BEHIND THE DESIGN continues in New York with Sara Grey Miller of COUNTRY LIVING MAGAZINE as she describes her inspiration and success.

We visit her in her home in upstate New York and offices in Manhattan.

Directed by Sarah Price.

COUNTRY LIVING #1:

Sarah Gray Miller from Country Living Magazine describes eclectic American country style home trends. Shop Kmart for home décor & accessories for the home.

COUNTRY LIVING #2:

Follow Country Living Magazine Editor-in-Chief Sarah Gray Miller through her town & see how she actually lives the Country Living design aesthetic. See the inspiration behind the Country Living Collection at Kmart and learn how to create “visual drama”.

COUNTRY LIVING #3:

Get a glimpse into Sarah Gray Miller’s home life and learn more about the eclectic country style of decorating. See how Sarah’s inspiration from auctions and antiques winds up in the pages of Country Living Magazine and in the Kmart Country Living Collection.

Over at the Documentary Blog, AboutFace director Sarah Price joins some of America’s top documentarians to pick her top docs of the 2000′s:

Encounters at the End of the World

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007)
Directed by Werner Herzog

THE WHITE DIAMOND (2004)
Directed by Werner Herzog

THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL (2003)
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni

CITY OF CRANES (2007)
Directed by Eva Webber

CARNY (2008)
Directed by Alison Murray

So that’s Sarah’s list…  What’s yours?

New this week, join the KmartDesign Apparel Team in New York as Fashion Week hits.

What would Kmart have to do with Fashion week?  Watch this three part series from our BEHIND THE DESIGN series on KmartDesign,

Ep. 1: See the behind-the-scene action of the Kmart collection as a celebrity stylist, fresh from the high-end shows, works with Kmart Design Team to create affordable, wearable looks at Fashion Week.

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Ep. 2: Kmart designers find inspiration for on-trend, approachable styles on the runway and the streets of Fashion Week.

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Ep. 3: Fashion Week culminates with the Kmart Design Editor’s Suite. Our design team have taken the best looks from the runway to showcase on-trend design at affordable price tags.

We just went live with a new batch of KmartDesign Designer Profiles.

These profiles are being used to supplement the BEHIND THE DESIGN behind the scenes webisodes.  They allow people to drill down further into the individual personalities they are watching in the webisodes.

They are particularly useful in micro-targeting audiences… Home?  Apparel? Children?  Single parents?  Each profile targets a different affinity group, telling them an authentic story that they can relate to.

Here is the latest that just went live.

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TORI.

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BRUCE.

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MARK AND ELISHA.

You can see our previous KmartDesign designer profiles here.

Sarah Price’s latest film project is the recently released “I Bring What I Love” featuring Youssou Ndour.  Sarah was the co-producer.

Senegalese pop sensation Youssou Ndour has spent the last 20 years in the spotlight as a world-renowned musician and the iconic representative “voice of Africa.”

At the height of his career, Youssou became frustrated by the negative perception of his Muslim faith and composed Egypt, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. The album’s brave musical message was wholeheartedly embraced by Western audiences but ignited serious religious controversy in his homeland of Senegal.

The film chronicles the difficult journey Youssou must undertake to assume his true calling.

The film is playing across American now.  Catch it in your city.

BEHIND THE DESIGN continues with another series of Jaclyn Smith “Behind the Scenes”, beginning in NY as she prepares for an upcoming TV commercial shoot and ending with her spending some time at home with her family.

First up, POINT OF VIEW.  Jaclyn Smith visits the diverse New York City KMart Design team.

With “so many points of view”, Jaclyn says, the team is able to “meet the needs of a 20 year old to a 60 year old to a teenager… we’re able to do so many wonderful things at an affordable price.”

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In the second episode, BELIEVE MORE, watch as Jaclyn Smith and the New York City KMart Design team plan out her new TV commercial shoot, “Believe More Beautifully”. KMart Director Of Advertising Beverly says Jaclyn represents “iconic beauty for every day elegance… she really really cares about her customer.” In Malibu on the set of the commercial shoot, in Jaclyn’s own words, “When I think of my line, I think of quality and detail, and that’s a wonderful gift.”

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Next we visit JACLYN’S HOME.  Iconic, beautiful, simple, elegant, family, Jaclyn Smith, and KMart Design. See how all these things fit together as Jaclyn and her daughter show us their home and the inspiration for great design and great value.

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Finally, learn more about JACLYN’S VISION. “Jaclyn doesn’t do something if she doesn’t believe in it,” says Dr. Brad Allen, husband of KMart star designer Jaclyn Smith. As Jaclyn Smith expands her line into home decor and outdoor living, we go inside her home and see the love and inspiration that goes into her work.

“Everyone should have great choices no matter what they can afford.”

We continue our KmartDesign “Behind the Design” series in New York with the Apparel design team as the work round the clock, “all hands on deck”, to prepare for presentations to the merchants.

These episodes were shot in early March of 2009 in New York.

Kmart was the first big box retailer to put a design group in New York. The talent they recruited may surprise you, from top schools and labels as Kenneth Cole, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren.

