UQ Wire: Loose Change Creators In Pheonix Area

Scottsdale, Mesa, & Tempe, Arizona---Riding the tide of a meteoric and ever-increasing Internet popularity, the three young creators of the 9/11 indie documentary Loose Change 2 will appear at Valley screenings from Tuesday, April 11, through Friday, April 15, 2006. (See schedule information below.)

New York filmmakers Dylan Avery, 22, Korey Rowe, 23, and Jason Bermas, 26 decided to include the Phoenix area in their screening tour because of the number of communications they have received on their website http://www.loosechange911.com from Arizonans, particularly from within the college communities.

Written and directed by Avery, and produced by Rowe, with research and production assistance by Bermas, Loose Change 2nd Edition, is at the forefront of a growing grassroots "9/11 Truth Movement" that is reaching millions through alternative forms of distribution, primarily via the Internet and through private and public screenings.

The deliberately non-copyrighted film, oftentimes referred to online as LC2E, has created such a stir in the blogosphere that it is fast approaching movie cult status as viewers spin off links and compressed video versions around the world through computer lines while others burn DVD copies for friends, family, and strangers.

Loose Change is a jaw-dropping film about the fateful events that occurred on September 11, 2001. The documentary challenges the official explanations of how the World Trade Center collapsed, how the Pentagon was damaged, and what happened to the jetliner alleged to have crashed at Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Also featured in the film is rarely seen footage of the implosion-like collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, which was not hit by any airplane, followed by an astonishing on-camera admission of the building's owner to "pull it" several hours after similar collapses of the Twin Towers.

R.L. Shaffer of DVD Future portrayed the film as a "terrifying, masterful, well-paced 9/11 conspiracy documentary that puts Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 to absolute shame."

Describing the documentary's hour and 20 minutes of footage as "mesmerizing," SF Gate columnist Mark Morford wrote that Loose Change is "a truly astounding array of proofs and interviews and evidence" that "you will not be able to easily forget."

Talk show host Mike Malloy of Air America Radio said of the film, "This one is a heart-stopper. When you finish watching this DVD you kind of sit there and you'll notice how quiet things are for a few minutes. I strongly recommend that you get this if you are utterly convinced that the attack on the United States was engineered by 19 terrorists boarding four jetliners…because this will shake you to your very foundations."

Scottsdale Community College Film Screening &Panel Discussion

The Loose Change crew's visit to the Valley is sponsored by a course taught at Scottsdale Community College entitled "Lights, Camera, Activism: Documentaries for Social Change." The class is taught by Dr. Penelope Price, a Telly award-winning documentarian and faculty member of SCC's Motion Picture/Television Department.

The SCC screening of Loose Change 2, which is free and open to the public, will occur Tuesday evening, April 11. Starting at 7:00 p.m., the movie will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers. The screening will be held in Motion Picture/Television Studio A (Room AP209), which is in the Applied Sciences building on the east side of campus. SCC is located at 9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale.

On Wednesday, April 12, "Lights, Camera, Activism" will host an informal luncheon with the filmmakers from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. to allow MP/TV students the opportunity to mingle with the makers of Loose Change and ask further questions. The luncheon will be held at Motion Picture/Television Studio B (Room AP211), Applied Sciences building, SCC campus.

Dr. Price said she invited the filmmakers to screen their documentary and participate in discussions with MP/TV students because, "I believe artists are the true counselors of the nation and that Loose Change will ignite dialogue and encourage critical thinking."

Discussion topics following the film's screening on Tuesday evening will include the role of filmmakers, particularly documentarians, in society. Another societal role to be discussed is a comparison of the historical position of mainstream media juxtaposed with its current state and the rise of alternative media. Of special interest to student filmmakers will be the topic of Internet-based distribution and marketing of films.

Also on the discussion agenda is the Freedom of Information Act. Much of the eyewitness testimony featured within Loose Change from firefighters and others at Ground Zero on 9/11 has only recently come to light because of FOIA requests.

Additionally, the film opens with an examination of the "Operation Northwoods" document, also exposed via an FOIA request. This 1962 Pentagon document, rejected by then President John F. Kennedy, shows a proposal by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to covertly engineer various pretexts that would justify a U.S. invasion of Cuba, including developing a fake terrorist campaign, blowing up a U.S. ship and blaming it on Cubans, and faking a Cuban air force attack on an American civilian jetliner. Unlike the "Pentagon Papers" of the Watergate era, mainstream media has been uniquely silent about presenting this revelation to the public.

The MP/TV panel discussion will also include the Fair Use Doctrine of copyright law allowing the use of copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. One of the most intriguing aspects of Loose Change is that the film pieces together revealing news footage and stories presented to the public within the first 24 hours of the devastating event of September 11, 2001, but which was never seen, heard, or printed again within American mainstream media after that day.

Another topic to be discussed after the screening at SCC is that of preproduction and the research process. Oddly enough, Avery began researching the topic of 9/11 as the backdrop to an idea he had for a fictional screenplay.

"However," Avery said, "the more details and facts I began to uncover about what actually happened, the more I realized the wisdom of the timeworn 'truth is stranger than fiction' adage. As I continued to discover more and more evidence, it became apparent that everything we thought we knew about 9/11, everything we were told, was a complete fabrication. It was during this process that I decided to make a documentary asking the hard questions."

During the time that Avery was conducting his research, Rowe was a soldier in the U.S. Army, serving first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq. Avery and Rowe, longtime friends, stayed in touch while thousands of miles apart.

