Ann’s Marketing Memes

KIDS FIRST! is thrilled to announce the DVD launch of The First of May. This movie was one of the first indie titles in the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. Through KIDS FIRST! introductions, the wonderful indie film was picked and licensed this year. 

Review By Buzz McClain — Video Business, 6/2/2008 Cast of legends led by Joe DiMaggio puts this family film over the top. 

If there is a market for films grandparents can watch with their school-age grandchildren, this one from 1999 will be at the top of the chart. Despite a mind-bending drop-in by Joe DiMaggio as a baseball sage, The First of May starts off at a creaky pace. But gentle magic happens once the principals—young Dan Byrd as an 11-year-old foster-home runaway who befriends neglected senior citizen Julie Harris—get to the circus owned by Mickey Rooney (with Charles Nelson Reilly on hand as a clown). The overarching theme of family is inescapable but conveyed carefully. The title, by the way, refers to a circus rookie. 

Shelf Talk: Compelling live-action family films without a single moment of questionable behavior are few and far between, but this one can be recommended with confidence. Legends Harris, Rooney, Reilly and the Yankee Clipper himself (in his last film appearance) will appeal to an underserviced age demographic, and Byrd recently ended a run in CW sitcom Aliens in America. The worthy 20-minute bonus “A Tribute to Joe DiMaggio” details how the baseball player became involved in the film and spent months learning his lines. Questar boosted May with a viral marketing campaign via YouTube and is developing retailer-specific promos. 

Family drama, color, G (nothing offensive), 111 min., DVD $14.99 

Extras: Joe DiMaggio tribute Director: Paul Sirmons 

First Run: DVD premiere 

Six Weekends of Film Festival fun include screenings at the Sheraton Waikiki with the new festival partner, Starwood Hotel & Resorts Hawai’i
The University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, presented by UH-Manoa Outreach College, returns with another six weeks of FREE summer family fun! The 3pm Sunday screenings kick off June 8^th with Moondance Alexander at the UH-Manoa Art Auditorium. 

This year, the new festival partner, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai‘i at the Sheraton Waikiki, will host two additional film screenings: June 29^th, Moondance Alexander and July 6^th, Alice Upside Down. Screenings at the Sheraton are at 7pm. 

All of the films are FREE with door prizes given at many of the screenings.  For complete information, visit http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/summer. For details on screenings at the Sheraton Waikiki, visit www.sheraton-waikiki.com.  Additional plans are in the works with Maui Community College-VITEC, College for Kids Program, as well as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, for screenings on Maui.  Details TBA.

The KIDS FIRST! FIlm Festival, a project of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, travels to more than 100 locations nationwide each year, making it the largest kid’s film festival in the world.  In its ninth year, the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival offers sneak peeks at new films from major studios, classic films, independents and shorts in a variety of styles including animation and live action.  The films are evaluated by juries of adults and kids and must meet the KIDS FIRST! criteria of: no gratuitous violence, no racial or cultural bias, no inappropriate content, and no condescension towards children.

Supported in part by the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust.

Santa Fe, NM. (May 5, 2008). KIDS FIRST! proudly announces the opening of the polls for the 2008 KIDS FIRST! Top 100 Kid Films on May 5, 2008. The public is invited to vote for their favorite children’s films of all time from the online list of more than 175 feature films and to write in their favorites.

With open voting, everyone gets a voice in the creating of this list! To vote, go on line to www.kidsfirst.org and click on the VOTE button. Enter your top five children’s film titles with comments about why you selected them, then select your favorite 100 from the list of 175 titles that include The Lion King, Wizard of Oz, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Shrek. The 2008 KIDS FIRST! Top 100 Kid Films will be announced later this summer.

The KIDS FIRST! Top 100 Kid Films will encompass films suitable for kids between the ages of 2 and 18 that have universal appeal, exhibit outstanding attributes in terms of their production values and portray values and have qualities that make them as applicable today as the day they were first released.  This list is unique because it takes into consideration not just what films adults think kids should watch but also what kids like to and will watch. Because media has the power to influence children, negatively or positively, the films on this list portray the values and ethics that we, as a culture wish to instill in our children. This list will provide as much information as possible about age appropriateness of each film, a brief synopsis, the key artists involved and any special audience issues it may address.

