December 18, 2020 • 37 mins
Hosted by AHP Media Professional Milt Toby, this episode of the EQUUS Film and Arts Fest Podcast features a panel discussion with the Festival Team. With Founder and Director Lisa Diersen and Co-Organizer Diana De Rosa, along with Spotlight Rescue Series and Camden, SC Tour Stop Organizer Julianne Neal and new Team Member Author Lisa Mae DeMasi, this conversation gives listeners a "behind the scenes" peek at what it takes to run the festival. From its origins in Chicago, to moves to NYC and the Kentucky Horse Park, to finally a new 2020 virtual edition, the festival has added a wealth of new content so that viewers can access even more information about the content creators who contribute their films, artwork and literature.
To learn more about podcast host Julianne and her partner Bruce Anderson, tune in to "Whinny Tales: Horse Stories, Pony Legends and Unicorn Yarns," the official podcast of Nature's View and The Marley Project, their equine and arts-based 501 (c)(3). You can also visit www.naturesview.us to schedule an appointment. A documentary about their work and films in the Natural Humanship Training Series, are available on The EQUUS Channel at https://filmfestivalflix.com/festival/equus/film/the-edge/. Julianne is the organizer of the Camden Tour Stop for the fest, so visit www.equusfilmfestivalcamden.com for a complete listing of activities and updates on a possible rescheduling of the spring event for the fall of 2020.
For more information about the festival or for links to the films and literature mentioned in the podcast, visit equusfilmfestival.net. To see the EQUUS films, visit https://horsenetwork.com/equus/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ron (00:07):
Hello, and welcome to the EQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
The only program for horselovers who have a fondness for
horses in film, art andliterature each week, we will
have interesting conversationswith a question, filmmakers,
artists and authors from aroundthe world, discussing the nature
and challenges as well as thetriumphs of creating their work.
(00:30):
Ready to talk horses and film inthe arts?
Here's your host, Julianne Nealalong with Lisa Diersen
festival, founder, and director.
Julianne Neal (00:48):
Hello and welcome to the EQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
I'm your host, Julianne Neal.
In today's episode, you'll hearall about the Equus Film and
Arts Fest, 2020 festival with amove to a virtual online event.
This year's festival willfeature even more films,
literature, and art.
(01:09):
Let's take a few minutes tocheck in with Lisa about the
online event.
Milt Toby (01:18):
My name's Milt Toby.
I'm an attorney and anaward-winning author who's been
writing about Thoroughbredracing since 1972.
I live in central Kentucky,which is Horse Capitol of the
world we like to think, and I'mgoing to be your moderator this
evening.
It's going to be an unusualpanel.
We don't have artists orfilmmakers or authors talking
(01:40):
about their work.
We have the people who werebehind the Equus Film and Arts
Fest, the people who actuallymake it work.
And we have joining me tonight,Lisa Diersen, who is the
director and co and founder ofthe film festival.
We have Diana De Rosa, who is anequestrian photo journalist.
(02:00):
She's been to the past eightOlympic games.
She's a writer, she's an actor.
She is the co-founder orco-organizer I suppose, of the
festival.
And she is handling press andmedia things.
We have Julianne Neal.
She has a number of tasks.
She's organizing the, uh, theEQUUS tour stop in Camden, South
(02:23):
Carolina for the last fiveyears.
She hosts and producers theEQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
She produces content for thefestival and she is interviewing
authors for the AuthorsWebChats.
And finally, we have Lisa MaeDiMasi.
She has been interviewing 13artists on zoom about the, their
(02:47):
contest artists.
So ladies, welcome to thepodcast.
It's going to be fun talkingwith you.
And, um, I'm going to start withLisa, Lisa.
Diersen not Lisa DiMasi.
Um, I won't manage the two Lisasvery well, so I apologize for
that in advance, but, Lisa, foryears there wasn't a film
(03:08):
festival.
And then now there is, why didyou start and how did you start?
What made you think this was agood idea?
Lisa Diersen (03:19):
Well, there wasn't one.
So that's why I thought it mightbe a good idea.
Um, a friend of mine, RupertIssacson, had a documentary
called The Horse Boy, which wasabout his son and it's about
autism and horses and how theyhelp.
And I kind of wanted everyone tosee that film.
(03:40):
And we were at the time doing ahorse fair in our, in St.
Charles, Illinois, where I live.
And I have a friend who owns atheater there.
So I asked him if we could showthe film while we were doing the
horse there.
And he said, okay.
And I said, well, what if I gota few more, we're still in
census, the horse festival.
And he said, okay, I'll give youa projectionist.
(04:02):
And we had almost 30 films.
The first year.
We didn't have books, then a fewartists at the festival, but we
didn't have it.
Wasn't about in the filmfestival part.
And it went over well and wemoved to New York the next year.
And that's when I met Dianasitting at this wonderful
(04:26):
theater called the Mist Harlemat the bar.
We were sitting in there talkingabout why this was a good idea.
And we were in New York firstsix of the years.
And last year we moved to theKentucky Horse Park, which in
non COVID years is our home.
But now we're in your livingroom, your own home with all, we
(04:50):
hope everybody enjoyed this thisyear.
It looks like the virtual partof this will stay as part of the
festival from now on.
Cause it's, we're getting somuch positive feedback from
around the world.
With some of our filmmakers.
We have some filmmakers thisyear from 16 different countries
that are very happy that theirfans and people that have been
(05:12):
part of their films are able towatch them now and be part of
the festival.
So it's kind of exciting beingpushed into going virtual, but
now it's been a good thing to goturning out to be a really good
thing
Milt Toby (05:27):
I was lucky enough to attend one of the New York
version of the film festival andwas lucky enough to win an award
there.
But how difficult has it been topivot to a virtual format?
Lisa Diersen (05:40):
Um, I'm not getting a lot of sleep.
I told Julianne, I think, Ithink I'm busier now, or all of
us are busier with doing theinterviews ahead of time,
getting everything put togetherand up these platforms before
hand so that the, the 10 daysnow, because that festival used
(06:04):
to be only three days now it's10 days.
So everything has to be readyahead of time.
We'll have the, we'll have theWinnie awards, which will take
place on the 21st Saturdaynight.
Those will go offline or go offon, I think it's going to be
five o'clock on the 21st andthose will run then, but
(06:26):
everything else is had to bedone ahead of time so that we
can get it into the channel.
And our pop-up gallery this yearwill be part of the, um, Equus
Film Festival website.
So we'll have a whole Pop UpGallery page where all of the
interviews that Diane is doingand Juliane is doing, and Lisa
Mae is doing in your doing, willbe there free to the public, and
(06:50):
they'll be able to click on andwatch interviews with
filmmakers.
And when they want to see thefilm, they can go to our, um,
film festival platform on filmfestival clicks and watch the
phone.
Milt Toby (07:04):
Okay.
That's great.
And then a lot of people aresaying that having to switch to
virtual has some benefits, andit sounds like that that you're
making it work and it's notalways easy to do.
Lisa Diersen (07:18):
It's really good to, easy to do with a good team.
Milt Toby (07:21):
Good deal.
Uh, Diana Lisa mentioned meetingyou when she moved to New York.
