Future Filmmakers, Heed the Call!

“Out of the Box”

with Mary Anne Street

Now that Miley has brought Tybee to the movie scene people are abuzz with ideas. John Potter and Eric Thomas were sitting around Huc-a-poos, throwing out ideas about movies they could make, and finally they decided to take action rather than just talk about it. They officially set up the 1st Annual Savannah Beach Film Festival and Awards Show taking place on Saturday, October 2, 2010. They also decided that they wanted the money to go to a good cause, and they chose the Savannah Beach/Oceanside Nursing Home. The proceeds will go toward getting a gazebo built on the Home grounds.

John Potter used to work on movies in California, mostly for Universal Studios, and has some experience about their production and promotion.

“Now that film making is relatively easy with computers and such, I thought it might be feasible for locals to just do their own movies,” Potter said. “In fact, I have a couple of scripts ready and will do two films myself; one an animated cartoon and one a foreign ‘artsy’ film.” Potter said that one person is doing a surfing movie about surfers on Tybee, another is doing one about a bank heist, and yet another is doing one about a lighthouse.

Award-winning actress Kathy Bates is scheduled to come, and Potter is contacting several other stars and TV personalities to see if they will appear. Potter said that many famous people like to see independent films and are interested in attending small film festivals, so he thinks we’ll get some response. So far he’s sent an invitation to David Letterman, among others, and believes it’s just interesting enough to get Letterman to appear or send his sidekick. “Letterman likes these kinds of things, so we’re hopeful,” he said.

Huc-a-poos is the central location for information, tickets and questions about the films.

If you think that you are the next Spielberg, you can prove it by making a short film and entering it. Proceeds will go to the Oceanside/Savannah Beach Nursing Homes, and who knows, a Hollywood producer may see your work and whisk you away to Tinsel Town.

The rules are easy.

• No Porn! Keep it PG-13.
• Start Date is April 1st and all films must be in by September 1st. The awards show is Saturday, October 2nd at 8:00 at Huc-A-Poos. (The Tybee Times will soon have more on this.)
• Film length is not to exceed 20 min.
• Fill out the application form. There is a $20.00 entry fee for each production (includes 2 free seats).
• Festival tickets are $5.00. Reserve your seats now!
• The judges have the right to limit the number of films entered and it’s first come, first served. In the event your film won’t or can’t be screened, a refund will be issued.
• There will be movie stars and production people attending.
• Audience members will vote for the best films and who knows, you may win a “Pabstie” award.
• There will be Pabst Blue Ribbon blue carpet interviews.
• We are here to make movies, help out some of our neighbors and have a fun time.
• Application forms, tickets and information available at Huc-A-Poos, 912.786.5900.
• Festival Seat Tickets can be purchased anytime at the Ticket-Tron Vending Machine in Huc-A-Poos.

Until next month,
Mary Anne

Mary Anne lives on Tybee with husband The Tybee Handyman. Contact her at: MaryAnne@tybeevacationremtals.com

Out of the Box

Tybee, we did you proud!

Many entities came together to make the Porcelain Painter’s event a smash success. In case you forgot or didn’t know, we had 160 guests come onto Tybee (many of them teachers of porcelain painting in their communities) to attend 4-day classes on various methods concerning porcelain hand-building and painting. We also had 12 world-class teachers from such places as Argentina, Brazil, Portugal and cities in the U.S. to participate in the GA Seminars by the Sea Porcelain Art School.  One teacher is said to be THE finest portrait painter on porcelain IN THE WORLD—here on Tybee!

If you’ve never seen this work, you should take a look on line. It is absolutely fabulous and the skills and artistic expression these people put into their art is amazing. The door prize piece the World Organization gave us for our drawing is exquisite—so many commented that it looked like a photograph, but it wasn’t. It was hand painted on porcelain and fired by Manuel Filipe Pereira, one of the more colorful teachers Filipe is founder of the International Centre of Porcelain Painters in Venezuela (1985), and collaborator of the Bolivian Association of Porcelain Painting. He was delightful and made us all laugh; and his art …..Wow!