KIDS FIRST! is uniquely positioned to create this list because of its 17-year history evaluating and promoting quality children’s films. Any film that KIDS FIRST! endorses must meet or exceed the baseline criteria of: no gratuitous violence or abuse; no inappropriate sexual behavior; no bias in terms of race, gender, culture or religion; no condescension toward children; no replicable unsafe behavior. Additionally, any film on this list has been compared with others and found to be exceptional among its peers.

KIDS FIRST! employs a unique community jury system that involves more than 3000 children and professional adults with backgrounds in education, child development and other child-service professions. Using a set of standardized criteria, created by leading children’s media experts, KIDS FIRST! evaluations are credible and consistent evaluations. More than 10,000 films, DVDs, TV shows, and other media have been evaluated by KIDS FIRST! since 1991.
KIDS FIRST! is a program of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media,  a national, nonprofit organization founded in 1991 whose mission is to teach children critical viewing skills and to increase the visibility and availability of quality children’s media. The Coalition is a voluntary collaboration comprising more than 10,000 media professionals, lobbyists, policymakers, child advocates, educators, parents and families nationwide. For more information, visit www.kidsfirst.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ann Church
Senior Vice President of Marketing
KIDS FIRST! / Coalition for Quality Children’s Media
505-989-8076
ann@kidsfirst.org

The 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival hosted the Orange County Premier of Alice Upside Down featuring Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Penny Marshall and Luke Perry will make its Orange County Premiere at the Festival. Alice Upside Down and the appearance of Alyson Stoner were courtesy of KIDS FIRST!
 

Actress Alyson Stoner, the lead in Alice Upside Down is appeared at Build-A-Bear Workshop® in Fashion Island for a one hour long autograph signing session on Saturday, April 26. Stoner is best known for her roles in Cheaper by the Dozen, Mike’s Super Short Show, Phineas & Ferb and the new upcoming Disney TV movie Camp Rock, with The Jonas Brothers.
 

The Newport Beach Film Festival 2008 Family Film series showcases a collection of innovative and entertaining family films that capture the refreshing independent spirit of filmmaking. The Festival’s family friendly slate includes feature length narratives, documentaries, short, animated and student produced films crafted to entertain and inspire festival-goers of all ages, from kindergartners to teens. Billed as Orange County’s largest celebration of independent family films, the two-day event featured film screenings, question and answer sessions with cast and crew, interactive workshops and autograph signings.
 

This is the fifth year that KIDS FIRST! has collaborated with the Newport Beach Film Festival, providing studio, independent and student films and talent for the festival.

Special Sneak Peek of Sesame Street: Dinosaurs! PHOENIX — Children and families have enjoyed a full month of screening of KIDS FIRST! films across Maricopa County during the month of April. 

The closing event is this Saturday, April 26th at the Arizona Science Center from 10am - 2pm and features the sneak peek at the new Sesame Street: Dinosaurs (for the young ones) and the incredibly realistic Prehistoric Park for the older crowd. The CGI animated dinosaurs are so life like in Prehistoric Park, that it may be too intense for the under 5 crowd. The first family film festival in the region was being held at a variety of arts and cultural organizations to give families the opportunity to expand their cultural literacy and enjoy some of the highest quality films available to children.  www.mpacarts.org   

Meet Jane and Dragon.

Jane is a medieval middleclass girl being raised as a Lady-in-Waiting, but she’s got much bigger plans for her future! Training to become a Knight is what she’s all about - good thing she’s got a 300 year-old fire-breathing dragon as a best friend. 

In the episode selected by the Children’s Museum of Houston and the Women’s Museum in Dallas, Dragon is feeling sick, very sick with a pig disease: curly tail. It is curable but the antidote is a difficult quest away. Jane volunteers for the quest and Theodore assigns Gunther to quest with her. Meanwhile, Dragon is proving to be a very difficult patient.  Also here’s your chance to get the inside scoop on all things Jane. Martin Baynton, creator of “Jane and the Dragon,” answers YOUR questions! 

http://www.qubo.com/jane_ask.asp    

 Dad’s Pet Food Joins with Governor Ed Rendell  in Honoring K-9 Officers and their Partners at the Premier of Ace of Hearts

 Dad’s, a leading pet foods manufacturer in Pennsylvania, has joined with PA Governor Ed Rendell in honoring the work of the K-9 units in our local communities. In a letter of support, the Governor has declared April 12, 2008, as “K-9 Recognition Day in Pennsylvania.”

