Nostalgia was an event on March 19th, 2010 that intended to honor and remember the unique experience of the Drive-in, with several readings from authors, artists and filmmakers, as well as interactive fun and of course, a few visuals. We had a bawdy and fun crowd join us at the Happy Ending Lounge in NYC. This season the DIFF wanted to properly introduce ourselves to NYC.

HOST AND READERS

Allyson Morgan - HOST - Allyson has most recently been seen in a variety of readings all over New York for MCC, MTC and Soho Rep and onstage at Youngblood, the NY Fringe Festival, Playwrights Horizons in "The Summer People" with Brian Dennehy and as the Girl Scout in Partial Comfort's "The Main(e) Play" with Michael Gladis (Mad Men). She also performed in the world premiere of "First Breath" as part of "Capture the Flag: A Festival of New American Plays" with New York Theatre Experiment (NYTE). Additionally, Allyson is a founding member and Artistic Associate of NYTE (www.newyorktheatreexperiment.org), where her original work, "Charise Jones: The Comeback XXXmas Tour" was presented in December 2007. Look for Allyson this summer in the upcoming "Sordid Things" starring Alex Kingston and Piper Perabo and also in a brief cameo in "Wall Street 2," directed by Oliver Stone, later this year. She is available for all your acting/MC-ing needs, but does not do kids' birthday Parties.

Jason Kashiwagi - When I was 11 years old, my family drove 45 min. from Bellevue to Auburn. There was nothing in Auburn except for the Valley 6 Drive-In. My first double feature would be Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Pure Luck. This would not be my last. In high school, my friends and I would spend our summers at the Drive-in, to see such, "classics" as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Mars Attacks and Scream 2. Happily, the Valley 6 Drive-in still lives on, even though many others have shut down. It's important to me to renew the interest of the Drive-ins, since it provided me with such fond memories of my youth.I'm proud to be a supporter of the Drive-In Festival.

Alano Miller - Recently finished a run at Lincoln Center as Malcolm King in Broke- ology. Regional: Marcus or the Secret of Sweet, The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, Fences, Native Son, Whose Life, Darwin's Meditation. Film: Loop Planes, Hector's Gonna Kill Nate, Champagne, Alex's Last Day, New York Stories. Alano is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and AFTRA. BFA SUNY Purchase; MFA Penn State.

Alana O' Brien - Formerly Company Manager of the Off Broadway Company Drama Dept. Alana was most recently seen in Law & Order and various national commercials. New York Theater credits include Douglas Carter Beane's The Cartell's. Alana frequently works with the Brooklyn-based Untucked Films and can be seen in their latest short, Facebook Status-Off.

 

PARTICIPATING AUTHORS

Jeffrey Eugenides - Eugenides was born in Detroit, MI in 1960. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University , and received an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University in 1986. The Virgin Suicides, was published to acclaim in 1993. In 2003, Jeffrey Eugenides received the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex (2002).

Daniel Falcone - Daniel earned an MFA in Film (Screenwriting) from Columbia in 2005. His short film Night Swimming and thesis feature screenplay Living in Skin have won numerous awards, including the coveted Faculty Selects Award in 2006. Swimming has played in over 50 international festivals and is distributed by Wolfe Video/Logo. In the fall of 2007, Daniel began work as an editor at Convergence. Daniel recently signed with post-production agency Production! NYC. Along with his life-long love of the moving image, he enjoys painting, cooking and tattoos. www.danielfalcone.net.

Amala Lane - Amala is a film Alum from Columbia's grad program and she works as a video monkey for John Jay College as well as does some outside free-lance work, mostly for non-profits and the occasional bris (this is true!). What she'd really love to do is make films that take her to far away places, and not just geographically speaking.

Patricia Lawler Kenet - Patricia's essays have appeared in The New York Times, New York Newsday and several on-line journals, including Bookslut.com. After practicing as an attorney for 15 years in the field of personal injury litigation, Patrica set her sights on literary and creative pursuits. She has worked in television for Court TV and Medical News Network as a correspondent as well as New Jersey Network's "Health Call." She is an author of two non-fiction books, Saving Your Skin and How to Wash Your Face and is a regular contributor to Suite101.com. She is a member of the Writer's Room where she is diligently working on her memoir Crossing the Delaware upon which her excerpt tonight "The 64th Street Drive In" is loosely based.

LeeMichael McLean - LeeMichael grew up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He is a graduate of Brandeis University with degrees in English and International Finance. He's run a creative writing workshop out of his home for the past five years and is presently working on a memoir. He's always been fascinated about the intimacy created by watching a movie from your car and is happy to say that he has frequented the Weirs Beach Drive-In many times. He lives in downtown Boston with his husband, Bryan.

James Ponsoldt - James was born and raised in Athens, Georgia, received a BA in English from Yale and an MFA in directing from Columbia University's Graduate Film Program. Ponsoldt's debut feature as a writer/director, Off the Black, premiered at Sundance '06, and starred Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton and Trevor Morgan. His screenplay Refresh, Refresh, was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, received the Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship. The film will shoot late in 2010. In September 2009, an adaptation of Ponsoldt's screenplay for Refresh, Refresh was published by Macmillan as a graphic novel. Ponsoldt is currently adapting the novel City of Refuge for acclaimed producer Jeff Sharp.

Averie Storck - Averie hails from Tampa, Florida where there was only one drive-in movie theater when she was growing up. Until it closed. Then she moved to New York City, where there were no drive-in movie theaters. She is a writer and director and recently began her career as a producer: she and her busband are expecting a daughter this summer. Despite her hopes, conception did not take place in a drive-in movie theater. She is currently working on a feature-length script and is in post-production for a short film she directed last year.