By age 26, Ashley worked for two Academy Award-winning directors, on seven films, had a treatment optioned for a feature film, and consulted for production companies and actors on developing material for the screen. She has also worked in the publicity department of a major publishing house, provided research assistance for a New Yorker writer’s book, and produced web content for a daytime talk show. Now 27, Ashley continues to pursue both her freelance work in film production and writing. She lives in New York City.

Blog Entries by Ashley Van Buren

Take the JOURNEY

Posted November 9, 2009 | 11:49 PM (EST)


"People just don't want to know about this issue - it's hidden, it's criminal, it's perverse and yes, it's happening on our own doorstep. 'Journey' is a remarkable piece of collaborative, creative and confrontational art that profoundly challenges people's perspective. Come and see for yourself and tell us if you...

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Still Crazy After All of These Years: An Interview With Carrie Fisher

7 Comments | Posted October 23, 2009 | 03:54 PM (EST)


Carrie Fisher has been called a lot of things in her life: an actress; an author; a screenwriter; a wife (she was married to musician Paul Simon and, briefly, to powerhouse talent agent Bryan Lourd, with whom she has a daughter); an alcoholic; bipolar; the Princess of Alderaan; and a...

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Will Ryman: A New Beginning in Full Bloom

Posted September 24, 2009 | 02:58 PM (EST)


Roses beckon from the street level of the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea. Pale, ballet pink, Venetian rose and brick red blossoms with bright green stems stand out from the grey pavement outside of the gallery. Artist Will Ryman meant for his exhibition, titled A New Beginning to serve as a...

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My Culinarification

Posted August 10, 2009 | 11:07 AM (EST)


We are in the midst of a culinary orgie, thanks, in part, to the Food Network, Top Chef, Nora Ephron, and Julie Powell. Even the New York Times has gotten into the act, running pieces by both Michael Pollan and Maureen Dowd in a recent Sunday...

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33 Variations: A Lyrical Inspiration

Posted March 10, 2009 | 12:18 PM (EST)


"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. "
- Ludwig van Beethoven

True artists are their art. There is no separation between the human being and their creation; 2009-03-09-33variations250.jpg humans...

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4REAL Keeps it Real

Posted November 20, 2008 | 02:03 PM (EST)


Eva Mendez walks an alley in Vancouver searching for dirty needles. Joaquin Phoenix receives a ceremonial whacking by a heavy reed from a member of the Yawanawa tribe in the Amazon. Cameron Diaz celebrates the winter solstice in the mountains of Peru. Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist, Flea, weighs babies...

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[title of show]: From YouTube to Broadway

Posted August 27, 2008 | 06:20 PM (EST)


I recently went to see a new musical on Broadway called "[title of show]." It was seriously funny. It was also very real-ish. The show stars co-creators Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, along with their talented friends Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff and music director/accompanist, Larry Pressgrove. They star as...

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It's a Hard Rock Life: On the Road With the School of Rock All-Stars

Posted July 24, 2008 | 10:03 PM (EST)


The life of a touring rock group isn't all glitz and glamour, especially a group that acts as their own roadies. "We sometimes do our own lighting and we unload the equipment, smoke machines, projector, and make sure everything works. Then we rehearse and do a sound check," says guitarist...

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Sex & the City, What's Your Point, Honey?

Posted June 3, 2008 | 12:13 PM (EST)


This past weekend we all witnessed a cultural phenomenon step beyond the confinement of a small screen to one decidedly larger. The women of Sex & the City are on display in theaters nation-wide. Even before all of us movie-going women have seen it, we've cast our ballot by...

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When Darkness Turns to Day: A.L. Kennedy Talks About the Process of Writing War and Performing Stand-Up Comedy

Posted May 7, 2008 | 05:27 PM (EST)


Scottish writer Alison Louise (A.L.) Kennedy's words fall together on the page with such elegant precision, you barely notice how hard she must have worked to get them to that point. Her prose runs the gamut from short stories about love and sex, as in Original Bliss, to...

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Kelly Corrigan's Living in The Middle Place

Posted January 30, 2008 | 05:07 PM (EST)


In a time where stories about dysfunctional families rule, author Kelly Corriganhas pulled away from the pack and written a love letter to her family and living in 'the middle place,' or as she defines it, "the sliver of time in life when parenthood and childhood overlap." The Middle...

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Mother Darling: Christine Ebersole's 'Wonderful Chaos' of Family

Posted January 16, 2008 | 05:33 PM (EST)


Christine Ebersole spends a big part of her workday inhabiting the lives of both real and fictional characters on stage and screen: in her Tony Award-winning role as Big and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens, and in films such as Amadeus, Dead Again and My Girl 2. Christine...

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Pakistan Rocks: A Sufi Musician Bridges the East/West Gap

Posted January 4, 2008 | 11:18 AM (EST)


2008-01-04-musician.jpg
Dubbed the "Bono of South Asia," Salman Ahmad is a musician and founder of the Sufi-rock band, Junoon Urdu for "obsessive passion"); an activist, who is a UN-appointed HIV/AIDS ambassador for South Asia, a medical doctor; a teacher, as an...

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