Adrianne Stone

An Inspiration to All

I was having a relaxing sushi dinner at Chapel Hill restaurant Oishii with my dear friend, Vivian Connell. She is an educator who went on to get her law degree so that she can be in a better position to create change in a decidedly ameliorated public education system.  Her classes, both at the high school and college level, are steeped in social justice perspectives and she was – and continues to be – quite strident in her views about creating an equitable education for all. One of her pet projects is Writing Wrongs, in which she teaches children about the Holocaust.  She was hoping to be able to bring marginalized kids on a trip to DC to visit the Holocaust Museum to learn about how system disparities affect people and to have the students write about their experience there.

As the sake flowed, we chatted about that, as well as the usual things:  the Duke TIP program for our seventh grade daughters; our work/life balance; politics; films.  And then she dropped the bomb:  She had begun to experience a strange feeling in her leg and had just been to a doctor to determine the cause.  “It’s either one of three things,” she said.  “Either it’s MS, some sort of neuropathy…or it’s Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” she said, matter-of-factly, adding,  “I’m hoping it’s not ALS,” in reference to the latter.  “Yes,” I agreed, “that would definitely not be good.”

Our dark humor allowed for a titter as we noted the possibilities.  Unfortunately, just a few months later, the worst was confirmed and our hopes were for naught.  In the spring of 2014, she was told she’d have roughly three years remaining in her brief lifespan.  While many of us would wallow in self-pity and depression, she used her anger at having had such a remarkably awful twist of fate interfere with the life she’d so carefully carved by pursuing the Writing Wrongs project.  Driven, she raised funding and support that not only brought the many students on the Holocaust Museum, but also arranged for private viewings in sequestered areas of our capital for the students to see a copy of the Magna Carta and other historical documents.  Sensitive to their personal needs, she was overjoyed that she was able to house them at an upscale hotel and allow them to order – many for the first time – from the menu at a posh restaurant.  This was the school trip to end all school trips…and Vivian delighted in it.

And yet…the clock was ticking.  I was standing at the sidelines while my friend was accomplishing greatness as she faced the loss of her mobility, ability to speak, ability to breathe on her own…it was just devastating.  How could I help, beyond the occasional cooked dinners for her family of four?  And then I realized the best way to honor this remarkable woman would be to share her legacy with others.  I pitched Chapel Hill magazine and VP of Content Andrea Griffith Cash was delighted to include Vivian in a special Woman’s issue that they were planning.  I am so terribly proud of Vivian and humbled by her accomplishments.

When Chapel Hill Magazine asked me to do a story on Strowd’s Roses, I thought it may have something to do with a local florist.  After all, I was still fairly new in town and didn’t know much about the local movers and shakers.  But after lengthy interviews with local big wigs and the legal team that arranged this organization, I discovered that Strowd’s Roses is a hugely successful entity begun by a green-thumbed philanthropist and his wife that provides funding for worthy local non-profits.  In just a decade, it had provided nearly $4 million to schools, research, shelters, food banks and more.  I was impressed…and you will be, too, as you read about how one big-hearted couple beautified their town inside and out.

Demo Reel, a Visual Resumé

My interest in film began after I wrote my first screenplay, HARLEY, which won a Diane Thomas Award (presented by UCLA Extension and Amblin Entertainment).  A producer at Twentieth Century Fox was interested in the project and it was well on its way to being greenlighted until the then-head of the studio, Joe Roth, left.  At that point, all bets were off and the script wound up shelved.

Still, I was intrigued by the machinations behind filmmaking.  It helped that my husband is a camera assistant because I often swiped his copies of ICG (International Camera Guild magazine) to read up on different moviemaking techniques.  I was fascinated by the choices of lights and gels and film types to create the right imagery for a film.   Although this was — and still is — very much my husband’s domain, when I learned that the Camera Guild’s own publication was seeking a contributing writer, I jumped at the chance.

What followed was several years of extremely rewarding work, interviewing Directors of Photography, Grips, and Camera Assistants about such then-novel ideas as 3D and digital filmmaking, the virtues of Kodak film, how best to light a music video that takes place inside a cave (Velvet Revolver) and the perils of shooting a commercial in the jungle at night.

For the piece Demo Reels, I explored the very necessary creation of the visual samples of work that Directors of Photography use as their resumés.  Such a calling card serves the purpose of capturing one’s imagination while simultaneously entertaining the viewer and delivering the best possible sample of the filmmaker’s work.

Of course, there’s a whole science – and industry – behind the making of Demo Reels and this is what I investigated for the piece as I interviewed the guild members as well as their agents and others who are quite literally behind the scenes.  I suppose one could call this website, Adriannestone.com, my own demo reel…but I couldn’t claim to be a filmmaker (or even a particularly good photographer!).

Sexuality in the Suburbs of New York

One of the most ribald pieces I’ve ever written was for a special issue of Westchester magazine entitled, “Sexchester.”  The special feature was comprised of five stories – one exploratory piece written by Dave Donelson followed by four other stories that I’d written (scroll down the page on the link above and you’ll see them).

These forays into the sexuality of Westchester residents included a segment on a gay couple from Peekskill, a single woman from Harrison, a divorced mother from Ardsley and my hands down favorite, the cheater from White Plains.  I didn’t actually LIKE the cheater, but I really loved writing about him.  As you can tell from the piece, his was the snarkiest.

The gay couple actually had some fantastically amusing things to say, but the publication thought that some of their comments were a little too risque for their pages.  Well, they’re not too bawdy for me!  I’ll repeat just one of the jokes they made about their sex life here on the pages of my very own site:  ”We used to have sex all the time, but now we only have hallway sex.”  Hallway sex?  What’s that?  ”We pass each other in the hallway and say, ‘F–K you!’ ‘Oh, yeah?  F–k you, too!’”

As for the other stories, although the women were respectable, intelligent, hardworking people, they both suffered a bit of a backlash after the piece was published. The single woman’s story was bastardized and reprinted in a sensationalistic style on the internet in a way that inferred that she was performing illicit acts.  She wound up having to take legal action against those outlets.  The divorced mother was hounded by her ex-husband, who was angry that their daughters were included in her picture.  I was so offended that he would attack her for this — the girls were depicted in a loving and affectionate manner — that I took it upon myself to write a letter attesting to her excellent mothering skills.  She was able to present this letter to the judge when she was under scrutiny by the court as part of their ongoing divorce case.

Ultimately, it was a much talked about piece.  People stopped me in the grocery store or the post office or out on the street just to tell me how much they’d howled over the cheater’s story or to say how much they could relate to the other featured profiles.  I hope you’ll enjoy reading these pieces as much as they did…and as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Sometimes Love Isn't Enough

Some assignments are uplifting, while others are heartbreaking.  The piece I did for Westchester magazine (a publication that skews towards high income females) called Adoption Gone Awry illuminated the world of adoption in a truly dramatic and honest fashion.

It exposed the downside of taking in a child as your own – navigating through a system that raises hopes but promises nothing.  Even the lucky ones find themselves facing issues of separation and anger from the children upon whom they’ve showered their love.

I wanted to present this story as more of a service piece – garnering as much help from authorities on the subject (psychologists, adoption agencies, doctors) as possible.  But the publication weighed heavier in favor of sensationalism.  Sadly, it wasn’t difficult to deliver on that, as there are countless stories of adoptions that tore families apart like a tornado devastating not only parents but siblings in its lethal path.

Tread carefully and wisely, do your homework…and hope for the best.  After all my exhaustive research, that was ultimately the best advice.