INSPIRED! 2023: Streaming online from August 25 through September 3

People who create are inspirations to us all. But what inspires them?

On April 21, fifteen local artists in varied disciplines shared the sources of their inspiration, each using ten slides and twenty seconds per slide to explain them in a fast-paced night of creativity. Now a video will be available for all to see – for free or pay what you like! Registration is required.

Viewing instructions: Once you register you will have 72 hours to start watching. When you start watching you will have 4 days to finish. To register you will be asked for your email address and a password. Please save your password! You’ll use it for future ticket purchases. Since it’s free – you can sign in again whenever you want until September 3. If you experience any problems please click on “need help?” on the order page. It will bring up an FAQ page with typical questions (and instructions for viewing on your television instead of phone, computer or other device) and will also offer very useful “live chat support.” Please use it if needed. We at Rivertown Film do not have access to the ticketing software and cannot help. “Live chat support” will help you!

EVENT SPONSOR:

Taking part this year were:

Event MC: GLENN SCHLOSS, Performer, Producer, Remixer and Multi-instrumentalist

The 2023 Inspired! Honorees:

DRU PLUHOWSKI, Choral director

ELLIOTT FORREST, Broadcaster, Director/Producer/Designer/Filmmaker

ELENA MELENER SCHLOSS, Voice Actor, Writer, Director and Content Creator

TREY BONHAM SCHLOSS, Drummer and Singer

RAY LEVIER, Drummer / Composer / Producer

KIM CROSS, Actor

DOROTHY GILLESPIE, Sculptor represented posthumously by her son Gary Israel

SUSAN HILLARY (aka SHAPIRO), Filmmaker & Painter

KIMBERLY FENNELL, Social Media Content Creator

HERNZ LAGUERRE, JR., Journalist / Video Storyteller

CHARU KRISHAN, Hindi Storyteller / Writer and Translator

J. FAITH ALMIRON, Cultural Studies Scholar and Critic

PETER ARTIN, Sculptor

OSCAR GONZÁLEZ-BARRETO, Scholar /Teacher / Playwright / Radio Host

DAVID SHIRE, Composer

“A film that could have settled for being a masterclass in technique, but instead goes deeper, exploring questions of artistry, authorship, legacy.” NPR

“Had The Christophers just been a cross-generational punch-up, the sort of flinty showdown designed to throw off pleasurable sparks, you’d still walk away content. It remains a conduit for two of the best performances you’ll see all year.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone

“The Christophers is largely a comedy, but it’s also about all that we gain and lose with age, and about how we sometimes need young people to bring us back to ourselves.” – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME

“Having lost the inspiration that guided him to greatness, Julian is an artist who can no longer paint, and Lori is an artist who has lost all confidence in there being a place for her work in the larger world. For all the undercurrents about fame, commodification, and reputation that flow through The Christophers, at its core is a more plaintive lament about what it feels like to love something that doesn’t love you back.” – Alison Willmore, Vulture

“Go see The Christophers. Show up, and support a tiny, talky experiment that has no relationship to IP or sequels or box-office projection. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s also never, as Lori grudgingly notes about Julian’s work, uninteresting. And in this cultural moment, that’s an authentic win.” – Elizabeth Weitzman, Time Out

“The Christophers is a work of criticism that deftly distinguishes different approaches to criticism.” ­– Justin Chang, The New Yorker 

“Brims with hilarious dialogue, lightly satirical observations of a culture that treats art as a commodity, and satisfying payoffs to a number of story elements planted early on.” – Seth Katz, Slant Magazine

“In the end, this film about artists becomes a work of art in its own right. The more you look at it, the more its many components reveal themselves to you.” – Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap

“Ian McKellen plays Julian Sklar, a sardonic art legend who meets his intellectual match in frank preservationist Lori Butler (Michaela Coel). In a test of wits and wills held mostly in a single-setting, Soderbergh pushes both characters to return to their former passions through philosophical conversations that reflect his own career.” – Robert Daniels, Screen International

“It bats about ideas pertaining to art, commerce, ownership and legacy with dexterous aplomb and boasts two equally superb leads who make the material crackle.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“The Christophers is a talky, at times incredibly funny, comedy drama with plot reversals that make it feel like it’s on the verge of a thriller. It doesn’t end up there, at least not strictly, but it’s unpredictable enough to never make us entirely sure just where it’s heading.” – Benjamin Lee, Guardian

“There’s no room for anything shy of genius in The Christophers, a crackling original drama about artistic legacy in all its facets, directed by Steven Soderbergh , from a script by Ed Solomon (No Sudden Move) and starring two top-notch English actors of wildly different backgrounds and styles, Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, at the top of their respective games.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“With Ian McKellen in superbly crotchety form and Michaela Coel exuding chilly cunning, it’s further proof that Soderbergh remains one of American Cinema’s most inimitable, and adventurous, auteurs. – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast