Let Em Know!

I hope everyone who reads this will consider taking part; that's what it's all about!

Danny

What Can Be

is a film currently in pre-production which explores new possibilities for humanity through the lens of spoken word.

What Can Be

asks why can’t we have a world without borders, without war, without hunger or homelessness?

What Can Be

is centered on the words and performances of a multi-racial crew of Los Angeles poets. But this isn’t a “poetry film” which features the reading of spoken word pieces. What Can Be drips poetry but it’s also filled with live action, animation, computer graphics, conversation, and the re-enactment of a drive-by shooting. Locations range from Compton to Beverly Hills to the U.S./Mexico border.

What Can Be

moves beyond a culture of protest to promote a culture of vision.

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As soon as the film is done, we will share it with you and the world by giving it away via every type of distribution, every type of media platform imaginable. Meanwhile, please contact us to share with us your vision of what you think the future for humanity can be like. Just a note, a poem, a blog post, an MP3, whatever. It’s all good. We will post a selection of these responses (with full credit of course) on our MySpace page and/or on our web site. Hit us up at gobywhatcanbe@aol.com.

If you would like to be on our email list so that we can keep you up to date on the progress of What Can Be, just send an email with “Subscribe” in the subject line to gobywhatcanbe@aol.com.



“Don’t by what is, go by what can be”


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What Can Be Productions
Los Angeles

*****

What Can Be is…

Directed by Drew Amavisca… Actor in several indie films and the in house voiceover artist for the Honda Center in Anaheim…standup comedian with several improv projects…guitarist in Yayojones for ten years, a band which was an opening act for George Lopez and whose last performance was before a sellout arena crowd at the Arrowhead Pond…roadie for Helmet, Diane Schurr, and Ministry…director of three upcoming feature films.


Written by Lee Ballinger…. Author of Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Oral History…freelance writer whose work has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to Inside Sports…associate editor of Rock & Rap Confidential (www.rockrap.com)…Vietnam veteran.

Featured poets in the film are:

Besskepp (Cory Cofer): Appeared on HBO Def Poetry Jam, BET’s The Way You Do It, and Fox TV (Hip Hop Theater Festival)…hosts the weekly poetry/music extravaganza, A Mic and Dim Lights, in Pomona CA. Dim Lights, now in its eighth year, is the premier open mic in California…Besskepp’s play, Homeless Beatboxer, has twice been featured at REDCAT Theater at Disney Hall in Los Angeles…father of three, Besskepp has twice been named Teacher of the Year and been featured in the Los Angeles Times for bringing hip-hop and poetry into the classroom…Besskepp’s first book, a collection of short stories entitled Up the Street Around the Corner, will be published in August…follow-up CD to 2003’s Bluz Langwij drops this fall (myspace.com/Besskepp).

Mike the Poet (Mike Sonksen): Co-founder of the legendary Poets of the Round Table…author of I Am Alive In Los Angeles (his CD of the same name is a great mix of spoken word and music)…performs in art galleries, schools, and jails and teaches poetry at View Park Prep Charter High School…also works as a tour guide and knows more about LA than anyone you’ve ever met…currently at work on
Underground Heroes, a book of profiles and essays, and on a second CD (myspace.com/mikethepoet).

Metaphysicz (Reuben Chavaris): 21-year-old native of La Puente is one of California’s most intriguing new poetic voices….has featured at Whittier College, Urbane Culture Lounge, Lionlike Mind State, Rock A Mole Festival…host of We The People open mic…currently working on a book and a CD.

Luis Rodriguez: The best-selling Latino author in the U.S….award-winning poet… creator of Tia Chucha Press, which has published over 40 books in the past 20 years…owner of Tia Chucha’s Café Cultural in Los Angeles…travels the world speaking and performing…co-founder of Youth Struggling for Survival, which works to uplift both gang and non-gang youth (www.luisjrodriguez.com)

“I met a fella named Luis Rodriguez, a writer and a poet, who had a cultural center in Los Angeles. These are the people trying to fill the holes that should long ago have been filled by government. Those are the people who give me optimism. They are relentlessly hopeful, and they face it all on the front lines on a daily basis.”—Bruce Springsteen in Rolling Stone, November 15, 2007
Present tense / Future perfect