Tell us a little bit more abouthow you got involved and what
your role is in the, in theprocess.
Diana De Rosa (07:33):
Well, I decided that I, uh, a film festival, a
horse film festival was going tocome to New York.
And that sounded prettyfascinating to me, especially
since I live on long Island, notfar from New York City.
And so I decided to check itout.
So I went to the film festival,I covered things.
I, I did my job and then Lisaand I networked afterwards and
(07:56):
we just never stopped talking.
So from that time on, we justkind of hold our energy together
to, to keep going into thefuture.
And we've been doing that eversince.
Milt Toby (08:07):
So, so what's your role in the process?
I know you're involved in mediarelations and press.
What does that mean?
Diana De Rosa (08:15):
You know, really, it's a lot of networking.
Um, it's not, I mean, I thinkthat Lisa and I, we kind of talk
a lot and we talk about thedifferent things that are going
to be done.
And, and I assume in this casethis year, for instance, my
focus has been virtual doing thevirtual interviews and really
focusing in on that when we'vebeen online on I've done your
(08:36):
moderating, the opening galanight and the, the along with
Lisa, the award ceremony andinterviewed people on site and,
you know, done whatever to tryto make sure that we've got,
we've got the event organizedand we're ready to roll.
So Lisa and I usually just havea constant communication going
to make sure that the event iseverything it should be.
Milt Toby (08:58):
So in dealing with the press, how re re responsive,
I guess, has the press been whenyou're trying to advertise the
film festival?
My impression is that it getsmore popular every year.
Diana De Rosa (09:10):
In, in general, I've usually had a, it's a
different issue because we'rebeing we're online.
So because of that, but ingeneral, I usually have people
reaching out to me.
I usually send out a pressrelease, letting them know about
the film festival, and I havehad a large response and had all
different types of media comeand watch it.
Um, and of course they should,they can do it online.
(09:31):
Right.
Um, but th those that could makeit came to New York City or to,
um, the, you know, to Kentucky,which was kind of cool.
Um, and, uh, it's sort of helpedmake the, the change because it
allowed different people thatare located.
Cause we all know the Kentuckyhorse park, uh, attracts a lot
(09:51):
of media.
So, um, that sort of allowed itto expand out to a different
audience.
Whereas when we're in New York,we got an audience that could
actually come from there.
So, so it's, it's, so one ofthose things that people kind of
love to do, and if they can getto it and cover it and write
about it, they do.
Milt Toby (10:09):
That's great.
And in the spirit of fulltransparency, I was very excited
when, uh, the festival moved tothe horse park last year.
I'm just seven minutes from thehorse bar.
So that I'm glad you're comingback.
Diana De Rosa (10:22):
Yes.
And you want to know something,it's the best move we ever made.
And I think Lisa and I bothchatted about it afterwards and
it's the, it's the right place.
It's like having a permanenthome.
And, uh, the films can be seenduring the year because they
have loops going on every monthand stuff.
And so it's just the rightplace, you know, with virtual.
Now we've got this extension,but in general, I mean, when we
(10:43):
get back to our norm and wecan't really say everything's
normal right now, but in generalit really was the best thing
that we could have done with theEQUUS festival.
Milt Toby (10:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, Lisa Mae, tell me how yougot involved in this and what
your role is.
Lisa Mae DeMasi (10:58):
Yes.
So, um, I had read BerniceEnde's memoir last year and I
found out she was going to be atthe festival at the Kentucky
Horse Park.
And I said to myself, I amgetting there to meet her
because I was just so inspiredby her.
Um, and of course the firstperson I met was Lisa Diersen.
(11:20):
And I said, Lisa, where'sBernice Ende I have to meet her.
And we just became friendly.
And I met Diana and I metJulianne and it was, uh, a nice
group of people.
And Lisa asked me if I wanted tobe involved this year and
interviewing the artists and Ijumped at the opportunity.
And that's how I got involvedthis year.
Milt Toby (11:43):
What's been the reaction of the artists that
you've talked with?
Are they excited?
Are they looking forward to thefestival?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (11:50):
Uh, actually the whole virtual part of the,
of this festival this year,just, they were not affected by
it at all.
They were, they were just sopleased to be part of the
festival that it just didn'timpact them in any way.
Milt Toby (12:04):
Wow.
That's neat.
Neat.
And it finally Julianne, I wasputting together a little
information for this.
You seem to be wearing a lot ofdifferent hats.
Tell me how you got involved andwhat you're doing to make all
this work.
Julianne Neal (12:19):
Well, I, I came in, um, into 2016, I think with
my, my partner, Bruce Anderson,we had a film called The Edge,
about his life and his work.
And it was done by a CanadianTrinidadi and filmmaker, James
O'Connor and I was the producer.
And so we had the trailer thatyear and I was talking to Lisa,
just, she goes around and meetseverybody.
(12:41):
And so it was exciting to get totalk to her.
I talked to her on the phone andfinally meeting in person and
she asked, well, how are yougoing to finish?
Or are you going to finish yourfilm?
What are you going to do?
And I said, well, we have toraise some money.
And she said, well, a smartnonprofit would bring us in and
do a tour stop.
And I said, well, I don't knowhow smart we are, but we're a
nonprofit.
And so come a round, we'll cometo Camden, South Carolina.
(13:01):
And so we sort of started therelationship with that.
We organized a tour stop and westarted traveling that year to
all the different tour stops.
So we went to Ocala, Florida andSedona, Arizona, and Marfa,
Texas with some of the other,other filmmakers w ere hosting
and other groups hosting.
And so I got to know Lisa withthat, and then just everything
(13:23):
that happened from there, wewould collaborate i n something
come along and she'd say, well,you should do a film about this
for the spotlight rescue series.
And we were doing a podcast, um, already called Whinny Tales
for, for our work.
And so just decided it was anatural fit to start podcasting
for the EQUUS Film a nd ArtsFest t oo.
And so that's sort of how I gotinvolved and i t's, I've just
(13:44):
loved every minute of it.
So it was a no brainer when sheasked if we would do some
WebChats, I got the opportunityto speak with a bunch of authors
and have had a really, reallygreat time doing that, meet new
people.
So
Milt Toby (13:57):
That's great.
Lisa, it sounds like you've puttogether a very good thing.
Lisa Diersen (14:01):
And, you know, Julianne has 60 over 60 authors
this year and Diana had over 40with the filmmakers, with our
Encore films and, and the newfilms that Lisa Mae did a great
job with her artists.
We had a 13 artists that we'vehighlighted, but I've been blown
(14:22):
away this year by the literarycomponent because the books that
have come in, I have been justthe quality of the authors.
It just keeps getting better andbetter and better.
Milt Toby (14:35):
It's amazing how much it's grown and in really a very
short time.
Lisa Diersen (14:39):
Well, it's been 8 years I don't know if I feel
like that's short, but we did.
We have grown, we have a filmchannel now where, um, where the
films can be seen all year long.
We do a lot of tour stops.
We do the Winnies, um, with nowa little short, two hour
festivals that have been goingvirtual as fundraisers, since
(15:00):
the pandemic where a lot ofnonprofits are able to do
virtual fundraising and a coupleof the different groups we've
had Brooke USA do it.
