera Cabal played to a modest, but very devoted crowd of 25.   It was the most powerfully intimate and magical performance I have ever experienced, and it drastically changed the way we think about our work.

How did you hear about Fractured Atlas and what motivated you to become a member?

I heard about Fractured Atlas from Nathan Davis, a NY-based percussionist, and even though at the time I had no idea how I might use the varied services offered, it seemed more than likely that at some point in the future I would.

How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

Event advertising, event insurance, and a professional development grant.   Opera Cabal has applied for fiscal sponsorship, as well.  As soon as I am no longer an “underemployed” musician, I plan to look into the health insurance packages.

How would you finish this sentence: “The artist’s role in society is…”
“…to demonstrate an alternative.”

How can we read more about and experience your organizations’ work?

We haven’t officially started advertising any of these events, but Opera Cabal has two upcoming shows this season:

- My own “Ursularia,” and new pieces by Rick Burkhardt, presented in collaboration with The Nonsense Company; at Chicago’s AVaerie, Dec. 11-13, 2008
- Sciarrino’s “Lohengrin,” in collaboration with The Nonsense Company and UC San Diego; at UCSD’s brand spanking new Prebys Music Center in La Jolla, CA; May 16/17, 2009

And the South Hadley Chorale performs Bruckner’s Mass no. 2 in E Minor on March 15, 2009, in Mount Holyoke’s Abbey Chapel; South Hadley, MA.

To read more about our/my work, you can check out our reviews in Time Out Chicago, and the blogs Telecommuniculturey and Deceptively Simple.

Images:

Top: Nicholas DeMaison

Middle: Ryland Barton, Jonathon Eliot, and Griffin Sharps performing Eliot’s “Lamia.”  Opera Cabal’s Collusions : 2007 Festival, April 2007, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago.

Bottom: Majel Connery (Artistic Director, Opera Cabal) as St.Ursula, in Nicholas DeMaison’s opera “Ursularia.”  Opera Cabal’s Collusions : 2007 Festival, April 2007, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago.

Name: Cara Winter
Website: www.carawinter.net
Hometown: New York, NY
Artistic Disciplines: writing, acting
Fractured Atlas Member Since: February 2002
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Fiscal Sponsorship, Health Insurance, Liability Insurance

Cara, tell us about your work in a few sentences.

For about a decade, my focus was on performing, and I worked and toured all over the country.  But I’ve always written, on the side.  I am often inspired by the work I’m doing as an actress; for instance, I wrote two children’s plays while teaching acting to children, and wrote a play about an alcoholic while on tour with… well, you get the picture.  Last summer, my first play, “Social Work”, was picked up and produced by the Manhattan Repertory Theatre; and I have three more adult plays, all in-progress: “Poker Face”, “Seeds”, and “Alan Alda sat next to me on a park bench”.

Who/what are your biggest influences?

David Auburn, Aaron Sorkin, and Amy Sherman-Palladino are my major writing influences.

What has been your greatest success to date?

As a performer, it would have to be playing to a packed Fox Theatre in St. Louis.  Incredible.   As a writer, it was when “Social Work” was produced at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre.  The actors were amazing, the director and co-producer were incomparable.  Then the “aftermath” of the play’s success was SO cool:  several requests came in from development types to read the play (one at the Public, one at the Flea, as well as a film producer).  It was an incredible experience, and I learned so much.

How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

Fractured Atlas has helped me to obtain liability insurance (when I produced a short film), fund-raise and promote my production/s, and network with other artists.  For a while, though, the most important aspect of my association with Fractured Atlas was access to health care.  Last August we welcomed our first child into the world (a son, Avery), so having good health coverage was a priority.  My husband is also a freelancer, so he doesn’t have coverage through an employer.  Without FA, I’m not sure what we’d have done!  Glad I didn’t have to think about that.

Finish this sentence: A world without art is…

lonely.

How can we see/hear/read/experience/learn more about your work?

Whenever I’m in production with a piece, I usually send my blurb to Fractured Atlas’s community calendar.  I also have recent news on my own website: www.carawinter.net

Images:
Top: “Social Work” by Cara Winter at Manhattan Repertory Theatre;
Catherine Gowl as “Margaret” and Stas May as “Geoff”.  Photo by N. Warren Winter.

Bottom: Cara Winter as The Ghost of Christmas Past, with Cork Ramer as Scrooge; National Tour of “A Christmas Carol”.