Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad. Entrepreneurs tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Their inspiring stories, learn about products that could make both
you and your child's life easier and more fun, and
of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh about what's happening
in their child's world.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Motherhood is a journey. Thanks for joining me onmine. Welcome
to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson. So there's something very
exciting going on this week that I thought we would
talk about in our first segment. Who doesn't love a
good film festival? And this week the Me Show Film
Festival is in full effect. It is running from October
twenty third through the twenty sixth in Culver City, and
(00:48):
I am thrilled to have Noel Braham on the show
with me today. He is the founder of the film
festival and we're going to just talk all about the
festival itself, how it started, and what we could expect
to see in the heinel. Thank you so much for
joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Hey, Michelle, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My pleasure, so talk to me a little bit about
the film Festival and the background.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
So we started back in twenty eighteen after my co founder,
Courtnel Branch and I at a chance encounter with a
production assistant who was homeless, and this PA.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Was living in a ten encampment that was two blocks
away from the apartment complex. I just it was a
very eye opening experience because it helped me to understand
how important it is for platforms to exist that provide
artists and multi hyphenics with the space that they can
be heard, seen, and most of all celebrated. Oscar me
Schau was a independent black filmmaker who from the nineteen
(01:41):
twenties to the nineteen forties, wrote, directed, producer distributed over
forty four feature films. But his number one goal with
his projects was to bring together polarizing world that otherwise
would never intersect and to bridge the gap between the
communities that exists within America. And so very similar to
his legacy, the festival now stands as a beacon of
(02:01):
not only building a bridge between our communities, but providing
artists with the ability to get their projects seen, to
ensure that their work is exposed and most importantly, we
give them an opportunity to connetwork and to network with
other future collaborators.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That's amazing, I absolutely love it. And so how does
the Film Festival build and foster just a sense of
community among the participating filmmakers.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Our mission envision is very simple, lead with help, elevate
with value, and close the knowledge gap between indeed and industry.
Our mindset as a company is always to place the
filmmaker first. So whether it's us creating a space to
give them the ability to network with each other, a mixer,
a social event, or even educational workshop slash masterclass that
(02:47):
will give them tangible resources and knowledge that they can
use to hopefully edify their career as they continue to
grow within the industry and within their own particular discipline.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
And the festival focus is on diverse, under represented creators,
which is terrific. What are some of the biggest challenges, though,
you would say, face these filmmakers and how does the
festival aim to address them?
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Well?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
For every filmmaker, the biggest challenge is to get the
project actually complete right.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
For us, we really prode ourselves in storing that we
give them as much exposures possible to industry insiders and
to knowledge panels that will help them and not only
their development process, but how they go about producing, how
they want to go about directing a particular project, mechanisms
that they're using when it comes.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
To writing their film, and ensuring that they have resources
that will aid them in that process, because what we've
noticed from a data perspective is that many filmmakers don't
start because they simply don't even know how to. And
the other group of filmmakers who aren't able to finish,
it's because they ran into some issue, whether it be financing,
(03:57):
whether it be with person and now and crowing up properly.
So we really try to ensure that we not only
get them the exposure, but to connect them to the
necessary resources that will help them get the project off
the ground and complete.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Amazing and so how has the festival had to innovate
adapt especially considering the rise of let's say virtual and
hybrid events.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Well, back in twenty twenty we were a complete virtual
model and we actually had two or three physical days
of screenings. And what's really exciting specifically this year is
once again we'll be at the Cover City Theater screening
over two hundred projects in addition to our virtual platform,
so people at home who want to support independent filmmakers they.
Speaker 7 (04:40):
Have the ability to do so.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Rather than going too Netflix or some other traditional medium,
you can now also support indie work that has powerful stories,
powerful messages and things that will ultimately help and provide
support for the community.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's great, and I know obviously you mentioned the biggest
challenge is getting the film done. Type of workshops or
technical training do you offer to help these independent filmmakers
with the logistics of their craft, from raising the capital
to the distribution.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So on Friday, we actually have an actor's workshop hosted
by Chris Green that's going to provide talent with the
ability of not only getting into a room, but also
booking the project and going through the process of working
with the director. We're also bringing in YouTube star Knigra
Dion who's going to do a career retrospective about how
she was able to go from working in the laboratory
(05:31):
to becoming one of the biggest digital platforms out there
as we know. And she's not only doing it provide
insight into the career steps that she took in order
to get to where she is, but also a lot
of the technical components that go into creating digital media,
specifically for content that's housed on YouTube. We also have
a state of the Industry panel that specifically is going
(05:51):
to focus on the state of what the business is
at and how you can go about maneuvering as an
independent filmmaker, bringing in Adam Fowler, also going to break
down the business purely from an economic standpoint and how
the money is flowing here in LA and what creators
can implement in order to adapt and adjust to some
of the challenges that they're facing. We have a one
(06:13):
on one career retrospective as well with Tommy Davidson and
Donna Marie with Undernovel Films. That's going to do a
career retrospective on Tommy and how he was able to
build such an illustrious career within television and film. In
addition to comedy, advice he would give to those who
are not only up and coming, but those who have
also broken through. And it's a plethora of more, but
(06:36):
those are a few that I'll kind of spit out.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Amazing, I love it, And so talk to me about
the lineup this year. What can we expect.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
So our opening night gala will be It's Dorothy and
remember Remember specifically is about four men who are navigating
the challenges within LA from a black, black, queer standpoint.
Dorothy is a powerful documentary feature film directed by Jeffrey
McHale and it pretty much shines light on the many
actresses that have done the role of Judy Garland and
(07:10):
the legacy of the Wizard of Balls and the impact
that it's had on the world looking at the last
one hundred and twenty five years.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
In addition to blocks and shorts that focus on science
fiction blocks and focus on action romance coming of age stories,
we have a lot of projects that talk to as well,
like culture clashes, and not even just from a race standpoint,
but from an age standpoint, looking at those who are
coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and narratives that really speak
(07:39):
to not only the state of the world, but also
the places that we're going as well as a society.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, that's incredible. That first film sounds amazing. Is there
if we're not in the LA area, is there any
way to catch any of these films?
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
On our virtual platform. So if you go to me
showfilmfest dot Com. You can click onto our virtual platform
and you can get access to all the projects that
will be screening at the fest, and then those projects
will be available all the way until twelve one. Even
if you're not able to catch it once it releases live,
you have an entire month over the holiday break to
(08:14):
enjoy the projects as well with your family.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Oh terrific. So give me like two or three more
films and what they're about.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Our closing night film, She Dances, which is directed by
Rick Gomez. It's a powerful piece. It stars Ethan Hawks
Steve Zon, and it pretty much follows a daughter and
father's broken relationship, but it's set on the background of
the Southern Eastern or regional dance competition that's happening within
the Mississippi Delta. And it's such a nuance, funny and
(08:43):
also beautiful piece that speaks to mending relationship and then
navigating challenges when we think about the family dynamic and structure.
And so that project is actually going to close the festival.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
This stunt festival is really amazing. I mean you feature
documentary series, premiere short blocks, panels, masterclasses, special events. I
mean it's really these few days are incredible and I'm
just curious, what is your vision for the next five years.
What initiatives do you have in the works.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
We want to continue to grow beyond television and film.
We want to enter into the fashion space, we want
to enter into the food space. We want the festival
to become a culture hub where we're really bridging the
gap within the community and most importantly fostering community to
ensure that we're giving back to the people around the
(09:33):
festival and those who are supporting the artists through these
other mediums. We certainly see ourselves evolving just beyond the
scope that we're in right now to really hit all
markets and corners when we think about food, arts in
addition to culture as well. Also, we want to expand
our programming. Right now, the festival runs over the course
of four days.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Our ultimate goal.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Is to run for at least two weeks, but as
you can imagine, that comes with certain challenges, specifically when
looking at the business and things that we've been up
against from an economic standpoint. So certainly being able to
bring in bigger sponsors, bigger donors who are willing to
give back to the mission and vision of the festival
honoring not only our crypt filmmakers, but also giving back
(10:16):
to the community at LAWS that supports us well.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I wish you the best of luck. I think what
you're doing is amazing, incredible work. I look forward to
checking out the films. Noel Braham, thank you so much
for joining me today on Passport Mommy. Tell me one
more time where we can go to watch everything?