We've had a group out of well,Oh gosh, New Mexico cloud, the
cloud therapeutic riding.
I think they raised$5,500 with alittle w you know, weekend one
(15:25):
festival.
So virtually.
So it was a good, really goodfor them.
So we've been working with abunch of different groups.
Milt Toby (15:33):
That's really neat.
It sounds like a full-time jobnow, but let me ask you a
different question.
Shift gears a little, I knoweverybody has horses in the
background here.
So Lisa, tell us about yourhorse involvement at, you know,
outside of the festival.
Lisa Diersen (15:50):
Well, my, my breed of horse, my favorite horse is
the Lusitano, which that is ourartwork.
This year is Karen Psillas whois our official artist, her, she
does a bunch of different typesof panels, beautiful photography
in Portugal.
And so this was one of herimages that we selected for this
(16:11):
year's poster.
Last year, she had a beautifulMarin full, the color was just
breathtaking on it, but, um, Ihave Lusitano horses.
I love, love the breed.
It's um, interesting breed, uh,the history.
I love the history of the breed.
I love the simple hiding.
So I have a, I have a lot of funwith the horses.
Milt Toby (16:35):
Yeah.
And for people who aren'tfamiliar with Lusitanos you need
to check out Lisa's website.
They're beautiful animals.
Lisa Diersen (16:43):
We're from port Portuguese, both fighting
horses.
Milt Toby (16:48):
Neat, neat.
Julianne, What do you do withhorses?
Julianne Neal (16:53):
I used to event and decided about 20 years ago
that hitting the fences thathard.
When I came off, it was probablynot a wise move.
So I moved more into dressage,which I love anyway.
And so I have a horse namedWinston.
He is half Dutch warmblood halfShire.
And I trained with Mary Werningthrough the Karl Mikolka system
(17:13):
and just absolutely loveddressage.
And so Whinny Tales comes frommy horse, Winston
Milt Toby (17:20):
Lisa Mae, how about you?
Yeah,
Lisa Mae DeMasi (17:22):
I'm a recreational rider.
I do a lot of trail riding andevery once in a while I kind of
have to go wild and I just getup and jockey position and I
gallop across the cross-countryfields.
I just love being around horses.
I love being around horsepeople.
Um, I I've always loved it.
Milt Toby (17:45):
Great.
That's fun.
Yeah.
You're right though.
Going fast on the horse,something special.
Diana, I know you've, you'veridden, you've trained, you've
done all sorts of things.
Tell us about your horses.
Diana De Rosa (17:58):
Well, my, I remember when I was six years
old, uh, blowing out the candleson a cake and wishing I could
have a horse.
And then when I came home fromthe 11th grade, many years
later, I said to my dad, youknow, I think I got a hundred on
the regions.
And he said to me, well, ifyou've got a hundred I'm buying
you a horse, that was my horse.
(18:19):
That was my experience with myhorse.
And there was just kind ofrecreational for awhile.
But then after I got out ofcollege, I had the opportunity
to run my mom's horseback ridingstable.
So I ran the stable for, Ithink, 13 years.
It was and did, went to allkinds of shows.
Did the Florida circuit hadstudents, did international
competitions, nationalcompetitions.
(18:41):
And so really, really had thegamut.
And then, um, life kind of movedon and I got into the journalism
part of it.
Instead of riding.
Now, a days I cover, like yousaid, I covered eight Olympic
games.
I'm supposed to do my ninth thisyear in Tokyo and that got
canceled.
So my world is surrounded withhorses in just about everything
(19:01):
I do.
It's just not necessarily asmuch riding anymore.
Milt Toby (19:06):
And I'm sure this keeps everybody busy.
Diana De Rosa (19:13):
Yep.
We did the World EquestrianGames and we did the World Cup.
But Lisa and I together, we, youknow, we sort of pulled through
getting to the world cup in theworld.
Of course World Equestrian Gamesand a lot of pretty big events
where, the EQUUS Film and ArtsFest really got noticed.
Milt Toby (19:29):
That's great.
And, and everybody's love ofhorses, I think is obvious in
the work you put into the filmfestival and in the results, you
know, the it's obvious that youcare about the animals, you care
about the horses and that showsthat shows in the organizing
that you guys do, and everybodyappreciates it.
(19:50):
Trust me.
So let's talk a little bit thenshift we'll shift back to the
film festival.
What's the most rewarding thingsyou Julianne that has come out
of the film festival for you inworking with Lisa and the rest
of the team.
Julianne Neal (20:05):
I have to say, first of all, our film, The Edge
would have never been shown allover the world.
If we had not been involved withthe festival, it would have, we
would've been really proud ofit.
It would have been on a shelfhere in the living room and my
grandmother would have seen itand that's probably about it.
And so because of Lisa, first ofall, we had, you know, it's been
(20:26):
shown in France, it's been atthe World Cup, it's been at the
World Equestrian Games.
How, how in the world would thathave ever happened any other
way?
And so that's first andforemost, but also meeting this
group of people right here hasbeen life-changing for me.
Um, these are my friends.
And so I, you know, it's been,these, these guys have supported
Bruce and I through so many.
(20:47):
And so it's every new personthat comes into the festival.
All the authors I've talked tothis year, it's the connections
that we make and things thathappen because of these
connections are bigger.
They grow exponentially.
So it's been the most rewardingthing we've ever done.
Milt Toby (21:04):
That's great.
And Lisa Mae have asked you,what's the most rewarding
experience you had so far?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (21:11):
Uh, just talking to each of the artists.
I mean, the artists work isjust, they're all very
different, but their work andtheir inspiration and their
journeys are just to talk tothem about their work and how
they see the world is justincredible.
I would never have thisexperience otherwise then being
(21:34):
involved with the festival.
Diana De Rosa (21:40):
You know, I think one of the biggest pluses that
we can say is that we have giventhese people place a platform, a
platform for their, theirmovies, for their films, for
their shorts, that would not bepossible.
So I echo a lot of what Juliannesaid and Lisa and I talk about
it all the time.
(22:00):
I mean, I just, even speaking tothem and that thank you, is that
I get from doing the interviewsjust because they have a place
that they create these films andinspires him to create more
films.
And now they have a place thathorse films can go.
And that's, that to me is themost precious gift we could have
given them.
Milt Toby (22:20):
Yeah.
And when you're talking about aplatform for the artists and the
filmmakers and the writers, butit also is a platform for the
horses.
And for me, that's the mostimportant thing of the film
festival.
Yeah.
I love meeting the people.
I love seeing the films.
I love chatting with theauthors, looking at the work of
(22:42):
the artists, but it's the horsesthat really matter.
So, so Lisa, what about youyou've been doing this longer
than anybody else?
What's the most rewarding thingto come out of it for you?
Lisa Diersen (22:53):
Um, well for me is , is that's it, you know, um,
getting the story being able tobe a part of helping people
share their stories from a bookthat we got in this year about a
little pony that goes into aparty where there's a little
(23:13):
girl, who's in a wheelchair tothe artists that did the work,
who is coming out of it and gotinspired to do the work through
the loss of a loved one that thehorses brought, brought them
together to last year when wehad the miniature therapy horses
(23:34):
too, with Mustang Saviors of theWounded Warrior programs, the
PTSD we've got, we're showing afilm this year about using
horses with the prisoners, with,with Randy Helms program out in
Arizona.
