The Fat Lady - Film

Hi! This is Rita Avellar here, CEO of Avellar, LLC, and the creator and writer of The Fat Lady film. I want to share a quick story and some news about this short film project with you.

Here is a video and you can also, read it below.

Since last year we've been posting about the short film project The Fat Lady here and there and how exciting this project is to me, as a writer and newbie filmmaker, but also, to everyone involved somehow and in different ways. As I mentioned once, it takes a village to raise funding for a film, even if it is a short film.

As we were approaching the funding party to raise the money to make a great film with the quality and care I always wanted for this story written in 2013, I received the news nobody wanted to receive, breast cancer. And then, everything went upside down in my personal life and of course, in my professional life. That was in June this year and since then, I started the treatment, which is expected to finish the whole process in March 2023.

When I was sure I will need to wait to finish the cancer process to continue with this dearest project, here comes a person that took my hand and said "hey, let me help you!". This person is my friend Taisa Mundy. She is a hands-on executive producer that likes to be involved in every step of the filmmaking process and has a long experience in different areas of the entertainment industry. Taisa started getting together other fierce women like her, to help me make this project happen. Because of this movement, a website dedicated to this short film project was created to concentrate all the information, news and of course, a way to donate to the film. You go here to learn more about each person in this powerful crew, that believes in the main message of this film: respect and acceptance of the different!

Feel free to share it with your friends! More news to come! Thank you!!

And don't forget! Please, donate now to our film!

10 L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Movies and TV Shows to Watch and Celebrate Pride Month

June has just started and with it, the Pride Month! Here we curated 10 new and old movies and TV shows to watch and celebrate this colorful month. Share this list with friends and family, especially with those who need to open their minds and understand that love is love (you know what we mean, right? ;) ).

Grab your popcorn and enjoy!

1. Love, Victor on Hulu and Disney+

Set in the world of the original 2018 film “Love, Simon,” the series follows Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.

Season 3 premieres on June 15.

2. The Chi on Showtime

Jake, Papa, and Kevin must confront the harsh reality of how the world views young, Black men in the aftermath of an act of police brutality. As the three friends reckon with a broken system, the aftershocks ripple across the South Side.

Season 5 premieres on June 26.

3. The Book of Queer on Discovery+

From trans-Indian warriors to gay Roman emperors, these colorful and often titillating tales give history a much-needed, head-to-toe makeover.

4. First Kill on Netflix

Based on series creator V.E. Schwab's short story, this romance drama with bite stars Sarah Catherine Hook and Imani Lewis.

Premieres on June 10.

5. This is Going to Hurt on AMC+

This Is Going to Hurt, is based on Adam Kay’s award-winning international memoir of the same name with episodes dropping weekly. It follows Whishaw’s Adam, a doctor finding his way through the ranks of the hospital hierarchy. While he’s junior enough to suffer the crippling hours, he’s also senior enough to face a constant barrage of terrifying responsibilities. Adam clings to his personal life as he is increasingly overwhelmed by stresses at work: the 97-hour weeks, the life-and-death decisions, and all the while knowing the hospital parking meter is earning more than him.

6. Tangerine on Netflix

Tangerine focuses on a transgender sex worker who, after getting out of prison, finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. She decides to storm through Tinseltown with her fellow friend to confront him.

7. The Way He Looks on Netflix

Set against the music of Belle and Sebastian, Daniel Ribeiro's coming-of-age tale, The Way He Looks is a fun Brazilian movie with a tender story about friendship and the complications of young love. Leo is a blind teenager who’s fed up with his overprotective mother and the bullies at school. Looking to assert his independence, he decides to study abroad to the dismay of his best friend, Giovana. When Gabriel, the new kid in town, teams with Leo on a school project, new feelings blossom in him that make him reconsider his plans. Meanwhile, Giovana, grows jealous of this newfound companionship as tensions mount between her and Leo.

8. The Death and Life Of John F. Donovan on Hulu

A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire on Netflix

Marianne is hired to secretly paint a portrait of a noblewoman's soon-to-wed daughter, who refuses to pose but soon reciprocates the artist's gaze.

PS.: If you live in Indianapolis, IN, and surroundings, Kan-Kan movie theater is showing this film from June 20 to 30th. Get your tickets here!

10. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Amazon

Of course, we weren't going to leave out this classic queer movie! The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Terence Stamp, as they journey across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named "Priscilla", along the way encountering various groups and individuals. The film's title references the slang term "queen" for a drag queen or female impersonator.

PS.: If you live in Indianapolis, IN, and surroundings, Kan-Kan movie theater is showing this classic from June 2 to 8th. Get your tickets here!

The Oscars Nominees Food Menu!

We are excited to announce that the Oscars Ceremony will happen this weekend, on March 27th (Sunday), and we realized that it would be super fun to think about what kinds of foods each film could represent. With this idea in mind, we curated special recipes for staple foods according to the period and place these stories were told! Calling all foodies out there! Please have a seat, and let us take your order!

