KING-TV’s Ciscoe Morris and Producers Mimi Gan and Jim Dever will be at BTB Advertiser the Tin Theater on Saturday, Nov. 5th for two showings of “GIANTS,” a documentary about the ruthlessly competitive world of growing giant pumpkins.

All proceeds will go the Highline Botanical Garden Foundation for the support of the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden. See below for ticket information.

“Prepare to be amazed as you watch Pacific Northwest growers battle nature – and each other – to capture the giant pumpkin world’s ultimate prize,” reads a press release.

Narrated by actor Tom Skerritt, and with a cameo appearance by Ciscoe, it’s a movie about growing the world’s largest pumpkin. And growing apart.

Tickets are $25 in advance for either showing (matinee and evening); a few tickets are left for the matinee – contact Garden Manager Laura Sweany at 206-391-4003 for more information.

The Tin Theater is located at 923 SW 152nd in Olde Burien (206-242-8040).

Here’s more from an email:

Join us as we welcome Ciscoe Morris and producers Mimi Gan & Jim Dever from  KING 5′s Evening Magazine to the Tin Theater in Burien for the “Southwest King County World Premiere” of “GIANTS”, a documentary about the ruthlessly competitive world of growing giant pumpkins.

BREAKING NEWS; Some of the stars of the film, including folks from Holland’s Land o’Giants, will be in attendance for both the evening and matinee showings!

The Details:

November 5, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (see below for Event Schedules)

$25 advance tickets for matinee showing; a few tickets are left for the matinee, contact Garden Manager Laura Sweany at 206-391-4003 for more information.

$25 advance tickets for evening showing, available from the Tin Room or from Garden Manager Laura Sweany. Call the Tin Room at 206-242-8040 or Garden Manager Laura Sweany at 206-391-4003 for more information.

Includes a free pumpkin-themed beverage and a free small popcorn.

Schedule of Events:

Daytime Showing:

• 3:00 pm: Cocktail hour meet & greet with Mimi, Jim, & Ciscoe
• 4:00: Movie introduction by Mimi, Jim, & Ciscoe
• 4:15: Movie
• 5:30: Q&A with the Producers
• 6:00: Adjourn to the Tin Room for more fun!

Evening Showing:

• 6:30 pm Cocktail hour meet & greet with Mimi, Jim, & Ciscoe
• 7:15 Movie introduction by Mimi, Jim, & Ciscoe
• 7:30 Movie
• 8:45 Q&A with the producers
• 9:00 Adjourn to the Tin Room for more fun!

Here’s the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

More info at the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden website, the film’s website or Facebook Page.

A screening of a new film called “The Playground,” a documentary Executive Produced by actor George Clooney, will happen Tuesday, Oct. 5th at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Biurien.

This film is about the insidious life of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST), and all proceeds will go towards opening the first 24-hour Drop in Center in America for girls ages 11-24 involved in DMST.

No word yet on whether Mr. Clooney himself will be present or not, but we wouldn’t count on it.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Screening of “The Playground” Documentary.

WHEN: Tuesday Oct. 5th at 6pm.

WHERE: The Criminal Justice Training Center, located at 19010 1st Avenue South in Burien.

TICKETS: Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122618.

Tickets are also available at the door

VIDEO: Here’s the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

INFO: From the film’s website:

The Genesis Project along with The Innocence Mission is proud to show the full length documentary of The Playground.

This documentary is produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Stephen Soderbergh.

Come get a first hand look at minor sex trafficking in America.

All proceeds and donations from this event will go to the The Genesis Project located in SeaTac WA and will be used to help open the first 24-Hour Drop In Center in the Country for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficked girls.

The film will begin promptly at 6:30pm with a discussion panel following a 15-minute intermission.

Because of the nature of the film no children please.

All proceeds from this event will go directly to The Genesis Project and to their 24 Hour Drop In Center fund.

To learn more about this production, click here: www.playgroundpremiereatl.com

These DVDs are for “B-Town: How Burien Came Into Its Own,” the documentary film shot last summer that’s all about Burien. We’re selling them at our booth for just $15. All proceeds from sales will be donated to Hospitality House, a Burien-based shelter which has helped hundreds of homeless women “get their groove back.”

