Alyssa Buecker's Guinea Pig Tales
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Alyssa Buecker's Guinea Pig Tales
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"Guinea Pig Trilogy"
When Alyssa Buecker of Lawrence, Kansas, was eleven years old, she took a filmmaking class. The teacher told her she could bring in her own actors to the class for the movie she was making, so she brought her guinea pig. (At the time Alyssa had just one guinea pig. Soon she had 23 "cast members"!) She made the film "Hazel the Guinea Pig's Package" and entered it in the KAN Film Fest, where it won Third Place in the Primary Division. When she was 12, she entered her second film "The Christmas Caper," starring several guinea pigs, and won First place and Best of Division. At 13, she made "Guinea Pigs from Mars" and it also won First place at the KAN Film Fest. After Alyssa's "Guinea Pig Trilogy" was brought to HBO's attention by judges of a national film contest, HBO picked Alyssa's movies to air on the HBO Family Channel. The films began airing on February 14, 1999.
HBO commissioned a new guinea pig movie "Carrot Wars," a spoof of "Star Wars," which currently airs on the HBO Family Channel's second season. "Carrot Wars" was first shown on the HBO Family Channel (both East and West) on May 9, 2000. "Carrot Wars" won a First Place Award in the KAN Film Festival 2000, and was selected to be screened at the Brooklyn Arts Council's 34th International Film and Video Festival in New York City in June 2000 and also at the Guinea Pig Extravaganza on July 22, 2000 in Springfield, VA. Alyssa made an appearance at DreamWorks Animation Studios in Glendale, California on July 22, 2000 for the screening of "Carrot Wars" at the Kansas Connection's Film Fair. She was back in California in August 2001 when "Carrot Wars" was screened at the Sacramento Film Festival. In July 2001 she was a special guest at a Guinea "Pignic" in Indianapolis, IN and in June 2002 she attended a Guinea "Pignic" in Lawrence, KS. The "big screen" World Premiere of "Carrot Wars" took place at the historic Fox Theatre in Hutchinson, KS, on August 18, 19 & 20, 2000, with Alyssa and one of her furry "stars" in attendance. Alyssa's most recent commissioned work was a series of "bumper logos" (guinea pig "shorts") which will air on the HBO Family Channel this season.
Alyssa has been featured in many national and international magazines and newspapers, including PEOPLE Magazine (May 24, 1999); BEST FRIENDS; CAPPER'S; SCHOLASTIC NEWS, Senior Edition (October 25, 1999); NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WORLD (January 2000); PETS PART OF THE FAMILY (March/April 2000); KANSAS KALEIDOSCOPE (cover story, February/March 2000); KANSAS! Magazine (Spring Issue/2000); the Detroit Free Press (June 26, 2000); I LOVE ENGLISH (a French magazine, published in Paris, Nov. 2000), and GIRLS' LIFE Magazine (Oct./Nov. 1999). Stories about her were featured on the AP wire two different times, and the Detroit Free Press article was syndicated in over 55 different newspapers nationwide on two separate occasions. SONY STYLE magazine featured an article about her in the Summer 2000 issue. She has also appeared on many TV news shows and been interviewed on radio stations throughout the country. The NBC News Network sent a Chicago-based crew from the TODAY show to interview her. The TIME for Kids website sported a feature article about her. She has appeared in Canada on the TV show "Pet Project" (LIFE network), which is appearing worldwide this season on ANIMAL PLANET. In the United States, the episode featuring Alyssa (and "Ally McBeal" star Portia de Rossi) premiered on ANIMAL PLANET on Monday, April 3. She appeared last summer on "Yo-TV" in South Africa. PETS: PART OF THE FAMILY (starring Gary Burghoff, who played "Radar" on "M*A*S*H") is currently profiling her on Show #8 of the second season of their televised series, shown on PBS stations nationwide. (Call your local PBS station for listings.) The Manhattan Neighborhood Network is currently featuring clips about her. Most recent appearances include a special pets program on "The Montel Williams Show," taped in January 2001 in New York City. The show premiered on Friday, May 25, 2001. Alyssa also was a special guest in February 2001 on the nationally syndicated radio show, Pet Talk America. The Lawrence Public Library named her as one of Lawrence's Most Distinguished Citizens in 2002, and captured her photo on a "Lawrence Reads" poster. She regularly donates her time and products to the Lawrence Humane Society's annual auctions and benefits. In addition to her cavies, she also has 2 Yorkies, a Manx cat, a gerbil, an albino rat, and a frog. The Topeka Capital-Journal named her one of "Ten Kansans of Distinction" for 1999.
http://cjonline.com/stories/010900/kan_ksofdistinction.shtml
Alyssa and her pigs have taken all this media attention in stride (although her "stars" often demand extra lettuce).
