"Short Pay! All Out!" The Bread & Roses Strike began 100 years ago today!

Hard to believe this day is here, but today kicks off a yearlong celebration marking the centennial of the Strike that inspired MILLIES.

If you're not following us on Facebook or Twitter by now, here's your chance.

MILLIES has a fab display at the impressive exhibit housed in the Everett Mill in Lawrence, MA, where it all started. The Lawrence History Center was generous enough to invite MILLIES to participate in this 2012 celebration, which we hope will result in many more people knowing about this film project and eventually helping us in our dogged pursuit of major funding.

If we learned anything from those women who shut their machines and walked out for two months to fight for equality, it's that old cliche that good things are worth the wait and the fight. And so we persist...

"Short Pay! All out!" - The Bread & Roses Centennial begins...

Another Lawrence mill reduced to rubble

Deja view: another mill in Lawrence gets demolished. It was a great building but had been badly abused, neglected and controversied. But as we know, that hardly ever means it cannot be saved with the right vision and backing. Alas, the Merrimac Paper Mill, 1895-2011, joins the ranks of Lost Lawrence:

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x1281101732/Demolition-under-way-at-Merrimac-Paper-building

A great quote by Nature Conservancy President John Sawhill: "In the end, our society will be defined not by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy."

Olympia Dukakis is a MILLIE!!!!!

Yes, kids, you read that right. Olympia Dukakis has submitted a Letter of Interest to play a MILLIE in the film! It is a huge moment for MILLIES to get this generous gesture from a phenomenal talent like Olympia Dukakis. We are excited, we are inspired, we are motivated more than ever to get this film funded.

We Need Your Help!

Read the full Olympia story on our Headlines page.

Meanwhile, put on your Millies t-shirts: Yes, I'm A Millie. And so is Olympia!!!

Fires kill more mills (and more fantastic locations)

This awesome little mill with its own cool smokestack and unique buildings on the Merrimack River, has gone up in flames so many times, it's a wonder it's still standing. But someone keeps plaguing these mills with their gasoline and matchbooks, and the Merrimack Paper Company is not long for this world. It is sure to be razed soon, and it would be yet another skyline-affecting loss along the river. A hit to the city, and a hit to our film. It helps to storyboard shots in easily-erasable pencil, because more mill buildings have disappeared in the past few years than I can bear. What better way to get rid of an abandoned mill building than to light it up, blame the homeless, and make way for more generic stucco office space? Or more likely another fast food, pharmacy, or gasoline chain. It's unbelievable to watch, and all this amidst serious controversy over the lack of proper fire protection in town. If the people aren't safe because there aren't enough firefighters, you can bet the mills must be shaking in their bricks.

Hopefully there will still be a mill in Lawrence by the time we're ready to roll cameras. Capturing a former industrial city powerhouse is a bit hard to do when no stack is left standing. People do not realize the treasures we are losing, and more often than not it's due to shortsighted human intention and not an act of nature. We are our own worst enemy.

City Says Merrimack Paper Co Buildings Need to be Torn Down

Lawrence pushing for quick demo of fire-ravaged mill

It's the same old trick: Let the mill rot, act surprised when it catches fire, proclaim the only way to move forward is to demolish it entirely, secretly rejoice, Repeat.

Where's Lorre? e-news update

The latest e-news bulletin is posted now at:
http://www.milliesmovie.com/2010_0729_millies_news.pdf

Happy reading!

Imploding History

As you may know, we were not the only ones filming the implosion of the two historic smokestacks back in October of 2009 for our MILLIES promotional video. Though we were about the only ones who didn't think of it as such a fun and fantastic event.

If you haven't seen our version of the video, you can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhjIBd2Sh8

The Learning Channel's tv reality show "The Imploders" was also filming, with a nice fat budget, helicopter shots, multi-camera set ups, etc. The result of that shoot aired on TLC last night, and I found it utterly painful to watch. It is not that buildings never have to come down, it's just the way there is such a casual celebration of the BOOM, especially regarding historic places, that rubs me wrong. It was like watching little boys kill a wounded animal after kicking it around a bit and letting it suffer. Putting it out of its misery is one thing, but taking such joy in the whole process is disconcerting to me. Can't help it, just the way I see things. It may be the Learning Channel, but it seems to me we are not at all learning the lessons we really need to learn.

