Great new short film on Amazon Prime - "Alive" directed by Luis Iga

This past week I had the chance to see a really fun and interesting short film called "Alive" directed by Luis Iga ("Murder in the Woods"). The film was part of All Voices Film Festival on Amazon Prime, which ends on June 24. Even though the film was only 15 minutes long it was enough time to show concepts such as love, betrayal, romance, hurt and important life choices. I found the film simple on the outside but yet rather complex on the inside and with a very surprising and provocative ending. I absolutely recommend it!

The film's synopsis:"Alive" follows the story of Gabriel, a Mexican immigrant and Alison an American woman, both in their mid-twenties that meet in a shared ride service and fall in love. Life throws them a curve-ball that will define their destiny. With an abstract and artistic ending the audience will be the judge of their fate. The film stars Pepe Gamez and Samantha Miller.

I spoke with the director about the film as I was in deep thought about the ending and wanted to know more. This is what he said to me:

"Pepe Gamez came to me with this story and I connected with it since my first girlfriend was from the USA and it was a big lesson for me on how different the two cultures are. In Mexico when a girl breaks up with you, you chase her to get her back. They like that because it demonstrates that you are really interested. In the USA if you do that you’ll get a restraining order. It was very hard for Pepe and myself to understand how someone can be loving you one day and be cold and distant the next. In the USA you have to let it be and hopefully she will realize or not what she has lost. Pepe and I wrote the story together based on his idea. We shot the film in four days with minimal budget and favors from friends. It is such a complex topic to be tackled in only fifteen minutes, that’s why we left the ending open," Luis Iga.


You can find more reviews of the film here: http://bit.ly/AliveReviews.


You can watch the film here: www.alivethefilm.com

Katy Lynch - a Powerful Female Entrepreneur and the Founder of Codeverse Chicago

Katy Lynch Ulliott

I found an amazing coding place for kids in Chicago, Codeverse, founded by an inspiring female entrepreneur Katy Lynch Ulliott. I wanted to know more about Katy's work and share what I found with you - my readers. 

Tell me a bit about your background. What inspired you to get into the technical career path and was this something you always wanted to do? 

I am originally from Scotland, but moved to Chicago in 2007. I landed my first gig at a travel startup called Where I’ve Been. That was really where I developed my love for startups and the Chicago tech community. When Where I’ve Been was acquired in 2010, I co-founded SocialKaty, an agency that specialized in social media marketing. Four years later, SocialKaty was acquired and I moved on to become the CEO of Techweek, the largest traveling technology festival in the country. Now, I am the CMO and co-founder of Codeverse. To be completely honest, I never thought I’d be a serial entrepreneur. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until I worked at a tech startup. I find modern, innovative technology fascinating and have surrounded myself with technologists (and tech founders) since!

In the midst of the MeToo movement how does it feel to be a female entrepreneur especially in Chicago? Have you faced any obstacles when dealing with male entrepreneurs? Is it an advantage or disadvantage being a female? 

I’m very fortunate to be living in city with so many talented women (and men!) Chicago is such a wonderful place to start a business, and there are so many great resources here for women, specifically. Although I have not personally faced obstacles as a female entrepreneur, I have heard many stories from friends who have been treated unfairly, which is infuriating. The good news is, thanks to MeToo and several other key movements, discrimination of any kind is being called out publicly and not tolerated by both women and men!

You founded Codeverse, an incredible and much needed place for kids. I wish I had that growing up. How did you get the idea and what did it take to build such an empire? What does it take to sustain it?

The idea originated from “Code: Debugging the Gender Gap,” a documentary that I saw during Techweek LA. The documentary’s theme centered around the lack of minorities and women in STEM. It inspired Craig and I to do a lot of research on the current landscape of kids coding products. Building Codeverse from nothing was no small feat. We spent months researching and hiring incredible talent (as well as vendors and edtech advisors!) to work with us. We conducted numerous surveys with parents, and tested our software - KidScript - with kids.

Tell us about Codeverse and how is this the future for our kids in this day and age? How can more parents benefit from these classes? What do kids learn in these classes? 