It it's, to me, it's just beingable to share with, to the, to
the world, literally to theworld, because now we're off, we
(23:57):
are all over the world.
The stories of the horses,helping people get get better,
or I don't want to say healed,but yeah, they're helping people
heal, whether it's kids oradults or whatever, or just even
recreational riders.
It's just getting those storiesout because people do with their
heart and soul into whether it'sa painting or a book, a 12 page
(24:22):
children's book, or a two hourlong documentary on the
different kinds of worms thathorses have.
Everybody puts their heart andsoul into what they do, you know
, and I love the fact that weare here to be able to help
these places.
These people have a place to,to, to share and be rewarded and
(24:44):
get a witty award sometimes whenthey're at work.
So I am, I, it makes me reallyproud.
Diana De Rosa (24:54):
I'd actually like to add to that because, you
know, we talked about pressbefore and one of the things
that you always hear equinemedia, and I know that you know
that as well is that we neverget enough exposure.
And by doing this, by having afilm festival, it's created an
interest in the media and aplace for them to go to learn so
(25:14):
much at one location when we dothe annual film festival.
So it's really been a greatopportunity to get promotion
through the media and get someinterest in the media when it
was so hard to do that beforethe media attention.
Lisa Diersen (25:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, when we were, we had a NewYork times article written, what
was it?
Two years ago, Diana, Thefilmmaker that one of the films
they highlighted the filmmakerhad flown in from Germany.
And he had done a documentaryabout their wounded warrior
(25:53):
program called Cyrus comrade.
And when he walked in to thefestival, I had a copy of the
New York times.
And it was a very big story thatthey did on us with a lot of,
there's not a lot of coverageand I gave him a copy.
And I said, there's not a lot oftimes that a filmmaker, no
matter what film festival,they're going to get off of a
(26:14):
plane from Germany in New York.
And he can say that they were inthe New York Times.
So that kind of, that's soexciting to be able to share
that and, and literally makehis, I think his, his day that
he was there.
I mean, he was so excited aboutthat
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And for generations to comeprojects recently funded by
(27:41):
Brook USA include constructionof permanent water troughs in
Ethiopia, continuing educationfor veterinarians in Senegal
training from OSI women who owndonkeys in Kenya, veterinary
interventions in Pakistan,disease prevention and training
for animal healthcare workers inIndia, improve nutrition for
animals in Guatemala and so muchmore.
(28:03):
We also recently fundedemergency relief programs for
equine victims of naturaldisasters in the US and Puerto
Rico.
Lisa Diersen (30:02):
It'd be an important addition if we would
have never done, we would havenever had a virtual piece to
this other than, you know, yourFacebook Live.
So this way, this is kind ofnudged us out of a comfort zone
a bit and got us into doingthese interviews and learning
how to do all the editing.
(30:23):
And I've learned so much thepast month and a half trying to
get this ready to go up online.
So, you know, it's been, it'sbeen fun and it'll, it'll just
every year has been fun with thesuccessful and it gets every
time I think you can't,something else can happen.
It gets something else does, orBerniece Ende shows up at the
(30:44):
festival for, you know, inKentucky last year.
And I mean, it's just, it'salways a surprise.
Milt Toby (30:54):
Yeah.
Diana was talking about exposureand you're right.
Being virtual gives you moreexposure than you could get any
way, any other way.
So again, this is one of thepositive things, surprisingly
that comes out of the pandemic.
I think lots of organizationshave increased the scope of
(31:14):
their reach beyond ways youwould ever expect.
And finally, before we wrap upone of the things that you
always learn as you, as ajournalist, when you're
interviewing someone is to askthem what questions didn't I ask
you that I should have?
So Julianne, what should I haveasked you that I didn't,
Julianne Neal (31:38):
Gosh, that's tough Milt.
Um, I don't know, pass and go tosomebody.
Let me think about that.
Milt Toby (31:50):
Okay.
And I see Lisa Mae's hand, LisaMae what should I have asked
you?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (31:55):
Um, in what manner did I get married in
January of this year and thefestival?
So my, my husband and I gotmarried in January and we wanted
to have a very small wedding.
We didn't want any of our directfamily there.
So our witnesses were twohorses.
Milt Toby (32:24):
Diana, what should I, should I have asked you
Diana De Rosa (32:29):
Sort of like to make the comment didn't you
you've addressed the issue.
That virtual is really been sucha great addition and it's
something like Lisa said that weprobably never would have done.
And now we have the wholeexperience of doing this.
And by us being able tointerview these people,
one-on-one, it's a cleanerinterview.
It's more people beinginterviewed.
(32:50):
It's more exposure foreverybody.
Everybody got a chance becausewhen you're onsite, there's not
always, you're rushing around.
There's not always a chance tointerview everybody or find
them.
And what have you.
So I think it's been a reallygood gift to us to be given this
opportunity to go virtual, havethis experience.
And then when you look to nextyear, we're going to have this
(33:11):
behind us and we're going toknow how we can address and
expand and do even better.
Milt Toby (33:16):
Okay, great.
Do you Julianne, have you sawthis something I should have
asked you?
Julianne Neal (33:20):
I guess, so I guess I would say you didn't ask
if we have more content, newcontent coming from the South
Carolina area.
And I will say, yes, we'reworking on a new film about a
wonderful place called CampCole, that's A Place to Shine
and the Therapeutic RidingProgram that goes on there.
And so there's a littlethree-year-old boy that was put
(33:41):
on a horse for the first time,about a week ago and we're
documenting his year.
And so, and so's journey will bea submission in the festival
next year from the SouthCarolina camp.
So I guess that's something thatI can say,
Milt Toby (33:53):
Neat, good deal.
And Lisa, you get the last word.
Should I, who asked you, how didall of us feel about having our
new little stallion addition toour herd, Milton, all the women.
(34:17):
I'm looking forward to the restof all, and I'm glad that you
found room for me to help.
Diana De Rosa (34:25):
I was thrilled when I, you know, I mean Milt
has been a part of publicationsand is certainly a welcome, a
welcome addition.
Milt Toby (34:38):
I'll keep that in mind.
I think we're going to wrap itup, but thank you, Julianne.
Thank you, Diana.
Thank you, Lisa Mae.
And thank you Lisa, for takingpart in the, in the podcast and
also for all the work thatyou're doing for the festival.
It's paying off.
Diana De Rosa (34:54):
Thank you so much.
Milt Toby (34:57):
You're welcome.
Thank you.
That means I'll stay around forawhile.
Everyone take care and staysafe.
You too pony on.
Fenwick Equestrian Commerci (35:17):
I'd like to take a few minutes from
the podcast to tell you about anew product that my horse
Winston and I've been trying.
Winston just loves his LiquidTitanium Calming Mask from
Fenwick Equestrian.
We actually tried it out on thefirst cool morning as we were
going over for a dressagelesson.
And I have to say he almost fellasleep standing by the trailer.
So think the calming effect wasreal through some extensive
(35:39):
testing.
Fenwick has discovered the useof a high performance smart
fabric, and this mask has acalming effect on many horses.
In fact, some folks call it ahappy hat.
