The Art of Power Movie Blog

The Art of Power Red Carpet Premiere in Ann Arbor, MI!

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:35:00 -0400

What: The Art of Power Red Carpet Premiere!

When: Nov. 20th, 8:00pm (VIP reception begins at 6:30pm) at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI.

How: Get yourself some tickets!

Purchase regular tickets at http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3266945

Purchase VIP tickets at http://artofpowervip.weebly.com

VIP tickets include entrance to the VIP reception, film screening, and after-party; plus appetizers and drinks, a chance to mingle with cast/crew, and an opportunity to chat with featured guest J. Gibson of the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker.

Film/Media Startup First Element Entertainment Creates Jobs Downtown

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:17:56 -0400

Film/Media Startup First Element Entertainment Creates Jobs Downtown

Disgraced Politician Named CNN Anchor

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:48:31 -0400

Think failed politicians can’t get far? Spitzer proves they can make a comeback — in a big way. Starting on Oct. 4, Eliot Spitzer will host a CNN show with Kathleen Parker called Parker Spitzer.

Learn Your Way Around Wesley's City

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:21:00 -0400

The Art of Power follows characters all over the city of Washington, D.C.

Learn your way around the city with this D.C. neighborhood guide. Then, head over to the AOP website to follow Wesley’s steps across the city.

America's Most Corrupt Politicians

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:36:25 -0400

In The Art of Power, Senator Charles Kaile is portrayed as corrupt, both politically and morally. But do you know who the most corrupt real-life members of Congress are?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) put together a list.

See if any of them represent YOU!

The Fight Over Food Deserts: Corporate America Smacks Its Way Down

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:02:08 -0400

The Fight Over Food Deserts: Corporate America Smacks Its Way Down:

Seventeen percent of American jobs are in the food system, and those jobs are among the lowest paid in the country. If food industry leaders are serious about improving food access, they need to start by tackling food insecurity where it starts — with sub-poverty wages. No amount of fresh produce will cure America’s food and health gap unless it comes with a commitment to fight its root causes — poverty and inequality. To really fight food deserts, the Obamas should start by supporting living wages for workers and support the food businesses that create true economic development in the communities that need it most.

One of the many challenges that The Art of Power’s Wesley...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:48:00 -0400

One of the many challenges that The Art of Power’s Wesley faces is the lack of fresh produce available in his urban neighborhood. Like millions of Americans, Wesley lives in a food desert: a vast, densely populated community with few stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

Watch the above video from TIME about one Chicago grocer that’s trying to turn a food desert into a food oasis.

A High-Class Escort Who Used Her Earnings to Get a PhD

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:51:00 -0400

A High-Class Escort Who Used Her Earnings to Get a PhD:

Belle de Jour was leading a double life as Dr. Brooke Magnanti, who recently outed herself last year.

Was Belle real? Was she, in fact, a man with an exceptionally feverish imagination? After all, her sensational diary, which started life in 2003 as an award-winning blog and inspired a glossy TV drama starring Billie Piper, was considered by some to be almost too good to be true.
Well, now the truth is out and it is almost stranger than fiction. For not only is Belle de Jour real, but it emerges she is a high-flying, 33-year-old academic by the name of Dr Brooke Magnanti.
A petite, American-born blonde, she has a PhD from Sheffield University in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science, and works at the Bristol Initiative for Research for Child Health, researching the effects of exposure to pesticides on foetuses and infants.

But she’s now revealed that, as an impoverished student, she worked from 2003 to late 2004 as a £300-an-hour prostitute through an escort agency, pocketing a third of the fee for her two hour sessions with clients, whom she met two or three times a week.

Related reading: Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s Ashley Dupre talks to Diane Sawyer.

Paying for College with Prostitution?

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:03:00 -0400

One of the major themes in The Art of Power movie deals with a young woman’s struggle to pay for college. It’s a concept familiar to many of us who have had to pay our own ways through school. With college costs increasing by the year, some students are understandably getting desperate. Some women are even turning to prostitution, just like our female lead in The Art of Power.

This story out of Knoxville, TN, highlights some of the reasons why women see prostitution as an answer to their financial woes:

The 19-year-old Roane State Community College student shows up for an interview at Panera Bread on Cumberland Avenue looking like countless other college kids: red hair in braids, a small piercing in one nostril, a “PEACE” button on her coat.

Mary Jayne sips her coffee and explains that she’s a sophomore in the massage therapy program.

