Win a Trip for Two to the Edmonton International Film Festival

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The Newport Beach Film Festival is proud to partner with the Edmonton International Film Festival this year. 
Win A Trip for Two to Attend this fall. Just Text ALBERTA to 88704 to enter.
* Message and data rates may apply
 
About EIFF:
The Edmonton International Film Festival has prided itself for years on one concept - 'discovery'. Striving to uncover cinematic gems and celebrate unique voices in moviemaking such as directors, writers and producers. EIFF is about films and the people who make them.

Just a couple hours drive from the majestic Rocky Mountains, Edmonton is known for its big sky, endless sunshine, and its glorious crown jewel - The River Valley (which contains the largest stretch of urban parkland and trail systems in North America). Located east of Vancouver and west of Toronto, Edmonton is THE heart of the Canadian Prairies, the northernmost big city in North America. And with a population of more than one million people, this is a city that loves movies.

For nine days each autumn, Edmontonians feast on all things cinematic. It's a veritable buffet of fantastic, independent films from around the globe. Whatever the genre, EIFF programmers search the world over for entertaining films that exhibit great storytelling qualities. The  schedule includes 55 feature-length slots, and 110 short films programmed into feature-length packages. All films screened at EIFF must be Edmonton premieres.

Over the years, they've hosted John Waters, Patrick Warburton, Norman Jewison, Deepa Mehta, Jorgen Leth, Arthur Hiller, Anne Wheeler, Werner Herzog, Don McKellar, Bruce McDonald and more at the festival.

For more information on EIFF visit: 
Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Jason Victor Everett

By Kelly Strodl 

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Today I spoke with Jason Victor Everett, director/writer/producer of the Sitdown, a short film showcased in the “Find Your Voice” set of films that screened the final day of the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival. This short film asks the question: How do concerned foster parents cope with today's generation of violent wayward youth? What guidance can be offered to the adopted offspring of abusive homes and troubled streets? Perhaps delivering a few stern words is still the best place to start...

Q:  How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

A:  We've been hearing good things about the festival from various sources for a while now, but the Newport Beach festival was portrayed in an especially good light in the documentary entitled "Official Rejection," which we saw about two months ago.  After attending this year, we can happily attest to the festival's rave reviews.  They really care a lot about the filmmakers and audiences at NBFF.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

A: THE SITDOWN is a short comedic piece we put together in early 2009.  It's about a concerned foster parent providing advice to a troubled wayward youngster.  We shot it over the course of two weekends in my living room.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

A: Seems like it's been a long road, since I had sort of an unfortunate detour along the way known as law school.  While working in the legal world in the years since graduation and trying to pay down huge student loans, I attended film classes at night and started up a small production company named Sound & Fury Productions.  We were lucky to start playing the festival circuit with THE SITDOWN in late 2009, which was the first short film out of that venture.  I also want to acknowledge the efforts of Olivia Lee, a very talented graphic designer by day, who helped immensely with THE SITDOWN in terms of both the production and promotional process.     

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

A:  Hmmm ... well given that the lead performance was from a non-actor (unfortunately yours truly), I'd have to say the acting was especially weak!   

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?

A: Well, as I have a very very long way to go before ever making a "smash indie film," I'd say in my spare time (what is that? some kind of foreign concept?) I'm doing my best to hopefully make semi-competent short films.  But most of the time I'm working the non-film day job, which is both a blessing (glad to be working in this economy) and maybe a curse, since it takes up so much time and energy.  In sum, I truly believe I have consumed enough 5-Hour Energy over the past two years that I could be their official spokesperson by now.

Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with David Orr

By Kelly Strodl

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Today I spoke with David Orr, director of Refresh, a sci-fi thriller about Roger Dean, a successful businessman, who has been clinically depressed for years, to the point of suicide. He has attempted a range of remedies, some prescribed, some radical, but none have worked for him. At the end of his rope, he approaches PDLAS, a mysterious private company that promises an effective - but irrevocable - solution. All he is told is that he will emerge 'completely refreshed.'

Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

A: Through a colleague of mine, Stuart Shook of Shelter Post. He works with our editor, Christopher Willoughby, and suggested we submit to Newport Beach. I'm really glad I did - I saw some great stuff here.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

A: REFRESH was based on an experience of mine at a sleep study lab - where they monitor sleep patterns during an overnight stay, although in the film that experience is taken to an extreme! I wanted to address the idea that some people would do anything to utterly change their life. We shot on a DSLR with video capabilities, the Canon 5D mark II in May of last year. We were the first narrative piece ever shot with that technology (at the time only Vincent Laforet and Shane Hurlbut had used the camera as a production tool: Vincent for a montage titled 'Reverie' and Shane for some viral packages for Terminator Salvation). Canon had no idea that people would take the 5DmkII seriously as a production tool (the video function was really intended for photojournalists to grab clips on the fly), so had not developed refined controls for filmmakers. As pioneers, we were figuring out a lot of fixes and workarounds on our own. For instance, this was before you could even set the exposure on the camera itself; we'd establish what the exposure should be, point a light in the lens, then move it off the center until the exposure was correct. Then we'd hit the exposure lock and shoot. The week after we wrapped, Canon announced an upgrade to allow setting exposure! Since the production, I've been invited by Canon to consult on hardware and software development.

The results are astonishing. I showed clips of REFRESH at a symposium on emerging technologies at the Directors Guild of America. This was Theater 1 - one of the best screens in the world - and it held up! It looked better than the RED footage we saw there.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

A: I am a commercial director and fine art photographer. I had done some experimental works quite a while ago (FAIRCHILD and NOCTURNE), which did well in festivals, and were shown repeatedly on PBS here in the states and Channel 4 Britain. This is my first narrative piece, and is a teaser for a feature I'm developing. 

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

A: I knew that Andrew (Turman, cinematographer) and I could make it look great; but I was adamant that we get great performances. In fact, the production was designed to accommodate faster setups to allow ample time with the actors.

Casting was, by far, the most critical aspect of the production (as it should be), and I have to give thanks to Anthony Krauss, our Casting Director. Luckily everyone: Anthony, actors we approached, and their representation, liked my reel, and really responded to the script. Steven Culp loved it - he's a big 'Twilight Zone' fan - and signed on quickly. That was a game changer - suddenly our calls to Endeavor and CAA were being returned quickly! Scott Michael Campbell signed on after that, and we were good to go. Both, of course, are excellent and accomplished actors, so were a significant asset on a project like this. They were both enormously sympathetic to the rigors and realities of an indie flick, and both worked very, very hard.

Their working styles were different, of course: if pressed, I'd say that Steven works more from the inside out and Scott from the outside in. In order to work more effectively with actors, I'd studied acting at Playhouse West, and had taken the Judith Weston (acting for directors) course, so was able to navigate both styles fairly well. The most exciting moments by far were seeing what a talented actor brings to character and a story. Not only seeing the words come to life, but the nuances that are brought into play - the 'inner life' of the characters and situations. That's gold, especially when those things are something you may not have thought of initially, but seem so dead-on, furthering the story and bringing additional layers to it. Both Steven and Scott have the presence and charisma that makes you want to watch them constantly - especially on a big screen.

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?

A: I’m also a fine artist. Lately, the main medium has been photography. I love the collaborative nature of filmmaking, but it's nice to be able to create something without needing access to thousands of dollars and a crew! I've had some success with it - I'm in collections with Ansel Adams, John Baldessari, Jim Dine, David Hockney, and Edward Weston, and have shown all over the country and in Europe. I had originally tinkered with still cameras to become more fluid with the mechanics of lenses, exposure, composition etc., but now also love it was a means of expression. I do artists talks and presentations, and have been a guest speaker at UCLA on several occasions. The print work is fairly large, 20x30 inches to 40x60 inches. I will most likely be integrating motion into my artwork as time goes on. In my view, still and motion picture photography are merging quickly so one medium very much feeds and informs the other, both technically (look at my film!), and aesthetically.

Watch the film’s trailer here:

http://www.refreshfilm.com/trailer.html

Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Todd Giglio

By Kelly Strodl

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The festival may have come to a close, but we’re still talking with a number of the filmmakers whose work showed at the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival. Stay tuned there are many more interviews to come.

Today I talked with Todd Giglio, director/writer/star of DRAWING WITH CHALK a film about a mid-life coming of age. Jay and Matt are two 40-year-old musicians who want to jump start their stalled careers. As Matt's middle-age anxiety sets in, Jay struggles to find a balance between his music and family, all while negotiating the minefields of friendship and marriage when the two worlds don't fit together. The film was written by Giglio and Christopher Springer and became a family affair, featuring Giglio’s own son, Brennan Giglio playing his film son.

Q:  How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

A: We first heard about the Newport Beach Film Festival from a documentary about Film Festivals called OFFICIAL REJECTION (which I highly recommend btw). Oh yeah, the NBFF has it's shining moment in the doc.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

A: DRAWING WITH CHALK is a film about dreams and responsibilities and what happens when the two collide.

