KOHLER PRODUCTIONS > E-NEWS |
Updates |
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AUGUST 2008 MNArtists.org interviewed Joanna in this article focused on women who are working in film and video in Minnesota. "Kohler's power as a filmmaker lies in her ability to elevate the topic beyond a glib conversation about gender..." |
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JULY 2008 During the Minnesota Motorcycle Stories stop in Ely, the Boundary Waters Radio interviewed Joanna Kohler about the project. |
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JUNE 2008 Overcoming Identity Politics in Youth Media: This article reflects on the making of Witness in 1999, a story about a youth organization, and Joanna's current work as a youth media educator and Coordinator with the Twin Cities Youth Media Network. |
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JULY 2008
July 1st - 23rd Joanna will hit the road on her motorcycle and cover the state of Minnesota interviewing people along the way. This three week production will be made into an audio documentary capturing individual stories addressing the question "When have you faced fear and changed your life?". |
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MAY 2008 Chris "Shakademic" Johnson and Joanna Kohler hit the streets to produce a short documentary interviewing people about the presidental race, politics and top three priorities for the country to be addressing. Locations included Down Town Minneapolis, the Green Way and 35W Bridge. People spoke their mind and universal issues kept coming up. |
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APRIL 2008 On April 6, 2008, Joanna Kohler led MN WIFT Board of Directors through a process to establish a 2008 action plan for the chapter. MNWIFT talked about memorable events, connection with the organization, being effective, what MN WIFT means, and which of these things they want to carry forward into the next year. Together they created a vision of victory and analyzed the current reality of strengths and weaknesses, as well as the benefits and dangers of success. |
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Photo by Laura Fayola Wallace: (Left) Rebecca Gilgen, Lesiie Ann Coles, Joanna Kohler  |
MARCH 2008 The Female Eye Film Festival screened BOXERS in their sixth annual festival focusing on films made by women directors. Boxers was nominated for Best Documentary. Pictured at left, is boxer Rebecca Gilgen, Festival director Leslie Ann Coles and filmmaker Joanna Kohler at the opening night Gala. Next is a photo after the BOXERS screening where conversations were enjoyed between Toronto social workers, writers, film industry professionals and women boxers. |
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JANUARY 2007 The BOXERS film project has teamed up with LetThemBox.org, a campaign for women's boxing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. A video highlighting the campaign has been launched on the BOXERS web site, along with YouTube and the LetThem Box site. During production, HDMG and Carly Zuckweiler joined in the effort with the final music mix. Watch the video and help build the momentum to bring women's boxing to the Olympics for the first time in 2700 years. |
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JANUARY 2007 After a one year intensive training with a focused group of facilitators, Joanna and her fellow facilitators received their certificates for completing the course Mastering the Technology of Participation. Along with the training, Joanna completed a year of action research for a personal Inquiry project designed around community participation and film. |
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JANUARY 2007 Teaming up once again with SPNN and the YMCA's Youth in Government Program, Joanna helped train a TV field crew for a four day mock legislative assembly that took place at the Minnesota capitol. Students ran the cameras, found the stories, edited the packages and handed them off to a studio crew for a daily news broadcast. These students knocked out amazing news broadcasts. |
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 Sherry Lansing's Keynote at WomenVenture Conference: MNWIFT Members From Left, Sheryl Mousley, Jillian Nodland, Heidi Schuster, Joanne Liebeler, Aleshia Mueller, Meighan McGuire, Joanna Kohler |
NOVEMBER 5 2007 WomenVenture guest, Sherry Lansing - one of the film industry’s most influential studio executives ever. Although she is no longer with Paramount, it was under Lansing’s tenure that films such as Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Tittanic were made., was present at the Walker Art Center for a reception with Minnesota Women in Film and Television members. WomenVenture's annual conference and fundraiser featured Ms. Lansing as the keynote speaker. At the reception Minnesota Women in Film and Televsion premiered a 3 minute reel highlighting local work from women in the film and television industry. Kohler Productions directed and edited the reel for this event. |