Speaker 8 (10:33):
Yes, so if you check out meshowfilmfest dot com you
can check out and bypasses tickets, you can look at
all of our virtual projects as well.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
In addition to supporting our filmmakers, our full program and
schedule is there. You can donate to the festival if
you will like to help us in our M two
fifty campaign, but we're setting to raise out two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars with the goal of expanding our
current programming slave and if you're not able to attend
in person, you can also watch virtually with your family
(11:05):
and support independent filmmakers here in LA and around the world.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Terrific. Thank you so much. I'm Michelle Jerson the Passport
Mommy More coming up in a few you're listening to
Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson, and today I have with
me James Bell. He is the head of corporate communications
for Kia America, and we're going to talk about a
very important topic, car crashes. They are the leading cause
of death for teenagers in the United States, according to
(11:31):
the National Safety Council, and each year in October, National
Teen Driver Safety Week serves as an opportunity for parents
and guardians to have a conversation with teens about safe
driving habits. Thank you so much for joining me today, James.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
No, it's very important to have this time, so thanks.
It is all to you.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh my pleasure. You know, it seems like every time
I'm out on the road lately, and I hate to
say this, but if I'm driving on a highway, there's
at least one car swerving in and out of cars.
I don't understand why this has become so popular. What
are the latest stats on teens and motor vehicle crashes
(12:13):
in the United States.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Well, I think the easiest way to explain how this
trend is going is it's going in the wrong direction.
And this is, you know, in light of how much training,
how much education, both in schools, different social programs, you know,
just churches everywhere there's been over the last many decades.
It's just a deep focus on the fact that, you know,
(12:39):
you know, we're a strange society. We turn our youth
loose in vehicles that they just don't understand and respect.
And I don't know about your situation, but I was
definitely one of those, and I was one of those fools.
It was driving it incorrectly and well, knock on my
wooden head. I got lucky, yeah, and my passengers are lucky.
(13:01):
But that's not always a case, right, And as you said,
I believe that there's a there's a huge social media
component to this that didn't happen when maybe when we
were kids, and you talk about, you know, the swerving
around and the kind of performative stunt driving that you
can sometimes see with you know, with street takeovers and
things like that. So much of that is connected to
(13:23):
kids being kids, wanting to show off a little bit
show you know, maybe they've got a really interesting car
or something special and they're just wanting to show that off.
But unfortunately they're doing it without respect for what it
means to pilot a four thousand pound vehicle at seventy
miles an hour. Down a highway. There's just so many
factors in play, and unfortunately, still to this day, too
(13:46):
many of those factors bite these children and cause great calamities.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Exactly. And you know, I'm there driving with my two
young kids, afraid for me, and I have unfortunately witnessed
firsthands incidents while cars are doing this, and I feel
like we're reading about it every day. So tell us
about the Break's Safe Driving program. When why was it created?
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Sure so, well, it's a nationwide program, generally focused in
the South, but they do get all the way up
to Seattle and San Diego and every place in between.
And it started by a gentleman by the name of
Doug Herbert, going back probably thirty years ago or so.
He was very, very successful in the nhr A racing
circuit and made his million, so to say, hustling cars
(14:37):
down the dragstrips at three hundred miles an hour. But
he had two sons and didn't teach them, oddly enough
how to be responsible while driving, wow, to understand the dynamics,
and both of his sons sadly perished in a traffic
accident unintended crash less than a mile from his house
(15:00):
that Yeah, that really really impacted him, as you can imagine,
and he took his money and his fame and his
energy and said, I'm gonna I'm going to stop kids
from doing this. I'm going to do the best I
can for the rest of my life. And we heard
about KIA heard about mister Herbert probably about fifteen years
ago now, and we recognized his passion and his energy
(15:22):
and we wanted to support that. So we provide the vehicles,
but mister Herbert and his team provide the brains.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, that's a terrific partnership. And why has this been
such an important program for Kia to support.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Well, because it might sound cliche or trite, but it's true.
We live in these same communities where you do. We're
raising our families where you are. Yes, we're a car
company and we'd love you to look at our vehicles
and see if it meets your needs. But if the
vehicles are not being used properly, no matter how great
the safety technology is today, if they're just not being
(15:58):
used right, then then we have a responsibility in that space.
And so that's why we partnered with mister Herbert. That's
why we've endeavored to make this. You know, this national
program as popular and as wine ranging as possible. And
I can tell you from running my own daughter through
the program. You know they sell out very quickly. And
when I say that they sell out, they're free of charge.
(16:20):
And that's thanks to some as your key to support
of this. So yeah, when I signed up my daughter,
you know, I wanted to go a certain weekend and
had to pick another weekend because it was already filled out.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for all that you're doing.
I know you've been part of Kia since twenty sixteen,
and in addition to being part of such a great
motor vehicle brand, you do things like this anything to
try to keep our kids and our family safe. So
where can we go for more information to find a
class and if they're not in their area, how can
(16:53):
teens take part?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Okay, well that's easy. Please go to the website put
on the Brakes dot or put on the breaks dot org.
There you can see, you know, some great videos and
stories about how the campaign came together, how Kia fits
into all this. But most importantly, there's a schedule there
there on the road. They're basically year round going to
(17:16):
fairgrounds and parking lots all across the country. And so
if you've got a team driver, you know, and there's
fifteen to sixteen year old range and you want to
get that extra education in them, do as I did.
Go on the website, get yourself signed up, and you'll
just as parents, you'll have such an unexpected degree of
confidence too.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Absolutely well, Thank you so much, James Bell, Thank you
for joining me today on Passport Mommy to discuss this
very important topic.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Thank you, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up
than a few you're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson,
and I am so excited to have Katie Hogan and
Brian Tracks out on this show. They are from Sketchworks
Comedy and they are two of the creators of Vape,
the Grease parody, and so who knew that there would
(18:06):
be a Grease parody. I love this and I think
it's going to be such an amazing show, and so
I'm excited to have them on with me today to
talk about the show, to talk about where we can
see it. Thank you both so much for joining me today.
Speaker 9 (18:19):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
My pleasure. So tell me about Vape a Grease parody?
What is it about?
Speaker 9 (18:26):
Well, it's just that it's a parody of mostly the
film from nineteen seventy eight and the one that everybody
knows and loves starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton. John.
It really just goes back quite a few years ago,
almost ten years ago now, where a group from Sketchworks
went and saw actually like the Broadway version, and then
(18:48):
we just all love it so much that we decided
to create a parody and kind of modernize it and
hook fun at you know, today's teenagers. Right, all these
years later, we're finally ready to bring it off Broadway.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
That is so cool. So what makes Vape different than Greece?
Speaker 9 (19:07):
Brian? You can take this one if you want.
Speaker 10 (19:09):
It's a parody of Greece, and it's not just like,
you know, we take Greece and put it in a
different world.
Speaker 7 (19:15):
We did do that, but.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
We also comment about things in the movie Grease itself
that didn't quite age so well, don't quite exist anymore,
like the Greece or culture and smoking and all that.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
We've sort of brought the story into a modern era.
Speaker 10 (19:31):
But we also comment on the story itself, So there's
some meta components in there as well, and it also
brings it into the modern age.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And for fans of Greece, are there elements of vape
that we will recognize?
Speaker 9 (19:44):
Oh for sure?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
For sure.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
So yeah, we you know, we've we brought on some
really talented musicians and lyricists to help us create music
that is similar, but it is its own thing now.
But people are going to be able to sing along
and have a lot of fun with it. And again,
even all of our songs are parodies of the songs
that everybody knows and loves, so it's it's so much fun.
(20:09):
People are if you've ever seen Greece, or even if
you haven't seen Greece, there there are so many pop
culture references and things that people will be able to
pick up on. There's kind kind of something for everybody
in there, whether you're gen Z or a baby boomer.
There are jokes for everyone, which makes it a lot
of fun.
