"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.

Lawrence MA helps Haiti

The "Trust & Believe" charity single for Haiti is now available at http://www.lawtownvoice.com! The song was written by Lawrence electronica/dance music artist Bylli Crayone, and members of LawTown Voice.

I'm creating the We-Are-The-World-inspired music video and making-of video for this "note"worthy project uniting Lawrence rappers and singers for a common good.

Also some great bridges built on the music side of MILLIES.

A catchy little tune for a great cause.

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.