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NOVEMBER 17 2007 Witness released in 1999 creating controversy in the field of Youthwork. The Minneapolis newspaper City Pages named Kohler a "Local FIlm Hero of the Year" for this 55 minute documentary shot on a home video camera. 81/2 years later Witness will screen publicly in the film's hometown, Minneapolis. The Flaming FIlm Festival is scheduled to screen Witness as part of their 3 days of films on Saturday November 17th at 4:30pm. There will be a post screening Q&A and audience workshop facilitated by the Minneapolis Youth Advisory Board asking the question "What are the qualities of positive relationships between youth and adults?". |
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 NAMAC conference 2007 |
OCTOBER 2007 The National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture 2007 conference took place in Austin Texas this month. Through the role of the Twin Cities Youth Media Network Coordinator, Joanna had the opportunity to attend. Museums, filmmakers, production houses, artists and nonprofit's gathered to discuss the Media Arts field. Special attention for youth participated media has been evolving within NAMAC organizations. This year's conference highlighted some of these efforts and brought youth media makers and educators together from around the country. The conference's main focus this year was distribution, evolving media tools and community engagement. |
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 Photos by: Sarah Morreim  Grant Wood pushing the auction items |
OCTOBER 1st 2007 BOXERS screened a 10-minute excerpt and Joanna Kohler was available for the Q&A at the Story Board's Annual Indie Film Gala. Story Board is a local nonprofit that provides educational and mentoring programs to high school aged filmmakers in the Metro. Gala revelers enjoyed short film screenings by local directors (Susan Marks, Ryan Wood, Jila Nikpay, and Brian Walsted) an edgy fashion show by costume designer, Deborah Fiscus, and live performances by local artists including swing quartet, Swing Set. Over 75 local businesses donated fantastic auction items to make the Gala's silent auction a huge success. Kohler Productions was excited to lend a hand with BOXERS. |
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SEPTEMBER 2007 During Kohler's trip to San Francisco, filmmakers Ria Fay-Berquist [far left] and Winifred Martins [middle], from London, went out of their way to show Kohler around and talk about their work. This became particularly valuable because Martin is a kick boxer herself and Fay-Berquist is researching women's boxing. Fay-Berquist and Martins are passionate about telling stories at the level of universal instincts and voice. Winifred Martins latest project "The Lighthouse" will screen in Washington D.C. Ria Fay-Berquist writes an interview based blogzine focusing on artists, writers and filmmakers. |
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SEPTEMBER 2007 San Francisco is a city of film organizations, film festivals, documentary filmmakers and a public that watches documentary films. Joanna Kohler traveled to this documentary rich city to meet the makers and those who support the making. Connections were made, ideas were inspired and a lot of fun was had while experiencing the very different approaches people are taking when they pick up a camera and make a documentary. The Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) was the first stop and Women's Educational Media, Citizen Film and filmmaker Sam Ball, The Film Arts Foundation and Frameline were next on the list. The Mad Cat International Women's Film Festival had begun in the city and an evening of documentary shorts screened with Artist Television Access (ATA). The festival is in it's eleventh year and is premiering 70 women-made films this year. Bay Area Women in Film and Television (BAWIFT) members greeted Kohler in San Francisco, including Jennifer Gilome. Before leaving, Kohler visited University of California Berkeley's Journalism - Documentary graduate program and learned about the programs connection with ITVS and dedication to journalistic documentary film production. The flash of entertainment, the ethics of journalism, the artistic experimentation and organizations dedication to public access and education all exist among each other in this documentary rich city. Like storytelling, there are many layers and possibilities for documentaries and San Francisco reflects these within the rich resources and communities that live there. |
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SEPTEMBER 2007 Sound Engineer, Kent Militzer, at Splice Here Production House in Minneapolis, wired up Taiko drummer Holly Hee Won Coughlin in a sound both to record the original music for the BOXERS soundtrack. Holly is an artist with the Minnesota Taiko Drum performance group Mu Daiko. Wired up and ready to go, the action got started and the final music track was recorded. Now that the Taiko drumming has been recorded, BOXERS gets closer to completing the final sound edit. A big thank you to Holly and Kent for making the magic happen in the sound studio and pushing the story of BOXERS one step further!
