Master Classes with Ted Hope and Allison &Tiffany Anders; Representatives from Anonymous Content, CAA, CSA, ICM Partners, Karga Seven Pictures, Nickelodeon, Participant Media, Preferred Content, Sundance Film Festival, TNT, Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and many others.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is best known for its award-winning film shorts, but each year the Festival also welcomes a long guest list of filmmakers and industry attendees for the ShortFest Forums and Panels. Two Master Classes feature indie film guru and Fandor CEO Ted Hope discussing his film experiences, as well as director Allison Anders join her daughter Tiffany Anders to talk about music in film. Prominent industry figures from Anonymous Content, CAA, CSA, ICM Partners, Karga Seven Pictures, Nickelodeon, Participant Media, Preferred Content, Sundance Film Festival, TNT, Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and other organizations participate in four days of ShortFest Forums covering a wide range of emerging trends and new practices in the global film community. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Festival takes place June 17-23, 2014.

“The ShortFest Forums have grown into an extraordinary gathering of industry professionals, all ready to meet and mentor our new class of emerging filmmakers,” said Festival Director Kathleen McInnis. “We are so excited to bring together so many people at ShortFest, which every year generates new relationships and projects.”

“We have so many returning industry guests to help us celebrate our 20th Anniversary,” said Director of Industry Relations Christina Sasse, “Our distinguished industry guests come back each year because the ShortFest Forums are as inspiring for them as they are for our filmmakers. They love coming to our “summer camp for filmmakers” and some of them really enjoy making it into a boot camp!”

The schedule for today, June 21st, at ShortFest includes:

11:00 a.m. Meet the Programmers - Easily our biggest panel of the ShortFest Forums – both on the stage and in the audience – these worldwide festival programmers share their inside secrets, offer tips and advice, and tell it like it is when you are submitting your film to their festivals. A great way to meet the gatekeepers and tastemakers you want in your film life!

Expected panelists: Sharon Badal (Tribeca Film Festival), Dilcia Barrera (Sundance Film Festival), Beth Barrett (Seattle Int’l Film Festival), Jeffrey Bowers (Hampton’s International Film Festival), Jake Brown (St. Kilda Film Festival), Jonathan Marlow (Telluride Film Festival, Fandor), Gráinne Humphreys (James Dublin International Film Festival), Magali Simard (Toronto Int’l Film Festival), Paul Sloop (Cleveland International Film Festival), Ania Trzebiatowska (Off + Camera Int’l Festival of Independent Cinema Kraków)

1:00 p.m. The Players-Part I: The Business - A panel of agents, managers, producers and press discuss the current and future state of the business of filmmaking: from buying and selling, to commercialization and franchises, and marketing to a demographic, these top players will discuss the trends they see today in the business of film that affect/effect the filmmakers of tomorrow."

Expected panelists: Jeremy Kay (Screen International), Nick Ogiony (CAA), Anne Thompson (IndieWire), Peter Trinh (ICM Partners) and moderated by Kevin Iwashina (Preferred Content).

3:00 p.m. The Players-Part II: The Art - This panel of distinguished tastemakers, gatekeepers and content creators discuss the health and welfare of the art of world cinema: does it all “start with story”, is there room outside the box for a new-new wave of cinema (and if so, do we call that Television), who are the “fresh” voices and where do they find their audience?

Expected panelists: John Anderson (New York Times), Brian Banks (Nickelodeon), Alix Madigan (Anonymous Content), David Poynter (TNT), Pat Saperstein (Variety), Diane Weyermann (Participant Media).

Sunday, June 22 – ShortFest Industry/Filmmaker Brunch

Once again the Festival will host its signature Industry Roundtables: a unique blind-dating formula which pairs industry professionals with festival filmmakers for networking, relationship building and developing a collaborative support system. Those scheduled to participate include: Scillia Andreen (IndieFlix), Robert Bella (DreamWorks SKG, Post Production Supervisor), Jon Bloom (AMPAS), Christopher Carley (Gran Torino), Andrew Crane (American Cinematheque), Scott Dwyer (KQED), David Elliott (Four Brothers), Claudette Godfrey (SXSW), Alexi Hawley (The Following), Fred Joubaud (Ouat Media), Jody Lambert (People Like Us), Lisa Landi (KQED), Michèle Ohayon (Colors Straight Up), John Nein (Sundance), Rob Ramsey (Intolerable Cruelty), Doreen Ringer-Ross (VP, Film & TV BMI) and Marja-Lewis Ryan (Four-Faced Liar), Sharon Swart (producer) and many others.

Panel only tickets are available to the public for $11 each; Master Class tickets are $12. All ShortFest Forum programs are presented free to accredited filmmakers participating in ShortFest and its concurrent Short Film Market. Tickets can be purchased by calling (760) 322-2930 or visiting www.psfilmfest.org.

About Palm Springs International ShortFest

Designated by AMPAS as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market is the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-plus title Film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by an ever-growing number of new and longtime sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include: Ignition, Panavision, Stampede Post Productions, Smart Source Rentals, the Hard Rock Hotel, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, KQED San Francisco, the Casting Society of America, Nickelodeon and The Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles. The official host hotel and media center is the Renaissance Palm Springs. More information is available online at www.psfilmfest.org

-OFFICIAL PSSF PRESS RELEASE-

Edited by Vanessa McMahon