Tuesday, July 10, 2007

JUMP! world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival

This past June, while most of the jump rope community was at the 2007 National Competition, JUMP! had its world premiere at the LA Film Festival. Nick & Jeff from the Houston-based team Razz Ma Tazz and Shaun Hamilton came to LA to help launch the movie, jump around town and celebrate.

We were all psyched when the film played to a sold-out crowd and got a standing ovation!

After Nationals, a bunch of other jumpers that the film follows to Worlds came out: Tori (from Jump Company USA, formerly River Valley Skippers), Kelsy, Calli, Lee & Shane (Summerwind Skippers from Boise, Idaho), and Jessica, Christine, Sarah & Katie (Jumping for Joy in Sta Clara, California).

JUMP! screened a total of 4 times in big ole movie theaters – one of these was an educational screening for which the festival bused in 600+ local students. The Q&A was hysterical…girls were asking for Nick’s phone number! The jumpers did performances and workshops everyday for almost a week. People loved it…. Kids were asking for their autographs.

The folks who run the LA Film Festival were fantastic. The programmers Rachel & Doug got hooked on jump rope – they came out to watch every show.

What a great start….

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Helen,

We saw your movie last Saturday, and though we're way too old to join in, we'd sure like to! Your documentary showed zest and verve; the story entertained and enthralled. We were delighted to hear from you and your jumpers after the show.

Our best congratulations on a Gondo Job Well Done!

Your fans,

Bill and Wendy Fairbanks
(formerly of) Venice High School

Anonymous said...

Helen, I wanted to reiterate, in the cold light of dawn, that your film is wonderful! So much fun and so exciting, full of amazing stuff. Your editing was masterful. At the screening it was a thrill to see the audience response. . . . in short, great work!

-Jon Wiener