KCRW Unveils Multi-Year Documentary and Reporting Series on L.A.’s Vulnerable Populations

KCRW Unveils Multi-Year Documentary and Reporting Series on L.A.’s Vulnerable Populations

Series Supported by a Generous Grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Inaugural Series “Below the Ten: Stories of South LA” features intimate stories about people who reside in neighborhoods south of the 10 Freeway, including Watts, Jefferson Park, and Compton

Grace of the Sea, the moving story of a gay, undocumented immigrant residing in Jefferson Park premieres August 28, at 7:30 PM on KCRW’s UnFictional

KCRW announced today a new multi-year documentary and reporting series on issues affecting the lives of Los Angeles residents who find themselves at the edges of our community. The series, supported by a generous grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, will explore Los Angeles’ most vulnerable populations.

The inaugural series “Below the Ten: Stories of South LA” focuses on the neighborhoods south of the 10 Freeway, including Watts, Jefferson Park, and Compton. Produced by David Weinberg, “Below the Ten” explores personal stories of residents in Los Angeles neighborhoods once associated with African-American disenfranchisement, gangster rap, crime and civil unrest. Today, however, the vast majority of South L.A.’s population is Latino, and some of these historically neglected neighborhoods are seeing more corporate investment as well as some of the biggest residential development projects in Southern California. “Below the Ten” explores these changing communities through intimate, personal stories of those who reside there.

Many of the people highlighted in “Below the Ten” are poor – some are undocumented, some lack basic shelter, safety and opportunities to get ahead. Weinberg comments, “it’s about elevating people who often get reduced to very simple narratives about ‘struggle’ and ‘bootstraps’. I’m interested in getting as close as possible to trying to learn about how their lives are affected by the circumstances that exist for many in L.A.”

The stories are produced documentary style, with the audio premiering on KCRW’s airwaves with complementary video features available online. Weinberg spent weeks and sometimes months with the people in these communities. “A lot comes out during the hanging out time that you wouldn’t know to ask in an interview. Serendipity happens more when you put in the time,” Weinberg says. “The web of personal connections becomes more apparent. It starts to feel more like a small town.”

“Below the Ten: Stories of South LA” a multi-chapter series will be unveiled over the course of eight months. The introductory chapter, “The New Compton” tells the story of the changing face of Compton. The premiere of Chapter 2 “Grace of the Sea” will air on August 28 at 7:30 PM on KCRW’s UnFictional. Luis Jesus Gutierrez Sanchez, who calls himself “Grace of the Sea,” has been living in a garage in South L.A. for six years. He’s pasted pictures of celebrities cut out from magazines to the walls and written poetry on them in pink chalk. It’s his own magical world tucked away in Jefferson Park, a neighborhood just south of the 10 Freeway between Crenshaw and Normandie. But, now he has to move. His landlord, fearing city inspectors, has told him to get out.

For more information and online access to audio and video features, please visit:

kcrw.com/belowtheten

About KCRW

KCRW creates and curates a unique mix of content centered around music discovery, NPR news, cultural exploration and informed public affairs. We are driven by the spirit of LA and deliver in innovative ways — on the radio, digitally and in person — to diverse, curious communities around the corner and around the world. A community service of Santa Monica College, KCRW can be found on the air in LA, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Mojave, Palm Springs, and via five KCRW-developed smart phone apps and online at kcrw.com.

Twitter | twitter.com/kcrw

Facebook | facebook.com/kcrwradio

Instagram | instagram.com/kcrw

Google+ | plus.google.com/+kcrw

About the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by international business pioneer Conrad N. Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels and left his fortune to help the world’s disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The Foundation currently conducts strategic initiatives in six priority areas: providing safe water, ending chronic homelessness, preventing substance use, helping children affected by HIV and AIDS, supporting transition-age youth in foster care, and extending Conrad Hilton’s support for the work of Catholic Sisters. In addition, following selection by an independent international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to a nonprofit organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants, distributing $100 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2014. The Foundation’s current assets are approximately $2.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org.