Codeverse is awesome! We’ve built the world’s first fully interactive coding studio and tech platform designed specifically for kids ages 6-13. Our studios are riddled with cutting-edge technology (such as concert-hall lights, robot arms, and speakers), which can be programmed by the kids. In addition to hacking the studio, kids build unique apps and games which can be shared with their friends and family. Kids begin learning the universal concepts of coding. Once they have mastered these concepts, they begin to learn more advanced concepts, which they can incorporate into their apps and games. Craig and I are big believers that in this digital day and age, every kid should learn to code. Beyond technical skills, coding builds confidence, encourages collaboration, inspires creativity, and teaches kids how to problem solve.

You are an inspiration to all of us. Can you tell us what a typical day is like for you and what does it take to be successful in this industry? 

In all honesty, every day is different, but I spend most of my time working on Codeverse scholarships, video production and editing, PR, and business development. It takes a lot of hard work, persistence, risk-taking, patience, and confidence to be successful in any industry - not just edtech!

What motivates you and how do you balance life and career? You look great, you are successful, and you do so much. How do you manage to be great at everything you do? 

When I launched my first business, SocialKaty, I was stressed most of the time. This stress came from my lack of time management skills. I’m very deliberate now when it comes where I spend my time and who I spend my time with. Google Calendar is a lifesaver. All of my appointments, dinners with friends, travels, etc are planned in there. It keeps me sane and on track!

What advice do you have for all of us? 
Take more risks. Working with kids has opened my eyes to just how risk-averse adults really are. We are afraid of failure and it holds us back from pursuing what we want!

What's next for you? You seem to have done so much already. What is next on your to do and wish list? 

Our 30-year mission is to teach a billion kids to code, so, I plan on working on Codeverse for life! The only other thing I really want to do, in my personal life, is have kids and eventually, sail around the world!

Who is the biggest supporter in your life? They say it takes a strong woman behind every successful man but who does it take behind a successful woman? 

Honestly, Craig is my biggest supporter. Aside from being my husband, he has been the best mentor to me and has provided me with so much invaluable advice about business. My other supporters really include my family and friends. They have followed my entrepreneurial journey since the beginning!

Do you volunteer and what charities and non-profits do you support?

I am a huge believer in the benefits of “paying it forward” so I love meeting and mentoring other entrepreneurs (especially first-time entrepreneurs) in the Chicago tech community. I have been involved with Chicago Innovation’s Women’s Mentoring Co-Op for quite some time and love it! With Codeverse, I also have the opportunity to work with a lot of great non-profits, including By The Hand, Girl Scouts, iF Charities, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and After-School All-Stars - to name a few!

To follow Codeverse on Social Media:

Twitter.com/codeverse/

Instagram.com/codeverse/ 

Facebook.com/codeversedotcom 

Nicole Quattrocki - The Face Behind Fix Chicago

“The real warriors in this world are the ones that see the details of another's soul. They see the transparency behind walls people put up. They stand on the battlefield of life and expose their heart's transparency, so other's can finish the day with hope. They are the sensitive souls that understand that before they could be a light they first had to feel the burn.”
― Shannon L. Alder

If you were looking to get involved with a local charity organization and you love dogs, Fix Chicago is the perfect match. Nicole Quattrocki is the founder of Fix Chicago, which is a not-for-profit organization changing the system and root problems to save all dogs and cats not just one at a time. The organization supports rescues and shelters but it is forming community based solutions in underserved areas to help keep dogs and cats out of the already full shelters.

Tell us a bit about your background: 
I am a creative entrepreneur who started out going to school for design at Columbia College. I worked in fashion, hospitality and education, but I believe all previous experiences both personally and professionally led me to live my purpose - Fix Chicago.

What inspired you to start Fix Chicago?
I started Fix Chicago after a few years of volunteering in the community and understanding how our shelter system was operating. Last July, there was a lot of attention in the community regarding lack of transparency since our then previous mayor had fired Susan Russell who seemed to have tremendous buy in from the rescue community and was doing a great job at lifesaving. I began learning about root problems and lack of transparency that continued to contribute to us still killing our Chicago shelter animals and had to do something about it.

