Hello everyone, my name is Ciera Trussell and I play the part of Clara in Adina’s Deck. This was my first film, and I had a blast! The subject of this film is really great, I think it could help someone a lot if they were getting cyberbullied and they became educated about it. This is such a great film and I know it will help so many people!

Clara was a fairly easy part for me to play because Clara has “attitude!” I really liked that my character was “not the everyday girlie-girl character.” Clara is different in a lot of ways, one being that she’s a teen who is “stuck in the 60′s” and is in love with Jim Morrison! Also, it felt good to play a character that wanted to stick up for the girl that was being bullied. Clara’s kind of a tough girl who isn’t afraid to to stand up to people if she thinks they are being mean (the bullies!) It felt good to stick up for the “underdog.” It felt better to do it with Claras “attitude!” Clara comes off as the different, kind of tough/hippy/rocker kid who definately has an attitude. But really, on the inside Clara cares a lot about her friends and will do whatever it takes to defend them!

Cyberbullyiing is really mean and I hope kids, (the kids being bullied AND the bulliers) will learn how serious it really is. I hope Adina’s Deck will teach them ways in which they can handle this type of situation if they ever end up in it. This film can help people learn what to do if they are being cyberbullied or if they are the cyberbully!

During the whole film process, my favorite scene would definately have to be the one in the kitchen with my dad and Adina – because when we would have to take breaks, we got to eat the cookie dough (yummy!) I actually had a lot of fun doing EVERY scene. That one just stands out (could it of been the cookie dough?) The man who plays my dad was really nice and a lot of fun to work with.

I think that everyone bonded really well! It was kind of strange, but we all felt like we had known each other for years and years!
The whole crew were so much fun to hang out with! We were always joking around and having a good time. For example, one of the crew members, Les, looked a lot like Joey from N*Sync, so we were always making fun of him and calling him “Joey” – ha ha! Also, there was a camera-man named Devin, and I would always steal the slate from him and change the date to Christmas or something weird like that. One time I even got to operate the slate for the camera. It was so fun for me! Debbie and Jason were always great to have around! I miss all the girls sooooo much and I am so excited to see them at the premiere! YEAH!

I have to say thanks to everyone for putting so much effort into this because it has a really good message for a very important issue in todays cyber-world. A big thank you also goes out to the make up and wardrobe people. Margaret did a great job on getting my makeup just perfect for every scene! Also, Stephanies Dad made everyone a DVD with pictures and music. That was so nice of him. I so appreciate him doing that for all of us. So a big “thank you” to Stephanies daddy as well !

I also have to thank my Mommy a whole bunch because I couldn’t have done it without her help and support. She drove me everywhere – and let me tell you – she is the best taxi service ever!!! I LOVE YOU MOM!

Thanks again to anyone and everyone who helped make Adina’s Deck possible… I feel so lucky to have been a part of it! I cant wait to see all
of you at the premiere!!!
Signed,
Ciera Trussell – “Clara”

Wishing, all cast, crew, friends and bloggers a Wonderful Thanksgiving from Adina’s Deck!
We are so thankful for all of you…

- For volunteering your time, hearts, passion and talents
- For telling your family, friends, schools and communities
- For recognizing the importance of Cyber Bullying and Internet Safety Education
- For continuing to make a difference in the lives of young people

Happy Thanksgiving!
Debbie Heimowitz and Jason Azicri

and thanks to hipstercards.com for the artwork!

Check out the new…

Main Page;  Picture Gallery; FAQ section; Internet Safety Tips; DVD ordering page; Store; Cast & Crew coming soon!

Thanks so much to Bruce Drummond for his amazing creativity and web design skills!

Also, thanks to those of you who have emailed us for Cyber Bullying help. Keep those letters coming!

Huge shout out & congratulations to Bruce Drummond!! The news we just received couldn’t be any more exciting. Bruce is returning from India!!! Big Thanks to the US Visa people for this one.

Bruce with Screenwriter Jason Azicri

For those of you who are just learning about Adina’s Deck for the first time, Bruce has done everything.

• Created the Adina’s Deck logo on http://www.adinasdeck.com
• Coded and designed original artwork for the Flash Adina’s Deck bedroom
• Created the design for the Adina’s Deck playing cards used in the film
• Written the original song Baked Beans, as featured in Clara’s Room in the film
• Created features on the website: embedded the trailers, started the mailing list, created the layout for this blog, the list goes on…
• De-bugged and maintained updates for the website from India!
• Been an amazing friend to all of us!

Bruce with his amazing beautiful girlfriend Sava, Stanford LDT grad
We have missed Bruce so much since he’s gone back. It’s so exciting to know he will be back in the US in no time at all!!

Welcome back Bruce!!

PS: Bruce, we are really, really sorry for embarrassing you on the blog. We know you are really cool and your rock band in India is going to laugh now. But we are so happy we don’t care.

Special thanks to Greg Cala aka Clara’s Dad (aka Mookie Dookie’s dad) for writing this blog posting!