Speaker 10 (20:26):
Yeah, even though we're making even though we're making fun
of Greece, it is very much a love letter to Grease.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Yeah, And I grew up with Greece and it was
my favorite musical and so I think anybody in my generation,
they will absolutely love this. And like you said, even
if they have not seen Greece yet, I think they
will find this very entertaining.
Speaker 9 (20:47):
But I always tell people that are going to see
it for the first time, you know what, the night before,
watch Greece and then you know all the jokes and stuff,
you're going to be in that mood to kind of
really laugh at a lot of the funny references we
have in the parody.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Yeah, there are some deep cuts from the movie in there.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Okay, and tell me about some of the song parodies
and babe, sure. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (21:12):
So we brought on Billy Reesi, who's a super super
talented up and coming Broadway composer and lyricist. And again,
all the songs comment on the original, but also in
a lot of ways modernize them. We've we have a
song that's a parody about parody, which is a lot
(21:33):
of fun.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
You know.
Speaker 9 (21:35):
We really let each of the characters have their own
moment to be able to uh, you know, just have
a lot of fun with with the original, but bring
it into a modern age. We instead of grease lightning,
we do green Lightning to kind of comment on the
age of electric vehicles. What are some of the other songs,
(21:58):
We've got a lot of them in there.
Speaker 10 (22:00):
Summer Nights has turned into Summer Hot and Summer not,
which is a nice verbal pun. But yeah, you'll recognize
you'll recognize all the original songs in our versions for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Very cool. And so is this the first time that
Vape has been on stage? Have audiences seen it before?
Speaker 8 (22:20):
No?
Speaker 10 (22:20):
And yes, our original version of Vape we started performing
here in Atlanta in twenty eighteen and had sold out shows,
and then we were going to bring it to New
York and efter we won in the lawsuit and we're
going to take this version to New York. We sort
of took what we had done before, we needed to
(22:42):
extend it and do some other changes to it, so
we tore it all back down and then put it
all back together and made it less like a sketch
comedy show and more like a real play. So in
a way, this is sort of Vape two point zero
that we're seeing now. So it's about fifty percent of
what the original Vape was.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
But there's a lot of extra frost on the cake.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Now, Yeah, got it.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
Honestly, we just you know, we knew the bones of
it were great, and we and the audiences in Atlanta
loved it for years, and so we took those great
pieces of it and then really expanded on those, made
sure all the characters had their proper arcs and the
storyline made sense, and it's now it went from a
one act play to a three act play, and it's
(23:23):
you know, we really legitimized it in a way and
again really worked on all the songs and the music
to make it off Broadway worthy, right.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And you mentioned quickly a lawsuit in there. What happens, Well.
Speaker 10 (23:37):
The folks at Concord Theatricals heard about our play and.
Speaker 7 (23:41):
We were going to bring it to New York, and
they sent.
Speaker 10 (23:42):
Us a season desist letter because they are that's what
they do.
Speaker 7 (23:48):
So we got it about ten days before we were
going to perform up there.
Speaker 10 (23:52):
So we consulted with a lawyer here in Atlanta, Nancy Praeger,
and she referred us to a lawyer in New York,
Jordan Greenberger.
Speaker 7 (23:58):
So instead of going to.
Speaker 10 (23:59):
New York, we went to New York to basically have
a vacation and meet with lawyers. And what we really
we knew that what we were doing was a parody.
Speaker 7 (24:09):
It was fair use.
Speaker 10 (24:10):
We took Greece and commented on it and made it
what's called a transformational work.
Speaker 7 (24:15):
We turned it into its own thing.
Speaker 10 (24:17):
Right, So we were giving we basically our options were
put it in a drawer and never do it again,
or fight the season desist. So we decided to fight
the season desist, not only because we wanted to do
a vape again someday, but we also in meeting with
our lawyers, there's very little case history as far as
(24:37):
parody goes, so we thought that winning this lawsuit, or
at least fighting back, would give folks in the future
who may have had their own seasoned desist problems because
of fair use parity a little more support, right, a
lot similar cases.
Speaker 9 (24:53):
Yeah, we're weird, just out here fighting for all of comedy.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Right right. Well, congratulations, I'm glad that it went in
your favor as it should have, and so I'm really
happy to hear that you did not bury it in
the drawer and that we now in New York City
get to watch this amazing show.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:09):
Yeah, we're super excited. And you know, we've done a
couple of we did a couple of stage readings in
a concert and it was just so well received by
audiences that we knew, we knew this had to happen,
and we're so so excited for just the general public
to be able to see it now.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yes, and I hear that Jack Plotnik, who directed Disaster
on Broadways directing What is it like working with Jack?
Speaker 9 (25:33):
He is spectacular. He's a comedy genius. I don't know
if anybody watches his instagrams, Oh my gosh, he's so funny.
He's so funny. I think the best part about Jack
is that he can take these jokes and these funny
elements of the show and elevate them and pull the
best out of these actors. That it's just such a
(25:55):
talent to be able to elevate the funny in such
a magnificent way, and then to find the layers beneath
the surface that are funny. I've just been you know,
I wrote the words, but he's able to really make
them so colorful and bring them to life and make
sure that these actors are absolutely crushing it every single day. Yeah,
(26:18):
we're just so blessed and grateful that he signed on
and he's been a joy to work with and so
excited about this project, which makes us even more excited.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
And so you wrote Faith with the Sketchworks comedy team.
So tell me a little bit about sketch Works for
those of us who may not be in Atlanta.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
Sure, I'll let Brian mostly take that. I started taking
classes with them almost ten years ago now and fell
in love with the people. They've become my lifelong friends,
and I've been writing on and off with Sketchworks ever since.
But Brian is the owner, so I'll let him kind
of tell a little brief history.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Okay, brief history.
Speaker 10 (26:56):
Sketch Works started in two thousand and one with a
group of five folks who decided to start doing sketch comedy.
I joined them in twenty ten as an actor. They
were performing in a theater where I was taking acting lessons.
I was just starting and I saw one of their shows,
and as a fan of sketch comedy since I was
a kid, they were brilliant and I was like, I
really want to do that. So I joined them as
(27:17):
an actor in twenty ten. I started directing in twenty fourteen.
I became an owner in twenty sixteen, and then the
sole owner in twenty twenty two. So we've been doing
sketch comedy for a very long time, and we're like
Saturday Night Live, it's not the same. We have actually
a couple of people who from the original days, but
we have new people coming in moving on as as
(27:38):
time goes by.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
So I feel like I'm the Lourene Michaels of Sketch Works.
Speaker 10 (27:41):
At this point, but actively between writers and actors who
probably have a group of about twenty five to thirty
active at any given time, and we do four shows
a year, running for a couple of weekends each so
and we keep it fresh, we don't. We like to
do full props and costumes. It's not just a bunch
of folks wearing black shirts and miming everything. We really
(28:04):
try to do every single sketch as a full play
production with production values. So my catchphrase is hashtag never
produced because sometimes it's a little stressful, but it ends
up in a really fun result.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yes, and so if we're not in Atlanta, can we
still get involved with Sketch Works Comedy.
Speaker 7 (28:22):
You sure can.
Speaker 10 (28:23):
We do all of our writing groups over Zoom, so
we actually have writers all over the country and actually
all over the world for a while. You can find
us at Sketchworkscomedy dot com. We're on all the socials,
we have a YouTube page. We do a weekly weekend
update type show called sketch Works News Break.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
So yeah, you can find us and join us wherever
you are.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh, have fun and what would you say is the
minimum age for someone to get involved?
Speaker 7 (28:50):
We actually have a kids in teens group.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
We didn't do it this year, but we usually have
a summer camp, so we do have a kids in
teens group as well.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
So obviously that's the more family friendly material.
Speaker 10 (29:03):
So all, if you like comedy and you like sketch comedy,
we'll happily will happily take.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You great And so tell me how can we get
tickets for vape the Great Parody? When and where do
performances begin?
Speaker 9 (29:18):
Yeah, so we're going to be at Theater five five five,
which is on West forty second Street in New York.
