Donald L. Vasicek

Blog

  • 25 Tribal Libraries to Catlog Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre Film

    For Immediate Release

    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films+, LLC
    303-903-2103

    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    http://www.sandcreekmassacre.net

    “42 U. S. Tribal Libraries To Catalog Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

    Centennial, CO – June 27, 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, is being catalogued into 25 U. S. Tribal Libraries.

    “The Sand Creek Massacre” won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma along with the prestigious Golden Drover Award and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Gathering Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre, which resulted in the murder, rapes, and mutilations of over 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the 1st and 3rd Colorado Cavalries on November 29, 1864.

    Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. By archiving it into tribal libraries, it will expand a badly needed accessibility to all American Indian Tribes in order to neutralize racism and give American youth, at the least, an opportunity to interact with other cultures with open minds. Without that, certain American cultures will continue to erode and eventually die.”

    The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States in addition to various Native American organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix and screened in over 100 venues in the United States, Europe, Thailand, and Sweden. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

    Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids in transition with special needs.

    # # #
    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films+, LLC
    The Zen of Writing
    http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    303-903-2103

  • Writing/Screenwriting Scenes

    by
    Donald L. Vasicek

    Award-Winning Writer Donald L. Vasicek – Jenny's Lake – Grand Teton Park

    When writing scripts, always think of movies and how
    they transition from scene-to-scene. This is imperative.
    This approach gives you more of a director’s
    “eye.” In turn, the visual dynamics of writing visually
    become more prominent the more you do it.
    This gives a rhythm and movement to the entire script
    that binds it more tightly together. It also helps you
    avoid writer’s block. “Stepping” back and
    looking at a scene that you’ve written with the idea of
    looking at it like it is already a movie, when your mind
    is blocking out, will improve your visual writing dynamics
    and the scene. Step into the scene and become your
    character.

    For example, you have a character coming into a room.
    How should you write that? Step back and look at it
    as though you’re watching a movie? Think of a movie,
    or movies that you have seen with this kind of action
    with respect to the genre and kind of character you’re
    writing. How is the character coming into the room done?

    You will find that most good movies always cut-to-the-chase
    with each scene. They do not mess around with details
    that hinder the movement of the movie. If a character has
    to be thrown into the room because she is a prisoner of
    terrorists, then, throw her into the room. If a character simply
    has to walk into the room, then, cut-to-the-chase. Get her
    into the room as quickly as possible. Just make sure that
    it is consistent with the rhythm and movement of the entire
    story/script/movie/character.

    For example, a character in your story is mild-mannered.
    She loves daisies and brandy. She reads James Joyce.
    She is a certified public accountant for a large accounting
    firm. Everything she does has a place. How would you write
    her entering a room? She would enter the room with
    grace. She would smoothly take in everything in the
    room. She would then proceed with the reason she is
    entering the room.

    Making scenes sparkle like this enhances the screenwriter’s
    ability to excel in their craft.

    Donald L. Vasicek
    The Zen of Writing
    http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    303-903-2103

  • “Smithsonian Institution Libraries Catalog Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

    For Immediate Release

    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films+, LLC
    303-903-2103

    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    http://www.sandcreekmassacre.net

    “Smithsonian Institution Libraries Catalogue Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

    Centennial, CO – June 10, 2011 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, has been catalogued into Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

    “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film, has been catalogued into Smithsonian Institution Libraries. You can find the record if you go to http://www.sil.si.edu/. In the search box type, sand creek massacre. It is on page 3 in the catalog. The film won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Gathering Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre. Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. It helps neutralize ignorance and fear of cultures without the exposure to which most Americans have grown accustomed. It is indeed an honor to have the film in Smithsonian Institution Libraries.”

    The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States in addition to various Native American organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix and screened in over 100 venues in the United States, Europe, Thailand, and Sweden. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

    Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids with special needs in transition.

    The Sand Creek Massacre Movie Poster

    # # #
    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films+, LLC
    The Zen of Writing
    http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    303-903-2103