In the racing world,thoroughbreds and Trotters, the
stewards have declared it a hoodif worn without cups, but I've
got the one with the ears.
And Winston seems to like thatthe best liquid titanium
(36:00):
produces negative ions, whichhave been proven to make you
feel better.
They provide more energy in apositive mood.
This fabric is speciallyformulated to allow continuous
washing and drying withoutdiluting the qualities.
It's the first and onlytherapeutic mask that can help
your horse relax and focusnaturally.
And Winston seems to love it.
(36:20):
All of Fenwick's therapeutichead gear is approved for
competition worldwide.
You can search for the mask andother products at
www.fenwickequestran.com.
Tto obtain your 10% discount,just mention, Winnie.
Visit Fenwickequestrian.com,backslash discount backslash,
Winnie and that's W I N N I E.
Lisa Diersen (36:40):
Please be sure to tune in next week when Julianne
and I have another interestingconversation with one of our
(37:01):
EQUUS Film and Arts Festfilmmakers, artists, or authors.
Hello, and welcome to the EQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
The only program for horselovers who have a fondness for
horses in film, art andliterature each week, we will
have interesting conversationswith a question, filmmakers,
artists and authors from aroundthe world, discussing the nature
and challenges as well as thetriumphs of creating their work.
(00:30):
Ready to talk horses and film inthe arts?
Here's your host, Julianne Nealalong with Lisa Diersen
festival, founder, and director.
Julianne Neal (00:48):
Hello and welcome to the EQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
I'm your host, Julianne Neal.
In today's episode, you'll hearall about the Equus Film and
Arts Fest, 2020 festival with amove to a virtual online event.
This year's festival willfeature even more films,
literature, and art.
(01:09):
Let's take a few minutes tocheck in with Lisa about the
online event.
Milt Toby (01:18):
My name's Milt Toby.
I'm an attorney and anaward-winning author who's been
writing about Thoroughbredracing since 1972.
I live in central Kentucky,which is Horse Capitol of the
world we like to think, and I'mgoing to be your moderator this
evening.
It's going to be an unusualpanel.
We don't have artists orfilmmakers or authors talking
(01:40):
about their work.
We have the people who werebehind the Equus Film and Arts
Fest, the people who actuallymake it work.
And we have joining me tonight,Lisa Diersen, who is the
director and co and founder ofthe film festival.
We have Diana De Rosa, who is anequestrian photo journalist.
(02:00):
She's been to the past eightOlympic games.
She's a writer, she's an actor.
She is the co-founder orco-organizer I suppose, of the
festival.
And she is handling press andmedia things.
We have Julianne Neal.
She has a number of tasks.
She's organizing the, uh, theEQUUS tour stop in Camden, South
(02:23):
Carolina for the last fiveyears.
She hosts and producers theEQUUS Film and Arts Fest
podcast.
She produces content for thefestival and she is interviewing
authors for the AuthorsWebChats.
And finally, we have Lisa MaeDiMasi.
She has been interviewing 13artists on zoom about the, their
(02:47):
contest artists.
So ladies, welcome to thepodcast.
It's going to be fun talkingwith you.
And, um, I'm going to start withLisa, Lisa.
Diersen not Lisa DiMasi.
Um, I won't manage the two Lisasvery well, so I apologize for
that in advance, but, Lisa, foryears there wasn't a film
(03:08):
festival.
And then now there is, why didyou start and how did you start?
What made you think this was agood idea?
Lisa Diersen (03:19):
Well, there wasn't one.
So that's why I thought it mightbe a good idea.
Um, a friend of mine, RupertIssacson, had a documentary
called The Horse Boy, which wasabout his son and it's about
autism and horses and how theyhelp.
And I kind of wanted everyone tosee that film.
(03:40):
And we were at the time doing ahorse fair in our, in St.
Charles, Illinois, where I live.
And I have a friend who owns atheater there.
So I asked him if we could showthe film while we were doing the
horse there.
And he said, okay.
And I said, well, what if I gota few more, we're still in
census, the horse festival.
And he said, okay, I'll give youa projectionist.
(04:02):
And we had almost 30 films.
The first year.
We didn't have books, then a fewartists at the festival, but we
didn't have it.
Wasn't about in the filmfestival part.
And it went over well and wemoved to New York the next year.
And that's when I met Dianasitting at this wonderful
(04:26):
theater called the Mist Harlemat the bar.
We were sitting in there talkingabout why this was a good idea.
And we were in New York firstsix of the years.
And last year we moved to theKentucky Horse Park, which in
non COVID years is our home.
But now we're in your livingroom, your own home with all, we
(04:50):
hope everybody enjoyed this thisyear.
It looks like the virtual partof this will stay as part of the
festival from now on.
Cause it's, we're getting somuch positive feedback from
around the world.
With some of our filmmakers.
We have some filmmakers thisyear from 16 different countries
that are very happy that theirfans and people that have been
(05:12):
part of their films are able towatch them now and be part of
the festival.
So it's kind of exciting beingpushed into going virtual, but
now it's been a good thing to goturning out to be a really good
thing
Milt Toby (05:27):
I was lucky enough to attend one of the New York
version of the film festival andwas lucky enough to win an award
there.
But how difficult has it been topivot to a virtual format?
Lisa Diersen (05:40):
Um, I'm not getting a lot of sleep.
I told Julianne, I think, Ithink I'm busier now, or all of
us are busier with doing theinterviews ahead of time,
getting everything put togetherand up these platforms before
hand so that the, the 10 daysnow, because that festival used
(06:04):
to be only three days now it's10 days.
So everything has to be readyahead of time.
We'll have the, we'll have theWinnie awards, which will take
place on the 21st Saturdaynight.
Those will go offline or go offon, I think it's going to be
five o'clock on the 21st andthose will run then, but
(06:26):
everything else is had to bedone ahead of time so that we
can get it into the channel.
And our pop-up gallery this yearwill be part of the, um, Equus
Film Festival website.
So we'll have a whole Pop UpGallery page where all of the
interviews that Diane is doingand Juliane is doing, and Lisa
Mae is doing in your doing, willbe there free to the public, and
(06:50):
they'll be able to click on andwatch interviews with
filmmakers.
And when they want to see thefilm, they can go to our, um,
film festival platform on filmfestival clicks and watch the
phone.
Milt Toby (07:04):
Okay.
That's great.
And then a lot of people aresaying that having to switch to
virtual has some benefits, andit sounds like that that you're
making it work and it's notalways easy to do.
Lisa Diersen (07:18):
It's really good to, easy to do with a good team.
Milt Toby (07:21):
Good deal.
Uh, Diana Lisa mentioned meetingyou when she moved to New York.
Tell us a little bit more abouthow you got involved and what
your role is in the, in theprocess.
Diana De Rosa (07:33):
Well, I decided that I, uh, a film festival, a
horse film festival was going tocome to New York.
And that sounded prettyfascinating to me, especially
since I live on long Island, notfar from New York City.
And so I decided to check itout.
So I went to the film festival,I covered things.
I, I did my job and then Lisaand I networked afterwards and
(07:56):
we just never stopped talking.
So from that time on, we justkind of hold our energy together
to, to keep going into thefuture.
And we've been doing that eversince.
