Posts Tagged ‘Highlight’

Cannes Film Festival : Summer Highlight on the French Riviera

The world-famous Cannes Film Festival (scheduled for May 12-23, 2010) was first held on September 20, 1946. World War II postponed the event’s intended 1939 inception, but it subsequently became the first major international cultural event of the post-war period. The festival has been held every year since 1946, with the exception of 1948 and 1950. In 1952, it was moved from September to May. and remains the premier summer event on the French Riviera, as well as the focus of global media attention.

The most prestigious award conveyed during the event is the Palme d’Or for the top-rated film of the festival. There is also a Grand Prize, a Jury Prize, and recognition of the “bests” in the categories of short film, actress, actor, director, and screen play. The board of directors for the Festival chooses the juries prior to each event. These panels are made up of a broad cross-section of international artists selected for the quality of their individual bodies of work as well as for the regard in which they are held by their professional peers.

The Palais des Festivals, which opened in 1982, is an impressive modern complex with premier sound equipment and technology for simultaneous translation. Visitors are attracted to the Allées des Stars year round for its impressive collection of hand prints and signatures of the great notables of the industry. In addition to its three auditoriums and 11 conference rooms, the Palais has both a night club and a restaurant, and is a glittering centre of unparalleled red-carpet celebrity watching during the festival itself.

Although unquestionably a venue for the rich, famous, and well-known, many top-quality, but lesser-publicised films can be viewed by tourists (without a press pass) for free during the festival. Interested parties can go to the registration area to acquire an “invitation.” It’s a good idea to arrive about an hour in advance. Film schedules are available at the local tourism office. “Badges” are also available and can be acquired before the festival. These will allow access to higher priority seating than an “invitation.” Most of the films are sub-titled in French only, although English sub-titles can be found in some of the larger cinemas. (Often interview with actors and directors precede the showing of the films, but these interview are almost always in French.)

The Cannes Film Festival is an important showcase for European films, but it also creates a unique platform for film producers to launch their new projects and to attempt to market their works to global distributors. The Marché du Film, held parallel to the main festival, is one of the busiest movie markets in the world and draws some 10,000+ buyers and sellers annually. It is a place where meetings are held, negotiations hashed out, and deals made. Consequently, the climate around the Festival is an important business venue with serious networking and investment opportunities, all set against the backdrop of a sparkling gathering of celebrities showcasing outstanding performances and great works of cinematographic art.

Popkomm, Iefta, Mipcom, Moffom, Cmj, Smpte, Highlight October’s Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

Billboard hosts its Regional Mexican Music Summit, through October 8 in Los Angeles, where regional artists, concert promoters, retailers, sponsors, managers as well as record label, digital/mobile entertainment, marketing, advertising and radio executives come together to network, do business and discuss current industry topics. At the EkoFilm International Film Festival on the Environment and Natural and Cultural Heritage, the aim of the festival is to present new films and video programmes that reshape our perception of the environment through natural and cultural heritage in a local or global fashion. The Festival runs in Prague, October 6-12. Kimberly Graham, an associate at Judy Henderson Casting, conducts a limited group casting workshop in New York, on October 7. At Berlin’s PopKomm, expo goers can take part in an international music and entertainment business conference, focused on creation, communication and commerce, and with more than 400 solo artists, bands and DJs playing in over 25 official locations, all happening October 8-10. Monte Carlo will host the International Emerging Talent Film Festival, October 9-12, an event run by the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA), a not-for-profit organization based in Monaco.

A Model/Actor Boot Camp with Aaron Marcus, will cover: preparing for auditions and casting calls; understand the differences between agents, managers, art/creative directors and casting directors; using special techniques for TV, film and commercial auditions/go-sees; accurately managing and understanding the business side of the industry; helping your agent by marketing yourself, and more. MIPCOM is the global content event for creating, co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across all platforms. This year when it is held in Cannes from October 13-17, it features a series of specialised networking breakfasts designed with the intent of creating a unique forum around some of the challenges facing the industry today. At this year’s ShowEast, happening October 13-16 in Orlando, just some of the activities you can preview are major studio and independent feature films slated for Holiday 2008 release, product reels of upcoming releases, visit a comprehensive trade show of motion picture industry products, services and concession items, networking, and actually much more. The music industry operates under quite different conditions than the film industry, just as music festivals and film festivals do, and so MOFFOM was founded to build synergy between these two worlds. And so from October 16-20 in Prague, Music on Film, Film on Music will be conducted from Prague with a rich assortment of live music and film events.