But you’d best act fast – we only have 10 7 5 copies left, and we’ll be at our booth until around 4pm. We’re mid-way down 5th Place SW on the east (library/city hall) side near the Burien Town Square – just look for a big ol’ LCD monitor and The B-Town Blog banner and a couple of goofballs huddled around a computer.

Featuring interviews with local dignitaries like founding City Councilmember Sally Nelson, first Mayor Arun Jhaveri, current Mayor Joan McGilton, as well as businesspeople like Dan “The Sausageman” House and many others, this film has very high production values and is a great tribute to our city.

Here’s a 4:55 preview of the finished product, hosted by former Seattle Times travel editor Terry Tazioli:

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. The Humane Society’s MaxMobile is here, which means you should come shop, buy fresh produce, arts & crafts and possibly…a PUPPY (or kitten)! The bright, 33-foot, custom-built yellow RV will be here until around 3pm, providing pet adoptions on the spot – all you have to do is fill out a form, pay a fee and you can leave the market with a new friend.

2. We’re selling DVDs for “B-Town: How Burien Came Into Its Own,” the documentary film shot last summer that’s all about Burien, will be available for purchase at The B-Town Blog’s booth at today’s Farmers Market for just $15. All proceeds from sales will be donated to Hospitality House, a Burien-based shelter which has helped hundreds of homeless women “get their groove back.”

But you’d best act fast – we only have 10 7 copies left, and we’ll be at our booth from 11am – 3pm. We’re mid-way down 5th Place SW on the east (library/city hall) side near the Burien Town Square– just look for a big ol’ LCD monitor and The B-Town Blog banner and a couple of goofballs huddled around a computer.

Featuring interviews with local dignitaries like founding City Councilmember Sally Nelson, first Mayor Arun Jhaveri, current Mayor Joan McGilton, as well as businesspeople like Dan “The Sausageman” House and many others, this film has very high production values and is a great tribute to our city.

Here’s a 4:55 preview of the finished product, hosted by former Seattle Times travel editor Terry Tazioli:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here are some pics taken by Scott Schaefer of “Max” and its cute, furry inhabitants from one of its previous trips to the Farmers Market:

The Burien Farmers Market runs every Thursday through October, from 11am – 6pm, downtown at Town Square on SW 152nd and 5th SW.

DVDs for “B-Town: How Burien Came Into Its Own,” the documentary film shot last summer that’s all about Burien, will be available for purchase at The B-Town Blog’s booth at today’s Farmers Market for just $15.

All proceeds from sales will be donated to Hospitality House, a Burien-based shelter which has helped hundreds of homeless women “get their groove back.”

But you’d best act fast – we only have 10 copies today, and we’ll be at our booth from 11am – 3pm.

Featuring interviews with local dignitaries like founding City Councilmember Sally Nelson, first Mayor Arun Jhaveri, current Mayor Joan McGilton, as well as businesspeople like Dan “The Sausageman” House and many others, this film has very high production values and is a great tribute to our city.

Here’s a 4:55 preview of the finished product, hosted by former Seattle Times travel editor Terry Tazioli:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And here’s more info from the film’s website, where you can also purchase the DVD online:

What does it take to have the health and resilience to rebound from an economic downturn by putting up art in an unfinished section of your Town Square and throwing a party?

The documentary tells the City of Burien’s story about what to pay attention to as we struggle to live well . . . right where we live!

It’s a great story – and much needed right now! It is the story of a vision people had for their city and how they made it come true – how, even in hard times, they are still making it come true.

Last year, Burien artists and city officials did something inspired. They created an Interim Art Space in a potential eyesore when the city center was at a standstill. That marked yet another evidence of the buoyancy and changeability of this place. Featured are artists; the Town Square developers and other business people; new arrivals; old timers, and the government officials that help make it all happen.

