Latest news with #Wicket
San Francisco Chronicle
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Queer filmmaking triumphs at Frameline 49 amid challenging times
'Wicket,' Lily Plotkin's portrait of legendary 1990s San Francisco breakdancer Bboy Wicket, whose defining power moves helped give hop-hop its form and also provided cover for him as a closeted gay man, won the audience award for best documentary feature at Frameline 49. The award for narrative feature was a tie between two wildly ambitious but very different films presented at the 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, according to the list of award winners released Tuesday, July 1 by Frameline, the nation's oldest and largest LGBTQ+ media arts organization. 'Castration Movie: Pt. I,' the creation of writer/director/star Louise Weard, is a 4½-hour saga about a transgender sex worker in Vancouver and her challenging life that is easily the longest film ever to play at Frameline. It was matched on audience ballots by Croatian filmmaker Ivona Jonka's 'Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day,' an epic about a group of gay partisans-turned-filmmakers navigating life in post-World War II Communist Yugoslavia. 'Frameline 49 spotlighted filmmakers who are committed to making their stories in the face of a harsh political and financial landscape,' Frameline Executive Director Allegra Madsen told the Chronicle. 'As a film festival, and a queer organization, Frameline is tasked with not only showing crucial works, but bringing filmmakers and audiences together to create community.' Overall, the world's largest and longest-running queer media festival, which ended Saturday, June 28, showed nearly 150 films from some 40 countries across 11 days, bringing about 200 filmmakers from around the world to the Bay Area. There were 50 sold-out screenings, including at some 1,000-seat venues. 'Festivals like Frameline are the vanguard of independent cinema. We're changing the face of art and culture at large, no matter the odds,' Madsen said, reflecting on the reality her organization is facing in an era of anti-LGBTQ legislation and drastic cuts to arts funding since Donald Trump became president for the second time. In response, the festival instituted a Queer2Queer fundraising campaign, which invited donors to 'adopt' screenings at $2,500 a pop. The money covered the costs of not only venue rental and other exhibition fees, but also bringing in filmmakers for in-person conversations. The initiative generated $34,000, Frameline reported. Another initiative called Pay-It-Forward asked buyers of tickets for ' Heightened Scrutiny,' a documentary about ACLU trans lawyer Chase Strangio, to purchase an extra ticket for a trans person. About 150 such tickets were purchased, helping fill one of those 50 sellout screenings at the 1,000-seat Toni Rembe Theater. 'This year has been challenging for the entire queer community, but when we show up for one another and lift up our fellow community members in solidarity, we can make lasting progress,' Matthew Ramsey, Frameline's new director of partnerships and development, said in a statement. 'Our ability to combine powerful storytelling with love and celebration is, quite simply, queer magic.' Frameline also has juried awards, presented by members of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle. Brazilian filmmaker Rafaela Camelo's 'The Nature of Invisible Things,' about the friendship of two girls during a magical summer, won outstanding first narrative feature. Outstanding documentary feature went to Kimberly Reed's 'I'm Your Venus,' which searches for answers in the 1988 murder of Venus Xtravaganza, a figure in the New York City ballroom scene who was a star of the classic landmark documentary 'Paris Is Burning.'