Events

KCRW Presents Ira Glass’ Three Acts, Two Dancers and One Radio Host

One Night Only at The Theatre at Ace Hotel, Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM

KCRW is proud to bring back by popular demand the final Los Angeles presentations of Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, starring Ira Glass, the host and executive producer of the universally lauded public radio program This American Life, choreographer/dancer Monica Bill Barnes and fellow dancer/collaborator Anna Bass. The trio bring the unlikely art forms of talk radio and dance together for a production that The New York Times heralded as “unapologetically human and refreshingly relatable.” KCRW will present the performances of this critically acclaimed show on one special night at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, November 7, 2015, at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

Acclaimed by The Washington Post as “equal parts heart and humor,” Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host seamlessly combines Glass’ trademark storytelling and Barnes’ witty, theatrical movement style. Dancers Barnes and Bass illustrate Glass’ narration in three stirring acts – the first of which focuses on performance as an occupation, the second on artistic and romantic relationships, and, the final, which offers a glimpse into the personal lives of the three performers.

The show was created after Glass saw a performance by Monica Bill Barnes & Company. “It was unlike any dance show I’d ever seen in one crucial way: their sensibility seemed exactly like what I’m shooting for on This American Life,” comments Glass. “They were documenting these very real human moments and they were totally out for fun. Super-accessible. Funny. Original. There was a huge ‘let’s entertain people!’ vibe to the whole thing that I loved and respected.”

Confident that Barnes’s brand of movement would resonate with his radio audience, Glass invited Monica Bill Barnes & Company to be featured in the “Invisible Made Visible” live broadcast episode of This American Life. Following an enthusiastic response to an excerpt of the work at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall, Barnes, Glass, and Bass created the complete show, Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host. The project has since toured throughout the U.S., performing at venues such at Citi Performing Arts Center (Boston), Town Hall (New York City), and The Annenberg Center (Philadelphia), among many others.

DETAILS:

THREE ACTS, TWO DANCERS, ONE RADIO HOST

Ira Glass, Monica Bill Barnes, Anna Bass

November 7, 2015, at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM

The Theatre at Ace Hotel

929 SOUTH BROADWAY

LOS ANGELES, CA 90015

http://www.acehotel.com/losangeles/theatre/info

Ticket prices and purchase info:

$30-$68.50 plus applicable service fees

7:00 PM: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/813773

10:00 PM: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/813821

For more information, please visit kcrw.com/iraglass

About Ira Glass

Ira Glass is a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame (2014) and the host and creator of the public radio program This American Life. Dubbed by the Chicago Tribune as “the hippest show in the mainstream of public radio,” the show reaches more than 1.7 million listeners and is heard on more than 500 public radio stations in the U.S., and also appears on public radio stations in Canada and Australia. Under Glass’ editorial direction, This American Life has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence including the prestigious Peabody Award. A television adaptation of the program ran on the Showtime network for two years, winning three Emmy Awards. The program’s spin-off show Serial ran for twelve weeks in 2014, quickly becoming a pop culture phenomenon and the most listened-to podcast ever created.

About Monica Bill Barnes

Monica Bill Barnes is a choreographer, performer, and the Artistic Director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company: a New York City-based contemporary dance company founded in 1997. Barnes’ artistic mission is to celebrate individuality, humor, and the innate theatricality of everyday life, delighting in the underdog qualities of all humanity. Specializing in creatively mounted collaborations and bringing dance where it doesn’t belong, Monica Bill Barnes & Company has performed in more than sixty cities throughout the U.S. and been commissioned and presented by some of the top institutions in the country. She holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Theater from the University of California San Diego.

About Anna Bass

Originally from Forest, Virginia, dancer Anna Bass has worked with choreographers including Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, Alexandra Beller Dances, Steele Dance, Christian Canciani, Donna Costello, and Aviva Geismar. Bass began working with Monica Bill Barnes & Company in 2003 and now serves as Associate Artistic Director for the company. She has performed Barnes’ work all over the U.S., on stages such as New York City Center and Carnegie Hall, and has performed in Ira Glass’s two most recent This American Life Live! events. Bass often assists Barnes with theater projects, and served as Assistant Choreographer for productions at the Atlantic Theater, the Public Theater, and Yale Repertory Theatre. Bass holds a B.A. in Dance and Theater from James Madison University.