NextAid, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit harnessing the power of dance music to affect change in the lives of orphaned vulnerable children in Africa, returns to the 25th annual Winter Music Conference (WMC) in Miami with a mega-benefit, “Beats Build Hope,” at the Shore Club on Friday, March 26, 2010. Partnering with LIFEbeat, The Loud Minority, CityDeep, Turntables on the Hudson, Dubspot, and Mixology, this official WMC event will employ NextAid’s mantra of using the beats of our generation to provide hope for the next. Over 20 top international DJs have agreed to graciously donate their time and talent such as The Crystal Method, DJ Rap, and Mark Farina. Funds raised will benefit NextAid, SOIL (Haiti), LIFEbeat and Green Wave. Read the rest of this entry »

Award winning filmmaker Jon Reiss is set to release his new book Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era on March 15, 2010. The book is a primer for filmmaking in the digital era covering distribution of all types of media content – feature films, shorts, webisodes, transmedia, vblogs, etc., and is the first to address the new distribution and marketing landscape facing filmmakers today.
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Believing that everyone deserves a beautiful future, the nation’s leading make-up educational institute, Make-Up Designory (MUD), created the MUD Cares Palette of Eye Colors to benefit NextAid and one of its partners in Africa, the Red Rhino Orphanage Project (RROP). 100% of the sales from the limited-edition four-color eye shadow palette are being generously donated to NextAid to help RROP build a foundation for a better tomorrow. Once the specially commissioned palettes sell out the funds will provide construction of orphans’ homes in a poverty-stricken town 25 miles southeast of Nairobi, Kenya. Lovely superstars Colette, DJ Rap, Eve Falcon, and Samantha James have come on board to help spread the word. Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles-based humanitarian organization NextAid offers three “green” holiday giving options that benefit African children in need. All three philanthropic gifts are perfect for those who want their holiday giving to mean a bit more:
1.) Funk Aid for Africa, a critically acclaimed CD mix of funky goodness released by Dubspot
2.) MUD Cares Palette of Eye Colors – earthy eye shadows by Make-Up Designory (MUD)
3.) NextAid’s “Send a Child to School” program

Proceeds from all three gifts support NextAid’s work to create sustainable solutions for African children orphaned by AIDS. For more information on NextAid, please visit http://www.nextaid.org. Read the rest of this entry »

graphic design by Rafael Picco - http://rfpgraphics.com

Humanitarian organization NextAid presents its second annual World AIDS Day 2009 benefit event in Los Angeles on Tue. Dec. 1, 2009. The L.A. event is part of NextAid’s multi-date/multi-city fundraising campaign that kicks off in San Francisco on Wed. Nov. 25th and continues across the land until Dec. 31st. The swanky affair will take place at film director Chris Paine’s Marrakesh House located on a scenic hillside in Culver City. Entertainment for the big LA benefit will include Louie Vega, DJ Rap, Turntables on the Hudson with DJ Nickodemus and Nappy G with a Brazilian drum troupe plus Todd Simon on trumpet, Marques Wyatt, and Raul Campos along with comedians Ben Morrison, Ben Gleib, and Whitney Cummings. Read the rest of this entry »

Antidote Films is pleased to present Bomb It, the global graffiti documentary by award winning director Jon Reiss. Currently on a whirlwind international film festival tour, the film will screen theatrically for US audiences in spring 2008 followed by the DVD release. Featuring street artists and top graffiti writers from 5 continents Bomb It is the first film to update the story of graffiti with a truly international perspective. Personalities such as Cornbread, Lady Pink, acclaimed hip hop artist and former graffiti writer KRS One, international art machine Shepard Fairey, Brazilian bombing twin brothers Os Gemeos, and others share their lives with the camera. Globally comprehensive as well as politically relevant, a recent review by IGN.com reported, “… At the core of the film is a poignant social statement about public space and the war being waged for it.” To learn more please visit http://bombit-themovie.com and http://www.myspace.com/bombitthemovie and for constant updates about this film and graffiti culture in general, especially artist’s rights, visit the Bomb It blog at http://bombit-themovie.com/blog
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