What is your personal story with animal killing and how you relate to it? 
I adopted two of my rescue dogs from a government owned and operated open admissions shelter over a decade ago. Prior to adopting them I was oblivious to what it was like to own a bully breed and to what conditions were inside the very shelter in which I saved my girls. Through education years later I realized the shelter in Missouri where Gigi and Kyah came from at the time were killing 7 out of every 10 animals under their care and had no life saving programs in place for getting animals out and helping to prevent them from coming in. I couldn’t help but think so often that if I didn’t get them out that day they would have been killed.

What did it take you to create Fix Chicago? 
Everything! I gave up my personal life to build the foundation for Fix Chicago. Every day I would come home from my corporate job in education and work until bed on Fix Chicago.

How can others get involved? 
Please fill out a form on https://www.fix-chicago.org/volunteer-1 .
We are always looking for professional volunteers with government affairs knowledge, policy, marketing and/or fundraising and will be recruiting more boots on the ground volunteers for future events and community outreach we begin doing at the end of this year (2019) and early next.

This is the photo contest we need people to contribute to and vote for so we can run a campaign for our Chicago shelter dogs on the CTA: https://www.gogophotocontest.com/fixchicago

For anyone who simply wishes to donate:  https://www.fix-chicago.org/donate 

Follow Fix Chicago on Social Media at FixChicago2019 

First Look at “The Shepherd” Film Directed by László Illés - Historical Drama Based on True Events

“The Shepherd” is poised to debut at film festivals across the globe. It is a historical drama taking place in Hungarian territory occupied by the Nazis in 1944. The film’s essence tackles ordinary people risking all to do right. The film is a tribute to everyday unsung heroes and their selfless sacrifices for mankind, as their character did not allow passivity in the midst of terror. There is still a need today for unsung heroes to risk all for a greater good or something bigger than themselves.

 “I have always been truly fascinated by World War II and I have read a lot of books about it. It is the closest and most epic struggle in history, where the whole world united for a greater cause. This was a situation in which millions of people were in a vulnerable position, many because they had to leave their homes to fight on the front lines. Many were at risk simply because they were born into historically marginalized and disenfranchised groups that led them to hide in their homes to await their fate,” said director László Illés.

The opening scene is set amongst pastoral fields. Here, we are introduced to the shepherd who after getting his sheep to the pasture hears the all too familiar sounds of the horrors of war from the forest. There he sees the atrocities of war, including dead bodies and a young woman who has been violated and shot in abdomen. The shepherd bandages the injured women and takes her with him to save her life. The shepherd decided to save as many lives as possible after his daughter was killed by German soldier’s years earlier.

 “The Shepherd is a very dark movie, as dark and stunning as WWII. However, I want everybody to understand that no matter how dark it is, you can always find the light,” said Illés. We have seen a lot of physical horrors in war movies, but this film is different. I wanted to show the psychological trials that people went through in a way that is as raw and authentic as possible. The camera is moving constantly with our protagonists to show their feelings and reactions to events in a more dramatic way. The audience will breathe and feel with the main characters. They will experience what it feels like to run for your life, while Nazis are behind you, and your fellow comrades are dying next to you. They will also get a grasp of what it is like to see your loved-one being violated by soldiers, or you an your family are being executed," said Illés.

Director/Writer: László Illés
Executive Producers: Taylor Re Lynn, Franklin Eugene, Jackson McClurg, Valentine Nonyela Producers: László Illés, Roy McClurg, Mitchell Speers, Zsuzsanna Fülöp-Biri
Film Trailer: https://youtu.be/X0gw3GNFxwo
For more information visit: https://www.theshepherdmovie2019.com/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9202076/reference

About László Illés 

Hungarian director László Illés began making independent films when he was 13-years-old and has continued his passion for film to present day. Currently, he is directing films and working as 1st Assistant Director in Hungarian features, international films, commercials and music videos. For more information visit: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6252684/