President's Page - Art Animates Life

Charles Carr (Charles Caratti) is a multiple award-winning journalist, author, and nationally published playwright.

Charles has written literally thousands of newspaper articles, magazine stories, and columns for the San Diego Union Tribune, The Orange County Register, The Reader, The Times-Advocate, The Californian, Digital Trends, Parent Magazine, and dozens of other publications.

Many of Charles' stories, articles, and essays have been published nationally, most recently in the textbook "America Now" published by Macmillan Learning and in "The Academic Writer: A Brief Rhetoric" by St. Martin's Press.

Charles has received many writing accolades including recent back-to-back San Diego Press Club awards for opinion and commentary.

Carr is also a noted television producer/director with documentaries currently airing and/or in production on Cox Cable and elsewhere.

Carr's background in the world of journalism has created an excellent basis for penning stage plays and scripts, most of which have a classical literature or historical footing. His theatrical works, written under the name Charles Caratti, have been produced at prestigious venues across the nation and attended by thousands.

Carr's newest theatrical production is Hope Springs, Eternal

Earlier works include Passage Into Fear, Mark Twain's A Christmas Carol, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Angels, Mr. Scrooge & Mr. Dickens, and All the Time in the World.

A decade ago, Charles, his wife Marsi Carr, and others looking for ways to help organizations struggling in difficult economic times founded Art Animates Life, a CA incorporated, federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Art Animates Life along with its award-winning theatrical company, North County Players, have raised tens-of-thousands of dollars for San Diego area charities including a disaster relief agency, arts nonprofits, a municipal art gallery, veterans' relief funds, a community outreach center, a historical society, and several struggling community theaters, among others. Thousands have attended North County Players events and productions in theaters throughout Southern California including San Diego's Balboa Park, Patio Playhouse, the Poway Performing Arts Center, the Park Avenue Center, Connors Hall, and the San Marcos Civic Center.

AAL's filmmaking offshoot, Art Animates Life Films, is a multiple award-winning independent studio. Works created by current and past members include Hooked and Sky Takes a Bite Out of Crime, both of which were San Diego Children's Film Festival honorees.

Art Animates Life Films' newest production, a full-length feature film
titled Old Dogs, Dirty Tricks, stars Lolly Boroff and Marsi Carr with
Elizabeth Toker, Charlie DeNatale, Neha Curtiss, Tony Flores,
Christopher Olson, Gabriella Valesco, Don Martin, Alex Caratti,
Austin Williams, Pamela Wise, Dan Cheatham, and Mickey Faerch.

In the 1990s, Charles wrote 3DHouse, a complete inside-and-out
virtual reality tour of his family's log home in Southern California.
Primitive by today's standards, 3DHouse was one of the first virtual
reality programs ever created, enjoying tens of thousands of shareware
downloads on all major portals. He also sold the rights to Radio Shack
and Egghead Software. 3DHouse has since been featured in many
books and was featured at the Berkeley Hall of Science for thousands
of visitors annually.

A professional musician for more than 20 years, Carr's guitar playing and arranging have been featured on many recordings. He has taken top honors in San Diego Songwriter's Guild competitions for his original musical compositions "Baby's First Words" and "The Twelve Months of Christmas."

Since its inception Carr has produced the Fallbrook International Film Festival's red carpet event and panel discussions.

Charles has been a contributor and technical advisor to L.A. and San Diego Parent magazines and receives many requests each year to appear on Southern California television and radio stations to talk about important events.

Carr is author of What a World, a collection of vignettes chronicling twenty years in the San Diego backcountry. He enjoys speaking from time-to-time to schools and organizations about his eclectic life in the arts and volunteers at his hometown high school as a journalism teacher and student adviser.

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