This was the 3rd year for the event, and as it’s been growing steadily, the organizers asked the Tybee Arts Association (TAA) for help. We wanted to make the artists feel welcome, so they would want to come back to Tybee so we started planning our part in the Seminars last fall. Many other Tybee entities came together for this as well.

We decided to give the artists tote bags filled with goodies.  Lindsay Fruchtl, Tybee Tourism Marketing Coordinator got us most of the Tybee totes (wonderful black bags with lime-green writing on them); and Sandy’s By the Shore and Tybee Vacation Rentals filled in with the rest. Greg Stoeffler of the DeSoto Hotel gave us delightful bookmarks for the totes; and several shops contributed coupons for discounts.

The TAA wanted to give each guest a “bit of Tybee” so we had a “turtle- making” evening where we made mall turtles. Rebecca Rice, a TAA leader, fired and painted them, and they were part of the welcome bags. We assembled small bags which held sand, a few shells, and a sign that said, “Take a little of Tybee with you.” We also became volunteers to help the director, Ms. Suzanne Painter with details and things she needed.

The Tybee Island Light House opened on Tuesday—their normal day off—to let the people see one of our star attractions, and Linda Odom of Tales of the South and myself did a free tour of Savannah and Tybee for the guests.

A highlight of the ten-day event was a welcome dinner held Friday, Feb. 26th at Stayce Jarrell’s home (she’s the owner of Oceanfront Cottages and most of the guests were staying in her properties). Her home showcased some of Tybee’s finest views of the marsh and water, and we witnessed a breath-taking sunset.

What a way to show people Tybee’s natural beauty. Lannie Jarrell cooked a low-country boil—a southern “special” tradition, other southern fare, and we wowed the people with our southern cuisine. The Tybee Arts Association brought delectable desserts, wine and beverages, and served as hosts and hostesses for the special guests. I was present, and had more than just a few people come up to me and say how welcome they felt, and how wonderful Tybee was.

Evidently, Ms. Painter waits years for some of the premier teachers to come to teach. We now have several of them keeping dates open because they love Tybee. One teacher canceled an appearance in Japan for next year, just because he loves Tybee so much, and wants to be here again for this event.

Another highlight was when we presented Ms. Suzanne Painter with a Proclamation from Mayor Buelterman. Ms. Painter has brought much business to Tybee in the last three years, and is helping to secure Tybee as an art destination, something the TAA is striving for.  She is delightful, full of life and vigor, never tires, always smiles, and works long, hard hours on these Seminars. She fought hard to get the Seminars going here because she felt it was so wonderful, and the TAA felt she deserved recognition.

Rebecca Rice and Chantel Morton, Tybee’s Better Hometown Coordinator, wrote a terrific proclamation and our Mayor attended the dinner and was charming in presenting the award. Ms. Painter was very pleased and so were her colleagues and peers. (She is quite a fine porcelain painter herself.)

The Porcelain Painters gave us four scholarships to award as we saw fit. We gave two to the Savannah Arts Academy, and Ms. Ang and Ms. Taylor accepted the “hand-building classes”—a thrill for the young, gifted high school artists. We offered the other two scholarships to SCAD, but as it was the end of the semester, and students really couldn’t afford four days off at that critical time, we instead offered them to TAA members. Ms. Alice Gerber and Mary Lou Vandenberg were the recipients. It was great that the Tybee Arts Association could reach out into the community and include Savannah Arts as well as our own artists.

The Poreclain Painters’ Art School opened its doors on Sunday February 28th to allow the public a peek at the actual classes, the art pieces, and to watch the masters at work. This was also a fund-raiser for TAA to help build our coffers for future art events and classes. The event was a smashing  success and many were able to see the heart and soul of porcelain art; plus, there was a drawing for two fabulous pieces: one a porcelain piece done by Manuel Filipe Pereira, and a piece done by TAA artist Rebecca Rice.

All around, this year’s Georgia Seminars by the Sea Porcelain Painter’s Retreat was amazing; we had these fine, WORLD-class artists on our island, and our community worked TOGETHER to make them feel welcomed and appreciated—a win-win for everybody.

