Shreveport - Bossier, Louisiana's Other Side

Congratulations to Angela Mills of Oil City - one of two winners of Robinson Film Center movie tickets from the Inside the Other Side blog giveaway contest. Angela also will get a great Lead Belly T-shirt!

Stay tuned for information on our second winner and for more on our next giveaway!

Winners have been selected in the Robinson Film Center movie ticket giveaway.

More details will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more about our next giveaway!

For all of you True Blood  fans out there, Shreveport's Author Author Book Festival will welcome the writer of the famed Sookie Stackhouse Novels, for which the HBO series is based.
 
The festival, June 12-13 at Municipal Auditorium, will feature Charlaine Harris and appearances by authors John Pritchard, Kathy Patrick, Ralph Bland, Shelia Goss and Lenora Worth.

Harris has been a published novelist for more than 25 years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she now she lives in southern Arkansas with her family.

Local authors Connie Cox and Rod Farrington also will speak and sign books at the on Saturday June 13.
 
Cox will speak on a panel with local romance authors at 11 a.m. and will be signing her award-winning book, Taking Flight during the remainder of the event. Taking Flight, set in north Louisiana, is a 2007 Golden Heart finalist and a 2008 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice finalist for Best Small Press Romance. Cox, a Benton resident, is a member of the local RWA chapter NOLA STARs and teaches novel writing classes at Bossier Parish Community College.
 
Farrington, of Bossier City, has traveled extensively to Bermuda over the last 20years. All of his novels to date are centered in Bermuda with a touch of Louisiana. The novels are action adventure with strong historical and geographical accuracy. A popular teen series, the "Spinners" trilogy is based on five teenagers who discover the gateway to the Bermuda Triangle. His latest novel, a terrorist thriller set in Bermuda, "The Isle of Devils Holy War," was awarded a Shreveport-Bossier regional 2008 Gold ADDY Award for cover design by his son Jason Farrington. The author will speak about the novel at the festival at 11 a.m., June 13.
 
Rod Farrington spends most of his spare time in Bermuda exploring old forts, deserted islands, jungles and caves. His novels are filled with pirates, Confederate blockade runners, sharks and even modern day terrorists. Rod’s four novels rank among the bestselling novels in Bermuda. His new novel "Death Diamonds of Bermúdez - The Apartheid Conspiracy" will be published later this year.

The Author Author Book Festival will offer additional book signings, discussions and kids’ activities. Admission is FREE and patrons may print tickets by visiting www.AuthorAuthorShreveport.com.

Charlaine Harris
Rod Farrington

Local filmmaker Jabari Thomas will begin taping his new talk show, Late Night South, this week at the Louisiana Boardwalk.

Be there live as an audience member FREE, this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Funny Bone Comedy Club at the Louisiana Boardwalk in Bossier City.

The show will begin at 3:15 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, May 19-20, and at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, May 21.

Jabari's guests include local filmmaker Jeffrey Goodman, director of The Last Lullaby, which will premiere at the Robinson Film Center this weekend and also actor and comedian David Raibon.

As the founder of Cristal Clear Pictures, Jabari has produced several projects including "Living for Love" and "God vs. Science," which premiered at the Robinson Film Center.

Jabari also will be participating in the tourist bureau's "Show Us Your Shreveport-Bossier" promotion.

For more about Jabari and Cristal Clear Pictures, visit www.cristalclearpictures.com.

To recognize our partnership with the Robinson Film Center and in celebration of our new Show Us Your Shreveport-Bossier promotion, I want to send you to the Robinson Film Center to view a movie on me!

View our newest video podcast about the film center below and comment about an experience you've had there and you'll be entered in this week's Inside the Other Side blog giveaway contest. It's as easy as that and I've got two pair of movie tickets up for grabs!

Be sure to include your name and correct email address. Please also make sure that it is a valid email address that you check regularly, so that we may contact you in a timely manner, should you win.

As always, there will be a added prizes for all participants, even if you don't win the Robinson Film Center movie tickets. This contest will go through Memorial Day and end at 4 p.m., Tuesday, May 26. The winner will be drawn and announced soon after.

Rules apply for the blog giveaway contest and can be located in the column to the right of the blog, labeled Promotion Rules (removed).

We look forward to hearing from you!

SHOW US YOUR SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER!

Showcase your talents on screen or behind the camera in the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau’s "Show Us Your Shreveport-Bossier" video promotion.

The tourist bureau announced the kickoff of the promotion, today, May 18, at a news conference in the Kilpatrick Café at the Robinson Film Center.
 
"Our newest promotion is aimed at raising awareness of the Louisiana’s Other Side brand and also generating community pride in Shreveport-Bossier," said President Stacy Brown. "The entire community is encouraged to take part in this innovative way to star in their own movie and showcase the things they love most about Shreveport-Bossier: Louisiana’s Other Side."
 
The tourist bureau is now accepting promotion entries. All video entries must be uploaded to YouTube.com and, upon approval based on specified terms, the tourist bureau will embed those videos on the promotion website at www.Shreveport-Bossier.org. Video entries may be submitted through June 30.

Once all the videos have been uploaded and the video entry submission date ends, the public will decide who has the best video. Voting will run through July 17.

After all votes have been counted, the tourist bureau, along with its partner the Robinson Film Center, will host a red carpet premiere event to showcase the best videos in the film center’s Willis Knighton Theater at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 23. The top finalists will be recognized and some lucky person will receive a check for $2,500. This event will be FREE and open to the public.

So that no one is at a disadvantage, the Robinson Film Center will host a free workshop – How to Make Your Video Better – at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7. The course will offer participants an opportunity to get their questions answered, review recording techniques, hear tips on posting videos to YouTube and much more.

"This contest is a great example of how film can help build and strengthen communities, and we’re proud to be a part of it," said Chris Jay, director of marketing and programming at the film center. "One of our goals at The Robinson Film Center is to empower members of our community to tell their own stories through the medium of film, so this is a natural partnership."

For a complete list of promotion rules and regulations, video entry submission instructions, helpful resources and more, visit the contest page HERE.

We're sending out a huge congratulations to Tricia Grayson of Bossier City - winner of a $25 gift card to the Louisiana Boardwalk in our recent Inside the Other Side blog giveaway contest.

Do you want to be a winner? Your next chance to score a great prize will be Monday, May 18. The giveaway will be connected with the tourist bureau's annoucement of a great summer promotion!

Stay tuned for more details! 

Come July, you won't have to go far to see him perform live! Larry the Cable Guy will perform at Horseshoe Casino and Hotel on Friday, July 10.

With his signature catchphrase, "Git-R-Done," Larry the Cable Guy is selling out theatres and arenas across the United States. He was part of the highly successful concert Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which grossed more than $15 million. Among a host of recognitions, Larry’s comedy CD "Morning Constitutions" debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts in 2007, and "The Right To Bare Arms" also debuted at no. 1 on the Soundscan Comedy Chart, no. 1 on the Country Chart and no. 7 on the Top 200 Chart. This marked the first time in the history of Soundscan that a comedy album has charted at no. 1 on the Country Chart. It has been certified gold by the RIAA received a Grammy nomination.

Larry will perform two shows on July 10, at 6:30 p.m. and at p.m. Tickets on sale now for $65 and $75. Seating is reserved. Purchase tickets at www.riverdome.com, by calling 888-512-SHOW (7469) or visit the Horseshoe Gift Horse® Gift Shop. Patrons must be age 21 or older to attend.

A winner has been selected in the $25 Louisiana Boardwalk gift card giveaway.

More details will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more about this week's giveaway!