StoryMakers Studio Celebrates “Freedom Writers” With SoCal Teachers - Teachers got up close and personal with inspirational educator Erin Gruwell and filmmakers

(Hollywood, CA) StoryMakers Studio (http://www.StoryMakersStudio.com) celebrated California Teacher Appreciation Day on May 9 with a special screening of the film FREEDOM WRITERS starring Academy Award winning actress Hilary Swank as real life educator and best selling author Erin Gruwell. Teachers from all over Southern California attended the event, surrounding Gruwell and several of the original Freedom Writers at the end of the evening to take pictures, autograph books and be inspired.

What’s it like being on-set watching a movie based on an important part of your life as it’s being filmed by an Oscar winning actress? This was a recurring theme during the lively post-film conversation featuring Gruwell and Freedom Writer Maria Reyes who was the real life counterpart for the character “Eva” in the film.

Writer/director Richard LaGravenese (THE FISHER KING), cast members Deance Wyatt and Pat Carroll and casting director Margery Simkin reunited with Gruwell and Reyes and had the overflow house riveted both with some of the true events that inspired the film and the unusual way the big screen version of FREEDOM WRITERS was developed and filmed.

“The thing that struck me about the process was the fact that Richard extended an open invitation to Erin and the Freedom Writers to visit the set and get to know the actors who would be playing them on screen,” explains Gordon Meyer, StoryMakers Studio’s host. “Erin and the Freedom Writers had an exceptional amount of input and influence on the way the movie was made. In fact, one of the things I found most fascinating while interviewing them was the way the Freedom Writers and the cast bonded.”

At the end of the evening, audience members came up in droves to thank the panelists for providing such an inspiring evening. According to Ronn Campbell, one of StoryMakers Studio’s producers, that kind of reaction is par for the course. “We are truly blessed with guests who regularly inspire our audiences. In fact, they are so inspiring we constantly get requests from people who either attended one of our shows and want to relive the evening or people who couldn’t make it and want to see what they missed. That’s why, starting with FREEDOM WRITERS, we’ve decided to make our shows available to the public through the Internet.”

Viewers of the online streaming media broadcast of StoryMakers Studio’s FREEDOM WRITERS event will actually get to see even more than members of the live audience in the form of bonus green room interviews with casting director Margery Simkin and a group interview with the Freedom Writers themselves.

“The idea behind our subscription series is to enable movie lovers everywhere to recreate a StoryMakers Studio event in the comfort of their own home by combining watching our webcast immediately after viewing Paramount’s DVD of the film,” explains Meyer.

“Our subscribers will get advanced notice about upcoming shows as well,” adds Campbell. “This way they can email us their own questions for our guests. We’ll pick the best ones for Gordon to use either on stage or as part of our green room interviews. And of course our online subscribers will get preferred seating any time they’re here in Hollywood and want to be part of our studio audience.”

About StoryMakers Studio:

http://www.StoryMakersStudio.com is the online home of “StoryMakers Studio: Live and Unscripted from Hollywood, ” where audiences can see and hear some of the motion picture industry’s most successful artists tell the inside stories behind the movies they’re best known for, live and unscripted. Site visitors can enjoy reviews of new movies, DVD releases, television shows, music, books and more along with information about StoryMakers Studio live events, including online reservations to attend upcoming live events and how to view StoryMakers Studio events online.