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"Figure It Out, Guinea Pig Style"
Alyssa filmed a spoof of the popular Nickelodeon game show "Figure It Out" and appeared on an episode of "Figure It Out, Wild Style" (initial air date: Nov. 12, 1999, 5 p.m. ET) to show her new movie "Figure It Out, Guinea Pig Style." Alyssa won a cruise to the Bahamas while appearing on "Figure It Out."
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/111299/kan_teenmovie.shtml
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Producers Camp
During the summer of 1999 Alyssa attended a month-long Producers Camp at the Ross School in East Hampton, NY. While at the camp, Alyssa gave a Power Point Presentation to the other students about her life as a young filmmaker, and made an animated film, influenced by Japanese anime, titled "Free Ice Cream."
Currently Alyssa, who was homeschooled from kindergarten through twelfth grade (through May 2003), is a college student who gives presentations about her movie-making career at film festivals, schools, libraries, bookshops, and pet stores. On May 4 & 5, 2000 she was in Wichita, Kansas, giving a presentation at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Century II Conference Center to more than 700 teachers, principals, superintendents, and college faculty at the Kansas State Department of Education's 11th Annual Statewide Conference. In April 2000 Alyssa was honored at a media event hosted by HBO in New York City. Recently she starred in a music video, filmed by students at the University of Kansas. She also enjoys acting in community plays, playing the piano, and painting with watercolors. On September 26, 2000, Alyssa was at Emporia State University to receive the "Young Entrepreneur 2000" Award from the Lieutenant Governor of Kansas at a Department of Commerce luncheon.
Alyssa was named in the March 21, 2000 issue of USA TODAY as a Millennium Dreamers Ambassador. Walt Disney World and McDonald's, in association with UNESCO, sponsored the Millennium Dreamers competition. There were over 100,000 entries from the United States alone. Alyssa was among 2,000 young people from over 100 countries around the world who were selected to travel to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in May to participate in a Symposium at Disney Institute.
Alyssa Buecker was featured on a Celebrity Chat on Friday, May 12, 2000 at www.GirlZone.com (Also look for Alyssa's story on their web site!) She is also currently profiled in a story on www.Cybergrrl.com
Coming with carrot sabers to a galaxy near you...
CARROT WARS
Available for the first time ever on DVD!
THOSE LOVEABLE, FURRY GUINEA PIG STARS ARE BACK!
The lovely Princess Lettuce, evil Dark Vapor, and good guys Duke StraWalker, Hokey One Spumoni and Hand So-So all strut their stuff in this rollicking spoof of STAR WARS, starring guinea pigs.
Send a check or money order for $12.99 plus $4.60 (for Priority Mail postage within the US) made out to "Milbo Productions" for each DVD to:
Milbo Productions
P.0. Box 3950
Lawrence, KS 66046-0950
Please include your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (in case of questions).
Your DVD should arrive within 3-6 weeks.
For your convenience, we also accept credit card payments via PayPal. The Paypal account is squwigr@aol.com
Customers outside the US can pay $18.49 for the DVD and postage through the PayPal account. Be sure to pay in US dollars (not pounds, euros, etc.), or you'll be paying way too much.
CARROT WARS is still available on (VHS) video, too! It is still $9.99 plus $4.60 (for Priority Mail postage within the US). You can pay by personal check, money order, or credit card via PayPal.
KS residents please add $.73 sales tax for each video ordered and $.95 sales tax for each DVD ordered.
Customers outside the US can order a NTSC, SECAM, or PAL-formatted video copy of CARROT WARS. Please send an email listing your country and which version you require, and we'll figure out the postage and provide payment details.
Please write or e-mail (guineapigfilms@aol.com) if you have any questions.
E-mail Alyssa at guineapigfilms@aol.com
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