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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Have accordion will
travel for moviemaking minstrel <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT
size=3>News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>This
feature appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times paper on
</I>5/14/09</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><BR>Familiar sights
and sounds introduce the arrival of each new season.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In Chagrin Falls, the first true
sign of spring is the roar from the falls as it accommodates the thaw
runoff.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Summer is introduced by the
sight of cone lickers congregating in front of the Popcorn Shop.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Winter has become synonymous with the
strains of accordion-generated polka music wafting through the snow-dusted
streets.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 5.75in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">At the keyboard is
lanky, long-haired Jake Kouwe, 22-year-old polka aficionado and aspiring film
maker.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Jake and his family moved to
Chardon from Wilmington, North Carolina eight years ago.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>While most of his peers in Wilmington
were playing football or soccer, he was running around with a video camera
creating bizarre sci-fi mini-movies. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“No one really seemed
to enjoy watching those productions,” recalls Jake, “but I took my films
extremely seriously.” <BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">He still does.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>After moving to Ohio, Jake managed to
work his passion for filmmaking into a means for satisfying class assignments in
environmental science and biology at Chardon High School.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“They were about lab safety, the
scientific method and evolution,” notes Jake, “but they were pretty off-the wall
projects, with titles like <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Mitosis for
Christmas</I>.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The accordion helped
finance his films through gigs at nursing homes and other local
establishments.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Eventually, Jake
took his skills to the streets. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Despite bitter cold and the occasionally
frigid reception by passersby, including a “disturbing the peace” complaint by a
local resident several years ago (everyone’s a critic), Jake made his music a
going concern, which allowed his filmmaking to flourish. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Although sci-fi is
his forte, Jake also produces Christian-centered films.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They began as three- to five-minute
shorts for the Fellowship Bible Church in Chagrin Falls, revolving around the
same theme as his sci-fi films—good triumphing over evil.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They were created with his dad, Phil, a
former local firefighter and actor who performed the role of Daddy Warbucks in
several Chagrin Valley Little Theater productions of <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Annie</I>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Jake started
distributing those films through an on-line service called Sermonspice, where
pastors and church leaders from around the world can go to download video for
services and community workshops. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Since 2006, 1,350 copies of Jake’s films
have been distributed throughout the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, and
South Africa.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">His most popular
film, <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Broken Down</I>, is about a grungy
looking guy whose ‘64 VW beetle breaks down on the side of the road.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Three different people pass him on their
way to church, but none offer assistance.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>The moral:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>practice what is
preached.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">His latest project is
a History Channel-inspired mockumentary entitled <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Untold Stories of WW2</I>, about Hitler's
use of lizard people to help conquer Europe.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The film was entered into and won the
recent "Battle of the Films” competition at the Cedar Lee Theater in Cleveland
Heights. In addition to the notoriety, the film was featured in a subsequent
screening at the theater. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Jake Kouwe —the man,
the music and the mad-scientist filmmaker—adds a unique dimension <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>to the local artisan landscape.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Come winter, listen for his
signature sound in the streets.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Come Sunday, don’t be surprised if some of his inspirational cinema has
worked its way into your house of worship.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>