Award winning independent film director Varda Bar-Kar is committed to making meaningful films and she does just that with her music documentary BIG VOICE picked up for North American distribution by Gravitas Ventures. BIG VOICE is in great hands with Gravitas whose key VOD partners include Hulu, Google, Vudu, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox Cable, Amazon, AT&T, Verizon, DirecTV, Dish, iTunes Netflix and Microsoft Xbo.
BIG VOICE chronicles a challenging year in the life of the determined Santa Monica High School Choir Director Jeffe Huls who pushes his students to achieve artistry and become “one big voice” despite the many obstacles they face.
Following four years of production, Bar-Kar brought BIG VOICE to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. where she, Co-Producer Marina Viscun and Executive Producer Deb Love advocated for arts education alongside leading national advocates including Americans For The Arts, Chorus America, Opera U.S.A.. The U.S. Embassy in Brazil hosted Bar-Kar at a cultural exchange screening in Sao Paolo, Brazil; and during a robust festival run, BIG VOICE garnered several awards including the Heartland Film Festival’s “Best U.S. Premiere Documentary”, South Dakota Film Festival’s “Best Family Feature Documentary” and “New Filmmakers Los Angeles “Best Feature Documentary”.
A passion for the choral arts and music fuels Santa Monica High School’s Choir Director Jeffe Huls’ desire to exceed all standards and expectations. During the filming of BIG VOICE, Garry Marshall awarded Mr. Huls Disney’s prestigious “Bravo Award” honoring his outstanding music instruction.
Following a series of competitive auditions, Mr. Huls convenes his dream choir ensemble. But he soon discovers that these 32 teenagers are the most unwieldy group he has ever taught. Some face serious personal or academic issues, while others are simply not prepared for the hard work necessary to achieve the excellence Mr. Huls seeks.
Huls must convince his students to set aside their problems, conflicts, and teenage angst to achieve the level of excellence he knows they are capable of. BIG VOICE is as much a story about the transformative power of arts programs in helping students faces the many struggles of high school life as it is about choir and music.
When Bar-Kar first attended one of Mr. Huls’ Winter Concerts she was moved to tears by the beauty of his choir. “I wanted to find out how Mr. Huls inspired such a high level of artistry in his students,” she explains. Bar-Kar has a deep appreciation for the art teachers who transformed her life and realized that creating a documentary that chronicles Mr. Huls’ extraordinary commitment to his art and to teaching would serve to recognize and honor dedicated teachers everywhere and to shed light on the profound value of arts education.
In addition to the producers mentioned above, the BIG VOICE producing team includes Carol Coote, John Beug, Dennis Leight, Karen Lavender and Robert McFalls.
You can now pre order BIG VOICE on Apple iTunes @ apple.co/2ahdmT3.
Educators, libraries and organizations can purchase BIG VOICE DVDs @ http://www.videoproject.com/big-voice.html
