Bursting with the hilarious stories of people who have struggled to maintain order at a time when the central part of their lives was churning with chaos.

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Civilized.

Refined.

Urbane.

Dignified.

Even-tempered.

Well mannered.

Appropriate behavior maintains social order.

Willpower maintains appropriate behavior.

Sometimes, willpower just isn’t enough.

Filmed throughout New York City, WHAT’S UP is bursting with the hilarious stories of people who have struggled to maintain order at a time when the central part of their lives was churning with chaos.

WHAT’S UP tackles an unusual — though universal — subject. While we’ve all been unfortunate enough to find ourselves in similar circumstances, the storytellers in WHAT’S UP manage to find a unique humor in their shared predicament.

Intestinal fortitude will never be viewed in quite the same way again.

FILM FESTIVAL SCREENING HISTORY

South By Southwest 
Dallas Video Festival
Athens International Film and Video Festival (Jury Award, Best Documentary)
Carolina Film and Video Festival (Special Jury Award)
Los Angeles ShortsFest
Tacoma Tortured Artist Film Festival (Award Winner)
New Orleans Film and Video Festival
Culture Under Fire Film Festival (Best of Festival)
Bochumer Video Festival
MicroCineFest
Long Island International Film Festival
Ohio Independent Film Festival
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition Arts Festival
Hollywood Shorts Film Showcase

Production Personnel

Writer/Director
Chris Clements
Chris Clements is a writer/director whose films have been screened and won awards throughout the world.

After a wide-ranging domestic and international festival run, Chris’ debut feature film was licensed for international television broadcast and home video distribution throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. FREE FLOATERS details the exploits of a dysfunctional young couple, a Chevy van full of VCRs and a crazed mission to reorder the stock of video stores across the continental United States.

Chris has written and directed a wide variety of award winning short films, including: ARENA, DIGITAL GREMLIN FOR WINDOWS, PINK SLIPS, HUMAN-X-IS-TENSE and HYPNOSTASIS. His documentaries include X-PHILES and WHAT’S UP. Chris’ other writings include novels, stage and screenplays. He is currently completing a new novel, THE ARTIFACTS OF MANIC D.

Producer
Julie Goldman 
Julie Goldman has over 15 years of experience as a producer specializing in raising financing for documentary films. Goldman is a founding partner of Cactus Three, a New York based company that executive produces high-end documentary films and non-fiction programming. Cactus Three’s feature documentaries have screened at the most prestigious film festivals around the world, including Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Tribeca and London.

Most recently, Goldman executive produced Doubletime (Discovery Films); SXSW Audience Award winner Cat Dancers (HBO Documentary Films); Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother (A&E IndieFilms/Channel 4), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; and 2007 Sundance Audience Award winner In the Shadow of the Moon, which was released in September 2007 by THINKFilm.

Director/Producer
Michelle Giancola
Michelle Giancola has worked in the film and television industry since 1986. She started her career in the programming division of WNYE, where she developed programs for both radio and television, including “Crackdown on Crack”, one of television’s first investigative reports on the crack epidemic. Since 1988, Michelle has worked as a producer of documentaries, public service announcements, short films, music videos and commercials for such clients as Budweiser, McDonalds, Giga Pets, Advil and Chemical Bank. She produced the independent feature film, FREE FLOATERS and the documentaries WHAT’S UP and X-PHILES and REFLECTIONS OF IDENTITY, a documentary about Arab American women and their assimilation into American culture, which she also directed. Michelle produced Steven Bozga’s debut feature film LOVE LIKE BLOOD and they are continuing their collaboration on a new feature currently in development.

 

Director/Producer
Maria Bowen
Maria Bowen is in charge of the acclaimed concert series at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall. Previously, Maria had been the Associate Producer of Lincoln Center’s highly successful summer music and dance series, Midsummer Night Swing for four seasons. Through Central Films, she has co-directed WHAT’S UP, an award-winning documentary, and associate produced the independent feature, FREE FLOATERS. Maria has also directed numerous filmed stage productions and music videos — in the United States and England. Maria produced and co-directed (with Chris Clements) X-PHILES, a documentary on the cult-like fandom surrounding the television show, The X-Files. She is slated to begin post-production of JUGGLING AT THE BARRICADES, a documentary about the first international juggling festival which took place in Tiblisi, Georgia.
 

Director’s statement

“You wouldn’t think that a few ads in NY newspapers would draw such a diverse group of stories and story tellers…all ages, all manner of circumstance from scuba to sky diving and everything between.”
 

A CENTRAL FILMS PRODUCTION

A film by

MARIA BOWEN
CHRIS CLEMENTS
MICHELLE GIANCOLA
JULIE GOLDMAN

Featuring(in order of appearance)

WHITNEY CHARLES FISHER
LOUIS LUCCA
WILLIAM CLEMENTS
WILLIAM THOMAS
KIMBERLY PALITZ
ANTHONY BOZZA
KATE ARTHUR
VIVIAN RIVAS
ANTHONY MALDONADO
JOAN RATER (& LUCY)
DONALD RODRIGUEZ
GEORGENE SMITH
JULIO LABOY
EBEN STILES
MARY TESORIERO
GABRIELA D’ANGELO
DR. ETHAN FRIED
JILL CHAMBERLAIN
JOHN CLEMENTS
ROBERTA LIPTON
YEZDA MAHFOUZ
TIM CANTY

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for your stories

 

 

DR. LUNE
HOLLY NEAR
GERARD MAJOR
ROBERT ADAM HALPERN
DAVID DUPONT
PATRICIA LLOYD
ERICH KUERSTEN
JENNIFER CLEMENTS
DOLORES CLEMENTS
SUSAN GLATZER
STEVEN BOZGA
FRANK VOLPE
JANET RICHMAN
DARYL CISCO
MARY ELIZABETH HELBERG

 

 

 

 

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Off-Line Edit - Morningside Movies
On-Line Edit - Arc Pictures
Titles designed by - Dave Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEVEN BOZGA
LUIS ARGUETA
VIVIAN RIVAS
MAGALI CAPI
LARRY LOCKE
DAVE JONES
F.T. MATLOCK
ERIC FENNELL - ARTSPHERE
TECHNISPHERE/MICHAEL FISHMAN
STEADI SYSTEMS/MICHAEL LAM
GREENHOUSE CAFE
RONNIE D.
STUDIO FILM & TAPE
JIM SPACE
THE STAFF OF SKY DIVE EAST

COPYRIGHT 1997 CENTRAL FILMS