You can go to Vapethmusical dot Com. Performances start our
previous start in a week on October thirtieth, so October
thirtieth previous start, and then opening night is November third,
and we're running through January fourth and then hopefully we'll
(29:41):
have a very, very long life in New York. After that,
we're crossing all our fingers and tell us that the
people of New York come out and support it and
love it. So yeah, Vapethmusical dot com you can get
your tickets perfect.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, I'm looking forward to it. I will definitely spread
the word. So what's next after Vape the Grease Parody?
Speaker 10 (30:01):
Well, funnily enough, while Vape the Grease Parody is happening
in New York, we do have an upcoming show here
in Atlanta. It's called Birthdays for the Z. It's a
celebration of birth, death and the dash in between. So
we're getting a little metaphysical with this one. We usually
have a theme to our show's a very loose theme.
So that opens November fourteenth here in Atlanta at Limelight
Theater and runs for a couple of weekends.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Terrific and so I bet if you are in the
Atlanta area or you are visiting, do you have an
ongoing series of shows or is every few months?
Speaker 10 (30:32):
We usually do four shows a year, every quarter that
run a couple of weekends, so about sixteen performances. Sometimes
we do a holiday show we don't have one lined
up this year, but since each show is written and
rehearsed from scratch, it usually takes us a couple of
months from the beginning of the writing process through the
rehearsal process to get.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
The show up. So one a quarter keeps me barely sane.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah. Well, I imagine that you bring so much levity to
people's lives, those who participate in schedule its comedy, and
those who go to see your shows. And I think
it's amazing. I love your career over all of these years,
how you've evolved from an actor too now the owner
and Katie. I look forward to seeing Vape, a Greece parody.
(31:16):
I look forward to I mean, it's going to be
so much fun. I look forward to bringing some friends
with me and the whole family. And so, what what
age would you say is the good age range for
this show.
Speaker 9 (31:27):
Yeah, we've had a lot of discussions about this, obviously,
you know, parental discretion is advised. Okay, we generally say
sixteen and up. You know, there are some elements that
are a little more adult in themes. So, but of
course it's up to the individual parent. But I would
say at least teen and up.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Okay, yeah, good, okay, okay, yeah. My eight year old
loves to go to shows, and I mistakenly took her
to see Dead Outlaws, not realizing going in that I
was getting myself into. So I always ask now, well
thanks fair enough. Thank you both so much for joining
(32:07):
me today on Passport Mommy. Katie Hogan and Brian Chocsol
of Sketchworks Comedy. They are the writers of Vape the
Grease parody. You have to go and see this show,
and go get your tickets right on forty second Street.
Really easy to get there, whether you live in New
York City or you're visiting. Thank you so much for
joining me today.
Speaker 9 (32:25):
Thank you, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
We appreciate it, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming
up in a few you're listening to Passport Mommy, I'm
Michelle Jerson. So, you know, playing sports is a big
part of our kids' lives, and it's important for both
physical and mental health. However, injuries are bound to happen,
landing millions of young athletes in the er each year.
(32:49):
Contact and collision sports like football, basketball, hockey, soccer, they
can cause these injuries, and so I'm really happy to
have with me today doctor Naomi Brown. She is a
pediatric sport or It's medicine specialists at the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia, and we're just going to talk about how
common these injuries are and what we can do if
they do a card to our child. Hi, doctor Brown.
Speaker 11 (33:12):
Hi, how are you?
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Thank you for having me my pleasures? So how common
are injuries in young athletes?
Speaker 11 (33:18):
So injuries are common, as you said, I mean it
is about three point five million children ages fourteen and
under end up getting hurt annually, But that does not
mean that it is all catastrophic or serious. So you know,
unfortunately part of playing sports, you're going to.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Have bumps and bruises.
Speaker 11 (33:34):
But what we really care about are the high level injuries,
the fractures, the ligament terrors that we can try to
help prevent and educate parents about when to recognize and
when they need to get treated.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
And what are the most common types of injuries that
you see.
Speaker 11 (33:49):
Sprains and strains. Ankle sprains, for example, are one of
the most common ones that we'll see, especially this fall
season with soccer and football, but a lot of knee injuries,
hand and wrist crapures, Unfortunately, concussion is not uncommon. You know,
there's upper hip, thigh injuries that we'll see as well.
It depends on if it's an acute versus an overuse injury.
(34:11):
They kind of are spread equally between acute injuries and
then more chronic overuse injuries.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Got it, and so what can we do as a
parent if the child does get injured? And then what
are the best ways I would say to even prevent injury?
Speaker 11 (34:25):
Great questions. So one of the things to do when
you have a child who's saying, you know, are they
in pain? Are they injured? One is did you witness it?
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Right?
Speaker 11 (34:33):
A lot of times it's great A parent comes in
and said, here's my son's knee injury, and here's the
video footage of it. Everything is recorded. Now, that's really helpful. Right,
I can see the mechanism, I can see how the
child hurt his knee. But if it is a I
came off the field, I don't know if it hurts
or not. I'm able to walk and the next day
I'm fine. Is it happening three days in a row?
Is it affecting the daily life? Are you having limping?
(34:55):
Are you not able to get back on the field.
That's a question that you say, Okay, maybe there's something
we're going on a lot of kids, you know how
I hurt? Is it? Are you hurt? I say to
my kids, do you need a mom or a doctor?
You know where? What kind of pain are we in
right now? And so if it is affecting their life,
if there's any concern, I mean, don't lose sleep over it. Right.
We have urgent cares for a reason. We have pediatricians
(35:17):
that are available to you. Obviously, if it's a severe injury,
there's you know, God forbid that you know you can
see a deformity on your child's risk, go to the
emergency room, please, And urgent care is not the place for.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
That, right exactly. And as far as preventing, what are
the best things we can do?
Speaker 11 (35:33):
Yeah, So one of the things I tell on my
athletes is we have to learn how to stretch. Stretching
is one of the most important things. Kids say, I'm
on the field, I'm fine, I'm doing it. But warming
up doing dynamic stretches before we play. Those are what
we learn, you know, the butt kicks, the knee highs
inchwarms things. We're really moving the muscles at the same
time we're warming them up and stretching them is best
(35:56):
done before you play, and then when we're done playing,
that's when we do our static stretches. That's what we're
thinking about. Holding a stretch for thirty seconds each one
and going through your hamstrings and your quads, your calves.
That's super important and unfortunately a lot of times to say, okay,
game's over, get in the car, let's go home, it's
time for dinner. We can spend five minutes just doing
a couple of stretches, or even in the car if
(36:18):
you're able to, when you get home before dinner, do
a few minutes of stretches. That will help prevent so
many injuries.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
That's great advice. And what about as far as what
we drink for recovery?
Speaker 11 (36:30):
Yeah, so that's always a great question. I mean, honestly,
if you're exercising for less than sixty minutes, all you
need is water. Water is the most important thing. We
have to make sure we do that. But marketing is
a great tool out there, and we can you know,
there's a propelled powder sticks, there's the liquid IV. I mean,
there's noom, there's so many brands out there now. Honestly,
(36:52):
you know, Gatory did a great job. I love gatory,
but it's only if you're really exercising it in the
hot weather for a long period of time. Do we
need that extra sugar electrolytes. But you know, if it's
your child doesn't want water and they need to drink it,
then add a packet of electrolyte powder into it. It's
fine if it is a tournament day, if it is
more than an hour of exercise, they're training for a
(37:13):
half marathon, by all means, you need to add those
electrolytes back.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Okay, great, And then you know, I know we're so
busy running our kids around every day to all their
activities and their sports, But what about sleep? Isn't that
an important part too? We have to strike a balance
as parents.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
You know, it's one of the hardest topics I have
with my own children and with my with my patients.
Your children ages six to twelve me nine to twelve
hours a sleep. Teenagers age thirteen, eighteen, eight to ten.
If you ask most teenagers in high school how much
sleep they're getting, they're lucky if they get seven. And
so I really try to prioritize to my athletes, like listen,
(37:49):
you're getting up at six am. What time do you
need to go to bed? And they look at me
like you're telling me I have to be asleep by ten.
