As you've seen on DT, I've covered lots of alumni who like singing covers of songs.

A particular favorite from lots of Penn alumni over the past year has been doing Adele covers.

After the jump, listen to two alumni covering Adele's "Someone Like You" (and they're really good!)

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Another great video from Matt Johnson (C'99, Mask and Wig, Phi Kappa Sigma) ...and on this Thanksgiving Day, he wants to teach you how to do the newest dance craze, The Turkey Jerky!

Matt edited this "Apple Sisters" video together and is also the announcer in it as well!  (you can actually see Matt in his other viral sensation as "Mike Schwartz" HERE)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and remember to turkey jerk!



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Yesterday I introduced you to TV anchor Rebecca Stewart (C'96).  Today in coming to a close to this week's "Winning Women" series, let me introduce you to another (emerging) television host, Paule Valerie Dauphin, (C'04, African Rhythms Drum & Dance Troupe, UTV13, Penn Drumline, Kite and Key, Peer Advising).

Paule Valerie isn't only an aspiring TV host with a bundle of energy, but she's also an avid Cuban salsa dancer who dances with Afri-K-Sineras, an L.A. based fusion dance ensemble specializing in rueda de casino and African dance.

Fun fitness enthusiast that she is, Valerie has also created a series of videos showcasing fun and unique styles of fitness and dance. Check them out on her site HERE. Be sure to also check out her fitness video above with fitness guru Richard Simmons!

Paule Valerie blogs regularly on http://www.FunLifestyleFitness.com and is currently repped by Brass Artists and Associates for television hosting and commercials.


Watch some of her favorite hosting clips below ...and tune in to DT for her exclusive DT video series coming soon!

More DT stories about Penn alumni dancers HERE

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What if you met a former teacher and found out he was a total jerk? John Carroll (C'05, 34th Street Magazine section editor, Kelly Writers House writing advisor) examines this concept for us in a short story of his that recently got published.

John went to Penn hoping to write for the Daily Pennsylvanian and become a journalist, but left as primarily an author of fiction.  Thanks to the mentorship of Max Apple and the nurturing community of the Kelly Writers House, John just finished three years of work as their Assistant Director of Development and has now left to pursue his MFA in Creative Writing at American University.

John has written a story called "Baby Blue" which is included in a new short story collection of Philadelphia-based fiction by Philadelphia authors called Philly Fiction 2: A Second Collection of Short Stories Highlighting Philadelphia as a City of Literary Inspiration . 

His story is about a guy who meets up with a former high school teacher several years after graduation.  And it turns out his teacher isn't the great guy he remembered him to be.   Per John,

"The story centers on our narrator, who is working through becoming an adult via this renewed relationship with a former teacher. They meet by chance and wind up making plans to see a Phillies game, and our narrator winds up seeing an odd side of his former teacher."

Check out an excerpt from it below: +/-

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Here's a story of an undergrad who based his film on another undergrad's succesful film. And both are great!

"The Rainbow" is a film Alex Berger (Eng'10) made during a Video II class at Penn. The idea of the assignment was to make a visual poem—where image and words come together without the use of formal dialogue.

Per Alex,

"I had seen Kevin McMullin’s film, "The Boy and the Star", and I thought it was amazing. The story was simple, yet eloquent, and the stylistic elements he employed fit so well. In addition, the film fit my style as a filmmaker. Black and white, high contrast, close-up imagery, are all stylistic elements that I often used. After receiving the assignment, I set out to recreate Kevin’s film. I wanted to use the assignment as a way to experiment with the style and to attempt to figure out exactly how Kevin made this. In the stylistic sense, I did base my film “The Rainbow” on Kevin’s film. I have never met Kevin, so I felt it was appropriate to give credit to his work, because it closely influenced mine."

The premise of Alex's film is that this boy has presumably lost everything in his life that matters. He yells and yells so loud that the fire blows out, and the smoke forms clouds up above. The clouds lead to rain, and eventually a rainbow is formed. The story then becomes the quest to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Alex continues,

"I wanted to depict the feeling of losing something and the artificial journey that can ensue after one has this type of experience. It was not meant to be a light-hearted, joyous story, and I think the whimsical style counters this nicely. I think the filmed turned out well, but it was not something that I enjoyed making. It was one of those projects where I filmed for 4 hours and edited for another 20 hours to make a 5-minute movie. As Kevin can attest to, it was largely made in the editing studio."