Hi, my name’s Greg Cala, and I played the part of Clara’s Dad in the film “Adina’s Deck”.
From the first day of auditions, I had a feeling this was going to be a great production.
As I waited in the lobby and read through my scene, I could really picture myself as this goofy dad.
I didn’t know a thing about cyberbullying, so it was true to the part.
For some reason, I had a feeling I was going to get the role. Positive thinking really works!
There were a lot of people waiting to audition and when I finally got into the room, I was ready to roll.
Aside from reading the scene, we got to do some improvisation, which I love.
I kept going back in with a different group of kids so the directors could see how we meshed together.
There were so many talented kids involved, I couldn’t believe it.

I knew they were going to have a tough time making a decision on who to cast as the lead roles, but when they did, the choices were perfect. The 4 girls are fantastic. I was impressed to see how good they worked together.
My scene in the kitchen with Clara and Adina was a blast to shoot. Even though this was a serious subject, I was happy to be in a scene that was meant to be funny. Life is serious enough and I love a good laugh.
The girls were so natural and confident on the set. We all really had a good time and I think it shows.
The directors, Debbie and Jason, were great and the crew was very professional.

During production, they were extremely organized, which doesn’t often happen on low budget (or no budget) independent films. Debbie was determined to complete a successful project for her graduate program, but she ended up making an incredibly professional, entertaining and educational piece of work that has already won awards. I know they have what it takes to make more great episodes… an important subject matter, a talented cast and crew and last but not least, awesome writing and directing. I hope they get the funding.
It is important for parents and kids alike to be informed and educated on cyberbullying and other negative uses of technology. Adina’s Deck is a great way to accomplish this. I knew nothing about this topic before working on Adina’s Deck but now I realize it happens all over. Let’s help get the word out.
In the meantime, I’ll be looking forward to playing Clara’s goofy dad again on the next episode!

I’m Nella Varni. I am 12 years old and I played a girl named Peggy in Adina’s Deck. During the time that my sister, Amelia, and I were filming, one of my friends was getting cyber bullied. She didn’t know what to do. So, I told her about Adina’s Deck and it really helped! She told her parents what had been going on and she printed out her latest IM and took them to the principal. She hasn’t been cyber bullied since!
The director, Debbie, and the writer, Jason, were both super nice! They were so sweet and were so good to others! They totally did an awesome job on Adina’s Deck! I usually do theater, so filming was a different experience for me. You don’t need to memorize your lines at all! (But you should just in case?)
The set was really cool too! There’s a scene where there’s about the whole cast in a “lunchroom” and they actually brought food and trays and everything! Almost every other kid had either a laptop, cell phone or an i-pod. I brought my laptop and gave it to a girl who was in the group that I was sitting with while we were filming a scene.
Clara’s “bedroom” was the best part of the whole set. We traveled to a ladies beautiful home and used her pool house as Clara’s “bedroom”… it was so cool! About two weeks after filming, Debbie and Jason (and also a guy named Les who worked on Adina’s Deck) came to visit us. They were the best film directors ever!
I miss Adina’s Deck. I really can’t wait for the pilot to come out and I’m very excited to see the whole thing put together. I really, really can’t wait!

Hi, this Stephanie Cameron. I played the part of Melody. I had such a blast on the set of Adinas Deck. I’m getting used to filming instead of being on stage; I’ve been doing theater since I was 5.
Filming is a lot different than theater. I’m definitely comfortable in front of the camera because I started doing some filming 2 years ago. Adinas Deck is nothing like I’ve filmed before. Some of the scenes took a very long time, but it was still fun. In between takes my new friends Kelcie, Amelia and Ciera and I would always talk about the most random things and laugh our heads off! Speaking of my friends, the first day all of of us met was not what I thought it would be- it was better! We got along great and had a lot in common. It was hard to remember that we were not all the same age because we were all so mature.
I won’t forget the crew as well. I remember Debbie and Jason telling us that some of the crew members had never worked with younger kids before, but the crew was extremely nice. They wanted to make sure we had a great time. A special shout out to all the cast and crew. Everyone worked so hard to make this first episode the best that it could be. I can’t wait to see everybody at the screening and I hope that Adinas Deck will come through to be a great show!

This letter came from Marilyn Schaumburg, the 6th Grade Advisor and Upper School Technology Resource Teacher at Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco, CA. Thanks Marilyn!

The girls LOVED Adina’s Deck! I mean they REALLY loved it. Here are the comments they said right afterwards:

• This should be on TV
• There should be more episodes
• It was so great!
• Everything was so well done, the story flowed, and I want to see more!
• They should make an episode of what happened to the little girl
• Makes you want to see more
• Gets to the point of what really goes on.
• Normally at school you don’t get to watch things you actually enjoy!
• I would want to see another one.
• Even though they know who did it, they made it seem suspenseful.
• You should put it in stores.
• Might be good idea for TV show
• You could have episodes not just on cyberbullying.
• It should be more well known; other teachers should be able to buy it
  (Here they were talking about the marketing of the product.)

Check back soon for cast and crew blog entries!!

the first is from Amelia Varni’s school!
click here to read the article!

the second is from the Castro Valley Forum Newspaper:
chick here to read the article!

note: Debbie actually graduated from Foothill in Pleasanton, not Castro Valley High. It also wasn’t very recent