Milt Toby (08:07):
So, so what's your role in the process?
I know you're involved in mediarelations and press.
What does that mean?
Diana De Rosa (08:15):
You know, really, it's a lot of networking.
Um, it's not, I mean, I thinkthat Lisa and I, we kind of talk
a lot and we talk about thedifferent things that are going
to be done.
And, and I assume in this casethis year, for instance, my
focus has been virtual doing thevirtual interviews and really
focusing in on that when we'vebeen online on I've done your
(08:36):
moderating, the opening galanight and the, the along with
Lisa, the award ceremony andinterviewed people on site and,
you know, done whatever to tryto make sure that we've got,
we've got the event organizedand we're ready to roll.
So Lisa and I usually just havea constant communication going
to make sure that the event iseverything it should be.
Milt Toby (08:58):
So in dealing with the press, how re re responsive,
I guess, has the press been whenyou're trying to advertise the
film festival?
My impression is that it getsmore popular every year.
Diana De Rosa (09:10):
In, in general, I've usually had a, it's a
different issue because we'rebeing we're online.
So because of that, but ingeneral, I usually have people
reaching out to me.
I usually send out a pressrelease, letting them know about
the film festival, and I havehad a large response and had all
different types of media comeand watch it.
Um, and of course they should,they can do it online.
(09:31):
Right.
Um, but th those that could makeit came to New York City or to,
um, the, you know, to Kentucky,which was kind of cool.
Um, and, uh, it's sort of helpedmake the, the change because it
allowed different people thatare located.
Cause we all know the Kentuckyhorse park, uh, attracts a lot
(09:51):
of media.
So, um, that sort of allowed itto expand out to a different
audience.
Whereas when we're in New York,we got an audience that could
actually come from there.
So, so it's, it's, so one ofthose things that people kind of
love to do, and if they can getto it and cover it and write
about it, they do.
Milt Toby (10:09):
That's great.
And in the spirit of fulltransparency, I was very excited
when, uh, the festival moved tothe horse park last year.
I'm just seven minutes from thehorse bar.
So that I'm glad you're comingback.
Diana De Rosa (10:22):
Yes.
And you want to know something,it's the best move we ever made.
And I think Lisa and I bothchatted about it afterwards and
it's the, it's the right place.
It's like having a permanenthome.
And, uh, the films can be seenduring the year because they
have loops going on every monthand stuff.
And so it's just the rightplace, you know, with virtual.
Now we've got this extension,but in general, I mean, when we
(10:43):
get back to our norm and wecan't really say everything's
normal right now, but in generalit really was the best thing
that we could have done with theEQUUS festival.
Milt Toby (10:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, Lisa Mae, tell me how yougot involved in this and what
your role is.
Lisa Mae DeMasi (10:58):
Yes.
So, um, I had read BerniceEnde's memoir last year and I
found out she was going to be atthe festival at the Kentucky
Horse Park.
And I said to myself, I amgetting there to meet her
because I was just so inspiredby her.
Um, and of course the firstperson I met was Lisa Diersen.
(11:20):
And I said, Lisa, where'sBernice Ende I have to meet her.
And we just became friendly.
And I met Diana and I metJulianne and it was, uh, a nice
group of people.
And Lisa asked me if I wanted tobe involved this year and
interviewing the artists and Ijumped at the opportunity.
And that's how I got involvedthis year.
Milt Toby (11:43):
What's been the reaction of the artists that
you've talked with?
Are they excited?
Are they looking forward to thefestival?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (11:50):
Uh, actually the whole virtual part of the,
of this festival this year,just, they were not affected by
it at all.
They were, they were just sopleased to be part of the
festival that it just didn'timpact them in any way.
Milt Toby (12:04):
Wow.
That's neat.
Neat.
And it finally Julianne, I wasputting together a little
information for this.
You seem to be wearing a lot ofdifferent hats.
Tell me how you got involved andwhat you're doing to make all
this work.
Julianne Neal (12:19):
Well, I, I came in, um, into 2016, I think with
my, my partner, Bruce Anderson,we had a film called The Edge,
about his life and his work.
And it was done by a CanadianTrinidadi and filmmaker, James
O'Connor and I was the producer.
And so we had the trailer thatyear and I was talking to Lisa,
just, she goes around and meetseverybody.
(12:41):
And so it was exciting to get totalk to her.
I talked to her on the phone andfinally meeting in person and
she asked, well, how are yougoing to finish?
Or are you going to finish yourfilm?
What are you going to do?
And I said, well, we have toraise some money.
And she said, well, a smartnonprofit would bring us in and
do a tour stop.
And I said, well, I don't knowhow smart we are, but we're a
nonprofit.
And so come a round, we'll cometo Camden, South Carolina.
(13:01):
And so we sort of started therelationship with that.
We organized a tour stop and westarted traveling that year to
all the different tour stops.
So we went to Ocala, Florida andSedona, Arizona, and Marfa,
Texas with some of the other,other filmmakers w ere hosting
and other groups hosting.
And so I got to know Lisa withthat, and then just everything
(13:23):
that happened from there, wewould collaborate i n something
come along and she'd say, well,you should do a film about this
for the spotlight rescue series.
And we were doing a podcast, um, already called Whinny Tales
for, for our work.
And so just decided it was anatural fit to start podcasting
for the EQUUS Film a nd ArtsFest t oo.
And so that's sort of how I gotinvolved and i t's, I've just
(13:44):
loved every minute of it.
So it was a no brainer when sheasked if we would do some
WebChats, I got the opportunityto speak with a bunch of authors
and have had a really, reallygreat time doing that, meet new
people.
So
Milt Toby (13:57):
That's great.
Lisa, it sounds like you've puttogether a very good thing.
Lisa Diersen (14:01):
And, you know, Julianne has 60 over 60 authors
this year and Diana had over 40with the filmmakers, with our
Encore films and, and the newfilms that Lisa Mae did a great
job with her artists.
We had a 13 artists that we'vehighlighted, but I've been blown
(14:22):
away this year by the literarycomponent because the books that
have come in, I have been justthe quality of the authors.
It just keeps getting better andbetter and better.
Milt Toby (14:35):
It's amazing how much it's grown and in really a very
short time.
Lisa Diersen (14:39):
Well, it's been 8 years I don't know if I feel
like that's short, but we did.
We have grown, we have a filmchannel now where, um, where the
films can be seen all year long.
We do a lot of tour stops.
We do the Winnies, um, with nowa little short, two hour
festivals that have been goingvirtual as fundraisers, since
(15:00):
the pandemic where a lot ofnonprofits are able to do
virtual fundraising and a coupleof the different groups we've
had Brooke USA do it.
We've had a group out of well,Oh gosh, New Mexico cloud, the
cloud therapeutic riding.
I think they raised$5,500 with alittle w you know, weekend one
(15:25):
festival.
So virtually.
So it was a good, really goodfor them.
So we've been working with abunch of different groups.
Milt Toby (15:33):
That's really neat.
It sounds like a full-time jobnow, but let me ask you a
different question.
Shift gears a little, I knoweverybody has horses in the
background here.
So Lisa, tell us about yourhorse involvement at, you know,
outside of the festival.