USA Today
30-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Wicket comes away big winner as Golfweek's Tech Lab makes 'major' move to Charlotte
Wicket comes away big winner as Golfweek's Tech Lab makes 'major' move to Charlotte Show Caption Hide Caption Wicket wins Golfweek Tech Lab grand prize Wicket's facial authentication platform took home the $25K prize at Golfweek Tech Lab, presented by T-Mobile for Business. The 2nd annual Golfweek Tech Lab, presented by T-Mobile for Business, was held in Charlotte. 18 startups competed for awards in five categories, plus a grand prize. Wicket, a facial recognition ticketing system, won the grand prize. Other category winners included VRTL, Platform Golf, and Play Anywhere. If the first Golfweek Tech Lab, held in 2024 at the PGA of America's new Frisco headquarters, proved the perfect starting point for a new festival focused on golf innovation, this year's gathering in Charlotte — just days before the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow — cemented the event as a major player in the yearly golf calendar. With 18 startups on site, the second annual event, again presented by T-Mobile for Business and produced by Golfweek and underdog venture team, included a session with Scott Gutterman, the PGA Tour's SVP/digital and broadcast technologies. 'If you look back across the history of the sport, the sport has always evolved, the sport has always changed,' Gutterman said. "We will always uphold the tradition of the game, but we want to be looking forward. We want to be looking forward to what does golf mean to new and developing demographics.' That sentiment was echoed by others at the conference, one that saw a guest panel of judges, including venture capitalists and business leaders from the world of golf. That group selected the winners of a best-in-show competition with participating companies hoping to earn recognition across five categories, as well as a grand prize. The judges evaluated each startup based on set criteria, including video submissions, onsite demonstration, and presentation to judges. The winners were announced by T-Mobile's SVP of Systems Realization Grant Castle. The grand prize winner was Wicket, which uses facial recognition to scan people into sporting events by linking them with their tickets. According to its mission statement, Wicket features a "biometrics platform that enhances the experience for fans, guests, and employees while providing a smooth, seamless experience for clients and teams, allowing them to leverage existing assets effectively." The company is based in Massachusetts. The category winners were: Fan Engagement: VRTL Athlete Performance: Platform Golf Digital & Media: Play Anywhere Business Solutions: Wicket 5G: Wicket According to Nate Scott, the vice president and general manager of sports and events for Gannett, Golfweek's Tech Lab was an unmitigated success. "I'm delighted with our second year of Tech Lab. I'm a geek for this stuff, and seeing how entrepreneurs are imagining the future of the sport is always super exciting to see," Scott said. "Golf has had a reputation for being set in its ways, yet I think there's as much experimentation and innovation happening in the sport as any other."
Vogue
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Inside the Glam of Chappell Roan's First Met Gala
Tonight, your 'favorite artist's favorite artist,' Chappel Roan, is live on the 2025 Met Gala blue carpet for her first year. An absolute beauty chameleon, Roan tapped Pat McGrath to create her look—and it's the first time the pair have ever worked together. 'Beauty isn't everything, it's the only thing,' Roan has told Vogue in the past. 'I wish I made that up.' She's bringing that same passion to her look tonight. To create a Tailored to You look (the dress code for the evening), Roan worked with Paul Tazewell, the costume director from Wicket, to source something from eBay. The result is an incredibly glittery patchwork pink suit with a matching feathered cape. Chappell Roan at The Carlyle Hotel before the 2025 Met Gala: "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD via Getty Images)'We channeled the glamour and freedom of the disco era—think Sylvester, Superfly, superfine tailoring, and unapologetic shine,' McGrath says of the glitzy look, which utilized her Holiday Mega: Luminous Legends shadow palette. 'We layered shimmering metallics with illustrated wings, chrome lashes, and rhinestone accents. It's maximalist, metallic, and made to move.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Meet Wicket and Zena: CSPD's new Explosives Detection K9s
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) introduced two new four-legged members to their Regional Explosives Unit (REU) on Tuesday, March 4, as K9 Wicket and K9 Zena were welcomed to the team. According to CSPD, in July of 2024, Charter Communications gave a donation of nearly $14,000 to the Police Foundation of Colorado Springs to purchase a new Explosives Detection K9, and the funding provided enough to be combined with additional donations and grants to buy a second dog. Wicket and Zena were purchased and provided initial training by the vendor. Once CSPD Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Bomb Technicians received the dogs in January, they continued the training and bonding with the dogs, creating two great new K9 and handler teams. Charter Communications also helped name the dogs, as employees submitted name ideas that were given to the handler to choose from. 'The names were submitted as part of an employee competition to see which name was going to be the most appropriate for the dog,' said Chris Chenoweth, CSPD Officer and Bomb Technician. 'After a while and spending some time with the dog, it became fairly apparent which one was the most suitable based on how the dog behaves and his personality.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
