- In this special edition of "Ar go behind the scenes with a first time filmmaker.

(hopeful music starts) - Because of the nature of my jo I learn about things at work that I'm like, oh, that'd be a cool screenplay.

- [Beth] Poetry that speaks to the human condition.

(hopeful music continues) - [Man] You can find poetry really all around you.

Poetry, I think, is in all of the little moments that you experience in life.

- [Beth] Celebrating a groundbreaking architect photogr (orchestral music starts) - Paul Revere Williams put his e to navigate through racial barri to give everyone of every socioeconomic class the comfort of a home.

(orchestral music ends) - And hear from the artists invo in these award earning segments.

(bright music) - Just making that film and having so many talented people be part of it was such a cool experience anywa And then having "ArtEffects" com was really fulfilling.

And then when it won an award, so it's just like layers upon layers of amazingness.

- It's all ahead on this special edition of "ArtEffects".

(gentle techno music) (piano chiming) (electronic music) - [Narrator] Funding for "ArtEffects" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Meg and Dillard Myers, Heidemari in memory of Sue McDowell, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno Members.

(electronic music) - Hello, I'm Beth McMillan and welcome to this special edition of "ArtEffects".

In this episode, we take a look at the "ArtEffects" segments that earned communicator and tele awards in 2023.

First up is a segment featuring new filmmaker, Jackie Shelton.

Jackie used her background as a communications professional to write and direct her first fictional short film in 2021.

The "ArtEffects" team explored h earning this segment a Communicator Award of Distinctio produced by Martin Szillat.

(ambient piano music) - My short film is called "Lost in Memories", and it's about an older couple who are reminiscing about their lifetime love affair So it's a romance for them.

But then we see through the eyes of their adult children that they've only been together a few years and they both actually have deme And so the romance is kind of bi This is the first film I've ever I got interested in script writing in 2017.

My daughter was going through so and I was having a hard time und what she was going through and so I wrote a screenplay to a and really, really enjoyed that And so did nothing with that scr 'cause she asked me not to, but then I started writing movie and I realized that writing short movies is really fun and you can actually make short You know, obviously, a feature l takes a lot more money than I ha Yeah, so we decided to make this I've been in professional commun for my entire career.

What I was doing before is I was telling other people's true stories, my background's in journalism.

And so this is the same thing except for I get to make up the Once I started telling people that I was writing screenplays, everybody said, "You have to meet Emily Skyle."

And Emily Skyle, who's the executive director of Cordillera International Film and also a movie maker, took me under her wing and I came in as producer and then taught me how to direct.

- It's definitely a different world to try to break into, making the transition from writi into actually directing or producing a project.

When I began working with her as a writer for screenplay, it was really amazing.

She's collaborative.

She takes notes and fights for what she wants to keep in the script, understands what she needs to release in the script.

And eventually, we came up with "Lost in Memories" or she came up with "Lost in Mem and I thought it had legs and I thought it would be the pe for her to step from writing up to directing, and watching her words come to l and helping being part of that p - Now, that works.

(soft classical music) - Because of the nature of my jo I learn about things at work that I'm like, oh, that'd be a cool screenplay.

It's fiction, so I get to make up the stories, but we still have to be accurate Like in this movie, it's a living with Alzheimer's, not suffering from Alzheimer's.

(soft classical music) In the movie at the beginning, the father and the mother are looking at photos and reminiscing.

And the mother asks the son, you look at this photo of you and yo and you think it's the man who she's sitting next to.

And he's very indigently lets he that, you know, he loves his dad and that's not his dad.

And that's where you kinda reali that all is not as it seems.

- This is when dad taught me how - Yes, he did.

You two were inseparable that su - Those are some of my favorite memories of Dad.

- The overall message is that if somebody you love, if their reality is skewed, that you have to lean in and go along with what they thin as long as nobody's getting hurt and as long as everybody's safe, because there's no point in fighting with them.