Mary Anne

Mary Anne Street is Concierge for Tybee Vacation Rentals. She may be contacted for comments at: tybeeconcierge@tybeevacationremtals.com

Out Of The Box

So, the holidays are over and we’re into the cold, dead months of winter. I’m sure many of you love February, but I don’t. After all of the hub-bub of the holidays, Jan. and Feb. can seem boring and dreary.

Here are some ways to add a little sparkle and have something constructive to do.

Coming up on Tybee:

Feb. 12th & 13th enjoy Tybee’s Mardi Gras. There will be masks, parades, beads, live entertainment, and a ball. Visit the website to get the scoop. This SURELY won’t be boring.

Feb. 28th from 2-5 the Tybee Arts Association will offer a studio tour to see the work of the world renowned teachers and their students involved in the GA Seminars by the Sea Porcelain Painters Retreat on Tybee. You’ll get to watch the art in action, see how the art is done, see finished pieces, AND “get a peek at some of the most beautiful houses and condos on Tybee,” all for $8 ($5 if you are a Tybee Arts Association member). Your ticket will also include a drawing for 2 door prizes – a finished piece of porcelain art and an art piece by Rebecca Rice. Call 912.786.5920 for tickets and information.

March 3rd from 7:00-9:00 p.m. the Tybee Arts Association will present a Showcase of the finished art from the first round of classes of the Porcelain Painters. This is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Come and view this fantastic art. Call 912.786.5920 for information.

I went to the YMCA on Tybee recently to start my workouts again (resolutions and all that). I hadn’t been in a while, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Y looks fantastic. It has freshly painted blue and white walls, the windows have new treatments, there’s a new floor, new equipment and they knocked out a few walls to make the place bigger. It’s cleaner, brighter, bigger and better! I understand that soon they’ll have a new rowing machine, too. I’ve belonged to several other Y’s in my lifetime and I’ll hold Tybee’s up to any of them. It’s pleasant and friendlier than any I’ve been in, and some of my long-term friendships that I’ve formed on Tybee began at this Y. If you haven’t been, give it a try.  You can get healthy, meet some people, learn new things, and generally feel better. It’s the best little deal on Tybee.

Cooking, Anyone?
Love food? Love eating it, smelling it and cooking it? Take a cooking class. Several places offer classes ranging from learning how to cook a really good pizza, to romantic Italian, to classes for kids. Here’s where to get information:

Kitchens On The Square – 38 Barnard St. – 912.236.0100 – they have a Lunch and Learn series which includes Southern cooking, Savannah cooking and Lowcountry cooking, and wonderful classes called Ladies Night Out. Classes also include a 10% discount on items purchased in their great store on the day of the class, and free shipping for tourists. Classes are about 90 min. each.

Kitchen Outfitters – 5500 Abercorn St. (Twelve Oaks Shopping Center) – 912.356.1117 – classes have names such as Savory Fish Supper for a Savannah Winter’s Evening, Nick’s Famous Pizza Class and Tropical Warmth for a Winter’s Evening. Damon Fowler, the food writer for the Savannah Morning News and author of several cookbooks also teaches several classes. Wines are almost always included. Most classes are 6:30-9:00 pm, and they also give a 10% discount on items purchased included. Most classes are 6:30-9:00 pm, and they also give a 10% discount on items purchased in their wonderful store on the day of the class.

Chef Joe Randall-Savannah Cooking School – 5409 Waters Ave. – 912.303.0409 – Chef Joe’s mission is to bring the great treasures of the coastal region as close to peoples’ homes as their own kitchens. His motto: put a little south in your mouth. Learn how to cook Savannah Red Rice, Sea Island Smothered Shrimp with Stone-ground Grits in classes with such titles as Creole Feast, the Cuban Dinner and Treasures from the Sea. He also serves wines. Most classes are from 6:30-9:30.