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AUGUST 2007 Filmmakers Jenny Hanson and Joanna Kohler team up to teach Saint Paul high school students how to develop, research, shoot, edit and distribute their own 10 minute documentary videos. This class is offered through SPNN and the Connections Program with St. Paul Schools.
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AUGUST 2007 Saint Paul Neighborhood Networks introduced youth interns to Joanna Kohler after watching BOXERS. The Interns are researching how to make documentary films. SPNN Interns will be working as a group to produce their own projects. The group invited Kohler to speak about how she got her start as a filmmaker and where she finds her passion. The Interns presented their documentary film ideas to Kohler for feedback. Film topics included Immigration and deportation, media affects on girl's self-image and racial profiling. |
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 Joanna Kohler, Maura Shuttleworth, Jill Flaa  Shelly Boyum-Breen, Claire Willson, Julie Rappaport |
JULY 2007 Completing the Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, Kohler Productions revived the GUERRILLA tour. BOXERS screened on July 11th for a group of seven women and in partnership with Foundation IX. The Loft Literary Center supported the project by holding the event. Thank you to Aleshia Mueller who worked the camera. The riveting conversation that followed explored the complex issues and diverse experiences women bring to the topic "media images of women athletes". The GUERRILLA Tour is designed for community participation with film screenings. 17 minute GUERRILLA Tour documentary CLICK HERE |
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 Linda Alton, Joanna Kohler, Patsy Parker, Herb Perkins |
JULY 2007 Session II of IV took place at the Harriet Tubman Building in Minneapolis, for the year long intensive facilitation training course. Over this year facilitators learn in depth the skills of Focused Conversation, Action Planning, Consensus and Strategic Planning. All of the methods are designed for maximum participation and consensus by the group. Filmmaker Joanna Kohler, has been using these methods throughout the productions of BOXERS documentary, the GUERRILLA Tour and the development of Kohler Productions. |
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JUNE 2007 Welcome to Shari and Kent! Sound designer Kent Militzer from Splice Here has come on to the BOXERS film project for the final sound mixing. Kent has a long history as a musician and professional sound designer in the Twin Cities. Starting at the end of the analog days, Kent has kept up with the changes in digital sound and continued to provide impressive sound mixing for commercials and movies to music recording. Color Designer Shari Brochhausen from HDMG is an expert artist with color and image control. Shari has joined the folks working on BOXERS film project to bring depth and color to the visual documentary storytelling. Shari has years of experience working on spots for Best Buy, independent films and corporate videos. Thank you and welcome to Shari and Kent as they begin the work of sharing their experience and expertise with the BOXERS film project.
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JUNE 8, 2007 Hennepin County hosted two youth made documentaries on the 23rd floor of the Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. Kohler Productions facilitated the screening of Roosevelt student videos about the Achievement Gap and School Spirit. The filmmakers had a Focused Conversation with Hennepin County about their opinion and experiences. This was the first interactive video screening Hennepin County has hosted with in the walls of the Government Center. Five youth filmmakers brought two stories that would otherwise go unheard to the attention of decision makers and the decision makers opened their doors! MORE INFORMATION TO COME... |
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JUNE 6, 2007 SPNN, Roosevelt High School Open Program and filmmaker Joanna Kohler collaborate to create an intensive semester course for high school students to produce, direct and screen their own ten minute documentaries. These videos are youth picked and youth made. Wednesday evening Roosevelt theater will host the 3rd annual student documentary film screening. |
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  Cathy Coon & Dan Orozco planning |
JUNE 2007 The first Kohler Productions Strategic Planning took place on June 2nd. Advisory Board Member, Rebecca Gilgen, donated her skills as an ICA ToP's facilitator in a day long visioning for the future of Kohler Productions. Filmmaker Joanna Kohler and Advisory Board members sat down to ask critical questions about the current success of Kohler Productions and where the company invisions being in three years. The day was insightful, fun and full of creativity as the groups worked to dream up possibilities and concrete actions for the production of documentaries that tell stories that would otherwise go unheard. |