The Burien stories fulfill and dramatically illustrate German Urban Planner Thomas Sieverts thesis that: Our choices matter; the landscape in which we live now is the result of countless choices; and that much of it now is an in-between space, neither urban nor rural, but a mingling of both.

The crew behind this production includes many well-known Northwest video folks, such as:

• Executive Producer: Anne Stadler, community leadership consultant, formerly KING-TV5 documentaries and specials Producer
• Co-Producers and Writers: Terry Tazioli, writer/on-air Host, formerly with The Seattle Times, KING-TV5
• Lucy Mohl, formerly Senior Manager, Microsoft (and previously KING-TV, Film.com and RealNetworks)
• Production Manager, Videographer, Editor: Aaron Stadler, www.fatcatVDO.com
• Videographers: Bill Fenster, www.billfensterproductions.com, Diana Wilmar, www.foxwilmar.com/bios/bios; Videographer/Editor: Rowan North, LinkedIn
• Still Photographer: Kimi Milo
• Audio: Stevan Smith, Scott MacLaughlin, Robin Sarmento

Our booth is mid-way down 5th Place SW on the east (library/city hall) side near the Burien Town Square– just look for a big ol’ LCD monitor and The B-Town Blog banner.

Oh, and we only have 10 to sell today, and we take cash only please, so come on down, get a DVD and help out Hospitality House!

Last summer, we first reported on a documentary being filmed about Burien by some old friends from our days at KING-TV; and yes, mostly because they had four cameras in everyone’s faces (including ours) during several events.

We were lucky enough to be invited to a recent sneak preview of the completed production, which we found to be a well-produced, interesting and entertaining 30-minute film that showcases what’s been going on in this area over the last few years.

Featuring interviews with local dignitaries like founding City Councilmember Sally Nelson, first Mayor Arun Jhaveri, current Mayor Joan McGilton, as well as businesspeople like Dan “The Sausageman” House and many others, this film has very high production values and is a great tribute to our city.

What was once known as “Where We Live Now, Burien” is now called “B-TOWN – How Burien came into its own,” (hmmm…”B-TOWN”? I wonder where they got that idea…?) and here’s a 4:55 preview of the finished product, hosted by former Seattle Times travel editor Terry Tazioli (that’s his mug in the screengrab pic) who has found his true calling:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s promo copy from the production company’s website, where you can still donate online to help cover the costs and get your name in the credits as well as a free DVD copy:

What does it take to have the health and resilience to rebound from an economic downturn by putting up art in an unfinished section of your Town Square and throwing a party?

We have completed a half-hour documentary and a 5:00 trailer will soon be available on DVD. It provides a mosaic of stories that illustrate how the leadership and vision of different groups contribute to the well being of the whole.

The documentary tells the City of Burien’s story about what to pay attention to as we struggle to live well . . . right where we live!

It’s a great story — and much needed right now! It is the story of a vision people had for their city and how they made it come true – how, even in hard times, they are still making it come true.

Last year, Burien artists and city officials did something inspired. They created an Interim Art Space in a potential eyesore when the city center was at a standstill. That marked yet another evidence of the buoyancy and changeability of this place. Featured are artists; the Town Square developers and other business people; new arrivals; old timers, and the government officials that help make it all happen.

The Burien stories fulfill and dramatically illustrate German Urban Planner Thomas Sieverts thesis that: Our choices matter; the landscape in which we live now is the result of countless choices; and that much of it now is an in-between space, neither urban nor rural, but a mingling of both.

Through generous donations, we have completed the documentary and a “Trailer” Burien Video Trailer

AND now we need $7500 to pay the people who’ve done the major work.

Donors will receive a copy of the finished product and where possible, be credited in the video.

Please Donate below using the “PayPal” online process “Make Donation” button, AND send an e-Mail to us Burien Video Project providing us with information regarding how you would like your name to appear in the film credits.

