John Korty
Dorothy Morrison, Tracy Nelson, Annie Sampson and Angela Strehli, all highly regarded vocalists in their own rights, have joined forces as The Blues Broads. Their self-titled debut CD/DVD set includes both familiar songs associated with their respective august careers, as well as newly written material that underscores the creative might of these four remarkable women. Reflecting more than two centuries of collective experience in blues, country, gospel and rock, this awesome aggregation is nothing less than a roots music "supergroup" of the first order.
The restoration of a Steinway becomes a lyrical meditation on following the heart's true passion in this beautifully crafted documentary. A wonderful Bay Area tale, the film traces the path of a 1927 grand piano owned by a music teacher who bequeathed her treasure to her alma mater, UC Berkeley, with the stipulation that the university ultimately reward it to "a worthy student of piano." Before it can be given away, however, it must be restored, and here the essence of the story unfolds, as Korty follows the piano's rebirth under the masterful care of Oakland's venerable Callahan Piano Service. - from IMDB
The Making of feature for the George Lucas movie 'THX 1138'.
A fascinating chronicle of the birth and rise of the radically different independent studio founded by director Francis Ford Coppola.
All his life, teenager Daniel Huffman and his grandma have dreamed of Daniel playing college football. After Daniel is cut from his high school team, his grandmother's encouragement and coaching get him a second chance at that dream. He works hard and becomes so good his coach believes he has a shot at making a top-ranked college team. But now Daniel faces a heart-wrenching choice that could force him to forever give up his dream.
The story of the rescue and recovery of an Oklahoma City bomb survivor.
Television movie updating Charles Dickens' story, "A Christmas Carol." Businesswoman Ebenita Scrooge treats her employees and customers poorly. She has no time for Christmas or the holiday spirit. On Christmas Eve, she is visited by the ghost of her dead partner Maude Marley and then by other spirits who remind her of her happy past and chronicle the bitterness and greed that have taken over her life. At last, she is shown her own death and funeral. No one is there to mourn her. This revelation shocks her into opening her heart and her checkbook.
Geri Riordan is adopted, half-Vietnamese, eighteen, and a piano prodigy. She also feels as if she doesn't know who she really is, and when her adopted father dies, she begins to search for her biological father.
Breaking out of prison with a child in her womb and a dream of a normal existence, Arlene Holsclaw (Rebecca De Mornay) resolves to get a job and lead a good, Christian life. But the ghosts from her past -- including an ex-boyfriend (Rob Knepper) who wants to pimp her out and a sadistic mother (Ellen Burstyn) who plots to take away Arlene's baby -- have other plans. This made-for-TV drama is based on Marsha Norman's off-Broadway play.
This is the story of Morris Dees, a civil rights lawyer, who's being threatened, so he has to have an armed bodyguard.
This is the touching and true story of an iron-willed Georgia boy who accepts the burden of a man on his young shoulders. Fifteen-year-old Terry O'Kelly (Rick Shroder) is fatherless, and his remaining parent, his mother, is dying. Anguished, the soon-to-be orphan makes a surprising grown-up decision: Terry promises to care for his six brothers and vows to keep the family together - no matter what. Steadfast to his word, Terry takes on the struggles of parenthood, which yields some difficult and unpleasant surprises.
After Diane Martin is raped by a hitchhiker and becomes pregnant, she must face the pious faculty at the school where she teaches who condemn her "loose morals" and ostracize her. Based on a true story.
A highly critical documentary about the history of Asian-American actresses in Hollywood. Features interviews with pioneering Asian-American actresses and clips from classic films such as "The Thief of Bagdad", "The Good Earth", and "The World of Suzie Wong", interspersed with Asian/feminist sociological commentary.
A small girl vents her rage at the world, frustrated by the problems of everyday life, until her younger brother offers her part of his orange.
The story of the Scotts, a young couple whose first child is born dangerously early, weighing less than a pound and a half. As they endure the anguish and struggle to help keep their baby alive, they discover what real love, courage and triumph are in the face of tragedy.
True story of a blind couple who fought the authorities to acquire the right to adopt a child.
A television movie set in Rockville, Georgia, in 1972. Major Kendall Laird, a Survival Assistance Officer, arrives in this sleepy little town with the body of Lieutenant Dwyte Johnson, a Vietnam war hero. It's Laird's job to help Johnson's parents bury their son. But since the dead hero was black, his parents are turned away by the white racists who maintain the town's "all-white" cemetery.