The 43rd Chicago International Film Festival last year, was dedicated to distinguished film critic Roger Ebert. At this year’s opening night presentation, join director Rian Johnson and actress Rachel Weisz, for ‘The Brothers Bloom’, and a Perspectives Tribute October 18 honoring Sidney Poitier. The Connective Series in New York educates emerging artists, musicians and music business professionals, serves as a networking opportunity and helps raise awareness and funds for charity,  and on October 21 they review “How International Bands Can Break in the US Market”. From October 21-25, CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival gets underway, with most of its activities clustered within the New York University area of Greenwich Village, day and night. The Florida Media Market, October 23-26 in Miami Beach, is a non-profit membership-based organization whose goal is to build a platform where independent film and media makers meet with international buyers, distributors and production companies to buy, sell and network. SMPTE 2008, the annual event for technology, production and operations in the motion imaging industry attended by professionals in the motion picture studios, broadcast and cable networks, production and post-production community and related industries, gets underway October 28 for three days in Hollywood.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will see trailers and sample clips of Black-Smith Enterprises’  recent release of new feature, ‘Till Death…’  Surreal indie short by Marco Sanchez, ‘Emily in Nightmare Land’. Community generated zombie documentary, ‘Lost Zombies’. Horror genre short, ‘Creepers’, making the festival circuit, and slated for screenings in The Terror Film Festival, October 23, and The Severed Head Horror Film Festival, October 31.

International CES, Golden Globe Awards, Sundance Film Festival, MIDEM, GRAMMY Awards, Highlight January Media and Entertainment Industry Networking

The 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival which will be running this year through January 18, presented under the auspices of the Film Society, is dedicated to nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema and providing audiences with the opportunity to engage in an appreciation of, and a conversation about, the art of cinema as it is seen around the world. The International CES, produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), presents its annual event, January 7-10 in Las Vegas, and among its program offerings presents a SuperSession, The Twitter Revolution: How The Real-Time Web is Changing the CE. Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) 2010 is the official festival of Government of Maharashtra in a joint venture with Pune Film Foundation, and happens January 7-14. This close alliance draws on Pune’s stature of being  home to a number of colleges, along with the presence of the historic National Film Archive of India, also situated in Pune. Renowned as Sydney¹s first beachside cinema, Flickerfest kicks off the (Australian) summer cinema season outdoors under the stars at Bondi Beach, January 8-17, screening short films from Australia, and the rest of the world, in a relaxed summer environment. After the Sydney festival Flickerfest tours to 20 venues around Australia.

A two-day production assistant workshop in Sherman Oaks, January 9-10, teaches essentials you need to know to get an entry level job in film production including, but not limited to, radio/walkie use; function and terminology; all production paperwork; set “do’s” and “don’ts”; how each department functions and interacts; specifics of the AD team; PA responsibilities and behavior; industry employment. NAMM Music Products Trade Show happens this year from January 14-17 in Anaheim, and brings together all facets of the music products industry – musical instruments, lighting technologies and pro-audio, sound, and stage equipment – to reveal new musical instruments/products, and ideas to help music products retailers and manufacturers become more successful. BMI will honor gospel greats Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch at its 11th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon, on January 15 in Nashville. The invitation-only ceremony, held the day before the 25th Annual Stellar Awards, which will be celebrated with hosts Kirk Franklin, Vickie Winans, and Donnie McClurkin, and will acknowledge gospel music’s premier songwriters, recording artists and music industry executives, as well as the genre’s legends. The first annual 30A Songwriters Festival will debut January 15-17 along the resort highway on the Florida panhandle between Destin and Panama City Beach — that includes Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, Seaside, Miramar Beach, WaterColor and Grayton Beach. More than 50 songwriters, including Jeffrey Steele, BMI Icon John Oates, Sam Bush, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Matthew Sweet, Rodney Crowell, the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris, Shawn Mullins, Chely Wright, and many more are slated to perform. The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which originated somewhere in the early 1940s by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizes achievements in both television and motion pictures, and takes place this year on January 17 in Los Angeles.

