Producer/Director/DOP Alain Delannoy's short animation film 'The Talk True Stories About the Birds & the Bees' (2016) relates the very adult story about grownup men remembering the moment their fathers explained to them about the birds and the bees. Since its premiere, it has since been travelling to international festivals picking up numerous awards in its wake, including the Prix De Varti Award at Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Audience Award at Dawson City International Short Fi...
Brian Neil Hoff is the founder and festival director of the Palm Springs International Animation Festival (http://www.psiaf.org/home.html), the first edition of which is set to take place post AFM from November 9-11, 2017. Hoff has been working in animation for the last fifteen years and is a teacher/mentor of animation at the Palm Springs High School. He began the works for the PSIAF in 2009 and has now created a snowball effect with over 2,000 film submissions and...
Writer/director Amman Abbasi's debut film 'Dayveon' (2017) is a coming of age story about 13 year-old Dayveon as he navigates his way through the oppressing Arkansas summer heat and the relentless bullying of a local gang after having just lost his older brother.
The film screened to international buyers at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival Market with Visit Films conducting international sales. FilmRise is handling North American distribution.
The film pre...
PGA producer Kayvan Mashayekh
PGA “Producers Without Borders” started in Cannes three years ago by PGA member Kayvan Mashayekh and the general manager of The Royal Film Commission of Jordan Geroge David. The event is sponsored by The Royal Film Commission of Jordan.
After having helped to cast the various panelists myself for this year's 3rd annual PGA PWB edition, I interviewed Kayvan. Here is what he had to say:
How did ...
American director, editor and actor Daphne Schmon's short film “All of Me” premiered at the 2017 Cannes Marché du Film, which was selected “Best of Cannes shorts to screen” by Creative Market Group. Made by an all female team, “All of Me” is the story of a talented, genderqueer musician named Viv (played by British actress Chereen Buckley). Director Schmon, writer Emily Carlton, producer Jemma Moore and editor Philippa Carson w...
French born Cyril Morin is a man of many talents. A prolific music composer, writer, director and producer, some of his many credits include: 'Samsara' (2001), 'A Simple Heart' (2008), 'I Do' (2015), 'Hacker's Game' (2015), 'NY84' (2016) and 'An American Trilogy' (2017). He spends his time working between Europe, USA and China and is proof that to be successful in the film business, it helps to be a Renaissance personality like...
Acclaimed actress Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1926 where she lived until she moved to Illinois to attend Illinois State University and later Northwestern University. A drama student, she participated in various local beauty pageants which she won, including Miss Chicago in 1946. With dreams of becoming an actress, she moved to New York where she began her theater career which segued into TV and film. Cloris has successfully graced our TV and silver screens for over 65 years...
Director/writer Daniel Mentz and director/writer Julia Butler co-direct 'Slipaway' (2017), a heartrending film about the unlikely friendship between an older woman, Fall (played by Elaine Partnow), and a young man, Adam (Jesse Pepe). Reminiscent of The Intouchables (2011), the film presents a story about the platonic bond between an elderly ailing woman at the end of her life and a young man beginning his.
Adam is a young homeless drug addict who dreams of becoming a musician bu...
Dmitry Milkin
Writer/director Dmitry Milkin's award winning 3D animated short 'Curpigeon' (2016) is making audiences coo and awe as it tells the story about birds communicating with humans in a spiritual transcendent way. The ancient Egyptians did this, so why not in 2016 with a group of old bonding men in a community park? Reminiscent of Pixar's 'UP' (2009), this unique animation leaves audiences feeling closer to each other and nature in an ...
Matt Schrader
What is a film without a soundtrack? This questions is answered in writer/director Matt Schrader's crucial and poignant feature documentary 'Score: A Film Music Documentary' (2016). Imagine 'Titanic' without the epic sounds of Enya's voice weaved in with James Horner's haunting pipes; 'Gladiator' without Lisa Gerard's ethereal voice mixed with Hans Zimmer's soaring symphonies; 'Star Wars', 'Jaws' or 'Indiana Jones...
George Parra
Producer George Parra has been a venerated industry professional for over thirty years, having worked on such prestigious films as- 'Waterworld' (1995), 'Sideways' (2004), 'The Descendants' (2011), 'Silver Linings Playbook' (2012), 'American Hustle' (2013); to name a very few. He first began his illustrious career as a Set Production Assistant on 'The Terminator' (1984) which led to his position as Second Assistant Director on mo...
Palm Springs native George Kosturos is a talented acting force in the indie film world making a splash success as 'Ali' in the award-winning film 'American Wrestler: The Wizard' (2016) where he co-stars with legendary actors Jon Voight and William Fichtner. The film recounts the true story of wrestler Ali Afshar who escaped from Iran in the 1980's and moved to the US for a better life, only to be met with hostility by Americans due to the concurrent Iran hostage crise...