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 BOXERS still |
MNARTIST.ORG REVIEWS BOXERS |
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APRIL 2007 Host, Dan Orozco, of Butter CIty, a new talk show on TPT, MTN and SPNN sat down with Joanna Kohler to discuss the recent premiere of BOXERS and the history of Kohler's filmmaking. |
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SPRING 2007 Moving In A Mirror, released in 2005 by Kohler Productions, is available for the first time on DVD. This has been a long time coming, but the DVD has arrived. The 32 minute documentary plus lots of extra features are packed onto this disc, including the GUERRILLA Tour trailer. The DVD can be purchased online. |
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MARCH 24th, 2007 CSU collaborated with the Cleveland International FIlm Festival to hold public conversations with their film students with visiting filmmakers in the festival. Joanna participated with filmmakers Mike Roth "Saving Marriage" and Carlos Portugal "East Side Story" in a discussion on socially conscious filmmaking. |
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MARCH 23 & 24 2007 BOXERS is scheduled to screen with the Cleveland international Film Festival. The March 24th screening will be followed by a film forum including filmmaker, Joanna Kohler, Ohio State Sports Commission, Ellen Staurowsky Title IX expert from Ithica College and Vonda Ward the first sanctioned Women's Heavy Weight Boxing Champion. → LEARN MORE ON BOXERS WEB SITE |
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MARCH 13 2007 A small group of youth participated in a intimate screening of BOXERS as part of Kulture Klub Collaborative. Kulture Klub is a program of Youth Link designed to give youth, who are often times dealing with issues like homelessness, exposure to art and artist within the community. Boxers Rachel Schley and Becca Gilgen were available for a conversation after the film with the youth. An intense conversation about self empowerment and violence took place. |
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MARCH 10 2007 BOXERS had it's world premiere in a collaborative event between Kohler Productions, Walker Art Center and Uppercut Boxing Gym. This was the first time the Women with Vision Film Festival has taken a film off site from the Walker and screened it in the community. This is a huge success for the vision of Kohler Productions to work collaboratively and in participation with community. BOXERS first audience watched the film inside the location most of the production took place... making this event an experience full of magic. |
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Institute for Cultural Affairs Joanna took a 3 day intensive training in Image Shift Facilitation tools. This course is designed to facilitate a group process through participatory methods using visual images to illustrate the groups vision for success. This course is the second part of a Jerome Travel Grant to be combined with Media Literacy skills for a final presentation of a film and community dialog. |
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January 28, 7pm BOXERS is traveling to Chicago before the premiere in March. This screening is a nearly complete work in progress with the filmmaker present. The audience will be asked for their feedback for consideration in the final edits. |
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KOHLER Productions Advisory Board's First Meeting  |
January 9th, 2007 The first Advisory Board Meeting comes together to meet and kick off a new community input structure for Kohler Productions. Nine members from various communities and expertise are coming together to support and energize the work and mission of Kohler Productions. Each of the Advisory Board Members has a story of dreaming big and discovering new possibilities. Kohler Productions is focused on adding to these stories and building community input. COMING SOON- MEMBERS PROFILES |
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 Youth in Government T. V. |
FALL 2006 Joanna works with SPNN to help with their Youth in Government Television Station Project. This project helps to train high school students in video production. The students produce a News program during the Youth in Government Summit in January of 2007 while learning media literacy skills. |
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 Rencontres Internationales Du Documentaire De Montreal, Film Festival 2006 |
NOVEMBER 2006 Joanna travels to Montreal to the "Rencontres Internationales Du Documentaire De Montreal" film festival. This international film festival brings in documentary films and filmmakers from around the world. The festival takes place at the Cinémathèque québécoise. This was an opportunity to see rare documetaries and visit some of the film organizations in Montreal. |
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 Rachel Schley, Amy Laboe, Becca Gilgen, Lisa Bauch, Joanna Kohler, Sarah Mickelson |