As June explains the draw, “It’s really cool as a designer to be able to say I took this $2 fabric and made this $25 garment and it looks as good as the $250 version”.

Kmart’s Design team works all hours to prepare the new holiday line for presentation to buyers. Tweaks, alterations, steaming, and no sleep are all part of drilling down to what assortments will end up in stores.

“It’s important for a designer to wear the clothing they design,” Tori, Kmart Senior Designer, says. So she shops her local New York Kmart for a new wardrobe for tomorrow’s all-important merchant presentations and the arrival of star designer Jaclyn Smith. It’s getting crazy, but a good kind of crazy, preparing for the buyers.

A huge snowstorm strikes New York on the morning of the Kmart Design buyers’ presentation. Buyers decide how much of which designs to put in stores. After all the Design team’s hard work preparing, will they have anyone to present to?

The first batch of designer profiles for our KmartDesign content initiative is live.  You can see them at KmartDesign and throughout the web on video sharing and other social media sites.

The profiles are supplemental to the Kmart BEHIND THE DESIGN webisodes, giving more in depth profiles of the people who populate the series.

Here are the first batch.  There will be many more to come.

KIMBERLY.  See where Kim’s passion as a Kmart Children’s Clothing Designer stems from as her own daughter interacts with embroidered girl’s clothing she designed.

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FABIAN. Whether designing women’s dresses or graphic tees, Fabian’s passion for beauty — passion to make people look beautiful and feel good — comes to life.

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CEASAR. Kmart Stores’ Graphic Tees are inspired by New York’s energy and art. Watch great design come to life as Cesar redraws graphic images.

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MILLER. Kmart’s Home Décor speciality products, like Christmas decorations, are influenced by Design Director Miller’s life and Martha Stewart Collection experience.

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JENNIFER. Watch Jennifer’s daughter, Sophia, delight in wearing the kid’s skirts and girl’s gloves her mother designed. Kid’s clothing. Great value from Kmart.

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THERESA. Theresa is inspired by Kmart stores’ customers, the pattern and color trends she sees, and her family. Design science influences her home products and her design team.

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GLENN. From comic book artist to menswear design, Glenn’s gift is graphic images. “I’m a very lucky man,” Glenn says, and he chose Kmart.

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ESTHER.  Great design doesn’t have to be complicated. See where Esther gets her home products inspiration and how fashion style relates to her overall life as she prepares for a dinner party

Those merry political pranksters The Yes Men are at it again with a sequel to the documentary “The Yes Men.”   Titled “The Yes Men Fix the World,” the film is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The original “Yes Men” movie, released by United Artist in 2004, was co-directed by our own Dan Ollman and Sarah Price (along with Chris Smith).

After it’s premiere at the 28th Toronto International Film Festival in 2003 it was picked up for theatrical distribution by United Artists.

Pictured here are Chris, Dan and Sarah from the US premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

You can see the trailer here:

You can now buy “American Movie” streaming on Amazon — $2.99!

Now if they would just stream “Coven.”

Directed by Chris Smith; Produced by Sarah Price; Edited by Barry Poltermann & Jun Diaz

From Amazon:

“AMERICAN MOVIE is the true-tale of amateur filmmaker Mark Borchardt as he attempts to complete his short horror film, COVEN. A documentary crew captures every moment of Mark’s efforts in this absolutely hilarious, poignant look at the life of an aspiring auteur.”

First it was The Toronto Film Festival, then SXSW, The Hamptons, the Chicago Film Festival… “SummerCamp!” had a great festival run.

Now director (and friend and AboutFace director) Sarah Price tells us that “SummerCamp!” will premiere on the Sundance Channel July 7th.

Check it out.

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2008 Premiere Airdates

Jette Kernion from Cinematical reports that AboutFace director Sarah Price and her collaborator Brad Beasly’s “SummerCamp!” is having a run on AOL’s “True Stories” digital download series:

When I reviewed the film, I called it “a film for grownups who want to remember their own days at summer camp, both the fun times and the embarrassing moments.” Also, I loved the Flaming Lips music on the soundtrack. The light-hearted film was co-directed by Austin filmmaker Bradley Beesley (who also made Fearless Freaks, the doc about the Flaming Lips) and Sarah Price (The Yes Men). But I don’t need to keep telling you what I thought, because you can watch the movie for yourself, right this minute if you want.”

It’s truly a new era of distributing indie films.  It’s not just the film, but the interactivity at work:

“AOL True Stories has made Summercamp! available to watch online in its entirety or download onto your own computer. The documentary runs a little less than 90 minutes long, so budget some time to sit back and enjoy the film on your monitor. When you’re done, you can tell your own summer-camp tales by posting comments on the Summercamp! blog.”

Sarah Price, a good friend and talented filmmaker whom I had the pleasure to work with on “American Movie,” has a new film — “SummerCamp!” — playing theaters now.

It’s a very fun, sweet film, co-directed by Bradley Beasley (director of the legendary doc “Okie Noodling”) and The Flaming Lips did the soundtrack.

Oh, and the reviews for “SummerCamp!” have been awesome.

And check out this interview with Sarah that just ran at DivineCaroline.