The crew behind this production includes many well-known Northwest video folks, such as:

• Executive Producer: Anne Stadler, community leadership consultant, formerly KING-TV5 documentaries and specials Producer
• Co-Producers and Writers: Terry Tazioli, writer/on-air Host, formerly with The Seattle Times, KING-TV5
• Lucy Mohl, formerly Senior Manager, Microsoft (and previously KING-TV, Film.com and RealNetworks)
• Production Manager, Videographer, Editor: Aaron Stadler, www.fatcatVDO.com
• Videographers: Bill Fenster, www.billfensterproductions.com, Diana Wilmar, www.foxwilmar.com/bios/bios; Videographer/Editor: Rowan North, LinkedIn
• Still Photographer: Kimi Milo
• Audio: Stevan Smith, Scott MacLaughlin, Robin Sarmento

We’ll let you know when a local premiere will happen, so stay tuned to The B-Town Blog…

Back in October, we premiered a trailer for a new documentary being produced on Burien, called

This documentary is still in production, and another clip has been released, this time focusing on Burien’s Skatepark located at SW 144th and 4th Ave SW, near the community center.

Here’s an intro for this segment from the Editor’s (Rowan North) YouTube Channel:

“This is a section from a working documentary about the power of community collaboration and grassroots democracy in Burien, Washington…”

Here’s the clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As we mentioned before, the crew behind this production includes many well-known Northwest video folks, such as:

• Executive Producer: Anne Stadler, community leadership consultant, formerly KING-TV5 documentaries and specials Producer
• Co-Producers and Writers: Terry Tazioli, writer/on-air Host, formerly with The Seattle Times, KING-TV5
• Lucy Mohl, formerly Senior Manager, Microsoft (and previously KING-TV, Film.com and RealNetworks)
• Production Manager, Videographer, Editor: Aaron Stadler, www.fatcatVDO.com
• Videographers: Bill Fenster, www.billfensterproductions.com
• Diana Wilmar, www.foxwilmar.com/bios/bios
• Videographer/Editor: Rowan North, LinkedIn
• Still Photographer: Kimi Milo
• Audio: Stevan Smith
• Scott MacLaughlin
• Robin Sarmento

This project is still in production, and like most productions-in-progress, is still seeking funds to complete it.

Executive Producer Anne Stadler says:

“We’re looking for at least $7,000. One thing we want to do is get this packaged with a series of discussion questions to market to Mayors and City governments around the state and country. So anything more that we raise, will go toward THAT. Haven’t budgeted for that yet.

Donations will go towards editing the doc, as well as producing a couple of shorter pieces: skate park and young people; Burien and BIAS.”

Here’s how you can help:

Send whatever you can to the Sunyata Foundation; all Donors will get their names in the credits, as well as a DVD of the video, along with the heartwarming knowledge that you helped promote Your Burien (keep in mind that this is a non-profit, 501-C3 organization):

Sunyata Foundation
PO Box 58788
Renton WA. 98058

As more elements get produced, we’ll preview clips here…so stay tuned to The B-Town Blog.

If you attended Burien’s Strawberry Festival, or the myriad of the many other B-Town events this past summer, you may have noticed a film crew (or four) wandering around, shooting footage for a new documentary about our little town.

Well, after months of shooting and editing, a trailer has been created for the production, entitled “Where We Live Now, Burien.”

Without further adieu, here is the 5:32 trailer for your enjoyment – watch closely, you may see yourself, someone you know as well as some of the places you go:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The crew behind this production includes many well-known Northwest video folks, such as:

• Executive Producer: Anne Stadler, community leadership consultant, formerly KING-TV5 documentaries and specials Producer
• Co-Producers and Writers: Terry Tazioli, writer/on-air Host, formerly with The Seattle Times, KING-TV5
• Lucy Mohl, formerly Senior Manager, Microsoft (and previously KING-TV, Film.com and RealNetworks)
• Production Manager, Videographer, Editor: Aaron Stadler, www.fatcatVDO.com
• Videographers: Bill Fenster, www.billfensterproductions.com
• Diana Wilmar, www.foxwilmar.com/bios/bios
• Videographer/Editor: Rowan North, LinkedIn
• Still Photographer: Kimi Milo
• Audio: Stevan Smith
• Scott MacLaughlin
• Robin Sarmento

Keep in mind though that this documentary remains unfinished, and like most productions-in-progress, is seeking funds to complete it.