Mo' Money - from Cultural Council

Believe me, it's a good thing when an indie filmmaker gets a call that says, "Yes, We Believe in Your Project. Here's More Money." Those calls are not just rare, they're pretty much nonexistent. So it was a happy day to get news from the Lawrence Cultural Council, a branch of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, that MILLIES was selected to receive additional funding on top of its original grant award from a couple months ago!

Every bit helps. Buy a t-shirt, buy a photo print, or just make a donation at http://www.milliesmovie.com/millie.html.

A big thanks to the Cultural Council for putting their money where their Millies are.

MILLIES director helms music video for Haiti

Lorre Fritchy will helm a behind-the-scenes/music video for the charity single, "Trust & Believe" by LawTown Voice, a group of diverse musical talents uniting to benefit Haiti.

Find out more at:
http://www.LawTownVoice.com

Keeping an ear out with these Lawrence rappers, singers and hip-hop artists to hear if there may be a sound or two for the MILLIES soundtrack in the group.

MILLIES photo exhibit @ Wichit - EXTENDED

It's the return of "Lincoln" ;-)

"The Assassination of Lincoln: Teardown of a Century-Old Mill" - a photographic exhibit in support of MILLIES - is back on the brick. This photographic exhibit by filmmaker Lorre Fritchy depicts the dismantling of the 108-year-old Lincoln Foods mill building in Lawrence, Mass. throughout its 2008 demise. A portion of the takedown was also filmed for Fritchy's movie MILLIES (http://www.MilliesMovie.com). Witness the haunting beauty and rubbled remains of history as Lincoln falls, brick by brick.

A selection of photos from this exhibit are now on EXTENDED display indefinitely on the fantastic mill walls at Wichit - http://www.wichitsandwich.com.

Just hung the pieces this morning, and then continued working on MILLIES script rewrites at this wonderful WiFi spot. It has been a lovely day of watching people visit the cafe and admire the pics at a steady pace. Not just a polite walk-past, either, but a close-up analysis of each piece, even before getting their coffee! The best response was one woman who walked through the door, stopped in her tracks and just gasped at the pictures. She was blown away by them. Now THAT kind of immediate, gut reaction gives me the warm fuzzies.

Thanks to Rose and Chris at Wichit for hanging me in "the brick gallery." Great sandwiches and a funky ambiance, can't ask for more.

To view a selection of prints from the exhibit, visit: http://www.milliesmovie.com/lincoln_photos.html.

Fade In to Fade Out

Serious heavy lifting on MILLIES script rewrites. Flying above the story to see the holes, areas that work or don't work, and how this whole surreal story is coming together. I do not fear the red pen, I embrace it! :-)

$10 Tees holiday sale

50% off official MILLIES t-shirts for online orders only, through December 17th! http://www.milliesmovie.com/movie_tee.html

Radio interview Fri. Oct. 30 at 9am

With women being an integral part in the success of the historic Bread & Roses Strike that inspired MILLIES, it is appropriate on many levels for Writer/Director Lorre Fritchy to appear on WUML radio's Thinking Out Loud program "Feminist Edition" with host Charlotte Crockford.

Lorre will be interviewed Friday, October 30th in the 9 o'clock hour on 91.5FM in the Boston/Lowell area or you may listen live at:

http://www.wuml.org/webcast.php

Come on, tune us in. You know Lorre's fun on the radio.