Trying to figure out a balance. Can you do homework
before your games? Can you do homework, you know, while
you're waiting for the bus to pick you up.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Great advice. Thank you so much for joining me today
on Passport Mommy
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad. Entrepreneurs tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Their inspiring stories, learn about products that could make both
you and your child's life easier and more fun, and
of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh about what's happening
in their child's world.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Motherhood is a journey. Thanks for joining me onmine. Welcome
to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson. So there's something very
exciting going on this week that I thought we would
talk about in our first segment. Who doesn't love a
good film festival? And this week the Me Show Film
Festival is in full effect. It is running from October
twenty third through the twenty sixth in Culver City, and
(00:48):
I am thrilled to have Noel Braham on the show
with me today. He is the founder of the film
festival and we're going to just talk all about the
festival itself, how it started, and what we could expect
to see in the heinel. Thank you so much for
joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Hey, Michelle, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My pleasure, so talk to me a little bit about
the film Festival and the background.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
So we started back in twenty eighteen after my co founder,
Courtnel Branch and I at a chance encounter with a
production assistant who was homeless, and this PA.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Was living in a ten encampment that was two blocks
away from the apartment complex. I just it was a
very eye opening experience because it helped me to understand
how important it is for platforms to exist that provide
artists and multi hyphenics with the space that they can
be heard, seen, and most of all celebrated. Oscar me
Schau was a independent black filmmaker who from the nineteen
(01:41):
twenties to the nineteen forties, wrote, directed, producer distributed over
forty four feature films. But his number one goal with
his projects was to bring together polarizing world that otherwise
would never intersect and to bridge the gap between the
communities that exists within America. And so very similar to
his legacy, the festival now stands as a beacon of
(02:01):
not only building a bridge between our communities, but providing
artists with the ability to get their projects seen, to
ensure that their work is exposed and most importantly, we
give them an opportunity to connetwork and to network with
other future collaborators.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That's amazing, I absolutely love it. And so how does
the Film Festival build and foster just a sense of
community among the participating filmmakers.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Our mission envision is very simple, lead with help, elevate
with value, and close the knowledge gap between indeed and industry.
Our mindset as a company is always to place the
filmmaker first. So whether it's us creating a space to
give them the ability to network with each other, a mixer,
a social event, or even educational workshop slash masterclass that
(02:47):
will give them tangible resources and knowledge that they can
use to hopefully edify their career as they continue to
grow within the industry and within their own particular discipline.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
And the festival focus is on diverse, under represented creators,
which is terrific. What are some of the biggest challenges, though,
you would say, face these filmmakers and how does the
festival aim to address them?
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Well?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
For every filmmaker, the biggest challenge is to get the
project actually complete right.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
For us, we really prode ourselves in storing that we
give them as much exposures possible to industry insiders and
to knowledge panels that will help them and not only
their development process, but how they go about producing, how
they want to go about directing a particular project, mechanisms
that they're using when it comes.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
To writing their film, and ensuring that they have resources
that will aid them in that process, because what we've
noticed from a data perspective is that many filmmakers don't
start because they simply don't even know how to. And
the other group of filmmakers who aren't able to finish,
it's because they ran into some issue, whether it be financing,
(03:57):
whether it be with person and now and crowing up properly.
So we really try to ensure that we not only
get them the exposure, but to connect them to the
necessary resources that will help them get the project off
the ground and complete.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Amazing and so how has the festival had to innovate
adapt especially considering the rise of let's say virtual and
hybrid events.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Well, back in twenty twenty we were a complete virtual
model and we actually had two or three physical days
of screenings. And what's really exciting specifically this year is
once again we'll be at the Cover City Theater screening
over two hundred projects in addition to our virtual platform,
so people at home who want to support independent filmmakers they.
Speaker 7 (04:40):
Have the ability to do so.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Rather than going too Netflix or some other traditional medium,
you can now also support indie work that has powerful stories,
powerful messages and things that will ultimately help and provide
support for the community.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's great, and I know obviously you mentioned the biggest
challenge is getting the film done. Type of workshops or
technical training do you offer to help these independent filmmakers
with the logistics of their craft, from raising the capital
to the distribution.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So on Friday, we actually have an actor's workshop hosted
by Chris Green that's going to provide talent with the
ability of not only getting into a room, but also
booking the project and going through the process of working
with the director. We're also bringing in YouTube star Knigra
Dion who's going to do a career retrospective about how
she was able to go from working in the laboratory
(05:31):
to becoming one of the biggest digital platforms out there
as we know. And she's not only doing it provide
insight into the career steps that she took in order
to get to where she is, but also a lot
of the technical components that go into creating digital media,
specifically for content that's housed on YouTube. We also have
a state of the Industry panel that specifically is going
(05:51):
to focus on the state of what the business is
at and how you can go about maneuvering as an
independent filmmaker, bringing in Adam Fowler, also going to break
down the business purely from an economic standpoint and how
the money is flowing here in LA and what creators
can implement in order to adapt and adjust to some
of the challenges that they're facing. We have a one
(06:13):
on one career retrospective as well with Tommy Davidson and
Donna Marie with Undernovel Films. That's going to do a
career retrospective on Tommy and how he was able to
build such an illustrious career within television and film. In
addition to comedy, advice he would give to those who
are not only up and coming, but those who have
also broken through. And it's a plethora of more, but
(06:36):
those are a few that I'll kind of spit out.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Amazing, I love it, And so talk to me about
the lineup this year. What can we expect.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
So our opening night gala will be It's Dorothy and
remember Remember specifically is about four men who are navigating
the challenges within LA from a black, black, queer standpoint.
Dorothy is a powerful documentary feature film directed by Jeffrey
McHale and it pretty much shines light on the many
actresses that have done the role of Judy Garland and
(07:10):
the legacy of the Wizard of Balls and the impact
that it's had on the world looking at the last
one hundred and twenty five years.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
In addition to blocks and shorts that focus on science
fiction blocks and focus on action romance coming of age stories,
we have a lot of projects that talk to as well,
like culture clashes, and not even just from a race standpoint,
but from an age standpoint, looking at those who are
coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and narratives that really speak
(07:39):
to not only the state of the world, but also
the places that we're going as well as a society.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, that's incredible. That first film sounds amazing. Is there
if we're not in the LA area, is there any
way to catch any of these films?
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
On our virtual platform. So if you go to me
showfilmfest dot Com. You can click onto our virtual platform
and you can get access to all the projects that
will be screening at the fest, and then those projects
will be available all the way until twelve one. Even
if you're not able to catch it once it releases live,
you have an entire month over the holiday break to
(08:14):
enjoy the projects as well with your family.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Oh terrific. So give me like two or three more
films and what they're about.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Our closing night film, She Dances, which is directed by
Rick Gomez. It's a powerful piece. It stars Ethan Hawks
Steve Zon, and it pretty much follows a daughter and
father's broken relationship, but it's set on the background of
the Southern Eastern or regional dance competition that's happening within
the Mississippi Delta. And it's such a nuance, funny and
(08:43):
also beautiful piece that speaks to mending relationship and then
navigating challenges when we think about the family dynamic and structure.
And so that project is actually going to close the festival.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
This stunt festival is really amazing. I mean you feature
documentary series, premiere short blocks, panels, masterclasses, special events. I
mean it's really these few days are incredible and I'm
just curious, what is your vision for the next five years.
What initiatives do you have in the works.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
We want to continue to grow beyond television and film.
We want to enter into the fashion space, we want
to enter into the food space. We want the festival
to become a culture hub where we're really bridging the
gap within the community and most importantly fostering community to
ensure that we're giving back to the people around the
(09:33):
festival and those who are supporting the artists through these
other mediums. We certainly see ourselves evolving just beyond the
scope that we're in right now to really hit all
markets and corners when we think about food, arts in
addition to culture as well. Also, we want to expand
our programming. Right now, the festival runs over the course
of four days.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Our ultimate goal.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Is to run for at least two weeks, but as
you can imagine, that comes with certain challenges, specifically when
looking at the business and things that we've been up
against from an economic standpoint. So certainly being able to
bring in bigger sponsors, bigger donors who are willing to
give back to the mission and vision of the festival
honoring not only our crypt filmmakers, but also giving back
(10:16):
to the community at LAWS that supports us well.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I wish you the best of luck. I think what
you're doing is amazing, incredible work. I look forward to
checking out the films. Noel Braham, thank you so much
for joining me today on Passport Mommy. Tell me one
more time where we can go to watch everything?