"At first, I was intrigued, but not convinced, by what Dylan was telling me he had uncovered. It didn't seem possible and it took a long time to sink in," Rowe said.

However, while Rowe was serving in Afghanistan, he said he observed television reporters filming staged battle scenes that were later presented as real battles to broadcast viewers. "I saw firsthand the 'Big Lie' in progress," he acknowledged.

After completing his final year with the Army in Iraq, Rowe returned stateside to team up with Avery and co-found their production company Louder Than Words, LLC. They began putting together the first edition of Loose Change, which was released in 2005.

Independent of Avery's research, Bermas had been conducting his own investigation into the facts and myths of 9/11. To date, Bermas has lived and breathed all things 9/11 for over three and a half years. According to Rowe, "Jason is a walking 9/11 encyclopedia. Ask him anything about current and past government cover-ups - he'll know the facts and be able to tell you where to find the information yourself."

Even as the hour-long Loose Change 1 was released, it was apparent to the filmmakers that there was much more to be told. Bermas' work and research played a huge role in shaping Loose Change 2.

In a separate video circulating on the Internet and included as extra footage on the Loose Change 2 DVD, Bermas' passion for their cause is evident as he throws out fact after fact to gathering passersby at Ground Zero in New York City.

Rising Internet Media Phenomenon

While certainly not the only 9/11 documentary on the market, Loose Change 2, with its cutting-edge packaging, hip soundtrack, and compelling presentation of material is undoubtedly the most popular, especially among the younger computer-savvy generations.

Seen for free on the Internet, the film is receiving unprecedented Web-based viewership on such sites as Google Video ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848&q=Loose+Change+2&pl=true ) and Information Clearing House ( http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12233.htm ). Additionally, thousands of MySpace.com, YouTube.com, and individual websites and weblogs around the world are streaming the movie.

Through Google's video server, Loose Change 2 recently surpassed 856,000 hits. "By the time we arrive in Phoenix, we may very well be saying 'over 1 million served' on this site alone," said Rowe.

Similarly, when one searches "Loose Change 911" through the Internet's two most popular search engines, Yahoo and Google, the number of references, links, and postings each are approaching the one million mark.

The latest figures on the filmmakers' own www.loosechange911.com website is peaking at 20,000 daily, with three-fourths of them unique users each day. From this website, friends and family members of anyone who lost someone on September 11, 2001 can order free copies of the Loose Change 2 DVD. Also featured on the website is an impressive "Evidence" section with numerous links to the material featured in the film.

Regarding the enormous public response the documentary is gleaning, Avery said he owes its inspiration to James Gandolfini, the television star of HBO's The Sopranos. He explained, "I had an opportunity to speak with him one night at a restaurant. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life. When I told him I wanted to write and direct films, he advised me that if I was going to do so, then I needed to write about something that people care about."

"The world does care about what really happened on 9/11. People do want to know the truth, even as ugly as it is shaping up to be. 9/11 is the key that opened the Pandora's box to everything going on in the world right now, from current and planned wars to the stripping away of civil rights, to the deconstruction of the U.S. Constitution," said Avery.

As an example of where the pulse of the nation is at regarding 9/11, Avery points to the recent CNN interviews with actor Charlie Sheen and radio talk show host Alex Jones, wherein many of the issues exposed in Loose Change 2 were discussed for the first time by a mainstream media outlet.

"Look at CNN's online polls. When asked, 'Do you agree with Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks?', 84% said 'Yes.' CNN received such an overwhelming public response to their three evenings of coverage that their phone lines were jammed, their email boxes were filled, and their server was briefly taken out. Do Americans care about 9/11? You better believe it," said Avery.

So, for the naysayers who say that Avery and crew's generation doesn't care about anything but their video games and psuedo-reality television programming, Louder Than Words, LLC begs to differ.

Bermas foretells the future with this analogy, "The sleeping giant is starting to awake. And he hasn't even begun to yell 'fee-fi-fo-fum' yet."

Loose Change Phoenix Area Schedule:

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - Public Screening of "Loose Change (2nd Edition)" followed by Panel Discussion with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio A (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP209)
9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd.; campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus
Cost: No Charge

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - Luncheon with students of the Motion Picture/Television Department, Scottsdale Community College
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio B (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP211), 9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd.; campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus
Cost: No Charge, MP/TV students

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - Public Screening of "Loose Change (2nd Edition)" followed by Q &A with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 4:00 p.m.
Location: Bookmans (in the Community Room), 1056 S. Country Club Dr., Mesa
Directions: U.S. Hwy. 60 to Country Club Dr.; north on Country Club past Southern Ave.; on west side of Country Club Dr.
Cost: No Charge

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - Public Screening of "Loose Change (2nd Edition)" followed by Open Forum with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Harkins Shea 14 Theatre, 7354 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Shea Blvd.; west on Shea between Hayden & Scottsdale Rds.; on north side of Shea Blvd.
Cost: No Charge

Friday, April 14, 2006 - Public Screening of "Loose Change (2nd Edition)" followed by Q & A with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 8:00 p.m.
Location: 3 Roots Coffee House, 1020 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, Arizona
Directions: Just south of University Dr. on the west side of Mill Ave.; directly across from Arizona State University's Gammage
Auditorium
Parking: Park behind 3 Roots or along adjoining side streets
Cost: No Charge

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Louder Than Words, LLC Korey Rowe, Producer, 607-267-4456
http://www.publicity@loosechange911.com

Brought to you in part by: Standard Entertainment Co.; James Schoepflin, 480-628-7411
http://www.standardj@hotmail.com

Phoenix scheduling: Carrie Jones, 480-282-1268

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