frontlines
Trees In
Israel
Going Mad!
Metro Detroit filmmaker plans
documentary on iconic magazine.
S
ince Alan Bernstein was 6
years old, he's been mad
about MAD magazine, an
institution that has delivered a satiric
view of American culture for more
than 60 years.
The Birmingham Groves High School
graduate now is working to produce a
documentary that explores the history
and influence of the magazine.
When We Went MAD! is cur-
rently being filmed by Bernstein and
Potrzebie Pictures LLC, his Detroit-
area production company. With 20 key
interviews already on film, his team
is launching a Kickstarter campaign
beginning Jan. 10 to raise $50,000, the
next round of funds necessary to com-
plete the film.
Bernstein remembers his first foray
into MAD-ness. "I was 6 and found my
first issue at a drugstore newsstand. It
was plain silly and jived with my sense
of humor:' he said. "I didn't always get
the jokes, but that challenged me to
learn more because I'd have to go ask
my parents:'
Bernstein went from casual reader
to collector. And from collector to pro-
ducer.
An experienced filmmaker, Bernstein
co-wrote, co-produced and directed the
feature film, One Half Gone.
"To pay the bills:' he says, he works
at Fox Detroit's Big 10 Network, doing
editing and replay. He lives with his
wife Staci and 6-year-old daughter Lily
in Pleasant Ridge. The family doesn't
currently belong to a synagogue, but
Bernstein became a bar mitzvah at
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
Bernstein, 43, first thought of mak-
ing the documentary when he was a
student at the University of Michigan,
where he earned his film degree. "I
realized it was now or never, as many of
the original employees are nearing the
end of their lives:' he said.
With co-producer Doug Gilford,
Bernstein has interviewed and filmed
20 current and former artists, writers
and editors of MAD, including Al Jaffee,
inventor of the Fold-In and the feature
"Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions;"
Dick Debartolo, the TV show Match
Game writer whose work is in every
issue of MAD since 1966; and Sergio
Aragones, whose miniature cartoons
filled the margins of MAD for 50 years.
With the money raised by
Kickstarter, Bernstein next wants to
film those influenced by MAD maga-
zine, such as comedians and actors. "I
would love to find a politician as well:'
he says. "Wouldn't it be great if some-
one like Dick Cheney had been influ-
enced by MAD?"
The Kickstarter funds will cover
the cost of travel, equipment rental
and post production. Everyone who
JN CONTENTS
Donations build
forest to honor
Sandy Hook
children and staff.
Alan Bernstein
pledges will be acknowledged with a
certificate of recognition and insider
updates regarding the film's release.
Larger contributions can include perks
such as DVDs of the movie, T-shirts
and posters. The highest level includes
an executive producer credit on the
project.
The staffers at MAD have been "just
great:' Bernstein said, "but they can't
`officially' support it until we get the
go-ahead from Time Warner, who owns
the magazine
Bernstein said he hopes to have the
project done within the year, provided
his Kickstarter campaign is successful.
He needs to raise the money within 30
days for the project to go forward, and
he's been using social media and his
network of friends to get the word out.
He ultimately envisions the documen-
tary being shown on PBS' American
Experience.
To view the When We Went MAD!
Kickstarter site, visit http://tinyurl.com/
cxhv92s. For more information, visit
www.peebofilm.com/wwwm or www.
facebook.com/WhenWeWentMAD .
❑
beJEWISHNEWS.com
Jan. 10-16, 2013 I 28 Tevet-5 Shevat 5773 I Vol. CXLII, No. 23
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Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 11, 5:02 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan.12, 6:09 p.m.
Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 18, 5:11 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan.19, 6:16 p.m.
Times are according to the Yeshiva Beth
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Columnists
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Robert Sklar
Shabbat Lights
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On The Cover:
Page design, Michelle Sheridan
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M
ore than 2,000 people have
donated money to plant a
forest of more than 3,000
trees in Beersheva to honor the vic-
tims of the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting in Connecticut. The
trees will be part of the Beersheva
River Park, a 1,700-acre environ-
mental area being constructed by the
Jewish National Fund in the Negev's
provincial capital city.
In the Newtown shooting, 20
children and 6 adults were killed.
Governments around the world,
including the Israeli government,
have condemned what happened. An
Israeli humanitarian aid organization
had provided assistance in response to
the first responders in Newtown. The
residents of Beersheva also have suf-
fered from attacks on their schools by
Palestinian terrorists, thus making the
city a fitting location for a memorial to
those slain in Newtown.
The idea to plant trees in Israel to
commemorate the young Newtown
victims came from Veronique Pozner,
the mother of the youngest and only
Jewish victim, Noah.
Marcie Natan, international
president of Hadassah, declared,
"Everybody was so affected by the
massacre and wanted to do something
to express their solidarity with the
families:"
In recent days, a delegation of 15
representatives of Hadassah came to
Israel to plant the first tree in honor of
the Sandy Hook victims.
"A tree is the ultimate symbol of
new life Natan said. "The initial idea
was to dedicate the forest in memory
of Noah Pozner, who was among the
victims and was Jewish, and then we
realized we would like to honor the
memory of all the children and staff
who were murdered in this horrible
massacre.
"Within a few days, our members
contributed more than $50,000, and I
am proud to be the first person to plant
the first sapling in the forest."
Around 7,000 Hadassah members
reside in Connecticut, with 230 of
them living in Newtown itself.
To plant a tree, got to http://
unitedwithisrael.org/plant-fruit-trees/
or jiff. org.
❑
January 10 • 2013
3