Signs & Sounds: White Space Poetry Release Party – LA

By Effie Cacarnakis, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief on September 2, 2014

“We all know there’s not a lot of roles for deaf actors or performers. We are a part of society that gets overlooked in Hollywood. People like Maya and projects like White Space and Switched at Birth help us get noticed and create more awareness of Deaf Culture.”
– signed Ryan Lane.

THE REASON Cast members of the film White Space and White Space Poetry Project contributors came together for the public release of the film on the third anniversary of its filming and the release of White Space Poetry Anthology, on August 30th at Boardwalk 11 in Los Angeles.
THE REVELERS In attendance were White Space and White Space Poetry Project mastermind Maya Washington, Ryan Lane (Switched at Birth), YouTube “Signalong” stars Tina Cleveland and Paul Sirimarco, Tina Huang (Rizzoli & Isles, Switched at Birth), actor/writer Blake Cooper Griffin (Ride, It Could Be Worse), Delena Cortez, PR Director of Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD), and Marc Bovee, Founder and Chairman of Global Event & Media Accessibility Initiative (GEMAI). Also in attendance were other Switched at Birth cast members including BK Cannon, Stephanie Nogueras and Matthew Kane.
THE RECAP Guests enjoyed an afternoon cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, ASL poetry, spoken word, literary poetry, music and impromptu dancing. White Space Poetry Project is an “award-winning film, poetry anthology, and community celebrating collaborations between hearing and deaf artists around the world.” Washington wrote, directed and costarred in White Space, which follows a poet (played by Ryan Lane) through the streets and public transit of Los Angeles as he fights for the strength to perform at an open-mic night. Washington also edited White Space Poetry Anthology, which features both deaf and hearing contributors.
For more information on White Space Poetry Project, visit www.whitespacepoetryproject.com.