Unlike many of her peers, however, she’s already found a part-time career that earns her an hourly rate comparable to that charged by the highest-paid attorneys, accountants and physicians.

Mary Jayne is a professional escort - she provides her services at the rate of $350 an hour - and an occasional adult film actress.

And check out this article from the Times Online explaining why females are increasingly turning to prostitution.

Now, weigh in! Have you had trouble paying for school? Still in debt from school loans? What do you think about people who prostitute themselves as a means to an end?

Visit the Art of Power website for more on the film!

More Facts About Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" in "The Art of Power"

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:22:00 -0400

Screenwriter Adrian Walker was inspired to add pieces of the book to the script after he saw a copy in a bookstore one day while he was writing the screenplay. He says, “I thought it might be an interesting angle on the script, and started to slowly add the pieces of what are now in the film.”
Many business schools use the book as teaching guides these days, and he realized how the book could be used by the main character, Wesley, to achieve his goals.
It was difficult to pick which pieces of the book to use where in the film. Adrian tried to make sure that the themes from certain chapters in the book mirrored what was going on or about to happen in the story.
On our official movie poster, “The Art of War” is written down the right-hand side in Mandarin.

Learn more about “The Art of War” by checking out...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:37:40 -0400

Learn more about “The Art of War” by checking out this clip from The History Channel’s show on the Sun Tzu’s text.

The Art of Power and The Art of War

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:05:27 -0400

You may have realized that one important aspect of our film is The Art of War, but you may not know much about this ancient text.

The Art of War is a Chinese military treatise that was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC during the Spring and Autumn period. Compose of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and still one of the basic texts. It is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. It has had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics, and beyond.

Sun Tzu suggested the importance of positioning in strategy and that position is affected by objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective opinions of competitive actors in that environment. He thought that strategy was not planning in the sense of working through an established list, but rather that it requires quick and appropriate responses to changing conditions. Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations.

[From Wikipedia.]

The newest trailer for The Art of Power.

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:54:21 -0400

The newest trailer for The Art of Power.

Check out this article on The Art of Power in the latest...

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:47:00 -0400

Check out this article on The Art of Power in the latest Michigan Movie Magazine!

Get tickets for The Art of Power screening at DWIFF tomorrow night!

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:38:19 -0400

Get tickets for The Art of Power screening at DWIFF tomorrow night!

Check out the new trailer for The Art of Power!

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:46:46 -0400

Check out the new trailer for The Art of Power!

“This industry is a collaborative effort. Anything you do, you can’t do by...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:50:41 -0400

“This industry is a collaborative effort. Anything you do, you can’t do by yourself,” says Michigan actor Scott Norman, who stars in “The Art of Power,” one of the features screening at the festival. He says he is looking forward to networking at the event.

“These festivals give us a chance to make our work public, to invite casting directors and people in the industry to come see the film,” says Norman, who plays a loner seeking revenge on a U.S. senator in “Power.” “With something like this, everybody gets a chance to shine.”

Read more in today’s article in the Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100624/ENT02/6240306/1034/ent/Film-fest-stars-Michigan-talent#ixzz0rmJgYu78

Don't forget to check out The Art of Power in the newest issue of Michigan Movie Magazine!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:46:56 -0400

Don't forget to check out The Art of Power in the newest issue of Michigan Movie Magazine!

"The more the industry thrives, the better for all of us. There are so many discussion points about..."

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:24:58 -0400

“

The more the industry thrives, the better for all of us. There are so many discussion points about the entertainment industry coming to Michigan, but in general, I think the state needs to continue to have a long-term focus, and implement things that build a new industry in the state. This includes helping build home-grown companies as well as bringing in expertise from other areas.

For us, the best part about shooting this film in Michigan was the relationships we were able to build with other local businesses and people involved in the film.

”

- Adrian Walker, Producer

In this great article about Oscar and Grammy winner A.R. Rahman, Rahman talks about his achievements...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:32:42 -0400

In this great article about Oscar and Grammy winner A.R. Rahman, Rahman talks about his achievements and says, “apart from winning the Grammy and the Oscar, the real success lies in the success of my music school. The school brings together all the experiments one can find and create in the field of music including audio engineering.”

In fact, the music directors of The Art of Power (AVS Ramana Rao, Ashwin Subramaniam, and Jerry Silvester Vincent) are students of the KM Conservatory and have brought their vision, shaped by what they’ve learned at Rahman’s school, to the film.