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World Premiere at the Egyptian
Director Hilari Scarl poses on the red carpet before the premiere of her film 'See What I'm Saying' which is about the lives of the four deaf entertainers, at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on March 18, 2010. More than 30 million deaf people reside in the United States with extremely little opportunity to enjoy theatrical films at a movie theater. Already a source of emotional pride within the deaf community, the film is the most-anticipated film amongst the deaf community in a long while and the first ever open captioned film in wide commercial release in American Cinema history.
The Hollywood Reporter
‘See What I’m Saying’ documentary a sign for deaf entertainers
By Jay A. Fernandez
I had the pleasure of running into filmmaker Hilari Scarl at a cocktail party up at Sundance last month, and she had me captivated while talking about her documentary “See What I’m Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary.”
Scarl was a TV producer and short-film maker who was chosen to compete on Steven Spielberg’s reality show “On the Lot” a few years ago. Among Scarl’s achievements in putting together “See What I’m Saying” is the fact that it’s the first American theatrical release to be fully subtitled for the country’s 30 million deaf and hard of hearing viewers.
The film follows four deaf entertainers — a stand-up comic, a drummer in an all-deaf rock band, an actor and Juilliard professor who is homeless, and a singer — as they navigate their personal and professional lives over the course of a year and try to cross over to mainstream audiences.
The film will screen March 19-April 1 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in L.A., and April 9-22 at the Village East Cinema in New York, if you want to check it out. “See What I’m Saying” will premiere March 18 at the Egyptian Theater.
The Los Angeles Times
February 13, 2010
Roof Collapse at the Fairfax Theater Inspires Theater Upgrade to Laemmle Sunset 5 February 13, 2010 blog entry by Hilari Scarl
I was at the Fairfax Theater doing a tech check to make sure the film looked and sounded great. Little did I know that the equipment was the least of my worries. The Los Angeles Times happened to show up during my visit, doing a story on how this historic theater was slated for the chopping block, ready to be torn down and replaced by condominiums. I was devastated. A few weeks later during heavy rains in Los Angeles the roof collapsed, closing the theater, perhaps for good. My production team scrambled to find another theater for our upcoming Los Angeles opening on March 19th. Greg Laemmle of Laemmle Theaters heard our story and opened his doors for us to run at the famous Laemmle (pronounced "Lem-Lee") Sunset 5 Theater less than a mile away. We are now set to open as planned on March 19 and run until April 1st at this beautiful theater. Showtimes are at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9:30pm. Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 for students with ID, seniors, groups of 10 or more and 1pm screenings. Extra bonus is there is plenty of parking for $2, restaurants and stores in this newly renovated community hub.
PLEASE HELP US book up the theater by planning a date to take a group of friends, school groups, organizations, etc. Special guests live at every screening before and after the film. Tickets go on sale February 16 and THEY MAY ADD SHOWS if we sell out.
February 2010
See What I'm Saying Announces Newest Community Partner
Captionfish is a captioned movies search engine that aggregates and lists open/rear window captioned, foreign/subtitled and descriptively-narrated movies playing in theaters across the nation.
The site was launched in May 2009 by Brendan Gramer, Chris Sano, and Greg Millam, three deaf software design professionals with 30 combined years of experience. Captionfish has teamed with See What I'm Saying to promote the first fully open captioned commercial film in American history.
For more information, visit http://www.captionfish.com/movie/see-what-im-saying/schedule
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - DECEMBER 8, 2009
‘SEE WHAT I’M SAYING’ CAN BE SEEN STARTING FEBRUARY
SPRINT PARTNERS ON 25-CITY TOUR WITH
PIONEERING DEAF ENTERTAINERS DOCUMENTARY
SEE WHAT I’M SAYING, filmmaker Hilari Scarl’s anticipated intimate feature documentary delving into the onstage and offstage lives of four professional deaf entertainers, will embark on a 25-city national tour sponsored by Sprint.
Beginning February 2010, the film’s barnstorming tour marks the first open captioned commercial film in American history, making it accessible to more than 30 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans.
Produced by Worldplay, Inc., SEE WHAT I’M SAYING follows the journeys of four deaf entertainers over a single year: Bob, a drummer for the world’s only deaf rock band, Beethoven’s Nightmare, produces the largest show in the band’s 30-year history; CJ, a comic famous in the deaf community but virtually unknown to hearing people, fights to cross over to mainstream audiences; Robert, a brilliant actor who teaches at Juilliard, struggles to survive when he becomes homeless; and TL, a hard of hearing singer, is caught between two worlds when she produces her first CD “Not Deaf Enough.”
“These are not deaf artists; they are artists that just happen to be deaf,” Scarl said.
Scarl, who also produced the film – her first feature project - was one of 12,000 directors chosen by Steven Spielberg to appear on his television show “On The Lot.” She has produced shows for CBS, TLC, The History Channel and Court TV and won awards for several of her other short films. She became involved with the deaf community after touring with the National Theater of the Deaf and becoming fluent in sign language.
Sprint teamed with SEE WHAT I’M SAYING after witnessing the film draw plaudits at various works-in-progress sneak previews. The upcoming 25-city tour will allow the film to reach many more deaf and mainstream audiences across the country. The tour, beginning February 6, 2010 in Bremerton, Washington, is generating momentum towards the film’s official premiere and theatrical release, which is currently under negotiations. This partnership will bring national attention to Sprint’s Video Relay and upcoming 4G network allowing deaf and hard of hearing users equal access to communication through video relay interpreters, CapTel and WebCapTel services.
SEE WHAT I'M SAYING's production company, Worldplay, Inc. has partnered with Sprint to produce a music video of the film's title song, "See What I'm Saying" that was written for the film by the rock band Powder. The music video is being shot as a short film that will screen before the film on the 25-city tour as well as be available online beginning in January. Several prominent deaf actors star in the music video, including Troy Kotsur and his daughter Kyra, Alexandria Wailes, Monique Holt, Max Fomitchev, Pinky Aiello, Jody Stevenson and introducing 8-year old Rose Crisman as the lead girl. They will be joined by Jenni Pulos (Bravo's Flipping Out), the Silk Sisters (Cirque du Soleil aerialists) and Powder in the music video directed by Hilari Scarl. Half of the crew and behind the scenes team are deaf, making this a truly remarkable production. The storyboards from the music video are available online on the film's blog linked to the website below.
For additional information including showtimes and tour updates, please visit www.seewhatimsayingmovie.com
Our title song SEE WHAT I'M SAYING by Powder is now up on iTunes.
Music video in sign language by deaf actors is sponsored by Sprint to make this song accessible to everyone. Please go to our blog page for more information.
MORE NEWS COMING SOON!
