Filmmaker Visits Classroom

Tuesday, July 26th was a special day for the youngsters at the Los Angeles pre-school when they found out that Shervin Youssefian (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1352346/) would come and speak to the whole class about the making of the motion picture Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com).

While most of them did not know anything about the film that was about to be released to the nation and most of them probably had never heard of the filmmaker's name, they all sat there quietly, studying with soft eyes and listening as their teacher introduced the lecturer.

Youssefian began with a soft and soothing voice by introducing himself and why he had suddenly decided to drop by to visit his little friends. As soon as there was the mention of a Hollywood movie and how it would be in theatres soon, the eyes lit up and the children leaned over on their desks not to miss a single word.

One of them asked if Youssefian knew Hillary Duff, another asked if Britney Spears was in the film and how come she had not come instead of him. Youssefian laughed like a good uncle and he patiently explained that he had not had the pleasure of working with either stars yet.

Waiting for his cues from the teacher, Stacey Norwood, he began taking the whole classroom into an inspired discussion about movies and actors and actresses and what was the children's favorite movie and if they would want to work in the industry one day.

The atmosphere started out as pleasant and within 20 minutes it had turned passionate as Youssefian laughed whole-heartedly at the children's remarks such as "Was your mom mad when you told her you wanted to make movies?" Norwood observed. His response to that was to always be straight-forward with parents and everything would find a way to work out.

"He spoke to them as if they were equal and that's what I really appreciated. You could see that the children loved him and respected him and immediately welcomed into the class."

Before leaving, Youssefian passed out some memorabilia from the movie to the children who gave him a big round of applause.

"You can't imagine how great this gesture was. These children are sponges and they will probably remember this day for the rest of their lives. Most of them are already giving up their plans to become a doctor to get behind the camera!" added Norwood.

About the author:
Angela Wang is a movie reviewer.
Machiavelli Hangman
http://www.hangmanmovie.com