Executive Producer Anne Stadler says:

“We’re looking for at least $7,000. One thing we want to do is get this packaged with a series of discussion questions to market to Mayors and City governments around the state and country. So anything more that we raise, will go toward THAT. Haven’t budgeted for that yet.

Donations will go towards editing the doc, as well as producing a couple of shorter pieces: skate park and young people; Burien and BIAS.”

Here’s how you can help:

Send whatever you can to the Sunyata Foundation; all Donors will get their names in the credits, as well as a DVD of the video, along with the heartwarming knowledge that you helped promote Your Burien (keep in mind that this is a non-profit, 501-C3 organization):

Sunyata Foundation
PO Box 58788
Renton WA. 98058

Here’s more info on the production from their press release:

“Where We Live Now: Burien” A Video Project

What does it take to have the resilience to rebound from an economic downturn by putting up art in an unfinished section of the Town Square and throwing a party??!!!

Burien’s story shows us what to pay attention to as we struggle to live well where we live!

We’ve shot a documentary and short videos illustrating how the leadership and vision of different groups in Burien, Washington create an emerging fabric of settlement.  Featured are artists; young people; the Town Square developers and other business people; new arrivals and old-timers.  We’re telling the story of how artists have helped Burien create a lively response to the setbacks caused by the current economic downtown and looking at the choices Burien is making to fulfill its aspirations.

There are several stories that have our attention:

1. Burien reacts to setbacks caused by the economic downturn by converting a negative space in the development of the Town Square into an opportunity to create a new story.  That story focuses around how Burning Man artists make up a new storyline in the aftermath of slowdown in proposed Burien development, using art to “construct” and convert an asphalt parking lot into a festive center (Burien Interim Art Space)–however temporary.  We look at how they are helping to pull Burien into a future people have invested in (bond issue), hoped for, and tried to attract.
2. Another story here is the usual one with an unusual angle:  Old timers, new settlers, struggling once again to create community rather than living “side by side”.  The Director of the Historical Association Cyndi Upthegrove is a great spokesperson for the need to create community between the old timers and the newcomers, etc. She asks: “Is Burien truly building on its heritage?” The first Mayor of Burien was a native of India, Arun Jhaveri, from Mumbai.  He still lives in Burien, is retired from Boeing.  He, along with Sally Nelson (the only original Council member still on the City Council) involved 700 citizens in creating the vision and operating principles that have guided Burien since incorporation in 1993.
3. Also, Burien’s young people enjoy a very fine skatepark built on the site of the City’s Community Center where many different ages and ethnicities congregate.  Young people asked city government to give them a place to skateboard; they worked with the Parks Dept., and a designer to create the skatepark.  We have an award-winning young filmmaker, Rowan North, who is part of the production team, who has shot and edited their story of how they fit into the evolving fabric of Burien.

Purpose:
This video project is part of a public conversation that is being spearheaded by www.Suddenly.org.   It shows a vital view from the nitty-gritty of living the changes and choices talked about in that conversation.  A description of that project, Suddenly.org is at the end of this proposal.

Burien’s own stories dramatically illustrate Suddenly’s basic thesis:  Our choices matter.  The landscape where we live now is the result of countless choices. Much of it is an in-between space, neither urban nor rural, but a mingling of both.  Suddenly.org is a digital commons hosting public conversations and events generated by artists, historians, urban planners, government and citizens who are engaging in an inquiry about how we came to BE where we live now, with the intention of creating a future that is “a landscape where we can ALL live, eyes wide open, without tragedy or regret.”

The Burien mosaic shows how one community self-organizes to achieve the intangible AND tangible things that matter in “a landscape where we can ALL live, eyes wide open…”  It brings to light all the elements of a healthy community.

Distribution Plans:
The entire enterprise is an accessible educational venture.

All products will be distributed via the Internet, via www.suddenly.org’s website, via television and other media.

