The Good Men Project

"Every story is meant to inspire, motivate and center us on the idea of what we're supposed to be as men."

The Exceptional Man

March 8, 2010

The Good Men Project at the Oscars

Filed under: Book tour — Tags: , , — tmatlack @ 6:15 am

The Good Men Project has been in Hollywood before, but never in a private suite at the Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

The book and DVD were given out to various celebs and VIPS who were there for the pre-Oscar hoopla. Some notable guests that walked through the suite where The Good Men Project was stationed were Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Bastards), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart), Lee Daniels (director of “Precious”), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), and Woody Harrelson (The Messenger).

And we heard from our secret agent in the field that quirky actor Crispin Glover (most recently appearing as The Knave of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland) was sitting in the corner of the suite reading The Good Men Project for over twenty minutes.

Many had heard about the book, others were seen reading it during the course of the day. A few folks asked if the film was nominated in the documentary category.

Nice to know that real stories about men have a place in the glitzy world of Beverly Hills.

Information on Hollywood Suite by Josh Mitchell.

 

December 22, 2009

An Inspiring Trip

Filed under: Book tour, Guest Blogger — Tags: , — tmatlack @ 2:04 pm

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Guest blog by Diana Ortiz

Last weeks Good Men Project tour of Los Angeles was beyond belief, an astounding experience for a woman who came from the hood in New York City and then a state prison system, where I served 22 years. The vision, energy, and inspiration of Tom Matlack, who created a place for mens voices to be hearda book of real stories by real menis mindboggling.

On the tour, I was accompanying Julio Medina, the founder and executive director of Exodus Transitional Community and one of the men who shared his defining moment in the Good Men Project book. I wasnt sure what to expect, and I was surprised to learn how comfortable it felt to be in a circle I never imagined Id be in. Julio and I spent time with Tom Matlack and Good Men Project cofounder James Houghton, both of whom are rich, smart, and influential, and yet are also just two regular guys who are willing to share their very private, emotional, and powerful stories.

As Tom has said, women have always been willing to talk about themselves; its time for men to know, believe, and want to talk about themselves, their pain, their joy, their struggles, fatherhood, brotherhood, manhood. I love the excitement around this.

Thanks, Tom and James, for being trailblazers and doing it a mans way: very aggressively.

*****

Diana Ortiz is the community liaison at Exodus Transitional Community. She was in prison from age 18 to 41 While in prison she worked with incarcerated mothers to help them stay connected to their children. She also earned a masters degree in English literature, and she raised a dog for the blind, as part of the Puppies Behind Bars program. When released, she initially worked in entry-level positions and eventually oversaw three social service programs for children with parents in prison. Ortiz also has worked to change legislation for people who are on lifetime parole.

 

December 13, 2009

LA Tour: Good Men Go to Temple

Filed under: Book tour — Tags: , , , — tmatlack @ 8:59 am

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By Nancy Wride

The Good Men Projects Los Angeles tour culminated Thursday night in an intimate and moving discussion among about 80 members of Temple Israel of Hollywood. Men (and women) questioned one another about their roles as fathers, husbands and sons: Is being a good man in the succeeding or in the striving? How do you stay married, learn how to fight fair, make up, move on, and grow old with your wife? Is there a difference between good men and good women?

Among the rapt audience members was Good Men Project cofounder Tom Matlack. He opened the program by showing an excerpt from The Good Men Project film and spoke at the end of the event, which lasted longer than two hours, but the rest of the time he joined the audience and listened as five temple members shared their thoughts and experiences. Rabbi John Rosove served as moderator and focused the discussion on what Judaism says it means to be a good man.

First up was Bruce Ellman, a clinical psychologist, father, and husband who has been known to wear a T-shirt that reads Real men marry rabbis (his wife is a rabbi). Ellman read from the essay he contributed to The Good Men Project book, God of My Father. His story, which also is featured in the film, is about the loss Ellman felt after the death of his father and his attempt to find comfort in his faith.

Other panelists were Ben Tysch, the CFO, CAO, and VP of strategy and business development for Planned Parenthood, and Gary Goldsmith, a director, writer, and producer of non-theatrical films. Goldsmith, who has been married for 50 years and recently retired as a lecturer at USCs School of Cinematic Arts, read After the Fight, a poem by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Dunn.

Also on the panel was Evan J. Kaizer, who said being a good man was essential to his becoming the first non-family-member president of a 110-year-old real estate development and management company. He also credited his success to his wife. Without her Id be working at Costco, he said. Then quickly added, Not that theres anything wrong with that.TIOHcrowd

The fifth member of the panel was Scott Mosenson, founder of the Open Fist Theatre Company in Hollywood. He offered poignant anecdotes about parenting daughters, emphasizing the need to make them feel beautiful inside while also fawning over their new shoes. Though Mosenson has no sons, he said, he has imagined himself fathering a boy whom he could take fishing and counsel to fight only when it is in self defense, at which point the boy would be allowed to kick ass.

During a question-and-answer session, a few people commented on the title of the book, asking whether it was a judgment, a goal, or just a statement. We actually debated the title violently, Matlack said to a few chuckles. Then he explained that the title refers to point of the book, the striving to be good.

*****

Nancy Wride is a writer and editor who collaborates on web and print projects. She is a former staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and her work has appeared in papers throughout the country.