Speaker 8 (10:33):
Yes, so if you check out meshowfilmfest dot com you
can check out and bypasses tickets, you can look at
all of our virtual projects as well.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
In addition to supporting our filmmakers, our full program and
schedule is there. You can donate to the festival if
you will like to help us in our M two
fifty campaign, but we're setting to raise out two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars with the goal of expanding our
current programming slave and if you're not able to attend
in person, you can also watch virtually with your family
(11:05):
and support independent filmmakers here in LA and around the world.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Terrific. Thank you so much. I'm Michelle Jerson the Passport
Mommy More coming up in a few you're listening to
Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson, and today I have with
me James Bell. He is the head of corporate communications
for Kia America, and we're going to talk about a
very important topic, car crashes. They are the leading cause
of death for teenagers in the United States, according to
(11:31):
the National Safety Council, and each year in October, National
Teen Driver Safety Week serves as an opportunity for parents
and guardians to have a conversation with teens about safe
driving habits. Thank you so much for joining me today, James.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
No, it's very important to have this time, so thanks.
It is all to you.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh my pleasure. You know, it seems like every time
I'm out on the road lately, and I hate to
say this, but if I'm driving on a highway, there's
at least one car swerving in and out of cars.
I don't understand why this has become so popular. What
are the latest stats on teens and motor vehicle crashes
(12:13):
in the United States.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Well, I think the easiest way to explain how this
trend is going is it's going in the wrong direction.
And this is, you know, in light of how much training,
how much education, both in schools, different social programs, you know,
just churches everywhere there's been over the last many decades.
It's just a deep focus on the fact that, you know,
(12:39):
you know, we're a strange society. We turn our youth
loose in vehicles that they just don't understand and respect.
And I don't know about your situation, but I was
definitely one of those, and I was one of those fools.
It was driving it incorrectly and well, knock on my
wooden head. I got lucky, yeah, and my passengers are lucky.
(13:01):
But that's not always a case, right, And as you said,
I believe that there's a there's a huge social media
component to this that didn't happen when maybe when we
were kids, and you talk about, you know, the swerving
around and the kind of performative stunt driving that you
can sometimes see with you know, with street takeovers and
things like that. So much of that is connected to
(13:23):
kids being kids, wanting to show off a little bit
show you know, maybe they've got a really interesting car
or something special and they're just wanting to show that off.
But unfortunately they're doing it without respect for what it
means to pilot a four thousand pound vehicle at seventy
miles an hour. Down a highway. There's just so many
factors in play, and unfortunately, still to this day, too
(13:46):
many of those factors bite these children and cause great calamities.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Exactly. And you know, I'm there driving with my two
young kids, afraid for me, and I have unfortunately witnessed
firsthands incidents while cars are doing this, and I feel
like we're reading about it every day. So tell us
about the Break's Safe Driving program. When why was it created?
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Sure so, well, it's a nationwide program, generally focused in
the South, but they do get all the way up
to Seattle and San Diego and every place in between.
And it started by a gentleman by the name of
Doug Herbert, going back probably thirty years ago or so.
He was very, very successful in the nhr A racing
circuit and made his million, so to say, hustling cars
(14:37):
down the dragstrips at three hundred miles an hour. But
he had two sons and didn't teach them, oddly enough
how to be responsible while driving, wow, to understand the dynamics,
and both of his sons sadly perished in a traffic
accident unintended crash less than a mile from his house
(15:00):
that Yeah, that really really impacted him, as you can imagine,
and he took his money and his fame and his
energy and said, I'm gonna I'm going to stop kids
from doing this. I'm going to do the best I
can for the rest of my life. And we heard
about KIA heard about mister Herbert probably about fifteen years
ago now, and we recognized his passion and his energy
(15:22):
and we wanted to support that. So we provide the vehicles,
but mister Herbert and his team provide the brains.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, that's a terrific partnership. And why has this been
such an important program for Kia to support.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Well, because it might sound cliche or trite, but it's true.
We live in these same communities where you do. We're
raising our families where you are. Yes, we're a car
company and we'd love you to look at our vehicles
and see if it meets your needs. But if the
vehicles are not being used properly, no matter how great
the safety technology is today, if they're just not being
(15:58):
used right, then then we have a responsibility in that space.
And so that's why we partnered with mister Herbert. That's
why we've endeavored to make this. You know, this national
program as popular and as wine ranging as possible. And
I can tell you from running my own daughter through
the program. You know they sell out very quickly. And
when I say that they sell out, they're free of charge.
(16:20):
And that's thanks to some as your key to support
of this. So yeah, when I signed up my daughter,
you know, I wanted to go a certain weekend and
had to pick another weekend because it was already filled out.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for all that you're doing.
I know you've been part of Kia since twenty sixteen,
and in addition to being part of such a great
motor vehicle brand, you do things like this anything to
try to keep our kids and our family safe. So
where can we go for more information to find a
class and if they're not in their area, how can
(16:53):
teens take part?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Okay, well that's easy. Please go to the website put
on the Brakes dot or put on the breaks dot org.
There you can see, you know, some great videos and
stories about how the campaign came together, how Kia fits
into all this. But most importantly, there's a schedule there
there on the road. They're basically year round going to
(17:16):
fairgrounds and parking lots all across the country. And so
if you've got a team driver, you know, and there's
fifteen to sixteen year old range and you want to
get that extra education in them, do as I did.
Go on the website, get yourself signed up, and you'll
just as parents, you'll have such an unexpected degree of
confidence too.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Absolutely well, Thank you so much, James Bell, Thank you
for joining me today on Passport Mommy to discuss this
very important topic.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Thank you, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up
than a few you're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson,
and I am so excited to have Katie Hogan and
Brian Tracks out on this show. They are from Sketchworks
Comedy and they are two of the creators of Vape,
the Grease parody, and so who knew that there would
(18:06):
be a Grease parody. I love this and I think
it's going to be such an amazing show, and so
I'm excited to have them on with me today to
talk about the show, to talk about where we can
see it. Thank you both so much for joining me today.
Speaker 9 (18:19):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
My pleasure. So tell me about Vape a Grease parody?
What is it about?
Speaker 9 (18:26):
Well, it's just that it's a parody of mostly the
film from nineteen seventy eight and the one that everybody
knows and loves starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton. John.
It really just goes back quite a few years ago,
almost ten years ago now, where a group from Sketchworks
went and saw actually like the Broadway version, and then
(18:48):
we just all love it so much that we decided
to create a parody and kind of modernize it and
hook fun at you know, today's teenagers. Right, all these
years later, we're finally ready to bring it off Broadway.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
That is so cool. So what makes Vape different than Greece?
Speaker 9 (19:07):
Brian? You can take this one if you want.
Speaker 10 (19:09):
It's a parody of Greece, and it's not just like,
you know, we take Greece and put it in a
different world.
Speaker 7 (19:15):
We did do that, but.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
We also comment about things in the movie Grease itself
that didn't quite age so well, don't quite exist anymore,
like the Greece or culture and smoking and all that.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
We've sort of brought the story into a modern era.
Speaker 10 (19:31):
But we also comment on the story itself, So there's
some meta components in there as well, and it also
brings it into the modern age.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And for fans of Greece, are there elements of vape
that we will recognize?
Speaker 9 (19:44):
Oh for sure?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
For sure.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
So yeah, we you know, we've we brought on some
really talented musicians and lyricists to help us create music
that is similar, but it is its own thing now.
But people are going to be able to sing along
and have a lot of fun with it. And again,
even all of our songs are parodies of the songs
that everybody knows and loves, so it's it's so much fun.
(20:09):
People are if you've ever seen Greece, or even if
you haven't seen Greece, there there are so many pop
culture references and things that people will be able to
pick up on. There's kind kind of something for everybody
in there, whether you're gen Z or a baby boomer.
There are jokes for everyone, which makes it a lot
of fun.