BELFAST

Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik, and Tamar Thomas, Producers

Inspired by: The location, which is in North Ireland. The film chronicles the life of a working-class Ulster Protestant family from the perspective of their nine-year-old son Buddy during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland (from Wikipedia).

Food: The Ulster fry

Learn the recipe here: The Ulster fry recipe

Photo from BBC

CODA

Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers

Inspired by: Location which is on Gloucester, Massachusetts. In Gloucester, Massachusetts, Ruby Rossi is the only hearing member of her family; her parents Frank and Jackie and older brother Leo are all culturally Deaf. She assists with the family fishing business and plans to join it full-time after finishing high school. (from Wikipedia).

Food: Boston Cream Pie

Learn the recipe here: Boston Cream Pie

Photo from Preppy Kitchen

DON'T LOOK UP

Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Inspired by: Washington DC because the plot involves the president of the United States of America. Kate Dibiasky, a Michigan State University astronomy Ph.D. candidate, discovers a previously unknown comet. Her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy, confirms that it will collide with the Earth in about six months and is large enough to cause a planet-wide extinction event. NASA confirms the findings and their Planetary Defense Coordination Office head Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe accompanies Dibiasky and Mindy to present their findings to the White House. They are met with apathy from President Janie Orlean and her son and Chief of Staff Jason. (from Wikipedia).

Food: A classic American Washington DC meal - Half smoke

Learn the recipes here: Fun In A Bun: How To Make D.C.-Style Spicy Half Smokes

Photo from Adequate Travel

DRIVE MY CAR

Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer

Inspired by: Being a Japanese production (inspired by a book by Haruki Murakami) and located in Japan. Actor and theater director Yūsuke Kafuku is married to Oto, a screenwriter. Oto conceives her stories during sex and narrates them to Yūsuke. After watching her husband in a performance of Waiting for Godot, Oto introduces Yūsuke to her frequent collaborator, the young actor Kōji Takatsuki. (from Wikipedia).

Food: Miso

Learn recipe here: Miso Soup

Photo from Go With Guide Site

DUNE

Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers

Inspired by: What are we eating in the future when many of our resources will end and change? n the far future, Duke Leto of House Atreides, ruler of the ocean planet Caladan, is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV to replace House Harkonnen as fief rulers of Arrakis. (from Wikipedia).

Food: Mushroom Salad With Edible Insects

Learn the recipe here: Mushroom Salad With Edible Insects

Photo from Delectabilia

KING RICHARD

Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers

Inspired by: The beginning of the Williams sisters' athletic life, whose father Richard wants to help become tennis players. Richard Williams lives in Compton, California with his wife Brandy, his three step-daughters, and his two daughters, Venus and Serena. Richard aspires to turn Venus and Serena into professional tennis players; he has prepared a plan for success since before they were born. (from Wikipedia).

Food: Eat like an athlete, Dark Chocolate Power Balls

Learn the Recipe Here: Dark Chocolate Power Balls

Photo by Healthy Busy Bee

LICORICE PIZZA

Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

Inspired by: The main title and the plot! In 1973 San Fernando Valley, 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine prepares for his high school picture day. He notices 25-year-old Alana Kane, a photographer's assistant, and strikes up a flirtatious conversation with her. She rebuffs his advances but meets him for dinner and they begin a friendship (from Wikipedia).

Food: Obviously, pizza.

Learn the recipe here: Easy And Quick Homemade Pizza Recipe

Photo by Swirling F.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers

Inspired by: The era and city the plot is happening. In 1939, drifter Stan Carlisle obtains a job at a carnival and watches a geek show, an act in which a deranged man eats a live chicken. He begins working with the clairvoyant act "Madame Zeena" and her alcoholic husband, Pete. (from Wikipedia)

Food: Iconic food from NY in 1940’s - Meatloaf

Learn the recipe here: Granny's Classic Meatloaf

Photo from Self Proclaimed Foodie

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers

Inspired by: The main dish at one of the characters (Rose) restaurant, fried chicken! In 1925 Montana, Phil and George Burbank are wealthy ranch-owning brothers. Whereas Phil loves to stay grubby in his cowboy chaps, George dresses and behaves in a more white-collar manner. Whilst leading a cattle drive, they see in the distance a dead steer; Phil orders his men to keep away as he reckons the animal may have died from anthrax (from Wikipedia). The brothers and their cowboy team stop at an inn owned by attractive widow Rose Gordon.

Food: Rose’s restaurant main dish - Fried Chicken

Learn the recipe here: Crispy Fried Chicken

Photo from The Stay At Home Chef

WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Inspired by: The period, the characters who are young. In 1957, the Jets are a gang of white youths that fight the Puerto Rican Sharks for control of San Juan Hill on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Officer Krupke and Lieutenant Schrank break up the brief skirmish, telling the gangs that their conflict is pointless since the neighborhood will be imminently demolished to make way for Lincoln Center. (from Wikipedia).

Food: 1950's favorites for young people - Milkshakes!

Learn recipe here: Classic American Milkshake Recipes

Photo from Food Channel