Culinary Cottage – cooking classes for children – 5702 Skidaway Rd. – 912.692.0105 – these “hands-on” cooking classes allow kids to explore new flavors and express their creativity. The classes venture into applying basics of chemistry, applying math and reading comprehension, and exploring nature’s bounty. “Culinary Essentials for Kids” is the current cooking series. They also offer cooking summer camps, parties and special programs with names such as Growing Gourmets (for ages 3-5) and Young Chefs. Spice up your February and try one of the above; better yet, try them all!
Mary Anne

You may contact Mary Anne at tybeeconcierge@tybeevacationremtals.com

Out of The Box

There’s a great little gem of a book called The Customer Comes Second  by Hal Rosenbluth.  At first glance you think the guy is absolutely nutty to be writing a book with a title like this, but if you read the book, you realize that he really has the key to it all. His premise is that if you treat your employees well, great service will follow. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Happy employees have greater enthusiasm, a good attitude, give the extra effort, contribute extra in a pinch; AND they provide great customer service because they believe in and love their company. As Rosenbluth puts it, “put your people first and watch them kick butt.”

Part of the reason why I absolutely love my job is that my employers are terrific.  They provide small “perks” to us all to oil the gears and build relationship equity.  We sometimes have pizza for no reason; we often get invited to attend the Tourism Council and Chamber events that require payments and tickets; they treat us to lunches and dinners at some of our best area restaurants. (Today TVR is providing a cake for an employee with a birthday.) They send us to conventions that provide new ideas and tools to help us accomplish great service. We have the best equipment and the newest systems available to do our jobs. For our end of the summer event, we all went bowling — what a hoot and we had a great time. These are the things that make for reasons to want to come to work and to give it our all.

Don’t get me wrong, we still get frustrated, get irritated, get mad at times, but the relationship equity that is built up helps us through those trying times, and we emerge still strong.

How do you treat your employees? Do you appreciate them? Do you find ways to “oil the gears?” Just like Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, giving a little extra throughout the year, treating your employees with kindness, and valuing their contributions make employees want to do a good job and go the extra mile.

Ah, but it takes money! Indeed it does, but think of it as an investment in service; by making your employees a priority and treating them well, you invest in your company, just in a little different way, and I guarantee that the money you spend this way will be far more effective than some of the other ways you invest your funds.

And speaking of service, there is another gem of a book called Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct  by Pier Massimo Forni.  Forni felt that the world was becoming uncivil, populated with rude people; people who were short, uncaring, not courteous, having a poor attitude, and so forth, and he believed something had to be done to try and correct the situation, so he wrote the book. He says that as a professor, he not only wanted to give lectures on literature, but he also wanted to teach students to be kind human beings.  He launched the book six years ago, and it has changed his life. The book has sold 100,000 copies and has become the focus of seminars and reading groups in communities nationwide. Several schools have made the subject of civility part of their curriculum. The goal is to provide a civil climate in the schools that then will carry on into students’ lives. Inner-city students and prisoners have also been part of forums for discussions and outreach projects in civility.

Forni’s rules, which fit on a bookmark, make civility seem attainable. In short, they are: “Pay attention,” “Speak kindly,” and “Respect others’ opinions.” (There are 22 others, but these sum them all up.) The author himself hands out magnets that say, “Choose Civility” to remind people that when they are dealing with a challenging customer, it’s good to think and act “civilly.”

That’s great advice. We all are faced with what I call, “poopy people” and our knee jerk response is to get defensive and get our ire up. That, of course, will do nothing but produce a bunch of “poopiness.” Behavior is catching, and if you keep your cool, and practice civility, chances are their demeanor will settle, and they will become at least a little more civil.

Of course, there’s no magic fairy dust to MAKE people civil—if they choose to be uncivil you can’t change it, but you can choose how YOU react, and Forni asks that you choose civility. Great words for this new year.

Until next time,
Mary Anne

Mary Anne Street lives on Tybee Island with her husband, The Tybee Handyman, and works as concierge for Tybee Vacation Rentals.  For more information about vacation rentals or othe other wonderful things Tybee has to offer, contact Mary Anne at tybeeconcierge@tybeevacationremtals.com