Film industry attorney, consultant and published writer Steven Beer has become a super star in his own right, even deemed “Super Lawyer” after his feature in 2006 edition of "Super Lawyers/New York Metro Edition" where he was classified as top 5% in New York. Having successfully represented film producers, financiers, distributors and nurtured some of entertainment's most renown talent including award-winning writers, directors, producers, and multi-platinum...
IFTA’s Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of the AFM since 1998, Jonathan Wolf deems the AFM as the global film world coming to its Hollywood Mecca. A graduate of the University of Southern California Business School, Wolf's extensive professional background, previous to his pivotal roles with IFTA and AFM, includes film distribution as well as finance as CFO of New World International in international operations. The AFM acts as a six month Fall bookend market to the Spri...
Writer/Director Lucky McKee's latest film, 'Misfortune', was announced at the 2016 American Film Market. McKee is known for his successes in the horror/thriller genre with such titles as 'The Woman' (2011), 'Red' (2008) and 'May' (2002) under his belt. 'Misfortune' is a noir thriller about three friends in the wilderness caught up in a greedy battle over a fortune; the film is currently in pre-production stages and Radiant Films Internatio...
Moldovan born Sasha Yelaun is an Irvine based PGA producer who opts to stay out of the LA madness. He travels to LA a few times a week for important meetings but for the most part he feels that if you really want to get stuff done you need as little distraction as possible. He recently attended the AFM for meetings about packaging his latest films. He has worked on such films as The Book of Love (2016), Wild Oats (2016), 10,000Saints (2015) and Benjamin Troubles (2015). He has a num...
AFM is not only a place where international sales agents sell their titles to buyers from all over the world, but it’s a mecca for independent producers to find their producing partners and financing for their films. Writer and producer Brian Neil Hoff did just that while at this AFM to find partners on his animation project called ‘Secret Agent 00K9’, action adventure about a spy dog detective who travels the animal world solving crimes and mysteries. I interviewe...
Napa, California– The sixth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is pleased to host a private VIP screening of TWC-Dimension’s highly anticipated film Gold. The film stars Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey, who will receive the Caldwell Vineyards Maverick Actor Tribute, for his outstanding contributions to the art of acting and cinematic story-telling.
Directed by Oscar® winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana), Gold is an epic tale of one man’s p...
SCAD ANNOUNCES SAVANNAH FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS
The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) announced the award winners for the 19th annual Savannah Film Festival during an awards brunch held at Garibaldi’s Restaurant. Sixteen awards were announced from the 118 films that competed in the categories of narrative features, documentary features, animated shorts, SuperShort! shorts, professional and student shorts and Global Shorts Forum selections.
Narrative and Docume...
Celebrity Tributes include Zoey Deutch, Chloe Grace Moretz and Glen Powell. Additional Tributes to be announced in September
Napa, California (August 25, 2016) – The sixth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is pleased to announce its first three honorees that will receive Tributes during the sixth annual edition of the festival to be held November 9-13, 2016. Additional honorees will be named at a future date.
The highly anticipated Celebrity Tributes, saluti...
Festival to showcase films starring Jessica Biel, Clea Duvall, Alex Karpovsky, Rose Leslie, Ray Liotta, Melanie Lynskey, Wyatt Russell, Richard Schiff, Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams and more
Napa, California – The sixth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF), scheduled to take place November 9 - 13, today announced its Narrative and Documentary Feature Film lineups for juried competition. The members of the jury, as well as the complete program of approximately 120 fi...
Festival special guests include Jessica Biel and more
New Orleans, La. (October 6, 2016)— The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) is pleased to announce new additions to the lineup for the 27 annual New Orleans Film Festival, to take place October 12-20, 2016.
Notably, the festival announced the addition of the new James Baldwin–inspired documentary I Am Not Your Negro as the festival’s Centerpiece Film. The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festiv...
New Orleans Film Society Announces 27th Annual New Orleans Film Festival,
October 12th – 20th, 2016
Festival unveils documentary, narrative and Louisiana feature competition lineup + official program artwork
The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) announced today the feature competition lineup for the 27th annual New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF), taking place October 12th – 20th at venues across New Orleans, with an increased presence in the downtown area.
&n...
CinefestOZ today revealed its 2016 program and continues its proud tradition of showcasing the best of Australian film.
CinefestOZ is an immersive film and destination experience where audiences are invited to explore a diverse program of quality film from Wednesday August 24 to Sunday August 28. Over 68 venues and spaces will welcomingly open their doors to audiences and VIP guests alike, offering something for everyone with over 110 film and event options.
Festival CEO Malinda Nixo...
CinefestOZ, Australia’s premier destination film festival, is delighted to announce that award-winning Australian feature film and documentary director Gillian Armstrong has accepted the role of Jury Chair for the 2016 Festival. Armstrong is one of Australia’s most successful and respected filmmakers. Her feature film directorial debut, My Brilliant Career, adapted from the breakthrough Miles Franklin feminist novel, was a huge success both here and abroad, launching the careers of...
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