Nine years ago today, a few minutes before 9am, I was sitting in my office at CBS, on West 57th Street, watching a live feed of a fire in one of the tower’s of the World Trade Center. We heard a wayward, small plane had accidentally crashed. Minutes later, bored with the live picture, a second aircraft slammed the other tower. All suddenly became clear. I called my family to make sure they were home or headed back to our place on West 81st. I then ran up to tenth avenue and gazed downtown at the smoke already billowing up. The city was teeming with people and traffic, as usual, but it seemed different. I noticed that the normally busy airspace over the island was quiet, with an occasional streak of fighter jets. The streets were now filled with a mixture of people hurrying home and lines waiting to use the already obsolete, urban kiosk, the pay phone. It had already occurred. New York City was irrevocably changed.
We all know the rest. On this beautiful September day, the towers fell. The world was transformed. I was at a rooftop publicity party the night before, underneath a tent shielding us from rain and wind, lightening and thunder of a Biblical proportion so intense, we were all brought inside. We awoke the next morning to a brilliant blue sky, littered with thick, puffy clouds and clarity in the air. Later in the afternoon of 9/11, a cloud of ash made it’s way uptown covering everything. People were covered. People who had been close as the buildings tumbled.
As I breathed, the reality of the ash pierced my mind, heart and spirit. I haven’t been the same since. Neither has New York. Neither has the world. It has all changed, as it always does, no matter what we say or do. I have peace in that. I have peace in the One who never changes. The One who is constant, who loves us in spite of how we waver. In spite of our variables. In spite of ourselves. At the close of this day, I close as the Apostle Paul often opened his letters,
Grace and Peace……
Partnership to Offer Management and Promotional Services to Authors and Artists
(Nashville, Tenn.) Cinematic storytellers and writers of story-centric nonfiction now have the option of a full-service management company with experience and relationships in both publishing and motion picture industries. By partnering with The Sam Hill Group, whose owner, Emmy Award-winning director Steve Feldman, has over three decades of experience in the motion-picture industry, Glass Road’s expansion into management uniquely serves creators of stories that work across the media spectrum.
“For years, the refrain from cinematic novelists has remained constant,” said Rebeca Seitz, President of Glass Road. “They want a management company that can take their stories into the motion picture industry, produce those stories into movies or television, and continue to grow their presence in the publishing industry. This alliance can do that– and more.”
That “more” involves packaging promotional services into agent representation for every management client. Glass Road management clients will be provided full publicity and marketing campaigns for each product, as well as ongoing branding campaigns for the time between product launches.
“We know that publicity and marketing budgets are tight these days,” Seitz said, “So we created a way to keep those services on the table while removing the need for the publishing house or author to fund them outright.”
In addition to development consideration for every project, The Sam Hill Group will enhance promotional services with author videos and book trailers. Some projects may then be produced in-house or shopped to alternate production houses.
“Our early work with Glass Road has revealed fantastic production opportunities,” said Feldman. “We’re excited to forge a formal partnership that allows us to bring a new perspective to movies and television in this country—bringing excellently-crafted stories to life on screen while maintaining the integrity of the worldview within them and the superiority of cinematic skill that should be applied to all Christian product.”
Based in Nashville, TN, The Sam Hill Group develops and produces video and film content for a wide variety of audiences and platforms. Each project undertaken must resonate with truth and benefit audiences with a deeper understanding of the relationship and responsibility we all have to each other. Emmy Award-winning TV director Steve Feldman serves as its founder and president. He has worked with talent as varied as Bill Maher, Linda Ellerbee, Bill Nye, and Elmo on networks including PBS, CBS, Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, MSNBC and Discovery. His credits include Sesame Street, the ‘Nick News, Politically Incorrect, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, LazyTown and the debut musical theatre production for Walden Media, Rock Odyssey. In addition, he has produced and directed documentaries on prison life for MSNBC and is currently developing a documentary feature about the life of David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam”. Learn more at www.samhillgroup.com.
Glass Road Public Relations began as the only publicity firm in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview. Since its inception in 2005, GRPR has expanded to serve storytellers working across the media spectrum, from books to motion pictures and music. It has been honored to represent books and authors from every CBA publisher in the U.S., from best-sellers to debut novelists. By securing coverage in outlets like The Today Show, National Public Radio, USA Today, Southern Living, and thousands of local outlets, GRPR’s reputation for successfully raising awareness among the general population for stories written from a Christian worldview is proven. GRPR is also a pioneer in the use of social media, having been the first firm to create “blog tours” which it still conducts today. GRPR was founded by Rebeca Seitz, who cut her publicity teeth by launching the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers in 2004. She is also a five-time published novelist whose research into the buying behavior of Christian fiction consumers has been published in trade journals and presented at the International Christian Retail Show. Learn more at www.glassroadpr.com.
“Whatever we do to show our children we love them, nothing can replace times when we give them our complete attention. I believe that the children who have learned that there will be such times for them are the ones who are least likely to demand it and to compete for it.” — Mr. Rogers
After thousands of hours of work over several years, Bible Mesh launches this June. Biblemesh.com offers the first comprehensive online platform designed to help people achieve biblical literacy. I’m thrilled and honored to be working on this project with my Sam Hill colleague, Ryan McNeary, leading the marketing effort. Check it out!
Visited Chattanooga this week with the fam. Took a countryside train ride that culminated in a tour of one of the old “yards.” The big feature was the turntable switch of a train from one track direction to another, but I was more captivated by hangin’ out next to these relics of transportation. Little boy Steven returned while I was running my 12 year old daughter through the details of an old coal burnin’ engine. What a blast. The romance of these behemoths never changes. No matter how dirty and noisy they get. I’ve always loved the passing terrain, whizzing by, comfortable, dreamy, with no wheel to steer, no direction, no traffic lights with no particular place to go, and not caring.
Saw Shutter Island last night and noticed my old Beantown friend Ken Cheeseman in the movie. I remember Ken playing Jesus in Godspell at a small theater in Salem several years ago. He played a few scenes as “Mr. Rogers”. Very clever stuff. The lighthouse sequence was filmed in Nahant, a spectacular spot on the Massachusetts north shore. Not enough sustained tension in the movie but the atmosphere was pretty oppressive. I need to see more films in 2010. More later….gotta go search out Kenny on Facebook.