Lisa Diersen (15:50):
Well, my, my breed of horse, my favorite horse is
the Lusitano, which that is ourartwork.
This year is Karen Psillas whois our official artist, her, she
does a bunch of different typesof panels, beautiful photography
in Portugal.
And so this was one of herimages that we selected for this
(16:11):
year's poster.
Last year, she had a beautifulMarin full, the color was just
breathtaking on it, but, um, Ihave Lusitano horses.
I love, love the breed.
It's um, interesting breed, uh,the history.
I love the history of the breed.
I love the simple hiding.
So I have a, I have a lot of funwith the horses.
Milt Toby (16:35):
Yeah.
And for people who aren'tfamiliar with Lusitanos you need
to check out Lisa's website.
They're beautiful animals.
Lisa Diersen (16:43):
We're from port Portuguese, both fighting
horses.
Milt Toby (16:48):
Neat, neat.
Julianne, What do you do withhorses?
Julianne Neal (16:53):
I used to event and decided about 20 years ago
that hitting the fences thathard.
When I came off, it was probablynot a wise move.
So I moved more into dressage,which I love anyway.
And so I have a horse namedWinston.
He is half Dutch warmblood halfShire.
And I trained with Mary Werningthrough the Karl Mikolka system
(17:13):
and just absolutely loveddressage.
And so Whinny Tales comes frommy horse, Winston
Milt Toby (17:20):
Lisa Mae, how about you?
Yeah,
Lisa Mae DeMasi (17:22):
I'm a recreational rider.
I do a lot of trail riding andevery once in a while I kind of
have to go wild and I just getup and jockey position and I
gallop across the cross-countryfields.
I just love being around horses.
I love being around horsepeople.
Um, I I've always loved it.
Milt Toby (17:45):
Great.
That's fun.
Yeah.
You're right though.
Going fast on the horse,something special.
Diana, I know you've, you'veridden, you've trained, you've
done all sorts of things.
Tell us about your horses.
Diana De Rosa (17:58):
Well, my, I remember when I was six years
old, uh, blowing out the candleson a cake and wishing I could
have a horse.
And then when I came home fromthe 11th grade, many years
later, I said to my dad, youknow, I think I got a hundred on
the regions.
And he said to me, well, ifyou've got a hundred I'm buying
you a horse, that was my horse.
(18:19):
That was my experience with myhorse.
And there was just kind ofrecreational for awhile.
But then after I got out ofcollege, I had the opportunity
to run my mom's horseback ridingstable.
So I ran the stable for, Ithink, 13 years.
It was and did, went to allkinds of shows.
Did the Florida circuit hadstudents, did international
competitions, nationalcompetitions.
(18:41):
And so really, really had thegamut.
And then, um, life kind of movedon and I got into the journalism
part of it.
Instead of riding.
Now, a days I cover, like yousaid, I covered eight Olympic
games.
I'm supposed to do my ninth thisyear in Tokyo and that got
canceled.
So my world is surrounded withhorses in just about everything
(19:01):
I do.
It's just not necessarily asmuch riding anymore.
Milt Toby (19:06):
And I'm sure this keeps everybody busy.
Diana De Rosa (19:13):
Yep.
We did the World EquestrianGames and we did the World Cup.
But Lisa and I together, we, youknow, we sort of pulled through
getting to the world cup in theworld.
Of course World Equestrian Gamesand a lot of pretty big events
where, the EQUUS Film and ArtsFest really got noticed.
Milt Toby (19:29):
That's great.
And, and everybody's love ofhorses, I think is obvious in
the work you put into the filmfestival and in the results, you
know, the it's obvious that youcare about the animals, you care
about the horses and that showsthat shows in the organizing
that you guys do, and everybodyappreciates it.
(19:50):
Trust me.
So let's talk a little bit thenshift we'll shift back to the
film festival.
What's the most rewarding thingsyou Julianne that has come out
of the film festival for you inworking with Lisa and the rest
of the team.
Julianne Neal (20:05):
I have to say, first of all, our film, The Edge
would have never been shown allover the world.
If we had not been involved withthe festival, it would have, we
would've been really proud ofit.
It would have been on a shelfhere in the living room and my
grandmother would have seen itand that's probably about it.
And so because of Lisa, first ofall, we had, you know, it's been
(20:26):
shown in France, it's been atthe World Cup, it's been at the
World Equestrian Games.
How, how in the world would thathave ever happened any other
way?
And so that's first andforemost, but also meeting this
group of people right here hasbeen life-changing for me.
Um, these are my friends.
And so I, you know, it's been,these, these guys have supported
Bruce and I through so many.
(20:47):
And so it's every new personthat comes into the festival.
All the authors I've talked tothis year, it's the connections
that we make and things thathappen because of these
connections are bigger.
They grow exponentially.
So it's been the most rewardingthing we've ever done.
Milt Toby (21:04):
That's great.
And Lisa Mae have asked you,what's the most rewarding
experience you had so far?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (21:11):
Uh, just talking to each of the artists.
I mean, the artists work isjust, they're all very
different, but their work andtheir inspiration and their
journeys are just to talk tothem about their work and how
they see the world is justincredible.
I would never have thisexperience otherwise then being
(21:34):
involved with the festival.
Diana De Rosa (21:40):
You know, I think one of the biggest pluses that
we can say is that we have giventhese people place a platform, a
platform for their, theirmovies, for their films, for
their shorts, that would not bepossible.
So I echo a lot of what Juliannesaid and Lisa and I talk about
it all the time.
(22:00):
I mean, I just, even speaking tothem and that thank you, is that
I get from doing the interviewsjust because they have a place
that they create these films andinspires him to create more
films.
And now they have a place thathorse films can go.
And that's, that to me is themost precious gift we could have
given them.
Milt Toby (22:20):
Yeah.
And when you're talking about aplatform for the artists and the
filmmakers and the writers, butit also is a platform for the
horses.
And for me, that's the mostimportant thing of the film
festival.
Yeah.
I love meeting the people.
I love seeing the films.
I love chatting with theauthors, looking at the work of
(22:42):
the artists, but it's the horsesthat really matter.
So, so Lisa, what about youyou've been doing this longer
than anybody else?
What's the most rewarding thingto come out of it for you?
Lisa Diersen (22:53):
Um, well for me is , is that's it, you know, um,
getting the story being able tobe a part of helping people
share their stories from a bookthat we got in this year about a
little pony that goes into aparty where there's a little
(23:13):
girl, who's in a wheelchair tothe artists that did the work,
who is coming out of it and gotinspired to do the work through
the loss of a loved one that thehorses brought, brought them
together to last year when wehad the miniature therapy horses
(23:34):
too, with Mustang Saviors of theWounded Warrior programs, the
PTSD we've got, we're showing afilm this year about using
horses with the prisoners, with,with Randy Helms program out in
Arizona.
It it's, to me, it's just beingable to share with, to the, to
the world, literally to theworld, because now we're off, we
(23:57):
are all over the world.
The stories of the horses,helping people get get better,
or I don't want to say healed,but yeah, they're helping people
heal, whether it's kids oradults or whatever, or just even
recreational riders.
It's just getting those storiesout because people do with their
heart and soul into whether it'sa painting or a book, a 12 page
(24:22):
children's book, or a two hourlong documentary on the
different kinds of worms thathorses have.