Other impressive Class Project films

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Earlier today I posted Amin Osman's (C'09) dark and disturbing film called "Table For Three".

The last of Amin's films I will post this week is also again, strangely enjoyable. The description of this trailer is as follows:

"Two stoners. A severed hand. A damsel in distress. This is one 4/20 they'll never forget. Unless they do, because it's 4/20."

Other impressive Class Project films

More posts from my "Penn's REEL deals" series

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Over the past couple of years on DT, I have showcased some enjoyably disturbing films...most of them coming from Penn new Penn alum Amin Osman (C'09).

Today on DT there are a couple more of Amin's short films that you'll find very entertaining.

If you thought he's been dark before, check out this one above called "Table for Three".  You'll never go back to your date's place again without thinking of this film!




Other impressive Class Project films

More posts from my "Penn's REEL deals" series

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Hollywood alumni.. set up a meeting with this young filmmaker, because he's going places...

Kevin McMullin (C'09, in picture below in tanktop) is another story of talent combined with motivation and perseverance with all the potential of lots of Hollywood success.  With his Penn award winning script and some great short films under his belt, Kevin decided to graduate Penn a year early to pursue his dreams.

(l to r: Kevin McMullin (C'09), lead actor John Blakeslee, and cinematographer Sean Emer)

Thanks to the digital revolution and through lots of favors, Kevin has been able to make his feature film Exit 117 for less than $850. The film is an ensemble comedy-drama in the spirit of Rob Reiner’s “Stand By Me” and Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” about a group of recent high school graduates coming to terms with where they are and where they’re going in their lives.

...If you forgot, early last year, Kevin's short film "The Boy and The Star" was my #3 pick in in my series: Top Penn Videos that will give you the chills.  As you'll see in Kevin's trailer above, this film also has a very special artistic feel that will be sure to move you!

How did Kevin get his start and what's his plan now?

Per Kevin,

"I have been making short films since I was a 12 years old with friends and after high school I chose Penn over film school to get a broader liberal arts education. While I was there I won first place at the Greater Philadelphia Student Film Festival two years in a row, which funneled my shorts into the international Philadelphia Film Festival.

I decided to condense my time at Penn into three years to pursue filmmaking and put money toward this endeavor. I wrote the screenplay for this feature in my Intro to Screenwriting Class with Kathy Van Cleve and kept rewriting over the next year. It won the 2009 Flesch Screenwriting Award at Penn. With this prize money and some savings I shot “Exit 117” for less than $850 on lots of borrowed equipment and natural sunlight.

This is another example of Penn undergrads working together. Kevin teamed up with friends:

• Rodrigo Suarez (C, ENG’10) and Blake West (C’09) who contribute music to the soundtrack
• Andrew Stern (W’10) who acts as the Radio DJ’s voice over
• Jessica Brown (Grad Education ’09) who has been the pre-production manager and a production assistant
• and Jon-Marc Balint (C'10) who has a supporting role in the film and is associate producer. 

Hollywood Penn alumni, feel free to get in touch with Kevin here: kevinjamesmcmullin@gmail.com



More on Kevin's Exit 117 site HERE

Join Kevin's Exit 117 facebook group HERE

More of posts from my "Penn's REEL deals" series

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The deals keep coming for illustrator-author Brian Yanish (C'95, Mask and Wig, Friars) and his eco-friendly kids character property, The Scrap Kins.

If you recall from my previous posts , Brian created The Scrap Kins from his childhood drawings! The Scrap Kins are a group of creatures that live in a recycling center and build a world out of the things people discard. The Scrap Kins mission is to foster eco-awareness, promote recycling and encourage kids to use their imagination. The Scrap Kin's Do-It-Yourself resourcefulness empowers children to create and make a difference in their environment. (Ages 3-7)

He reportedly signing 3 new licensing deals with manufacturers (Aljan Corp, Some Publishing, and Lafayette Puzzle Company) to produce Scrap Kins back to school recycled paper stationery, sticker calendars, and puzzles. Keep an eye out for Scrap Kins kids products in stores in 2009!