 

December 12, 2009

LA Tour: The Good Men of Homeboy

Filed under: Book tour — Tags: , , — tmatlack @ 10:22 am

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By Nancy Wride

Members of the Good Men Project team were bathed in the aroma of fresh-baked bread Wednesday, as they visited the landmark Homeboy Bakery, a success story in East L.A. where thousands of gangbangers have found jobs, education, and hope.

The thriving bakery is part of a larger enterprise, Homeboy Industries, which provides 12,000 people a year with counseling, employment training, and even tattoo removal, on a $9 million budget. The bakery and other Homeboy businesses earn about $3 million annually, and the other $6 million comes from donations and foundations, said Father Gregory Boyle, who founded Homeboy to give young, poor people alternatives to crime and early death.

Our whole foundation is meant to help at-risk men, Tom Matlack, co-founder of The Good Men Project, observed after the Homeboy visit, part of the projects weeklong Los Angeles tour. So hopefully we can sell a lot of books and help them. (Proceeds from the sales of The Good Men Project book and DVD go to the Good Men Foundation, which supports organizations that help at-risk men and boys.)

Matlack said he was visiting the bakery for inspiration and to learn about how the program operates, since Homeboy is the type of organization that could be a future beneficiary of the Project.

Accompanying Matlack was Julio Medina, one of the 31 men who wrote essays published in The Good Men Project book. Medina is an ex-con who founded and is the executive director of Exodus Transitional Community, a New York program that offers services to help parolees start new lives after incarceration. Medina, who also attended Tuesday nights screening of The Good Men Project film at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, said he was impressed with Homeboy.TomandFatherDoyle

You can see they do great work here, said Medina, who, like Matlack and all the Homeboy workers, wore a white hairnet as he walked past the giant mixers and industrial size ovens in the bakerys kitchen

Everybodys smiling here, said Matlack. Did you notice? The building was teeming with people, including volunteers who offer college prep instruction and employees who have earned the jobs by giving back time at Homeboy. On the second floor was a computer lab filled with people at terminals. In another room, Matlack and Medina were shown where tattoos are removed by laser procedure.

One of the tour guides, Gus Mojica, showed scars on his forearms where his skin had been covered with tattoos. However, one vivid tat remains on his neck. It reads, Fuck You. Matlack asked Mojica why he still had that tattoo. When I find a girl who can make me wish I hadnt got this tattoo, Mojica answered, then Ill get it removed.

Moments later Father Boyle led Matlack into his office, off the main lobby. Dominating one wall of the office is a portrait of Cesar Chavez that depicts the labor rights activist standing in a forest in autumn. The other walls are mostly covered with photographs and paintings. Its mostly prison art, said Boyle. A lot of these are by kids whove been killed.

Matlack told Boyle of The Good Men Projects contributors who describe a defining moment in their life, an experience that transforms them. In that moment, Matlack said, as Boyle nodded, is when miracles can happen.

*****

Nancy Wride is a writer and editor who collaborates on web and print projects. She is a former staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and her work has appeared in papers throughout the country.

 

December 11, 2009

LA Tour: Real Stories Served up at Book Soup

Filed under: Book tour — Tags: , , — tmatlack @ 9:49 am

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By Leslie Anne Wiggins

The Good Men Projects tour of Los Angeles brought Project cofounder Tom Matlack and Good Men Project film producer/director Matt Gannon to the Book Soup bookstore in West Hollywood on Wednesday night. There, they spread the good word about the film and the book that inspired it.

The audience members, treated to wine and cheese, sat, ironically, among issues of X-Men and other comic books as they listened to the real stories of two men whom Matlack deemed heroic–one for his resilience, the other for his redemptive actions, and both for the honesty they display in the essays they contributed to The Good Men Project anthology.

Matlack opened the event by reading John Olivers essay Blindfolded. Oliver served in the first Iraq war, but the essay isnt about dodging bullets; its about the death of his baby daughter and his coming to terms with his loss. Matlack then read Blood-Splattered, Julio Medinas account of his 12-year term at Sing Sing and of his transformation from drug lord to the founder of Exodus Transitional Community, an organization that helps former inmates adjust to life outside prison. TomReadingBookSoupSm

Matlack explained that he and his fellow editors compiled the stories of Medina, Oliver, and 29 other men in The Good Men Project book with that hope that they would prompt other men to examine their own choices and actions, and to let them know that they are not alone as they confront lifes most difficult challenges.

Matt Gannon took the stage next to share his documentary, which, he said, plays like a collection of short stories. And indeed it is. Gannon based the film on 10 of the stories written for The Good Men Project book. He showed war-zone photojournalist Michael Kambers story, which has the three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee describing, in voice-over, the absolute heart-pounding terror of his job, while the screen displays Kambers powerful and sometimes disturbing images of war.

In a second segment from the film, actor/writer/filmmaker Kent George describes the battlefront that was his childhood, in which he grew up with a mentally ill and emotionally abusive mother. George does manage to incorporate humor into his story. Among the lines that drew laughs from the audience was Georges impression of his mother, upset that he wouldnt fight during his hockey games, telling him he should join the fucking Ice Capades.

The Good Men Projects tour of Los Angeles concludes Thursday night with another screening of the film followed by a panel discussion at Temple Israel of Hollywood.

*****

Leslie Anne Wiggins is on the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times, is an intern at Los Angeles Magazine, and is a contributing writer to Under the Radar magazine.

 

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