The recognition is all part of the excitement surrounding the premier of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s feature family film, Ace of Hearts, on April 12th at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle, PA. The movie, staring Dean Cain, tells the story of Officer Daniel Harding, a distinguished member of the K-9 police unit and his K-9 partner, Ace. Ace of Hearts is part of the PA Children’s Film Festival. Admission for the full day of films is free to everyone!

Dad’s contributed over 500 lbs of dog food to be handled out to the movie goers “as a way for Dad’s to recognize the importance of both the K-9 dogs that will be honored at the screening and the family pet in our lives.” The local rescue shelter, Promises For Pets, will be on hand to distribute the pet food.

Also featured Saturday is the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with a surprise appearance by Alvin, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, Care Bears: Grizzle-ly Adventure, Bob the Builder: On-Site Roads and Bridges, My Senator and Me, and the Mr. Men Show.

In an effort to bring quality children’s programming to our region, the PA Film Institute, in partnership with The Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, has established the PA Children’s Film Festival. The Children’s Festival is dedicated to “promoting excellence in children’s films” and in “enhancing the opportunities for children and their families to view some of the most outstanding children’s films available anywhere.”

With our partnership, the PA Children’s Film Festival becomes part of the largest children’s film festival in the world…KIDS FIRST! Film  Festival.

Manoa’s Outreach College was honored with the Best Non-Credit Program for the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival by the Western Association of Summer Session Administrators.  The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival is the largest traveling children’s film festival in the world, providing films that are free of racial, ethnic, gender or religious bias; inappropriate content; and condescension toward children. 

Outreach College held the festival in June and July with a second festival slated for summer 2008. In March and April in honor of Women’s History Month, the festival presents the GRLS R GR8! Mini-Film-Fest celebrating the achievements, challenges and adventures of girls.   

Expand Cultural Literacy through Four Weekends of Free Family Fun and Enjoyment!
PHOENIX — Children and families are invited to enjoy the screening of KIDS FIRST! films across Maricopa County during the month of April.

The first family film festival in the region is being held at a variety of arts and cultural organizations to give families the opportunity to expand their cultural literacy and enjoy some of the highest quality films available to children.

Starting Saturday, April 5^th at the Glendale Public Library from 2:00 – 5:00 PM
 

Bugville: 78 minutes. Ages 5–12.  When Hoppity the grasshopper returns to Bugville, he finds all is not well when humans threaten the survival of this town. 

John, Paul, George, and Ben:  9 minutes. Ages 5-12.  Narrated by James earl Jones, this is a humorous and factual history of 5 lads who grew up to become Founding Fathers. 
The Prince and the Pauper.  92 minutes.  Ages 6-12.  Eddie and Torn Cole and Dylan Sprouse from TV’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody are two 14-year-olds with one thing in common: they both look exactly alike.  Kay Panabaker (TV’s Phil of the Future) co-stars in this adventure based on a story by Mark Twain. 

Saturday, April 5^th 2:00 - 5:00 pm, Glendale Public Library, 595 W. Brown St. Glendale 85302
Every weekend during the month of April, the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture

(MPAC) will partner with the Glendale Public Library, Arizona Historical Society Museum, Desert Botanical Garden and Arizona Science Center to feature entertaining kid and family-friendly films related to their current activities at no cost to movie-goers and visitors.  Door prizes and free stickers will be available at some venues.  http://www.mpacarts.org for the list of upcoming screenings.

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MyBoneYard® partners with industry leaders in the manufacturing, service and retail sectors working to provide even more value for your used electronic equipment through various national consumer electronics recycling programs. Not only is MyBoneYard® and environmentally-friendly program that helps our partners become more environmentally engaged, but it also gives consumers an opportunity to get rewarded for their own enviro-friendly efforts.  By partnering with MyBoneYard®, the “power of three” will be working for you. Young America, Wireless Source and eco | International combine forces to provide the only fully-integrated e-recycling solution in the industry - MyBoneYard®. MyBoneYard® provides the simple, safe and smart way to recycle unused electronics and can work for you in-store, online, through event marketing, charitable giving and employee programs. In the end, everyone is rewarded for their efforts. 

MyBoneYard® brings leading electronics product asset recovery and recycling capabilities so you can be assured that your recycled product will be stripped of any sensitive personal information and permanently deleted. Whether you’re getting rid of an old cell phone or computer, by recycling with MyBoneYard®.com you’ll find we provide: • A safe and best-in-class environmental recycling solution exceeding all state legislative requirements. • Guaranteed content removal of all personal information. 

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