In Medias Res

Everyone's seen the film about the successful artist, the famous artist. But I don't think anyone looks at the so called 'failed artist.'

Known as the "salad bowl of world" for it's production of lettuce, broccoli, and many other crops, The Salinas Valley is home to thousands of Mexican American and immigrant families with strong ties to agriculture. About 30-miles into the valley is the small agricultural town of Greenfield, where journalist Damian Trujillo's family first settled in 1972 after coming to the United States from Mexico, through the Bracero Program. Growing up in Greenfield, Damian worked in the fields starting when he was in seventh grade. Both his father and mother struggled to support their family of ten while laboring in the fields. Damian shared a room with his five brothers growing up in a small home in Greenfield. He dreamed of doing anything other than working in the fields like his parents and older siblings. Despite knowing little about higher education, Damian was the first in his family to graduate from college. His older brothers and sisters sacrificed their education to work to make money for their family. This 30-minute documentary will follow the life of Damian Trujillo: from farmworker in the Salinas Valley to San Jose State University where Damian first realized he had an accent while working at the college radio station. Finally, we follow his path to the NBC newsroom.

TAP OR DIE is the story of Derick Grant, an African American choreographer determined to revive tap dance or die trying. In an epic struggle to legitimize an art that peaked in the era of big bands, Grant is holding auditions to bring his hip, rousing show 'Imagine Tap' to Broadway. But a legacy of racism and the pitfalls of commerce are tripping him up. Will the show go on? Mentored by giants of the genre, Grant says tap has given him a voice: 'It's given people a reason to pay attention to me.' Indeed, this man's feet have something to say. With original music and performances by the world's best hoofers, Tap or Die makes clear why Broadway should throw down the wood.

The film uncovers the life of the Baroness Elsa Von Freytag Loringhoven, a marginalized artist of the early 1900s