Women of the World: Diana Means, The LA Women's International Film Festival & The Empowerment Project

LA WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL,

THE EMPOWERMENT PROJECT & 
DRESS FOR SUCCESS WORLDWIDE-WEST

Each Wednesday I try to highlight extraordinary women in my 'Women of the World' segment of the KRUSING AMERICA blog. I shared the Press Release this last month but I wanted to highlight it again…

This past month, I had the pleasure to meet the founder of the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, Diana Means and also attend the opening night of the festival.  In it's eleventh year, the festival is produced by Diana Means and The Alliance of Women Filmmakers, an organization established to empower women filmmakers to create diverse roles for women as well as increase exposure for women causes.  Each March the festival showcases narratives, documentaries, animation and student short films made by women. In addition to providing women a platform to share their unique stories, the festival serves as a fundraiser for women causes.

                  For more information about Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival:

CLICK here for  LA WOMEN'S FESTIVAL

This years opening night film showcased: 

The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things 

Driving over 7,000 miles from Los Angeles to New York over the course of 30 days, this documentary directed by Sarah Moshman spotlights 17 positive and powerful women leaders across a variety of lifestyles and industries. Created for women by women, they challenge the audience to ask themselves, 'What would you do if you weren't afraid to fail?'

Watch The EMPOWERMENT PROJECT Trailer

The festival teamed up with Dress for Success Worldwide – West, a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to promoting the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools needed to help women thrive in work and in life.

CLICK to learn more about DRESS FOR SUCCESS- WEST

Below are a few pictures of my time at the festival, Diana Means, The Empowerment Project Q&A and  fantastic actress, Julia Parker who attended with me. 

For more information about Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival

www.lawomensfest.com

Tuesday Travel: Smithfield, VA...

Visit Virginia with KRUSING AMERICA 

and live the dream! 

We would love to know where you would choose to live if you were KRUSING AMERICA.

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Thanks for watching. 

Linda Kruse

Media Monday: Watch KRUSING AMERICA Episode 2: Virginia

Sneak Peak:

Scroll to the bottom to watch the 
Virginia Episode of Krusing America

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creating quality content – we'd love to feature them.

Thank You! 
Linda

Sunday Saying: "In life the things that go wrong are often the very things that lead to other things going right" – Arianna Huffington

Hangs next to my desk….

"In life the things that go wrong are often the very things that lead to other things going right."
Arianna Huffington

Please feel free to send any sayings or inspirational quotes my way.

CONNECT with us, JOIN the conversation and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel.

Thanks for reading.

Linda

NO LETTING GO: Feature Film helping to develop educational curriculum for children with mental health issues. Blog by Consulting Producer Linda Kruse

PRESS RELEASE for Blog

NO LETTING GO: The latest feature film from multi-award winning Director Jonathan Bucari 

(Blog by NO LETTING GO Consulting Producer Linda Kruse )

Eighteen month ago I had the pleasure of consulting on what would soon become the multi-award winning short film: ILLNESS. Within it's first year ILLNESS won 27 nominations winning 7 awards. 

It's a familiar story for millions of families who's children suffer with mental health issues. It's an invisible illness that often leaves families feeling alone and in silence. And It seemed the tag line for ILLNESS: "Short Film with a Big Message", resonated with a lot of viewers. 

The overwhelming interest in the short film and the subject matter led us to produce the feature length version titled NO LETTING GO. Inspired by the short, the feature film is based on a true life events and takes heartfelt and candid look at the shattering effects of childhood mental illness. NO LETTING GO is a powerful film about love, strength and the resiliency of the human spirit. 

The cast includes Cheryl Allison, who reprised the lead role from ILLNESS, won Best Actress Southampton International Film Festival, UK, Richard Burgi of "The Sentinel" and  "Desperate Housewives", Kathy Najimy from "Sister Act 1 and 2", Alysia Reiner of "Orange is the New Black" and "How to Get Away with Murder", and Gabriel Rush of "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Budapest Hotel", just to name a few.  

In NO LETTING GO, a family’s world starts to unravel as their middle son, Tim, becomes increasingly fragile and difficult to handle. Tim’s painful struggle to cope with everyday life takes its toll on his parents and the well being of his brothers. Anger, resentment and conflict arise as Tim’s parents struggle to understand and find answers for their son’s increasingly erratic behavior and emotional instability.

NO LETTING GO honestly portrays the devastating effects of childhood mental health disorders and lets families know they are not alone. Since the beginning the creators of ILLNESS and NO LETTING GO have focused on developing an educational  curriculum 
for schools everywhere. 

Scheduled to hit film festivals in 2015 with a release following. Most recently, NO LETTING GO was submitted to the Cannes Film Festival in several categories and is waiting announcement for it's premiere date. 

To learn more about NO LETTING GO visit www.nolettinggomovie.com 

For Tax Deductible Donation please visit

  CLICK HERE for Indiegogo Campaign

Contributions will support the continued efforts in developing an educational curriculum 

for middle and high school programs.

Friday Foodie: What's in the Fridge

What I made for lunch today - while clearing out the fridge:)

Add whatever you like to cold pasta with dressing and technically it's a salad!

• Leftover Cold Pasta
• Chopped spicy salami
• Sliced Swiss Cheese
• Finely Chopped Parsley
• Cut red, yellow and orange peppers
• Add Olive Oil, Wine Vinegar, salt and paper to taste

Toss and Serve. Yummy!
Feel free to add comments and let me know 
if you have any recipes you'd like me to feature here at Krusing America. 

Enjoy.

Foodography

Photo by Linda Kruse 

Throwback Thursday: Recycling my closet

I had the pleasure of working on a crazy fun shoot this weekend that was a total Throwback! From the 1950's to the future and crazier still I had all the outfits!

It started with me wearing my grandmothers dress and apron from the 1950's with the milkman delivering milk. From a rocker dude pizza guy delivering pizza in the 1980's, to a paper boy smacking me in the head each morning with the paper and finally being attached by a drone - I had too much fun and very funny pictures to prove it.  Reminded me of all the crazy things my brothers and their friends would do. Soo much fun! Life has not been dull nor was this shoot! Great job guys! Thanks for including me in the antics. 

Watch the behind the scenes clips:

Chasing and being chased by a drone!

In the end…it all works out!  (One handed catch while drinking coffee, my brothers taught me well!)

Thanks for reading. 

xo

Linda