In “New Hollywood Cinema”, Northwest Film Forum explores the themes and styles of the New Hollywood movement which lasted from 1967 to 1980. Key films will be screened, studied for their cinematic power, and discussed for how they reflect the wider culture, in which gender roles were changing along with sexuality and views of class and race in the Monday sessions that run January 18 to February 22 in Seattle. In an outdoor cinema located at the main square in the heart of Tromsø, and set against the dark polar nights, Tromso International Film Festival gets underway January 18-24, with screenings, parties, and other off-screen  events including an industry and social meeting for regional film workers organized by Nordnorsk Filmsenter and MEDIA Desk Norge, that takes place at the festival January 20. Anusha Rizvi’s debut film “Peepli Live” has been selected to the world cinema narrative competition section of Sundance Film Festival. The black comedy which may be the first Indian film in this category, produced by Aamir Khan (www.aamirkhan.com), and using the sound mixing and sound design talents of Harikumar Pillai (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=693280704), is a satirical look at the predicament of a poor farmer deep in debt. Sundance Institute, begun by actor Robert Redford in 1981, features the national and international exhibition of new, independent dramatic and documentary films, runs January 21-31, and has screening venues in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Non-screening events and live showcases such as the Sundance ASCAP Music Café extend the event in new areas.

MIDEM, the annual global music event taking place in Cannes, is inaugurating the MIDEM Managers’ Village hosted by the IMMF. The lounge and business area will host events, such as: Trading Conditions for artists and managers in 2010; and match your act to leading brands coaching sessions. At Listening Sessions, play your tracks in front of music industry people looking for music to place in their projects (video games, advertisements, film and TV scores, etc.), and showcase artists in live concerts at The Fringe showcase and other showcasing events during the event’s run from January 23-27. From January 25-27 in Las Vegas, the annual NATPE Conference & Exhibition is an American program market serving the worldwide television community, affecting television professionals who buy, sell, develop, finance, advertise, market or license content; implement technology; exploit rights; or leverage media assets. In Rotterdam starting January 27 and running through February 7, the International Film Festival Rotterdam launches an ambitious experiment in film-making in this digital era through Cinema Reloaded, that allows filmmakers to directly connect with film lovers in order to finance and distribute their projects through combined online crowd sourcing and crowd funding. Cinema Reloaded will be accompanied by a year-long discussion and debate, and Rotterdam’s international co-production market, CineMart, has chosen 33 projects for the selection of its 27th edition. Every year prior to the Grammy Awards, MusiCares, a charity founded by The Recording Academy, honors a musician as their person of the year. T Bone Burnett, Patty Griffin, Elton John, Lady Antebellum, Leon Russell, and host Jack Black have been added to the lineup for the 2010 Musicares Person Of The Year tribute to Neil Young happening on January 29 in Los Angeles. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, at which Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Maxwell, and Taylor Swift are slated to perform, will be held on January 31, and broadcast live from Los Angeles over the CBS Network, from 8-11:30 pm (ET/PT).

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: twitter.com/actorschecklist. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film, music and documentary. Last month was featured musical work in progress by Swedish musician Jan Verner-Carlsson, Gyprock Records, ‘Final Act,’ from United Front Video, Los Angeles, and Land of Misery Films with upcoming release, ‘Chase’. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. The Actor’s Checklist is proud announce the return of the Digital Media & Podcast Blog to find and/or view download to your iPhone the 10 ior 5 minute video or audio podcast presentation.

Streaming Media East, CLIO Awards, Cannes Film Festival, Florida Music Festival, Seattle International Film Fest, Backstage.com Highlight May Events

In addition to a week-long meeting over international animation production, AniFest, which runs through May 10 in Trebon, strives to facilitate the best contacts among Central European artists who are engaged in animation, especially after the festival through the ongoing AniFest Echoes. The Council on Foundations’ 42nd Annual Film & Video Festival in Baltimore showcases films, videos, and television programs, May 4-7, that have received support from foundations, corporate giving programs, and donor networks, with the aim of encouraging grantmakers to use media to advance their philanthropic goals. A festive party atmosphere takes shape when the 16th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film presents a program from May 5-10 of screenplay workshops, fine art by Japanese artist Kozue Kodama, live music, and animated film in the open air festival garden at the Schlossplatz, free of charge to the public.  Representatives of newspapers, television, magazines, radio and web-only outlets will come together to discuss new-media both on the business and editorial sides, and culminating  with awards for the Best Media-Affiliated Internet Services presented by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek, at the Interactive Media Conference & Trade Show happening in New Orleans, May 6-7.