Speaker 10 (20:26):
Yeah, even though we're making even though we're making fun
of Greece, it is very much a love letter to Grease.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Yeah, And I grew up with Greece and it was
my favorite musical and so I think anybody in my generation,
they will absolutely love this. And like you said, even
if they have not seen Greece yet, I think they
will find this very entertaining.
Speaker 9 (20:47):
But I always tell people that are going to see
it for the first time, you know what, the night before,
watch Greece and then you know all the jokes and stuff,
you're going to be in that mood to kind of
really laugh at a lot of the funny references we
have in the parody.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Yeah, there are some deep cuts from the movie in there.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Okay, and tell me about some of the song parodies
and babe, sure. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (21:12):
So we brought on Billy Reesi, who's a super super
talented up and coming Broadway composer and lyricist. And again,
all the songs comment on the original, but also in
a lot of ways modernize them. We've we have a
song that's a parody about parody, which is a lot
(21:33):
of fun.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
You know.
Speaker 9 (21:35):
We really let each of the characters have their own
moment to be able to uh, you know, just have
a lot of fun with with the original, but bring
it into a modern age. We instead of grease lightning,
we do green Lightning to kind of comment on the
age of electric vehicles. What are some of the other songs,
(21:58):
We've got a lot of them in there.
Speaker 10 (22:00):
Summer Nights has turned into Summer Hot and Summer not,
which is a nice verbal pun. But yeah, you'll recognize
you'll recognize all the original songs in our versions for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Very cool. And so is this the first time that
Vape has been on stage? Have audiences seen it before?
Speaker 8 (22:20):
No?
Speaker 10 (22:20):
And yes, our original version of Vape we started performing
here in Atlanta in twenty eighteen and had sold out shows,
and then we were going to bring it to New
York and efter we won in the lawsuit and we're
going to take this version to New York. We sort
of took what we had done before, we needed to
(22:42):
extend it and do some other changes to it, so
we tore it all back down and then put it
all back together and made it less like a sketch
comedy show and more like a real play. So in
a way, this is sort of Vape two point zero
that we're seeing now. So it's about fifty percent of
what the original Vape was.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
But there's a lot of extra frost on the cake.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Now, Yeah, got it.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
Honestly, we just you know, we knew the bones of
it were great, and we and the audiences in Atlanta
loved it for years, and so we took those great
pieces of it and then really expanded on those, made
sure all the characters had their proper arcs and the
storyline made sense, and it's now it went from a
one act play to a three act play, and it's
(23:23):
you know, we really legitimized it in a way and
again really worked on all the songs and the music
to make it off Broadway worthy, right.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And you mentioned quickly a lawsuit in there. What happens, Well.
Speaker 10 (23:37):
The folks at Concord Theatricals heard about our play and.
Speaker 7 (23:41):
We were going to bring it to New York, and
they sent.
Speaker 10 (23:42):
Us a season desist letter because they are that's what
they do.
Speaker 7 (23:48):
So we got it about ten days before we were
going to perform up there.
Speaker 10 (23:52):
So we consulted with a lawyer here in Atlanta, Nancy Praeger,
and she referred us to a lawyer in New York,
Jordan Greenberger.
Speaker 7 (23:58):
So instead of going to.
Speaker 10 (23:59):
New York, we went to New York to basically have
a vacation and meet with lawyers. And what we really
we knew that what we were doing was a parody.
Speaker 7 (24:09):
It was fair use.
Speaker 10 (24:10):
We took Greece and commented on it and made it
what's called a transformational work.
Speaker 7 (24:15):
We turned it into its own thing.
Speaker 10 (24:17):
Right, So we were giving we basically our options were
put it in a drawer and never do it again,
or fight the season desist. So we decided to fight
the season desist, not only because we wanted to do
a vape again someday, but we also in meeting with
our lawyers, there's very little case history as far as
(24:37):
parody goes, so we thought that winning this lawsuit, or
at least fighting back, would give folks in the future
who may have had their own seasoned desist problems because
of fair use parity a little more support, right, a
lot similar cases.
Speaker 9 (24:53):
Yeah, we're weird, just out here fighting for all of comedy.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Right right. Well, congratulations, I'm glad that it went in
your favor as it should have, and so I'm really
happy to hear that you did not bury it in
the drawer and that we now in New York City
get to watch this amazing show.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:09):
Yeah, we're super excited. And you know, we've done a
couple of we did a couple of stage readings in
a concert and it was just so well received by
audiences that we knew, we knew this had to happen,
and we're so so excited for just the general public
to be able to see it now.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yes, and I hear that Jack Plotnik, who directed Disaster
on Broadways directing What is it like working with Jack?
Speaker 9 (25:33):
He is spectacular. He's a comedy genius. I don't know
if anybody watches his instagrams, Oh my gosh, he's so funny.
He's so funny. I think the best part about Jack
is that he can take these jokes and these funny
elements of the show and elevate them and pull the
best out of these actors. That it's just such a
(25:55):
talent to be able to elevate the funny in such
a magnificent way, and then to find the layers beneath
the surface that are funny. I've just been you know,
I wrote the words, but he's able to really make
them so colorful and bring them to life and make
sure that these actors are absolutely crushing it every single day. Yeah,
(26:18):
we're just so blessed and grateful that he signed on
and he's been a joy to work with and so
excited about this project, which makes us even more excited.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
And so you wrote Faith with the Sketchworks comedy team.
So tell me a little bit about sketch Works for
those of us who may not be in Atlanta.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
Sure, I'll let Brian mostly take that. I started taking
classes with them almost ten years ago now and fell
in love with the people. They've become my lifelong friends,
and I've been writing on and off with Sketchworks ever since.
But Brian is the owner, so I'll let him kind
of tell a little brief history.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Okay, brief history.
Speaker 10 (26:56):
Sketch Works started in two thousand and one with a
group of five folks who decided to start doing sketch comedy.
I joined them in twenty ten as an actor. They
were performing in a theater where I was taking acting lessons.
I was just starting and I saw one of their shows,
and as a fan of sketch comedy since I was
a kid, they were brilliant and I was like, I
really want to do that. So I joined them as
(27:17):
an actor in twenty ten. I started directing in twenty fourteen.
I became an owner in twenty sixteen, and then the
sole owner in twenty twenty two. So we've been doing
sketch comedy for a very long time, and we're like
Saturday Night Live, it's not the same. We have actually
a couple of people who from the original days, but
we have new people coming in moving on as as
(27:38):
time goes by.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
So I feel like I'm the Lourene Michaels of Sketch Works.
Speaker 10 (27:41):
At this point, but actively between writers and actors who
probably have a group of about twenty five to thirty
active at any given time, and we do four shows
a year, running for a couple of weekends each so
and we keep it fresh, we don't. We like to
do full props and costumes. It's not just a bunch
of folks wearing black shirts and miming everything. We really
(28:04):
try to do every single sketch as a full play
production with production values. So my catchphrase is hashtag never
produced because sometimes it's a little stressful, but it ends
up in a really fun result.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yes, and so if we're not in Atlanta, can we
still get involved with Sketch Works Comedy.
Speaker 7 (28:22):
You sure can.
Speaker 10 (28:23):
We do all of our writing groups over Zoom, so
we actually have writers all over the country and actually
all over the world for a while. You can find
us at Sketchworkscomedy dot com. We're on all the socials,
we have a YouTube page. We do a weekly weekend
update type show called sketch Works News Break.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
So yeah, you can find us and join us wherever
you are.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh, have fun and what would you say is the
minimum age for someone to get involved?
Speaker 7 (28:50):
We actually have a kids in teens group.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
We didn't do it this year, but we usually have
a summer camp, so we do have a kids in
teens group as well.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
So obviously that's the more family friendly material.
Speaker 10 (29:03):
So all, if you like comedy and you like sketch comedy,
we'll happily will happily take.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You great And so tell me how can we get
tickets for vape the Great Parody? When and where do
performances begin?
Speaker 9 (29:18):
Yeah, so we're going to be at Theater five five five,
which is on West forty second Street in New York.
