~ Director to receive the Social Impact Cinema Icon nod ~
The Hollywood Film Festival will celebrate Penny Marshall as this year’s “Social Impact Cinema Icon.” As this year’s recipient, Marshall will join last year’s recipient, Harry Belafonte, as an Honorary Chairperson for the festival which is anchored in socially relevant films. Marshall, who has helped to pave the way for female directors with Jumpin’ Jack Flash in 1985; hasn’t stopped since. She will join festival CEO & Executive Producer Brad Parks and Executive Director Rod Beaudoin on the Red Carpet Thursday evening to kick off the four Showcase Opening Night Films Thursday night and the “Female Fridays” lineup the following day.
Penny Marshall spent her early years as Laverne on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley. In 1985, Marshall's friend, Whoopi Goldberg, convinced her to pursue a career in directing, starting with the movie Jumpin' Jack Flash. The film launched Marshall's career and she went on to direct Big, Awakenings, A League of Their Own, The Preacher’s Wife and Riding in Cars with Boys among other films.
The newly revamped Hollywood Film Festival, which runs September 23-27th at Arclight Cinemas Hollywood, promises a fresh and exciting global direction under the new team (Parks/Beaudoin). After funding the acquisition of the festival last year, Brad Parks guided the transition of the festival theme to socially relevant films anchored in causes and calls-to-action. Now, with the help of Rod Beaudoin, the festival takes its message global with international partnerships, new media programming and cutting edge entertainment which all complement its “See Good / Do Good / Feel Good” mission. This year, the festival received an unprecedented 3,019 submissions; and from that number, programmed 90 projects including 20 Narrative Features, 29 Documentaries, 38 Shorts, and Social Impact TV.
We were privileged last year to celebrate Harry Belafonte as part of our Social Justice theme,” said Parks. “This year our theme is Female Filmmaking. We had such an unprecedented amount of films by women, that we are dedicating an entire day to women. Our Female Friday films are all directed and/or produced by women. Penny Marshall is a great role model for female filmmakers. As one of the greatest storytellers of all time, she relies less on technology and more on getting stories out of her actors. We are honored to have her.”
“I’m from Milwaukee and fell in love with Penny Marshall when she played a beer bottler from Milwaukee,” says Beaudoin. “The films she’s created are landmark films with stories that are important and which stand the test of time. No one is a greater role model for female filmmakers than Penny.”
With over 15 years of experience in community engagement and social commerce software, Brad Parks also served over a decade as V.P. of The Hanleigh Companies, America’s first-ever direct underwriter for Lloyds of London, specializing in entertainment, professional sports and high net worth corporate risk management. He also served 10 years as a Sergeant with the United States Army. Rod Beaudoin, with over 20 years of festival programming and entertainment experience, helped to form the Beloit International Film Festival in 2005 and a few years later, he was instrumental in launching the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in Iowa with Brad Parks. Last year he reunited with Parks in the production of the Hollywood Film Festival.
Brad Parks and Rod Beaudoin plan to grow the Hollywood Film Festival to a top tier global festival without the help of typical glitz and glamour, by celebrating the creative artists, activists and industry leaders who have supported causes around the world. “Our goal is to demonstrate the power of cinematic storytelling as a tool to fuel positive social change,” says Parks. “The Hollywood Film Festival is connecting the dots,” adds Beaudoin. “Many of Hollywood’s celebrities are heavily involved in important global causes, so overlapping is eminent. But with digital technology, our cultures are colliding more now than ever and audiences globally are responding to the inspiration of social content.”
The 2015 Hollywood Film Festival begins Wednesday September 23rd with a “Welcome Wednesday: Welcome to Hollywood” night of events designed to get to know the vast number of filmmakers who traveled from around the world to attend the festival, and to introduce them to a pool of industry professionals and distribution partners.
Thursday September 24th , promises stars and emerging filmmakers on the Red Carpet as they join the four Showcase Opening Night Films anchored in the social impact See Good / Do Good / Feel Good theme along with an additional “Be Good” film. PEARLY GATES, directed by Scott Ehrlich, features an all-star cast including Uzo Aduba, Illeana Douglas, Bonnie Sommerville, Peter Bogdonavich and Lainie Kazan in a comedic musical about wanting to be remembered and learning that the only way to truly live on is in the hearts and minds of the people around you; WAFFLE STREET, directed by Eshom and Ian Nelms stars James Lafferty and Danny Glover in the true story of Jimmy Adams, a V.P. of a $30 billion hedge fund, who loses his job and winds up working as a waiter at a waffle shop; OUTLIVING EMILY, directed by Eric Weber stars includes Olympia Dukakis, Louis Zorick, Andre Braugher, Zosia Mamet and Alexis Bledel in a look at the marriage of Tim and Emily over the course of 50 years with numerous actors playing both characters; and GHOST TOWN TO HAVANA, directed by Eugene Corr and Roberto Chile is the story of two youth baseball coaches who strike up a friendship in an online gaming room but, when they decide to meet in person, fun and baseball quickly turns to murder and poverty.
The evening continues with a tier of four risk taking films. The World Premiere of F FOR FRANCO, is a multi-layered exploration into the mind of James Franco the Actor, Director, Author, and Visual Artist. Directed by Dr. Francisco J. Ricardo, the film will incorporate a live art exhibition with discussions of Franco’s art process. THE KEY, directed by Jefery Levy, is an erotic look at marriage and lust and stars David Arquette and Bai Ling. GLORY DAZE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MICHAEL ALIG is directed by Ramon Fernandez and takes place in NYC in 1987 when a new group of individuals arises to fill the artistic power vacuum created by Andy Warhol's untimely death and the demise of his 'Factory', in the form of The Club Kids. THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES, directed by Phil Allocco, tells the story of a man who finds himself in a tangled web of lies when the truth proves to be too much to admit and even harder to accept.
“Female Friday” taking place on September 25th is dedicated to showcasing films produced and/or directed by an exceptional female filmmaker with curated conversations about issues facing women in Hollywood today. Out of the 91 films programmed at the festival this year, 58 are directed and/or produced by women.
The Hollywood Film Festival seeks to promote phenomenal films about causes that count while inspiring audiences to act. The festival connects some of our generation’s best independent filmmakers, cultural content creators, and social impact storytellers with Hollywood, the "Entertainment Capital of the World."
Chatelin Bruno 