For one day, on May 11, Content Delivery Summit assembles in New York and brings together customers, vendors, analysts, and Wall Street to discuss and define where the video delivery industry is headed. And on the very next day, May 12-13, in the same New York hotel, annual Streaming Media East 2009 Conference & Exhibition continues the topic of online video in a broader sense, catering to the needs of content owners, viral video creators, online marketers, enterprise corporations, broadcast professionals, ad agencies, educators and others that come to Streaming Media East to see and hear the latest online video technology, and to discuss the business models that are coming of age. Game Developers Conference Canada 2009 meets May 12-13 in Vancouver and covers industry-leading methodologies in game design, production, programming, visual arts and writing for big-budget multiplatform games. The CLIO Awards will be celebrating its monumental 50th Anniversary in Las Vegas, highlighting accomplishments in the industry with five new and distinct award shows, after parties, conference sessions, industry networking opportunities, and more. Cannes Film Festival gets started this year May 13, continuing through May 24.

Former US president Bill Clinton will join actress Sharon Stone at this year’s Cannes Film Festival AIDS fund-raiser in southern France, Clinton will attend the May 21 event alongside Stone, Harvey Weinstein, Carine Roitfeld, Michelle Yeoh and Donatella Versace, among others. The gala will take place at the Eden Roc, at Cap d’Antibes. The Indie Film Jam is back for its fifth year as part of the Florida Music Festival, running May 14-17, screening selected films in the heart of Downtown Orlando throughout the FMF weekend and offering independent filmmakers networking opportunities as well as industry panels designed for educating, enlightening and gaining insight into the world of filmmaking. The George Foster Peabody Awards which recognizes distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable, webcasters, producing organizations, and individuals, conducts its 68th annual awards May 18 in New York, with a reception that begins at 11 am, followed by lunch, with Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News the events MC. At this year’s Seattle International Film Festival, running May 21 through June 21, SIFF will present the 2009 Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing to Spike Lee, on May 23, followed by a screening of Lee’s ‘Passing Strange, a Q&A session, and an intimate Tribute Dinner celebration with Spike Lee as the guest of honor. Later in the festival, director Francis Ford Coppola  will host a special presentation of his new film, ‘Tetro’ at a June 10 screening. MUTEK is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination and development of avant-garde digital creativity in sound, music, and audio-visual art, which it does in part through the annual presentation of its namesake festival held in Montreal, this year running May 27-31. Nashville Screenwriters Conference will again offer one of its more popular panels, “Music in the Movies,” offering aspiring songwriters, composers and artists advice on how to get their music placed in films and TV, when it assembles again this year for sessions running May 29-31.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Leading entertainment industry publication Back Stage has redesigned their Backstage.com website to allow for better resume and picture upload, casting and job alerts, and much more. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist  This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film and music. Last month’s video news summary showcase featured New Jersey based Mindbreak Entertainment’s with murder mystery thriller The Secret, directed by Ian J. Kenney. The futuristic 4D virtual gaming arena ‘Turbo’ a short film from Jarrett Conaway, in the tradition of the Karate Kid and Tron. Los Angeles based Rooftop Mind, with ‘Sex Text’ and The Moonlit Road. Music video production company, THEfilmboyPROJECT, of London with ‘Never Wanna Lose You’ performed by East End hip hop, r&b group, DNA. A documentary segment in which film composer Jermaine Stegall conducts the Hollywood Studio Symphony. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

Ghent Film Festival, IEBA Honors Chubby Checker, Content and Communications World, Viennale 2009, ShowEast, Highlight October Events

