Burbank International Film Festival Proudly Presents a Day of Free Industry Seminars and Panels!

The Burbank International Film Festival is proud to present a Day of Free Industry Seminars and Panels with award-winning industry professionals including Writers, Directors, Producers, Actors, Casting Directors, Distributors, Agents, and Managers.

Free Industry Seminars at Woodbury University Saturday, April 5th, 10:00am - 5:00pm

Woodbury University - 7500 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank 91504

These entertaining and informative Panels will be an up-close and personal look at the ever-changing world of filmmaking in Hollywood, the Media and the Internet.

All Seminars and Panels will take place in the 250-seat state-of-the-art Fletcher Jones Auditorium at the center of Campus. Both this Event and Parking is free to the public.

Schedule of Events

10:00am - Agents and Managers Panel

 

Learn what Talent Agents are Managers are looking for in today's market and what you need to know to secure representation. Panelists include Phil Brock – Theatrical Agent and Manager (Studio Talent Group), Kathryn Boole - Literary Agent (STG Literary), Monique Strong (Power Talent Group) with more Talent Agents to be added. Don't forget to bring your headshot & resume for possible representation!

 

11:15am - Casting Directors Panel

 

 Get tips and advice from Casting Directors, covering all aspects of the casting process for film, television and the internet. Casting Director panelists include Michael Testa ("Cold Case", "Make It or Break It", "Uncanny"), Craig Campobasso ("First Contact", "Red Line", "Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow"), Gerald Webb ("Sharknado I & II", "Zombie Apocalypse" & tons of movies for SYFY) with more Casting Directors to be added! Don't forget to bring your headshot & resume!

 

12:30pm - Independent Filmmakers Panel

 

 Join a panel of award-winning Directors, Producers, and Distribution experts who will give you the inside scoop on how to make your movie on a limited budget and get it distributed. Special guests include Director/Producer Chris Olen Ray (The Asylum) which has produced over 300 films including "Sharknado I & II", Director/Producer Darren Grant ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman" for Tyler Perry), Producer Sim Sarna ("Uncanny", "Answers to Nothing"), "Lower Learning"), Writer/Producer and Documentary Filmmaker Joseph Levy ("Spinning Plates") and Distributor Linda Nelson (Indie Rights Distribution) who will impart valuable information for all platforms for film disribution including the internet. More Guests to be added!

 

2:00pm - Screenwriting Panel

 

 Learn about screenwriting from two of Hollywood's most sought after comedy writers, Kristen Smith ("Legally Blonde", "10 Things I Hate About You", "House Bunny", and the new comedy "How To Get Over A Guy In 10 Days") and Tim Dowling ("This Means War", "Role Models", "Just Go With It", and the new Adam Sandler/Kevin James comedy "Pixels"). Don't miss this informative and entertaining panel to learn everything you need to know about writing scripts for the screen from two of the best in the biz!

 

3:00pm - New Media Storytelling with SoulPancake and "The Impression Guys"

 

Wrap up the day with hilarity and great internet insight from the new Web Series, "The Impression Guys" produced by SoulPancake for YouTube. The show is Written, Directed & Produced by Ben Shelton, and stars two of today's most amazing voice impressionists, Jim Meskimen ("Parks & Recreation"), and Ross Marquand ("Mad Men") and their impressionist friends, Piotr Michael ("Mad") and many others. Learn what it takes to make your own internet production and get seen by a worldwide audience. Panelsits include Ben, Jim, Ross, Piotr and Georgia Koch, YouTube Channel Manager for SoulPancake (created by Rainn Wilson from "The Office"). All 6 episodes of this original series can be seen on SoulPancake/YouTube at "The Impression Guys".

 

REGISTER NOW!

 

About Burban International Film Festival

The Burbank International Film Festival is a California non-profit organization operating as a 501C3 tax-exempt corporation.

The Burbank International Film Festival Board of Directors is comprised of talented industry professionals and production executives who work within the studio system. Our festival judges, screening committees, and even many of our volunteers are respected professionals in the motion picture and television industry. Our festival awards categories mirror the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and The Annie Awards.

The Burbank International Film Festival is still accepting festival submissions though May 31st, 2014 in over 25 categories. New categories include New Media (internet productions/web series), Faith-Based Films, and the Los Angeles County Student Filmmakers Award. For information on all the categories, or to get involved,
go to the website www.BurbankFilmFest.org.

Official Screen Credits and Music Entry Forms Due December 1 for 2011 Oscar®

Beverly Hills, CA – Thursday, December 1, is the deadline to submit official screen credits (OSC) and music submission forms to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 84th Academy Awards® consideration.

For a feature film to be considered for the 2011 Awards, the film’s distributor or producer must file an OSC form with the Academy by 5 p.m. PT on December 1. If a feature film is released in Los Angeles County in 2011 and the completed OSC form is not submitted by the deadline, the film will be ineligible for Academy Awards in any year.

OSC forms are available online only, at http://aiwosc.oscars.org/aiwosc/. Information about submission and feature film eligibility can be obtained by contacting Credits Coordinator Howard Loberfeld at (310) 247-3000, ext. 1113, or via e-mail at hloberfeld@oscars.org.

For an achievement to be considered in the Original Score or Original Song category, the principal music writer(s) for a feature film must submit an official music submission form and other materials by 5 p.m. PT on December 1.

To request music submission materials, contact Dave Hanson at (310) 247-3000, ext. 1151, or via e-mail at dhanson@oscars.org.

While the credits submission deadline is December 1, feature films have until midnight, December 31, to open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days to be eligible for 2011 Oscar consideration.