You can go to Vapethmusical dot Com. Performances start our
previous start in a week on October thirtieth, so October
thirtieth previous start, and then opening night is November third,
and we're running through January fourth and then hopefully we'll
(29:41):
have a very, very long life in New York. After that,
we're crossing all our fingers and tell us that the
people of New York come out and support it and
love it. So yeah, Vapethmusical dot com you can get
your tickets perfect.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, I'm looking forward to it. I will definitely spread
the word. So what's next after Vape the Grease Parody?
Speaker 10 (30:01):
Well, funnily enough, while Vape the Grease Parody is happening
in New York, we do have an upcoming show here
in Atlanta. It's called Birthdays for the Z. It's a
celebration of birth, death and the dash in between. So
we're getting a little metaphysical with this one. We usually
have a theme to our show's a very loose theme.
So that opens November fourteenth here in Atlanta at Limelight
Theater and runs for a couple of weekends.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Terrific and so I bet if you are in the
Atlanta area or you are visiting, do you have an
ongoing series of shows or is every few months?
Speaker 10 (30:32):
We usually do four shows a year, every quarter that
run a couple of weekends, so about sixteen performances. Sometimes
we do a holiday show we don't have one lined
up this year, but since each show is written and
rehearsed from scratch, it usually takes us a couple of
months from the beginning of the writing process through the
rehearsal process to get.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
The show up. So one a quarter keeps me barely sane.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah. Well, I imagine that you bring so much levity to
people's lives, those who participate in schedule its comedy, and
those who go to see your shows. And I think
it's amazing. I love your career over all of these years,
how you've evolved from an actor too now the owner
and Katie. I look forward to seeing Vape, a Greece parody.
(31:16):
I look forward to I mean, it's going to be
so much fun. I look forward to bringing some friends
with me and the whole family. And so, what what
age would you say is the good age range for
this show.
Speaker 9 (31:27):
Yeah, we've had a lot of discussions about this, obviously,
you know, parental discretion is advised. Okay, we generally say
sixteen and up. You know, there are some elements that
are a little more adult in themes. So, but of
course it's up to the individual parent. But I would
say at least teen and up.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Okay, yeah, good, okay, okay, yeah. My eight year old
loves to go to shows, and I mistakenly took her
to see Dead Outlaws, not realizing going in that I
was getting myself into. So I always ask now, well
thanks fair enough. Thank you both so much for joining
(32:07):
me today on Passport Mommy. Katie Hogan and Brian Chocsol
of Sketchworks Comedy. They are the writers of Vape the
Grease parody. You have to go and see this show,
and go get your tickets right on forty second Street.
Really easy to get there, whether you live in New
York City or you're visiting. Thank you so much for
joining me today.
Speaker 9 (32:25):
Thank you, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
We appreciate it, my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming
up in a few you're listening to Passport Mommy, I'm
Michelle Jerson. So, you know, playing sports is a big
part of our kids' lives, and it's important for both
physical and mental health. However, injuries are bound to happen,
landing millions of young athletes in the er each year.
(32:49):
Contact and collision sports like football, basketball, hockey, soccer, they
can cause these injuries, and so I'm really happy to
have with me today doctor Naomi Brown. She is a
pediatric sport or It's medicine specialists at the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia, and we're just going to talk about how
common these injuries are and what we can do if
they do a card to our child. Hi, doctor Brown.
Speaker 11 (33:12):
Hi, how are you?
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Thank you for having me my pleasures? So how common
are injuries in young athletes?
Speaker 11 (33:18):
So injuries are common, as you said, I mean it
is about three point five million children ages fourteen and
under end up getting hurt annually, But that does not
mean that it is all catastrophic or serious. So you know,
unfortunately part of playing sports, you're going to.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Have bumps and bruises.
Speaker 11 (33:34):
But what we really care about are the high level injuries,
the fractures, the ligament terrors that we can try to
help prevent and educate parents about when to recognize and
when they need to get treated.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
And what are the most common types of injuries that
you see.
Speaker 11 (33:49):
Sprains and strains. Ankle sprains, for example, are one of
the most common ones that we'll see, especially this fall
season with soccer and football, but a lot of knee injuries,
hand and wrist crapures, Unfortunately, concussion is not uncommon. You know,
there's upper hip, thigh injuries that we'll see as well.
It depends on if it's an acute versus an overuse injury.
(34:11):
They kind of are spread equally between acute injuries and
then more chronic overuse injuries.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Got it, and so what can we do as a
parent if the child does get injured? And then what
are the best ways I would say to even prevent injury?
Speaker 11 (34:25):
Great questions. So one of the things to do when
you have a child who's saying, you know, are they
in pain? Are they injured? One is did you witness it?
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Right?
Speaker 11 (34:33):
A lot of times it's great A parent comes in
and said, here's my son's knee injury, and here's the
video footage of it. Everything is recorded. Now, that's really helpful. Right,
I can see the mechanism, I can see how the
child hurt his knee. But if it is a I
came off the field, I don't know if it hurts
or not. I'm able to walk and the next day
I'm fine. Is it happening three days in a row?
Is it affecting the daily life? Are you having limping?
(34:55):
Are you not able to get back on the field.
That's a question that you say, Okay, maybe there's something
we're going on a lot of kids, you know how
I hurt? Is it? Are you hurt? I say to
my kids, do you need a mom or a doctor?
You know where? What kind of pain are we in
right now? And so if it is affecting their life,
if there's any concern, I mean, don't lose sleep over it. Right.
We have urgent cares for a reason. We have pediatricians
(35:17):
that are available to you. Obviously, if it's a severe injury,
there's you know, God forbid that you know you can
see a deformity on your child's risk, go to the
emergency room, please, And urgent care is not the place for.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
That, right exactly. And as far as preventing, what are
the best things we can do?
Speaker 11 (35:33):
Yeah, So one of the things I tell on my
athletes is we have to learn how to stretch. Stretching
is one of the most important things. Kids say, I'm
on the field, I'm fine, I'm doing it. But warming
up doing dynamic stretches before we play. Those are what
we learn, you know, the butt kicks, the knee highs
inchwarms things. We're really moving the muscles at the same
time we're warming them up and stretching them is best
(35:56):
done before you play, and then when we're done playing,
that's when we do our static stretches. That's what we're
thinking about. Holding a stretch for thirty seconds each one
and going through your hamstrings and your quads, your calves.
That's super important and unfortunately a lot of times to say, okay,
game's over, get in the car, let's go home, it's
time for dinner. We can spend five minutes just doing
a couple of stretches, or even in the car if
(36:18):
you're able to, when you get home before dinner, do
a few minutes of stretches. That will help prevent so
many injuries.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
That's great advice. And what about as far as what
we drink for recovery?
Speaker 11 (36:30):
Yeah, so that's always a great question. I mean, honestly,
if you're exercising for less than sixty minutes, all you
need is water. Water is the most important thing. We
have to make sure we do that. But marketing is
a great tool out there, and we can you know,
there's a propelled powder sticks, there's the liquid IV. I mean,
there's noom, there's so many brands out there now. Honestly,
(36:52):
you know, Gatory did a great job. I love gatory,
but it's only if you're really exercising it in the
hot weather for a long period of time. Do we
need that extra sugar electrolytes. But you know, if it's
your child doesn't want water and they need to drink it,
then add a packet of electrolyte powder into it. It's
fine if it is a tournament day, if it is
more than an hour of exercise, they're training for a
(37:13):
half marathon, by all means, you need to add those
electrolytes back.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Okay, great, And then you know, I know we're so
busy running our kids around every day to all their
activities and their sports, But what about sleep? Isn't that
an important part too? We have to strike a balance
as parents.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
You know, it's one of the hardest topics I have
with my own children and with my with my patients.
Your children ages six to twelve me nine to twelve
hours a sleep. Teenagers age thirteen, eighteen, eight to ten.
If you ask most teenagers in high school how much
sleep they're getting, they're lucky if they get seven. And
so I really try to prioritize to my athletes, like listen,
(37:49):
you're getting up at six am. What time do you
need to go to bed? And they look at me
like you're telling me I have to be asleep by ten.
Trying to figure out a balance. Can you do homework
before your games? Can you do homework, you know, while
you're waiting for the bus to pick you up.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Great advice. Thank you so much for joining me today
on Passport Mommy
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