MIPCOM, in Cannes through October 9, is the global content event for creating, co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across all platforms, that provides the key decision-makers in the TV, film, digital and audiovisual content, production and distribution industry with a market conference and networking forum to discover future trends and trade content rights on a global level. The New School Office of Career Development in conjunction with The Office of Alumni Relations, New School for Drama, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Studies, Mannes College and others, presents “Careers in Performing Arts,” an Alumni Panel and networking event, at its campus in Greenwich Village, on October 6. The Ghent Film Festival (Flanders International Film Festival-Ghent) in Ghent, first established in 1974 as a student’s festival, is now recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (IFFPA) as a competitive festival primarily geared towards the “impact of music on film”. The festival organizes film music concerts, giving composers of film scores a platform to showcase from. The official CD Release Party for Kyoko Oyobe (www.myspace.com/kyokooyobe) Jazz Trio, recorded live at Smalls Jazz Club, happens October 8 in New York, and features Kyoko Oyobe, piano Michael O’Brien, bass Clifford Barbaro, drums, Saul Rubin, guitar. A subsequent jazz recital happens at Fat Cat Jazz Club, in Greenwich Village, on October 15.

The Chicago International Film Festival, October 8-21, will have an opening night cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres, and after the festival starts you can listen to experienced film composers, musicians, and directors break down the process of finding collaborators, sourcing new and existing music, and producing the perfect harmony between sound and image at the panel “Score! Music on Film”. ` International Entertainment Buyers Association, founded in 1970 as a non-profit trade organization for talent buyers, concert promoters, agents, managers, artists and other related entertainment professionals, starts its 2009 conference in Downtown Nashville, October 11-13. Among slated events IEBA will honor the iconic Chubby Checker who had the number 1 song of the sixties, “The Twist,” which topped the charts at number1 twice. Content and Communications World is the fall conference and exhibition for media and communications technology, opening in New York for two days on October 14. CCW features three events in one location – HD World, SATCON, and IP Media Expo. The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) was started with a mandate for the advancement of understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America through the medium of film, and at this year’s event in Honolulu will host an all day event to honor award winning TV program LOST, which is shot on the island of Oahu with the Vision in Film Award. BlogWorld and New Media Expo 2009, October 15-17 in Las Vegas, is for any Blogger, Podcaster, Vlogger, Internet TV or Radio Broadcaster, Social Media expert or producer of any other form of new media content to attend and extend their expertise with strategies, tools and techniques.

Film, Stage and ShowBiz Expo happens this year in Los Angeles for one day, on October 17. On site at the Expo, Disney Theatrical Group and Telsey + Company will be holding casting calls for major Broadway musical productions. During this year’s 2009 Digital Hollywood Fall, October 19-22 in Santa Monica, some special events will include: Executive Round Table and Cocktail Event; VIP Content Rights Dinner; Digital Hollywood Finance Dinner; a VIP Breakfast Briefing; and End-of-Day Poolside Reception. During Vienna based Viennale 2009, running October 22 through November 4, directors and actors will join the celebratory opening in the Gartenbaukino, with a number of other film guests, such as Tilda Swinton, to whom the Viennale dedicates a Tribute this year. The festival will close with the Austrian premier of the latest film of the brothers Ethan and Joel Coen: A Serious Man. Cinema exhibition professionals come to Nielsen Film Group’s ShowEast in Orlando, October 26-29, for film screenings of major studio and independent feature films slated for holiday release, as well as product reel presentations, special events with Hollywood actors, educational seminars and to find the latest products, services and technologies at the trade show. The Urban Individualists (www.theurbanindividualists.org) close out their year of art showcases with two shows in the month, first with a Brooklyn opening October 23 of ‘Heaven and Hall’, showing works exploring theological themes by male members of the collective, including Paul Deo (www.myspace.com/pauldeo). They open again on October 31 in Manhattan’s upper west side with ‘Masquerade – False Faces’ a multimedia exhibition which includes masks and other art works. Both events feature live music, poetry readings, refreshments, and are free and open to the public.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: twitter.com/actorschecklist. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film and music. Last month featured German pop (with a little hip hop) performer, Lando van Herzog; Urban Rap artist Guerilla X in his new film, ‘Kiss of a Bullet’; comedy in the form of parody rap skits from Filmhawk. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. The Actor’s Checklist is proud announce the return of the photo gallery which you can visit to upload valuable head shots or other photos of your choice, create profiles, and use your pictures or others found on the gallery as ecards which you can email to friends and associates with messages.