We will also produce a DVD of the ½ hour documentary and the shorter stories, for sale.  Burien’s story will serve as a model for other communities, here and across the planet.  We will work with Burien Mayor Joan McGilton, former Mayor Arun Jahveri , and Jim Diers, community-building consultant, to produce a discussion guide that we will market to Mayors and city governments.

We hope to have a party in Burien when the documentary is completed.

How we will work together:
Members of the team working on this project are colleagues who have had many years of experience–together and separately– at KING-TV, Seattle, and other venues.  All participants are multi-award-winners in their own disciplines. We will work in the way Matthew Stadler and his colleagues have done in Suddenly.org.

Here is our commitment:
“This project depends on the generous hard work of talented people who, if they are paid at all, are never paid enough.  Our reward is the work we do together.” (from the preface of the annotated reader: Where We Live Now.)

“This video project is dedicated to all those who are part of it, and to one of the creative souls that inspired our way of working together.” – Greg Palmer.

“We are hoping to receive the money we need for the fruition of the project,  but money is not the reason we are undertaking this.  It is a labor of love for each other, for our place, and for planting the seeds in our time that help people live well together where they live now.”

As Lisa Robertson says in the frontispiece of Where We Live Now:

“Perhaps here we shall be other than the administrators of poverty.”

Total cost: $12,000.

Contributed value: $30,500.00

This video project is an educational program of Sunyata Association, a 501-c-3 organization:

Mark R. Jones, President
PO Box 58788
Renton WA. 98058
www.sunyatagroup.ws

This Saturday, June 27th, at 2:30pm a PBS Frontline documentary called “Sick Around the World” will be shown at the new Burien Library’s multipurpose room on the first floor.

A discussion on health care in the US will follow.

There is no charge, and the screening is open to the public.

Here’s a trailer of the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s some info on the film from the PBS website:

Four in five Americans say the healthcare system needs fundamental change. Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a healthcare system, or are these nations so culturally different that their solutions would not be acceptable? FRONTLINE correspondent T.R. Reid examines the healthcare systems of other advanced capitalist democracies to see what ideas might help the U.S. reform its broken healthcare system.

In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies — the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland — deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures.

“I Am Highline,” a new film/DVD, has received a 4Culture Special Project grant to fund the development, filming and production of a promotional

The new high-definition film will be Directed by B-Town Blog Publisher Scott Schaefer, a three-time National Emmy Award winner for work on “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” an acclaimed kids’ educational show that aired on PBS. His other credits include “Penn & Teller: BS!,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Almost Live!” and many others over a 23+ year career in media ranging from Seattle’s KING-TV to six years in Hollywood and much more.

Filming will be begin in the late summer and early fall and will feature diverse residents of Highline.

Schaefer will work with longtime collaborator, Director of Photography Mike Boydstun, a Grammy-nominated cinematographer on this Highline Historical Society project which will celebrate the ethnic composition of Highline. The film will focus on people representing 30 cultures that have moved here to live, work and raise their families, and will feature conversations in English and their own languages, talking about reasons for coming, and what living here means to them.

One early and important use of the footage will be to document these individuals and their contributions for the society’s collections. The DVD produced will be used for informational and fundraising purposes at area festivals and events. Another use will be to include pieces of these interviews that celebrate our local ethnic groups and their contribution to the region in the permanent exhibits of the new Highline Heritage Museum. And finally, parts of this film footage will be placed on the society’s website for everyone to see, and will provide the basis for expanding these stories into a documentary film that can be shown in the new museum theater as an introduction to Highline.

“The historical significance of this film is to continue documenting the heritage of the people of Highline,” said Cyndi Upthegrove, Executive Director of the  Highline Historical Society. “We believe that we are among the first in Highline to provide this broad documentation, and we want to provide a baseline of information for the community to use for many purposes and for an extended period of time.”

The Highline Historical Society is a local non-profit organization undertaking a capital campaign to fund development of the Highline Heritage Museum on its site in Olde Burien. Community participation is welcomed and memberships are available.

For more information, check the Society’s web site at www.highlinehistory.org.