And obviously, that sounds reall unless you're actually in it and you're dealing with the fact that your mother does not remember maybe who you are.

- This is such a fun show, wasn' - Oh.

(soft solemn music) The costumes were amazing.

Some of the actors looked like a - What was your favorite?

- I think the giraffes.

- When it comes to arcs and messaging within a story, it's really important to focus on what your fundamental message And for a film like dementia, which is what "Lost in Memories" what are you trying to get acros by the time someone is done?

If someone's giving you their ti what point do you wanna make?

And that's for a message driven When it comes to an arc, that's a particular journey that a character may take throughout the film.

When you look at "Lost in Memori one of the best examples of a character arc would be when the main character played beautifully by Aaron Fost is when his character comes to terms with the fact that although his mother has forgotten his father existed, that his father does still exist in his heart, and maybe the best thing to do is just acquiesce and let her have her current joy and not fight against it.

And when Aaron makes that decisi it's a really powerful 15 to 30 second moment, and that's where you get to see the power of an actor and you just watch that amazing transformation take place.

And then he walks over and sits So his journey is that realizati and it's a picture perfect textbook example of an arc.

(dramatic violin music) - Talking about Nashville?

- Yup.

Did I ever tell you about the time I almost had to sing "Folsom Prison Blues"?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I did.

You did.

- I think one of the things that was really motivating to get involved with the project of the "Lost in Memories", outside of just getting to work with Jackie was the powerful message behind And I am super excited to see the impact that it has and the ability it will have to shine a light on a topic that might be difficult to start a conversation about but might motivate a lot of conversations and thought.

- I am in my fifties and decided to try a completely which has been incredibly empowe and it's really kind of awesome finding out all the things you don't know how to do and realizing how many things there are in the world to learn how to do.

(violin music ends) (tense piano music begins) It was really amazing being part of "ArtEffects".

Just making that film and having so many talented people be part of it was such a cool experience anywa And then having "ArtEffects" com and having Martin come in and get the footage on the day of the screening was really, really fulfilling.

And then when it won an award, so it's just like layers upon layers of amazingness.

(tense piano music continues) The film got selected for four or five different film We attended two.

And seeing it on the big screen and watching my words come out of actor's mouths on the big screen was phenomenal And again, I cried.

Every time I cried when I was wr I cried when we were filming it and I've cried every single time I've watched it.

When the segment first came out and it was so much fun to watch And then when it won the award and went back and watched it again and got to relive how fun that experience was, because you're already on a movi which is like nothing else.

And then you bring in Martin and and doing their interviews and t and it just really amplified the entire experience.

And then when I saw the finished product, you know, it was really great.

(soft music) (bright music) - The film featured in the segment, "Lost in Memories", is now finished.

You can watch it on Jackie's web sheltonhallproductions.com.

The next award earning segment features one of Reno's poet laureates, Dustin Howard.

Dustin believes that anyone can write poetry and that doing so can help one better understand themselves and their experiences throughout Dustin's words and the artistic visual representations of his poetry earned this segment a Silver Telly Award and a Communicator Award of Dist produced by Guinevere Clark and Enrique Sandoval.

(upbeat music) - My name is Dustin Howard and I am the current City of Reno poet laureate.

A poet laureate is an honorary representative for poetry and the arts in a community, usually appointed by a governing In my case, the City of Reno.

My role as poet laureate is to be an ambassador for poetry and the arts in our c I got into poetry when I was in high school.

My freshman and sophomore English teachers both did units on poetry and it was something I took to immediately.

Poetry was something that I used to kind of explore myself and kind of the world around me, especially in my first collection of poems.

That was the running theme.

It was deliberately an exploration of memories, starting with the earliest memory that I had going way back to when I was like three or four years old.

And then it charts, you know, the progression of my growth kind of into adulthood and sort of that journey, hitting specific beats and kind of important memories.

That was a very sort of cathartic experience, getting to kind of relive and wo through some of those emotional and some of those, you know, moments of really pure joy.

