KAREN HAMMACK

A Southern California native, Karen maintains an active schedule as a performer, teacher, composer, multi-genre keyboardist, recording artist, and is the founder of ValleyGirlBeats, a music production studio.

Because Karen is an incredibly versatile keyboardist and has performed and recorded with some of the most respected artists in the music scene including  Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diane Schuur, Madeline Eastman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Scott Colley, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Chris Conner, Dick Weller, Steve Cardenas,  Kenny Wollesen, Mariane McSweeny, Eric Marienthal, Putter Smith, Bob Shepherd, Ron Stout, Dawn Bishop, Gina Saputo,  Melissa Manchester, Tierney Sutton, Kate McGarry, Michael McDonald, Larry Koonse, Judy Wexler, Julie Christensen, Cris Barber, Janiva Magness, Sweet Baby Jai, and Cynthia Jones.

Some musical career highlights include:

• Performing at Royce Hall in an all-star tribute to Leonard Cohen, headed by Grammy-nominee Perla Batalla featuring Jackson Browne, Don Was, Bill Frisell, and Greg Leisz;
• Performing with the great Maurice Hines in Tappin’ Thru Life, his homage to his brother Gregory and himself featuring the Jazz Diva Orchestra;
• Music director for jazz and gospel great Niki Haris , who was with Madonna for several years. With Niki, Karen has performed at the Vail Jazz Festival, the I Love Jazz festival in Brazil, and several times in Bern, Switzerland at  Marians Jazzroom.

Karen has recorded on countless CD projects and has 2 CDs of her own, My Beating Heart and Oh Beautiful Life, and has several original tracks which were recorded at her own production company ValleyGirlBeats that are available through this site.

She is also an active educator and has been teaching at Musicians Institute of Los Angeles for 15 years and taught at Los Angeles College of Music for 12 years. She was on staff in 2015 for Madeline Eastman’s JazzCampWest, alongside great jazz artists Josh Nelson, Sara Leib, and Laurence Hobgood. Karen has also been involved in well-known jazz vocalist Julie Kelly’s famous Jazz On The Hill, an intense workshop for budding jazz singers, for 10 years. She was involved in trumpet great Bobby Rodriguiz’s Jazz Adventure, a Los Angeles Music Center sponsored jazz education project for kids. Karen also teaches privately at her home studio in Los Angeles.

RADICAL SON: A Generational Odyssey By David Horowitz

Radical Son: Second Edition by David Horowitz is one of the most compelling and important political memoirs in recent American history - republished after more than twenty years with a new introduction by the author. In a narrative that possesses both remarkable political importance and extraordinary literary power, David Horowitz tells the story of his startling political odyssey from sixties radical to nineties conservative.    CALL Sandy at 516-735-5468 or e-mail Sandy to schedule interviews with David Horowitz.   A political document of our times, Radical Son traces three generations of one American family's infatuation with the radical left from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Marxist empire six decades later. David Horowitz was one of the founders of the New Left and an editor of Ramparts - the magazine that set the intellectual and revolutionary tone for the movement.    In the new edition of Radical Son, you'll learn:   The deep divisions that divide our country now began in the Sixties; The violence that tore up our cities this past summer and the coddling of black criminals began in the Sixties. A murder committed by the Black Panthers ended my life in the left; and  The leftward shift of the Democrat Party began with the riot that Tom Hayden staged at the 1968 Democrat convention after which he led the anti-American left into the Democrat Party. This left took over the Democrat Party with the election of Barack Obama in 2008.   From his vantage point at the center of the action, he populates Radical Son with vivid portraits of people who made the radical decade, while unmaking America at the same time. This painful and difficult journey from Left to Right has made Horowitz the most hated ex-radical of his generation. In telling his story, he provides not just an intimate personal account of his own transformation, but a scathing moral history of the American left, and a guide to the evolving political conscience of an entire generation.   "David Horowitz's political pilgrimage from a Sixties radical to a Reagan conservative - and the friends and enemies he has made along the way - makes for a very interesting, very compelling story. Speaking as a conservative: it's much better to have David Horowitz with you than against you. Radical Son demonstrates why." --William J. Bennett, Author of The Moral Compass   ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Horowitz is a conservative thinker and writer who has authored dozens of books over the course of his lifetime. He began his political career as one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s and served as an editor of its largest magazine, Ramparts. As described in this bestselling autobiography, Horowitz was forced to confront some difficult truths about the political left after a close friend of his was murdered by the Black Panthers, and ultimately found a political and intellectual home as a conservative activist. David is the renowned conservative commentator and New York Timesbestselling author of Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America and Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America. He is the founder and CEO of the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Los Angeles.

Patrick Wills is a 46-year fire service and law enforcement professional, serving as fire Captain/Investigator, with the Long Beach Fire Department, including 17 years as supervising investigator of the ATF Arson Unit. Wills was also involved in hundreds of arrests of adult and juvenile arson suspects, as well as testifying in state and federal courts as an expert witness.

His newly published book, The Reality of PTSD When Children Die, chronicles: a tragic and preventable fire that claimed the lives of three young sisters; his personal struggle with such tragedy; and how he made it back to the real world thanks to a police psychologist who took the time to ask a very basic question.

Joel Franco tells compelling stories with an elegant voice, a crisp Italian sensibility and beautiful pictures. Franco’s experience, vision and intensity bring leadership, heart, and an eye for detail to his films. His understanding of the human condition and his passion for authenticity combine to create artistic, highly commercial works that draw the audience in and make them feel. Franco’s genuine desire to protect the integrity of each story and to bring out the best in the actors and crew have made him a trusted source for getting the job done. Colleagues trust his refreshing character and understand that he is a man of commitment and does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it.



Joel Franco was born in Italy and came to the United States in his late teens where he quickly immersed himself in American culture and film. According to Franco, “I have always admired American films. The American school of acting has a long history of producing great actors and I wanted to be a part of the world of film–a place where captivating stories are unveiled. The creation of film plays into my strengths: I love that magic is the result of the creative process. There must be passion to nurture the momentum of the story. And one must have intense focus to get the job done.” 



Influenced by American filmmaker Sidney Lumet for his vigorous storytelling and Italian director Robert Rossellini for his social realism, Franco is dedicated to staying true to the story in a fast paced, realistic and refined style. 



In 2006, Franco partnered with Solidaris LLC to found Chesapeake Films, LLC. Chesapeake Films has option agreements to produce several feature films and plans to produce two features per year in-house and to collaborate with established film companies for additional opportunities.



Joel Franco is a graduate of University of Maryland/Baltimore, a graduate of the USC-Universal Producing and Directing Program, and holds an M.F.A. in film production from the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

joelfranco@youthsports-themovie.com