NOVEMBER 9, 2006 The first public screening and fundraiser for BOXERS took place at The Loft in Minneapolis. More than 100 people came out to drink Champaign, meet the boxers and the filmmaker, and watch the film. Also present at the event was Women in Film and Television-MN, Independent Feature Project-MN and Kohler Productions Advisory Board Members. Cathy Coon hosted the event and panel discussion with the boxers. |
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CITY PAGES  Photo: "BOXERS" film still, Amy Laboe. |
NOVEMBER 8th, 2006 Excerpt from the article: " But boxing isn't just about landing punches; the 'sweet science' relies just as much on mental as on physical prowess, and the boxers featured in Kohler's film gamely open up about their personal journeys both inside and outside the ring." |
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LAVENDERmagazine  |
OCTOBER 27th, 2006 Excerpt from the article: Most certainly, Kohler plumbs those depths. READ MORE OF THE STORY HERE → |
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The Loft Literary Center  |
BOXERS ADVANCE SCREEING/FUNDRAISER The date is set for an advance screening and fundraiser for the BOXERS film project in collaboration with The Loft Literary Center. The funds raised will go towards distribution costs. This is the first time the public will see BOXERS after two years of production. Tickets go on sale October 1st and can be ordered on line until November 1st. BOXERS is the story of seven women training as one team to step into the ring and find out who they are on the other side of three, 2-min. rounds. These women remind us of what is means to risk fear to find out what is possible. |
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NEW Trailer!
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SEPTEMBER, 2006 A new BOXERS trailer has been edited and uploaded to the BOXERSdocumentary.com web site, google videos and MySpace.com Editors Jamie Lee and Joanna Kohler are working on the post production of BOXERS and polishing the story. The drama and excitement inside the story of BOXERS is getting close to a public screening. This new trailer reveals more of the inter-personal struggles and team dynamics that Team Uppercut experienced when stretched to define themselves inside the ring. |
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JULY 2006 Joanna attended the New Mexico Media Literacy Project Catalyst Training in July. People passionate about media literacy education came from across the country. A special rough-cut screening of BOXERS took place, giving this newly trained group of media literate catalysts a chance to give feedback. This Conference is a part of The Jerome Foundations Travel and Study Grant award to Joanna Kohler in 2006. |
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JUNE 30th, 2006 At Macalester College a rough cut screening of BOXERS took place in collaboration with the Minnesota National Organization for Women. The protection of Title IX and the advancement of women in sports was a conversation with audience members and the boxers in the film. Audience feedback was collected for the continued post production work on BOXERS. |
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MAY 2006 Joanna Kohler is award the Jerome Foundations Travel and Study Grant for 2006. The focus of the grant is Media Literacy Education training and participatory facilitation training with the Institute for Cultural Affairs. Specifically this training is on Shifting Images. |
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"She's Got Something to Say"
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APRIL 2006 "Women on the Move" and "She's Got Something to Say" are talk radio shows hosted by Ember Reichgott Junge on Air America 950 Minnesota. "Women on the Move" is broadcast over the web and reaches an international audience. |
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WOMEN with VISION  |
MARCH 2006 Moving In A Mirror screens as part of a shorts series on finding place at the Walker Art Center's Women with Vision Film Festival. Before the screening filmmakers Kathleen Laughlin and Joanna Kohler host a workshop/conversation with festival attendees about documentary filmmaking. The focus is on women filmmakers and storytelling. |
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"Through Her Eyes" Women of Color Productions Film Festival, NY  |
FEBRUARY 2006 Moving In A Mirror screens with the Women of Color FIlm Festival in New York. This festival features films by or about women of color as a way to increase the exposure of these stories to public audiences. |
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NOVEMEBER 2005 In November Independent Feature Project became the Fiscal Sponsor for the BOXERS film project. Joanna Kohler became the first member of Women in Film and Television Minnesota Chapter. Both of these organizations are working to grow the film industry in Minnesota and provide opportunities for filmmakers.
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