Poetry is one of the few mediums that allows an artist like that to connect on a very deep personal sort of reflective leve (gentle guitar music) Summer, 1999.

Seven years old and not a care in the passenger seat of mom's red sedan, a Ford, I think, or maybe a Chevy.

In the backseat, my siblings, three and five, "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere."

On the radio, the "Sounds of Sum "Mambo No.

5" seems to play on r It's catchy and we sing along.

Around town running errands, we visit the grocery store, the gas station, and the bank.

We stop for lunch, then run some "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere."

On the radio, the "Sounds of Sum I don't know what a scrub is, but I know TLC don't want one.

I sit in the car with my sibling a coloring book of "The Phantom Menace" in my lap and jar of fruit snacks.

I think I want to be a Jedi.

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere."

On the radio, the "Sounds of Sum The Latin flair of Carlos Santana is smooth, hotter than that summer sun.

(soft music) It's time to go back to our fath She drops us off and says goodby It's dusk and cool and I miss the car going nowhere, somewhere, anywhere.

On the radio, the "Sounds of Sum the auto-tuned techno pop of Che trying to believe in life after Grown up now and to many cares t I wonder about her that summer, all alone in her red sedan driving to one of three jobs to make ends meet, to fight for us as the struggle for custody continued.

On the radio, the "Sounds of Sum Did they cut through the quiet i Does she remember them as fondly (guitar resonating) (light airy music) You can find poetry really all a not just in poetry books.

Poetry is music.

Poetry is in art.

Poetry, I think most importantly is in all of the little moments that you experience in life.

It's those small things that bring you joy.

It's the quiet stillness by the It's the rush of traffic as you're standing on the street Poetry is everywhere.

Poetry is really just capturing those very human moments where we're reflective in kind of contemplating ourselves and our place.

It's really kind of all around u I always think of John Keats poe "Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art," in which the speaker of the poem has his head rested on the chest of his lover and he just wants to stay kind of in that moment for forever.

(soft music) Here, we have somebody writing 200 years ago about what is a very like real and human emotion that we, as readers, still conne The power of poetry really is the ability to bridge that gap between space and time and to know that someone somewhere hundreds of years ago felt exactly the same way I might feel now.

There's an opportunity for readers to connect in some big or small way with the words you've put on the page.

And to know that my work might be making some small difference in a person's life is immensely rewarding for me.

It's kind of like an open letter to the reader.

It's a letter not for me, but for someone somewhere someda and find themselves in the words and on the page.

(guitar music ends) (gentle guitar music) Being a part of "ArtEffects" was really a tremendously rewarding experience.

Not only getting to work with the fantastic crew at PBS Reno, but also being able to share my story and my inspirations as a poet with the community and with the wider world was just immensely satisfactory.

After the segment aired and particularly after it got picked up for wider broadcast, I did actually notice a bump in on my poetry book, which was really super cool.

We did the interview, but then we did some filming out to bring the poems to life, and that was so much fun to get to do different locations around Reno and just to be able to have a hand in telling those stories in a different way and bringing those stories to life off the page was just so gratifying.

And it was such an awesome and rewarding experience.

And so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of the "ArtEffects" (bright music) - There's more to the story available online, including two additional poems b You can find it at youtube.com/@ Learn more about Dustin at dthbo Our last award earning segment dives into the work behind groundbreaking architect, Paul Revere Williams.

His work was photographed by artist, Janna Ireland, and exhibited at the Nevada Museum of Art in 2022.

"ArtEffects" documentation of the whole story earned this segment a Bronze Tel and a Communicator Award of Dist produced by Rebecca Cronon.

(orchestral music) - Paul Revere Williams design st that everyone uses throughout their daily lives.

- He goes beyond designing wonderful structures.

He goes into designing communiti - The thing about his body of wo is this extreme attention to det The quality is consistent.

- Williams was really a master, not just at giving his clients everything that they wanted, but specifically tailoring his design so beautifully, whether that was a mansion in Beverly Hills or a ranch house in Nevada.