Film Snobs catch Lorre

A great Millies interview with Lorre by Nic Baisely from the fun new film site, Film Snobbery - http://filmsnobbery.com/2009/10/18/lorre-fritchy-interview/

They're not snobs at all, they just love film and they're not afraid to show it.


http://www.MilliesMovie.com

Thank you, Bread & Roses

Many thanks to the steady stream of people who visited our MILLIES booth at the sunny Bread & Roses Festival on Labor Day! We earned more fans, recruited more film Extras, and signed up more e-news subscribers. Everyone is excited to see this finished film. No one more than us, believe me! All your encouraging words and steadfast belief in this story really do go a long way toward keeping us motivated.



Many people asked about my upcoming appearance at the Northern Essex Community College speaker series November 8th. The topic is "MILLIES: BRINGING PAST AND PRESENT TO THE SILVER SCREEN." I'm sorry they did not give us more pamphlets to hand out, but I will re-post the information as the time nears. It is:

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2-4pm
White Fund Room @ Northern Essex Community College
78-82 Amesbury Street
Fournier Education Center
Lawrence MA

Meanwhile, just a note of thanks to those who came out to this fantastic festival on a gorgeous day. It matters that you were there.

~Lorre

Added YouTube Assassination of Lincoln video clip

Oh to have a full-time Web/Net/Digital staff! In any case, the Assassination of Lincoln video clip has been added to the Millies Headlines page at:

http://www.milliesmovie.com/headlines.html

if you haven't had the chance to see the video yet on my YouTube site.

There are more mills and smokestacks coming down here very soon, unfortunately. but we haven't the time or the budget to capture the sad sight. Just as well, it's hard enough to watch once, and we got what we needed from that. Including a handful of bricks from the original building, courtesy of the awesome contractors doing the dismantling, who were happy to oblige my strange request. Won't it be a lovely little layer to have our actors holding the original, century-old bricks as props? Of course it will! "Thinking ahead" is an understatement in my brain...

Lorre is one of the Nicest Filmmakers Ever

Other than my name spelled incorrectly (a common mistake, admittedly), this is a decent article covering the fun Berklee College of Music Film & Networking event:

http://bostonist.com/2009/04/12/music_for_film_at_berklee_mason_daring.php

Most hilarious was the designation as the nicest filmmakers ever. We panelists had all worked with composer Jeanine Cowen on past projects (which is why we were at Berklee with her in the first place) and apparently gushed about the experiences. Hey, we get enough negativity in this business, we don't mind ac-centuating the positive once in a while.

Lorre on "Lunch To Go" radio 4/2/09

Tune in to the sure-to-be-amusing antics of the Lunch To Go radio show, broadcasting live from Salvatore's in Lawrence, MA on 980AM if you're local, or http://www.980wcap.com if you're virtual. The show broadcasts from 12-1pm EST on Thursday, April 2, 2009.

The host, "Wireless" Mike Flynn jokingly calls the show "Shackett's Hideaway" for co-host Ray Shackett and because the setup is reminiscent of Fernando's Hideaway from the Saturday Night Live skit. Should be great fun talking about MILLIES, the Lowell Film Festival, upcoming events and stuff that makes us look Mahvelous.
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Lorre on WUML radio March 26, 2009

Tune in on the radio or online for Lorre's appearance on "The Long View" broadcasting live at 10:10am on WUML radio 91.5FM in Lowell, Massachusetts or online at http://www.thelongview.net.
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Lorre opening Lowell Film Festival April 3, 2009!

Lorre will be the Guest Speaker for the kickoff reception of the Lowell Film Festival, April 3, 2009 at the Revolving Museum, 22 Shattuck Street in Lowell MA from 6-7:30pm. She will talk about her theory that as soon as grass is visible in the yard, it means it's going to snow again. Okay, really she'll be talking about MILLIES, of course, the process and the patience in this pursuit. She will also show the existing MILLIES videos to an enthusiastic, film-loving crowd. Should be a fantastic and intimate evening in a gorgeous mill city.

For more information on the film festival itself, visit:
http://www.lowellfilms.org

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Behind The Scenes Pics

Added some pictures to the Millies page on Facebook, sometimes those pics are different than pictures on the official Millies web site so do check in on Facebook if you want to see some new shots.

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