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A Bird of the Air Based on the novel THE LOOP by Joe Coomer Meet the Filmmaker Q&A Session Following the Film |
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The Arts Council, Inc. and Gainesville State College are proud to present “A Bird of the Air,” with Director Margaret Whitton and Producer Steven Tabakin as part of the South Arts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers at the Smithgall Arts Center on Thursday, September 15, 2011. To kick off the independent film series, we invite you to join us for a dinner before the film, provided by The Holbrook of Lake Lanier Catering. Ticket price includes the movie, dinner and the Meet the Filmmaker Q&A session
following the film screening.
SYNOPSIS
“A Bird of the Air” is a comic romance based on Joe Coomerʼs highly acclaimed novel, “The Loop,” about a bird that leads an assuming pair to each other.
Lyman (Jackson Hurst) is a lovable loner whose job patrolling highways at night, aiding stranded motorists and injured animals, keeps him at a distance from other people. When an extremely rare and highly talkative parrot flies into his home one day, Lyman needs to figure out where the bird comes from and tries to decode its often cryptic and highly literary utterances. Enlisting the aid of Fiona (Rachel Nichols), a sexy librarian who is as interested in Lymanʼs secrets as she is in the birdʼs, the pair set off on a search that doesnʼt always lead them where they think theyʼre going, but which gradually leads them to one another.
MEET THE FILMMAKERS
Following a screening of their feature film, “A Bird of the Air,” Whitton, Tabakin, and the audience will engage in a discussion about the film and their work as filmmakers.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Margaret Whitton, Director/Producer
Margaret Whitton (Director) makes her feature film directing debut with A Bird of the Air. She began her career as an actor working on and off Broadway, on television and in many feature films.
In the theater she has worked on new plays by Caryl Churchill, Richard Nelson, John Guare, Wallace Shawn and Jeffrey Hatcher. Roles in Shakespeare include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet; Ophelia in Hamlet; Miranda in The Tempest; Lady Percy in Henry IV; and Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor. She has also played roles in Chekhov and Moliere; as Raul Julia's willing victim, Lucy, in Dracula; and the title role in Camille. Favorite theater directors include Arthur Penn, Max Stafford-Clark, Les Waters and Howard Davies.
Favorite film roles include Aunt Vera in The Secret of My Succe$$ (dir. Herbert Ross); Rachel Phelps in Major League 1 & 2; Molly in 9 1⁄2 Weeks (dir. Adrian Lyne); and Catherine in Man Without a Face (dir. Mel Gibson). Her favorite television role is Louisa in the international series A Fine Romance, and she has starred in the series Hometown, Good and Evil, several made-for-television movies, and has recorded many audio books.
Her theater directing credits include Marina Carr’s Portia Coughlin and By the Bog of Cats; The Public Theater’s production of Dirty Tricks, starring Judith Ivey as Martha Mitchell; and John Walsh's The Dinosaur Within as part of The Public Theater's New Work Now! series. She has written about baseball for publications including The New York Times, The Village Voice, New York Newsday, The National, and Hank O’Neal’s forthcoming book about Ty Cobb. Her garden designs in collaboration with Lew French and Phyllis McMorrow have been featured in national magazines and the book Stone by Design.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Steven Tabakin, Producer
Steven Tabakin (Producer) was George C. Wolfe’s Associate Producer at The Public Theater from 2003-2005, responsible for the development and production of projects, including Dirty Tricks, starring Judith Ivey as Martha Mitchell; This Is How It Goes by Neil LaBute with Amada Peet, Ben Stiller and Jeffrey Wright; Tim Robbins’ Embedded; Well by Lisa Kron; Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change; The Story by Tracey Scott Wilson; Michael John LaChiusa’s See What I Wanna See; The Public Sings: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, and Stew's Passing Strange. 
In 2004 he produced Bob Balaban’s film adaptation of The Exonerated for Court TV, starring Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Delroy Lindo Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, and David Brown, Jr. From 1999-2003 he produced original drama programs for PBS, including A.R. Gurney’s Far East; Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles; Beckett on Film (2002 Peabody Award); and live broadcasts of The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Women. Documentary credits include Tantalus: Behind the Mask; The Topdog Diaries; and Changing Stages, Richard Eyre’s six-part series on the theatre of the 20th Century. He also supervised Alan King’s College of Comedy series and the London filming of Kiss Me, Kate for Great Performances. At The Public Theater from 1994-98 he worked on Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk; The Wild Party; Saturn Returns; On the Town; The Tempest; Steve Martin’s WASP; and solo shows by Andrea Martin, Marga Gomez and Irene Worth. He was producing associate of the New Lyric Festival in Northampton, Massachusetts, premiering Adam Guettel’s Myth’s & Hymns.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE "A BIRD OF THE AIR" WEBSITE
Catered dinner for this event provided by:
The 2011-2012 Southern Circuit is a program of South Arts. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and local partner organizations. Special support for Southern Circuit was provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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