Entries in the foreign language, animated feature, documentary, and short film categories are subject to special rules and must meet other qualifying criteria. The entry deadlines in these categories have already passed.

Complete 84th Academy Awards rules are available at http://www.oscars.org/rules/.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

This just "IN" : Academy Awards $455,000 to U.S. Film Festivals in 2012

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $455,000 to 25 U.S. film festivals for the 2012 calendar year.

The Cleveland International Film Festival will be the recipient of a multiyear grant for its Focus on Filmmakers program. It will receive a total of $150,000 over a three-year period. The Chicago International Film Festival is in its second year of a multiyear grant, receiving $150,000 in total for its World Cinema Spotlight program.

While the grants are awarded for a variety of festival programs, organizers are encouraged to submit proposals intended to make festival events more accessible to the general public, provide greater access to minority and less visible filmmakers, and help strengthen the connection between filmmakers and the general public.

The 2012 film festival grants allocations are as follows:

$50,000

• Chicago International Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program
• Cleveland International Film Festival – Focus on Filmmakers

$30,000

• Los Angeles Film Festival – Free Screenings program
• San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program

$20,000

• Ann Arbor Film Festival (MI) – 50th Anniversary Archival program
• Chicago International Children's Film Festival – Directors in the Schools, Educational
  Curriculum Development and free tickets
• Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (Durham, NC) – Thematic program
• Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – "30 Years of Outfest" retrospective program
• Palm Springs International ShortFest – Filmmaker Forums
• Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Field Trip to the Movies program
• True/False Film Fest (Columbia, MO) – Visiting Filmmaker program; SWAMI Mentoring program; Film Academy Student Track; Outreach to Students and Minorities
• Virginia Film Festival (Charlottesville) – Community Outreach and Education program

$15,000

• RiverRun International Film Festival (Winston-Salem, NC) – 2010 Spotlight program: Landmark Science Fiction Films
• St. Louis International Film Festival – Women in Film Sidebar

$10,000

• Athens International Film and Video Festival (Ohio) – "Let's Talk About Water" screening and seminar program
• Berkshire International Film Festival (Great Barrington, MA) – Talent Campus
• Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Missoula, MT) – Retrospective Programming and the
  Reel Sounds Sidebar
• Cucalorus Film Festival (Wilmington, NC) – Voices program
• Indie Memphis Film Festival – Visiting Filmmakers and Community Outreach
• Maryland Film Festival (Baltimore) – New Waves in World Cinema program
• Pan African Film Festival (Los Angeles) – StudentFest

$5,000

• New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival (New York City) – Retrospective Program
• South East European Film Festival (Los Angeles) – Audience Development
• Tallgrass Film Festival (Witchita, KS) – Filmmaker Hospitality

Since its establishment in 1999, the Academy's Festival Grants Program has distributed 277 grants totaling $4.85 million in funding. For more information on the grants program, visit http://www.oscars.org/education-outreach/grants/.

The Academy Foundation – the Academy's cultural and educational wing – annually distributes more than $1 million to film scholars, cultural organizations and film festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. The Foundation also presents the Academy's rich assortment of screenings and other public programs each year.

Billy Crystal to Return as Host for 84th Academy Awards®

It is nice to see that great talent is still being sought for the Academy Awards.  Finding a good host , let alone a great one, is an arduous task.  For those of us that have endured both the good and the bad, it is marvelous to see that this year’s Oscars sits on the shoulders of one of the greats! :)

Beverly Hills, CA (November 10, 2011) – The Academy has announced that Billy Crystal will serve as host for the 84th Academy Awards.  This will mark Crystal's ninth time as host.

"Some of the best moments of my career have happened on the Oscar stage. I am thrilled to be back there. Actually, I am doing this so that the young woman in my pharmacy will stop asking me my name when I pick up my prescriptions," said Crystal.

Brian Grazer to Produce 84th Academy Awards® with Don Mischer

Interesting development for the 84th Oscar Award Ceremony:  it was recently announced that Billy Crystal with Brian Grazer and Don Mischer have stepped in to replace Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner.

This development, though interesting, is not surprising.  The Academy Awards knew that they had to get quality for quality...talent for talent.

Each of these individuals has a long and successful track record.  With an objective view, it is clear to see that there could not have been a better, lateral move.

In case you're not up to speed with the new production team, take a look at what we've gleaned from Academy Press Releases and the internet:

Beverly Hills, CA (November 9, 2011)

Academy President Tom Sherak announced today that Academy Award®-winner Brian Grazer will join Don Mischer as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards. This will be the first time Grazer has produced the Oscar® telecast.

Don Mischer has produced television programs since 1976, when he produced a special for Barbra Streisand. Other programs have included Kennedy Center Honors, the Emmy Awards, The Grand Opening of Euro Disney, the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics, and programs for Bob Hope, Nell Carter, Christopher Reeve, the Pointer Sisters and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He also produced The Wayne Brady Show and the halftime shows for Super Bowl XXVIII, XXXIX, XL and XLI in 1993 and 2005 through 2008. In 2009, he produced We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, the public concert in Washington, DC held two days prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States.

Brian Grazer is a renowned filmmaker who over the past 25 years has produced a diverse and extraordinary body of work. Grazer has earned four Academy Award nominations. He won a Best Picture Oscar in 2001 for "A Beautiful Mind." In 1984, Grazer was nominated in the writing category for "Splash," and he received Best Picture nominations in 1995 and 2008 for "Apollo 13" and "Frost/Nixon," respectively. His other film credits include "Spies Like Us," "Kindergarten Cop," "The Nutty Professor," "Liar Liar," "8 Mile" and "Cinderella Man." His current projects include the about to be released "J. Edgar" and the just released "Tower Heist."