Bradbury "Ice Cream Suit" Event in California

If you are near Pomona, California, in mid-October, here's a unique event: a screening of The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, with a panel on the making of the film. It's to support Pomona Public Library.

The film was scripted by Ray Bradbury, based on his short story and play, and was directed for Disney by Stuart Gordon - a director better known for his work in the horror genre. Gordon will be on the discussion panel, along with two of the film's stars: Joe Mantegna and Edward James Olmos.

And if that weren't enough, the panel will be joined by Bradbury's authorised biographer Sam Weller, and chaired by organiser of Los Angeles' Ray Bradbury Week, Steven Paul Leiva.

Full details of the 12th October event are here.

Ray Bradbury Square

The dedication of Ray Bradbury Square has been confirmed for Thursday 6th December at 2pm, and a list of speakers has been published.

Ray Bradbury Square is in Los Angeles, located at the intersection of Fifth St and Flower St. This very urban crossroads doesn't look like the sort of place Bradbury would identify with, but to one side of the  intersection is a small park adjacent to the Los Angeles Public Library. It is in this park that the dedicatory sign will be mounted... and now it all begins to make sense, since Bradbury is strongly identified with libraries.

The speakers at the dedication ceremony will include the actor Joe Mantegna, whose credits include the Bradbury-scripted The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Others of note include the City's Librarian, John Szabo; the SF writer David Brin; Bradbury's daughter Sue Bradbury Nixon; Bradbury's biographer Sam Weller; and the co-ordinator of Ray Bradbury Week 2010, Steven Paul Leiva.

The event is open to the public. For more information, click on the flyer below.

Flyer - click to embiggen

Live Forever Trailer

Michael O'Kelly's documentary Live Forever: the Ray Bradbury Odyssey moves closer to completion, with an intended release due at the end of 2012. Here's the latest trailer, featuring Joe Mantegna (who hosts and narrates) and Edward James Olmos (interviewee).

Why Mantegna and Olmos? They were, of course, key cast members in Stuart Gordon's film version of The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, which Bradbury scripted based on his own short story.

Live Forever... again!

I blogged recently about Michael O'Kelly's submission of a short film Live Forever! to a festival. Well, now there's more to add to the story. According to the Ventura County Star, there's a full-length documentary in the works, based around the interviews O'Kelly and his son have been conducting with Ray Bradbury over the last five years or so. Joe Mantegna is to narrate, and in fact recorded for the film on Wednesday of this week. Also featured is Malcolm McDowell. The full story is here.

O'Kelly's fifteen minute teaser film is now on Youtube, and for you convenience I am embedding it here.