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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Burbank Director Injects Cancer Tale With Comedy

Independent filmmaker Brooke Purdy wants to get some laughs out of a serious topic – cancer. The Burbank resident is in the midst of filming “Quality Problems,” a feature-length comedy about the aftermath of her breast cancer diagnosis seven years ago. Purdy, a former radio copywriter turned playwright, had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery in 2008 and has been cancer-free since then. But while dealing with the disease, Purdy said she was determined not to let cancer get in the way of living. And though it sometimes felt like an insurmountable event in her life, she found that approaching it with a sense of humor made it bearable. “You cannot walk around in a state of devastation,” Purdy said. “You have to function.” She hopes to get that attitude across in her film. She has invested $10,000 in the project and is looking to raise $80,000 to $100,000 in additional capital to complete the filming and post-production work. She plans to start a fundraising campaign Aug. 15 on Seed&Spark, a crowdfunding platform specifically tailored to filmmakers. Purdy started filming in her home over three weekends in July, using her husband Doug, son Max and daughter Scout to portray the fictional Poster family. The film’s storyline revolves around how Bailey Poster deals with her cancer, a relative with Alzheimer’s and her daughter’s birthday party – all at once. “It appeals to those who like ‘Juno’ or ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ with a more twisted sense of humor,” said Purdy. “It is a comedy and we are ridiculous ourselves. We wanted to bring that to life for others.” She plans to incorporate video she shot in 2008, during her own treatment, and use it for flashback scenes in “Quality Problems.” Colette Freedman, a co-producer who plays a role in the film, said that Purdy brings a strong perspective to the script that makes it witty and sharp. “You can cry at one scene and then laugh at another,” said Freedman, who has published two novels and a play. Purdy has yet to work out how to get “Quality Problems” before audiences but said she has gotten some interest from distributors. And with industry business models changing, she noted, there are multiple options including cable, online, theatrical and direct-to-video. Radio Sale Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement in July to sell off its Chicago radio station to a media company that owns seven other stations. Polnet Communications Ltd. of Chicago will pay $3.45 million for WRDZ AM (1300). Radio Disney began broadcasting on the station in 1998. The sale is the latest in a series of moves the Burbank entertainment and media giant announced a year ago when it put its network of 22 AM radio stations and one FM station up for sale. It is shifting the focus of its Radio Disney brand to satellite and online streaming, primarily through mobile devices. Its flagship station, Burbank’s KDIS-AM (1110), is not for sale, however. It produces nearly all the live programming for Radio Disney. Polnet operates Polish- and Spanish-language radio stations in Chicago and New York, a gospel R&B station in Florida and a television station in suburban Chicago. Early this year, Disney sold off New York station WQEW-AM (1560) for a reported $13 million to Family Stations Inc., a Christian radio network in Oakland with stations in 24 states. It also sold KMIC-AM (1590) in Houston to Spanish-language religious broadcasting company Daij Media LLC for a reported $3.2 million and WFDF-AM (910) in Detroit to religious broadcaster Adell Broadcasting Co. Wrapping Up Metan Global Entertainment Group LLC of Woodland Hills has partnered with online entertainment news site The Wrap News Inc. to provide content for its weekly show that is distributed in Asia. The media company’s flagship program, “Hello! Hollywood,” will now feature weekly interviews, news and feature segments produced by The Wrap. The show, which debuted six years ago, is distributed online and to mobile devices in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan using digital platform iQIYI in Beijing. Larry Namer and three business partners co-founded Metan Global in 2009 to produce content exclusively for the Chinese market. The company is currently shooting a Chinese-language version of “Gossip Girl” and preparing a reality show, “The Bruce Lee Project.” “We are pleased to partner with Metan and look forward to building a passionate audience there, bringing Chinese fans the most important news from Hollywood,” The Wrap’s Chief Executive Sharon Waxman said in a prepared statement. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected]

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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