Everybody puts their heart andsoul into what they do, you know
, and I love the fact that weare here to be able to help
these places.
These people have a place to,to, to share and be rewarded and
(24:44):
get a witty award sometimes whenthey're at work.
So I am, I, it makes me reallyproud.
Diana De Rosa (24:54):
I'd actually like to add to that because, you
know, we talked about pressbefore and one of the things
that you always hear equinemedia, and I know that you know
that as well is that we neverget enough exposure.
And by doing this, by having afilm festival, it's created an
interest in the media and aplace for them to go to learn so
(25:14):
much at one location when we dothe annual film festival.
So it's really been a greatopportunity to get promotion
through the media and get someinterest in the media when it
was so hard to do that beforethe media attention.
Lisa Diersen (25:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, when we were, we had a NewYork times article written, what
was it?
Two years ago, Diana, Thefilmmaker that one of the films
they highlighted the filmmakerhad flown in from Germany.
And he had done a documentaryabout their wounded warrior
(25:53):
program called Cyrus comrade.
And when he walked in to thefestival, I had a copy of the
New York times.
And it was a very big story thatthey did on us with a lot of,
there's not a lot of coverageand I gave him a copy.
And I said, there's not a lot oftimes that a filmmaker, no
matter what film festival,they're going to get off of a
(26:14):
plane from Germany in New York.
And he can say that they were inthe New York Times.
So that kind of, that's soexciting to be able to share
that and, and literally makehis, I think his, his day that
he was there.
I mean, he was so excited aboutthat
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Lisa Diersen (30:02):
It'd be an important addition if we would
have never done, we would havenever had a virtual piece to
this other than, you know, yourFacebook Live.
So this way, this is kind ofnudged us out of a comfort zone
a bit and got us into doingthese interviews and learning
how to do all the editing.
(30:23):
And I've learned so much thepast month and a half trying to
get this ready to go up online.
So, you know, it's been, it'sbeen fun and it'll, it'll just
every year has been fun with thesuccessful and it gets every
time I think you can't,something else can happen.
It gets something else does, orBerniece Ende shows up at the
(30:44):
festival for, you know, inKentucky last year.
And I mean, it's just, it'salways a surprise.
Milt Toby (30:54):
Yeah.
Diana was talking about exposureand you're right.
Being virtual gives you moreexposure than you could get any
way, any other way.
So again, this is one of thepositive things, surprisingly
that comes out of the pandemic.
I think lots of organizationshave increased the scope of
(31:14):
their reach beyond ways youwould ever expect.
And finally, before we wrap upone of the things that you
always learn as you, as ajournalist, when you're
interviewing someone is to askthem what questions didn't I ask
you that I should have?
So Julianne, what should I haveasked you that I didn't,
Julianne Neal (31:38):
Gosh, that's tough Milt.
Um, I don't know, pass and go tosomebody.
Let me think about that.
Milt Toby (31:50):
Okay.
And I see Lisa Mae's hand, LisaMae what should I have asked
you?
Lisa Mae DeMasi (31:55):
Um, in what manner did I get married in
January of this year and thefestival?
So my, my husband and I gotmarried in January and we wanted
to have a very small wedding.
We didn't want any of our directfamily there.
So our witnesses were twohorses.
Milt Toby (32:24):
Diana, what should I, should I have asked you
Diana De Rosa (32:29):
Sort of like to make the comment didn't you
you've addressed the issue.
That virtual is really been sucha great addition and it's
something like Lisa said that weprobably never would have done.
And now we have the wholeexperience of doing this.
And by us being able tointerview these people,
one-on-one, it's a cleanerinterview.
It's more people beinginterviewed.
(32:50):
It's more exposure foreverybody.
Everybody got a chance becausewhen you're onsite, there's not
always, you're rushing around.
There's not always a chance tointerview everybody or find
them.
And what have you.
So I think it's been a reallygood gift to us to be given this
opportunity to go virtual, havethis experience.
And then when you look to nextyear, we're going to have this
(33:11):
behind us and we're going toknow how we can address and
expand and do even better.
Milt Toby (33:16):
Okay, great.
Do you Julianne, have you sawthis something I should have
asked you?
Julianne Neal (33:20):
I guess, so I guess I would say you didn't ask
if we have more content, newcontent coming from the South
Carolina area.
And I will say, yes, we'reworking on a new film about a
wonderful place called CampCole, that's A Place to Shine
and the Therapeutic RidingProgram that goes on there.
And so there's a littlethree-year-old boy that was put
(33:41):
on a horse for the first time,about a week ago and we're
documenting his year.
And so, and so's journey will bea submission in the festival
next year from the SouthCarolina camp.
So I guess that's something thatI can say,
Milt Toby (33:53):
Neat, good deal.
And Lisa, you get the last word.
Should I, who asked you, how didall of us feel about having our
new little stallion addition toour herd, Milton, all the women.
(34:17):
I'm looking forward to the restof all, and I'm glad that you
found room for me to help.
Diana De Rosa (34:25):
I was thrilled when I, you know, I mean Milt
has been a part of publicationsand is certainly a welcome, a
welcome addition.
Milt Toby (34:38):
I'll keep that in mind.
I think we're going to wrap itup, but thank you, Julianne.
Thank you, Diana.
Thank you, Lisa Mae.
And thank you Lisa, for takingpart in the, in the podcast and
also for all the work thatyou're doing for the festival.
It's paying off.
Diana De Rosa (34:54):
Thank you so much.
Milt Toby (34:57):
You're welcome.
Thank you.
That means I'll stay around forawhile.
Everyone take care and staysafe.
You too pony on.
Fenwick Equestrian Commerci (35:17):
I'd like to take a few minutes from
the podcast to tell you about anew product that my horse
Winston and I've been trying.
Winston just loves his LiquidTitanium Calming Mask from
Fenwick Equestrian.
We actually tried it out on thefirst cool morning as we were
going over for a dressagelesson.
And I have to say he almost fellasleep standing by the trailer.
So think the calming effect wasreal through some extensive
(35:39):
testing.
Fenwick has discovered the useof a high performance smart
fabric, and this mask has acalming effect on many horses.
In fact, some folks call it ahappy hat.
In the racing world,thoroughbreds and Trotters, the
stewards have declared it a hoodif worn without cups, but I've
got the one with the ears.
And Winston seems to like thatthe best liquid titanium
(36:00):
produces negative ions, whichhave been proven to make you
feel better.
They provide more energy in apositive mood.
This fabric is speciallyformulated to allow continuous
washing and drying withoutdiluting the qualities.
It's the first and onlytherapeutic mask that can help
your horse relax and focusnaturally.
And Winston seems to love it.
(36:20):
All of Fenwick's therapeutichead gear is approved for
competition worldwide.
You can search for the mask andother products at
www.fenwickequestran.com.
Tto obtain your 10% discount,just mention, Winnie.
Visit Fenwickequestrian.com,backslash discount backslash,
Winnie and that's W I N N I E.
Lisa Diersen (36:40):
Please be sure to tune in next week when Julianne
and I have another interestingconversation with one of our
(37:01):
EQUUS Film and Arts Festfilmmakers, artists, or authors.
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