- He put his ego aside to navigate through racial barriers to give everyone of every socioeconomic class the comfort of a home.

I feel that every Nevadan should that Paul Revere Williams was a that stands the test of time.

(orchestral music ends) (gentle playful music) Paul Revere Williams was born in in Los Angeles, California.

In 1919, he graduated from USC with an architectural engineerin becoming the first African American graduate of the university.

In 1923, he joined the American Institute of Architects, becoming the first African Ameri of that institute.

Some of the designs that he focused on are Mediterranean, Spanish, colonial, neoclassical.

And after World War II, he focused more on mid-century m (jazz music) I'm Carmen Beals and I am the curator of the exhibition, Janna Ireland, on the architectu of Paul Revere Williams in Nevad You'll be able to understand the rich history of designs by Mr. Paul Revere Williams, and you'll be able to see it through a unique lens of contemporary art developed by artists and educator, Janna Ireland.

- A lot of my work is about peop whether that is human relationsh or the built environment that people create for themselves.

- She has this beautiful, profou of capturing a linear design, something that's very signature of his piece, such as a curb or a window that has natural light beaming into a specific facility followed by this gorgeous shadow that creates a rich moodiness.

- For the exhibition, I came back to Las Vegas.

I also visited Reno and some small cities outside of Reno.

- Janna and I had the fabulous o to visit each of these sites tog - For me, it was this really exciting opportunity to do this new body of work, to meet these new people, to learn about and really study another person who I wouldn't have thought to look into on my own and to learn a lot about the field of architecture.

- Paul Revere Williams began working in Nevada with his first project in 1934, which was a commission by Miss Luella Garvey.

(gentle guitar music) - Carmen and I showed up hoping to photograph the outside.

And then we met someone who introduced us to someone else, and we were able to just photograph it on the spot, which is one of the wonderful su of working on this project.

- Some of the characteristics of the Garvey residence include iron work and mixed exte It has the beautiful signature s that Paul Revere Williams is kno It has many large windows to capture the natural lighting.

And it is a wonderful L-shaped p that is made in a colonial reviv - I am very drawn to shadow.

I'm drawn to the way light comes through a particular window at a particular time of day.

I'm drawn to the way that the corners of a room might come together or to things like the place between two rooms where you can see the flooring c from one kind to another.

Just the seams of it, I think, are what I keep looking at.

- It's only by learning more about the incredible architectur of Williams in Nevada that we can gain more appreciati for that architecture, for its beauty, and for the mome of Paul Revere Williams and everything that he can teach us.

- If you think about it, a lot of the designs that he has, they were so superior that they are still standing today and we are still talking about them right now.

- I hope that people see this as just kind of the tip of the i that it is a little tiny introdu to this enormous body of work that Paul Williams put out in his lifetime.

I also hope that people understa as my interpretation of the work And that they realize that if they visited these spaces, they would see completely differ and have a completely different experience of the work.

(jazz music ends) Hi, this is Janna Ireland.

When I began photographing struc designed by Paul Revere Williams in Los Angeles in 2016, I had no way of knowing that the work I was doing would lead to a book, to a relationship with the Nevada Museum of Art, and an exploration of Williams's work in state of Nevada or to this PBS special that you are watching right now.

The response to the work that I've done has been tremendous.

I have been incredibly fortunate to be afforded so many opportunities to show my work, to talk about my work, and to talk about Williams and his impact on the field of architecture.

Thank you so much for watching.

(dramatic piano music) - There's more to the story that you just watched.

You can see the full segment online at youtube.com/@pbsreno.

And that wraps it up for this special edition of "Art If you want to watch new "ArtEffects" segments early, make sure to subscribe to the PBS Reno YouTube channel.

And don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org for complete episodes.

Until next week, I'm Beth McMill Thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] Funding for "ArtEffects" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Meg and Dillard Myers, Heidemari in memory of Sue McDowell, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

(lively music) (bright music) (piano chiming)