Alexandra McKay (Elizabeth Montgomery) is a woman who's been blind for twenty years and is afraid that people will just try to get close to her because of her condition, so she ultimately stays to herself and her trusty guide dog, Emma. When Richard Chapman (Barry Newman) enters her life, a romance develops and McKay begins to let the outside world in to her private world. The prospect of an operation arises that will restore McKay's eyesight, but the fear of what it will do to her relationship with Chapman and the concern over the fate of her guide dog weigh heavily upon her decision to do the procedure.
The Towani family civilian shuttlecraft crashes on the forest moon of Endor. The four Towani's are separated. Jermitt and Catarine, the mother and father are captured by the giant Gorax, and Mace and Cindel, the son and daughter, are missing when they are captured. The next day, the Ewok Deej is looking for his two sons when they find Cindel all alone in the shuttle (Mace and Cindel were looking for the transmitter to send a distress call), when Mace appears with his emergency blaster. Eventually, the four-year old Cindel is able to convince the teenage Mace that the Ewoks are nice. Then, the Ewoks and the Towani's go on an adventure to find the elder Towanis.
Two wannabe heroes and their friends must stop a madman from giving everyone nightmares.
An unusual love triangle unfolds in this thriller starring Jane Seymour and Gerald McRaney. A happily married couple moves into an old house, but their happiness is marred when the wife (Seymour) becomes the object of someone else's affection. What's even more troubling is that the new admirer is a ghost -- the lover of the house's former owner.
A PBS documentary from around 1982 about San Francisco bay area animators. It features Marcy Page, Jeff Hale, Sally Cruikshank, Bud Luckey, Rudy Zamora, John Korty, Vince Collins, Drew Takahashi
A divorced woman (Michael Learned) moves to San Francisco from Omaha with her young son. She's trying to re-build her life after her divorce, she leaves her son with his grandmother. She joins the choir of a local church. She has some issues with the choirmaster (John Houseman) who tries to get the choir into shape before the Christmas concert. The choir overcome some personal setbacks as they all deal with personal issues. Zoe (Michael Learned) thinks of quitting the choir all together when push comes to shove.
Oliver Barrett IV is emotionally devastated by the death of his wife Jenny, and, while he tries to lose himself in his work as a lawyer, the long hours don't ease his pain, especially when he finds that his leftist views conflict with those of the senior partners at the firm. Eventually, Oliver's inconsolable grief begins to alienate those around him, until he finds new love with Marcie Bonwit, the wealthy and beautiful heiress to the Bonwit Teller fortune. Despite his affection for her, Oliver finds it difficult to leave the memory of Jenny behind, which causes major problems in their relationship..
Dorothy and Bob DeBolt's tale of the struggles and joys involved in their 19 adopted children, many of who are physically disabled war orphans.
A bailbondsman falls in love with a pretty gypsy who's been accused of attempted murder.
Fact based drama about one of the internment camps used by the American military during World War II to detain some 100,000 Japanese Americans (most of them U.S. born) following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.
This drama is based on a John Updike story and is narrated by the author. It is the tale of an angst-filled hero attending music school.
A purple/red figure plays around with a typewriter, until he stubs his toe with the letter T on it.
A jealous husband uses a college reunion to take revenge on his wife's former lover, who he is convinced is still having an affair with her.
A 14-year-old girl in late 1960's America is inadvertently sucked into an odyssey of sex and drugs. She eventually seeks help.
A young woman is assigned to teach school in a secluded valley whose inhabitants appear stern, secretive and anti-pleasure. Following two children who disappear to play in the woods, she finds that this is actually a community of extraterrestrials with mild paranormal powers who are attempting to repress and deny their heritage for fear of arousing prejudice and hatred in their human neighbors. Based on a series of novels by the late Zenna Henderson.
A fascinating insight into the life and works of photographer Imogen Cunningham. Coming into public attention around 1910, she was celebrated in the late sixties through awards, honorary degrees and exhibitions. Her photos are looked at from three focal points: nature, portraits and figure studies.
A man with no illusions marries a young woman who is brimming with idealism. She attempts to remake her husband with her overflowing optimism, but the marriage is severely strained when her first pregnancy ends in miscarriage. They separate, and the woman has a number of affairs, but eventually she returns to her husband. They have a daughter, then settle down to a life that is a blend of the husband's worldliness and the wife's idealism.
Pacifist plea sponsored by a Quaker group. To a voice-over commentary describing the arms race, Language of Faces presents a montage of human faces and activities that culminates in a silent vigil at the Pentagon.