Check out Brian's newly designed website at http://www.thescrapkins.com
(You can meet the characters, view our Green Tips, download desktop art & craft projects and order Scrap Kins organic tees and onesies.)

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DT Favorite filmmaker Matt Johnson (C'99, Mask and Wig, Phi Kappa Sigma) was fed up with the long primary and did something about it. ...He created a funny parody based on the I am Legend trailer!

Per Matt, "The last presidential candidate on earth... is not alone. Yay parody! Boo long primary!"

Watch I am Obama


If you liked that, don't forget to check out Matt's other films about:

• Scantily-clad women spewing corn
• His warning to us about the perils of answering "Coke" in a Pepsi Challenge
• A man who cheats on his wife with a vacuum
• How careful you need to be about who you hire for your buddy's bachelor party

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He's shown us scantily-clad women spewing corn.

He's warned us about the perils of answering "Coke" in a Pepsi Challenge.

He's delved into the world of a man who cheats on his wife with a vacuum.

And now DT favorite Matt Johnson (C'99, Mask and Wig, Phi Kappa Sigma) wants you to be careful about who you hire for your buddy's bachelor party.

Watch Exotic Dancer and see what I mean (this is good)!


There's something just wrong about what you're about to see...and I say that in a good way!

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I recently discovered a new Penn talent in the world of hip hop. He’s opened up for various world-wide and local icons such as Ludacris, The Pack, Yukmouth, Frontline, and many more.



…And he’s an undergrad.



I’ll be honest, I don’t follow Hip-Hop too much, but when I heard Etan Fraser’s (C’11) music, I became a fan.



This past week, Etan put out a music video with his girlfriend Stephanie McIntyre (C’11) encouraging change through a vote for Obama. This is some good inspirational music if you ask me.



Watch his video here





Per Etan, the heart of his work “shines through the lyrical content of my music, which is richly diverse in content in regards to emotion, subject matter, and lively performance-based songs”.



More music on Etan’s myspace page



Etan's start in Hip-Hop and the great opportunities he had at an early age



On a related "political" note,

• there seems to be a big movement recently on campus around Obama. As reported last week, John Legend (C’99) came to campus and performed an original song for Obama’s campaign.
  
  


• As for Hillary, there was some movement in early March on campus around the Clinton campaign, and apparently tonight, she's coming to the Palestra!
  
  


• And this is the only McCain coverage I've seen on campus
  
  

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Matt Johnson (C'99, Mask and Wig, Phi Kappa Sigma) has been a favorite of mine on DT as he continues to crank out some very funny videos of which he has been producing, directing and even starring in.

This week, I want to showcase another very funny and very absurd short Matt directed for a group called The Apple Sisters. What you're about to see is a "commercial" for one of the "sponsors" of the Apple Sisters' 1943 radio show.

After watching this, I don't think you'll ever want to eat corn again.

Read more about Matt's road after Penn and how he his sketch comedy group got a development deal with a network!

More of my Funny Friday posts HERE!

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In addition to my weekly Tuesday Tips, Wednesday Websites and Now and Then Thursday series, I want to now prove that I can add an descriptive adjective to yet another day of the week with my "Funny Fridays". This series will showcase the works of many of our comics, sketch comedians and improv undergrads and alumni.

To start things off, Matt Johnson (C'99, Mask and Wig, Phi Kappa Sigma), directed and stars in a very funny short called "Pepsi Challenge".

Produced with his sketch group The Royal We, this short film is a parody of the Pepsi Challenge, The Manchurian Candidate, and, well, just watch it. You'll never take a Pepsi challenge the same way...

Take Matt Johnson's Pepsi Challenge

Check out a film Matt directed which seriously sucks..in a very good way.

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As the final part of my Talented Undergrad Showcase Week: featuring filmmaker Brian Canavan (C'10), take a look at this creative "Goldfish" piece by Brian using stop action animation (credit also goes to Andrew Salute (C'10), David Loewy (C'10), Chris Arasin (C'10), Emily Barlow (C'10), and Amy Jones (C'10)). As you can see throughout this week, Brian seems to successfully experiment with different film genres.

Check out Brian's stop action "Goldfish" short

Click to see what other 2010 Penn undergrads are up to

Check out other creative Penn Class Projects!

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