Based loosely upon our (Christopher Springer and myself) own struggles with the entertainment business, DWC is a story of two near 40 year old friends trying to give their dreams of being rock stars one last chance. We shot the film with a very small crew and basically wore every hat in the production: from writing to directing, acting to the music.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

A: Chris and I were great friends back in college (we were both theater students). Later we moved to NYC and shared an apartment together as we hit the streets looking for acting work. Eventually I strayed away from the acting seen and tried my hand at a more lucrative career: being in a rock band :). Chris continued to pursue acting work (via voice overs). I got married and moved out of NYC, and Chris married my wife's sister and also ended up moving out of NYC. Years later we really reconnected and started hanging out watching movies and listening to music in my basement. One night we were discussing how quickly time had passed and what had really happened with our 'careers'. Determined to not give up, we decided to write a story (originally based off of a song I had written years earlier ironically called NOWHERE). Our story (and the film) proves that you should never give up on your dreams. 

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

A: Ah, the performances!! Yes, they all ROCKED! (of course I have to say that... we played the main roles :)). Seriously, we were very pleased with all of the performances in the film. Since we basically cast ourselves (and my son Brennan) as well as some other working actors (all trying to gain a name for themselves) we had to make sure that all performances were authentic, charismatic and memorable. It's hard enough to make a film with known actors, but to make one with unknowns? You better damn well believe in the characters or you'll never get out of the gate. 

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?
A: What do we do? Do we really have to say it? Just kidding. We are both waiters during the night and we raise our kids during the day. All other hours are spent trying to get this film out there. Believe us, our wives can attest to this!

Watch the trailer to DRAWING WITH CHALK here:

http://www.drawingchalkpictures.com/

Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Jill Carter

By Kelly Strodl
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Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?
A: I heard about the festival from my good friend and one of my co-producers Elliot Kotek. Elliot has a long-standing relationship with the festival as a journalist. He has often spoken about the quality of the festival and films shown at NBFF. I have also heard from other filmmakers that it was a really friendly and supportive environment. So far I would  agree on all fronts. It has been a great place to have the world premiere of my film ninety-one.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.
A: ninety-one is about childhood memories and how they shape us as adults. We meet five good friends at a dinner party and hear them share memories, ones they might not have shared before. 

We shot the film in January last year – it was a very cold winter in Toronto. Fortunately there were not a lot of exteriors. We shot over four days, on film….very old school these days. It was a fun shoot but a big undertaking as we had 16 main cast members –many of them were young kids. When you shoot children there are strict restrictions on how many hours you can work with them so sometimes it created tricky situations with filming. Also during the shoot I ended up getting strep throat – that just added to the craziness!

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.
A: I work in film production in Toronto, Canada. I have been a script supervisor on many feature films and television series. I founded my own production company Staggeredwheel Productions a number of years ago to start directing and producing my own projects. ninety-one is my second short film. moment my first film screened a number of festivals around the world. I recently completed my third short Little Larry and am in development of my first feature film.

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)
A: Working in the film industry has afforded me the perfect opportunity to meet and watch actors perform. Therefore when it came time to cast my film I already had a number of talented people in mind. Toronto has a very gifted pool of actors to draw from. I love my main cast! I am very happy with their performances but knew I would get nothing less, as most of them were people I had worked with before. The biggest surprise for me were the kids, they were amazing, all of them lovely and talented. They took direction well, seemed to understand what was asked of them and the story they were telling. Some of the memories were difficult to play, even for the adults and the kids took it all in stride.

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?
A: Well as mentioned I work in the industry and when I am not working on someone else’s film I am working on my own. I am having a lot of fun developing my feature and am really looking forward to directing it very soon.       

Click here to watch the Q&A from the ninety-one screening which showed right before DRAWING WITH CHALK, who will have their own NBFF FIlmmaker's Five soon. 

Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Seth W. Owen

By Kelly Strodl

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Today I spoke with Seth W. Owen, director of Peepers, an interesting film about a rag-tag group of peeping toms, led by the eagle-eyed Steve, who take to Montreal's chilly rooftops under cover of night to get a vantage of people in their most intimate, within their homes. They're on the prowl for the perfect peep desperate to glimpse a "hottie hookup," a "panty party" or a "big booty buffet" through un-shuttered windows. But their lives are about to change. Enter Annette, a brazen academic who turns the tables by setting her sights on the peepers themselves. Soon it's a Battle Royale for rooftop supremacy will these die-hard obsessives manage to defend their turf, or will peeping as they know it never be the same?


Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?
A: Met a fine fellow at Cinequest who recommended it. Then, looking into it, we may have heard something about yacht parties. At that point it became really clear we had to make it to Newport.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.
A: The story does not stem from any illicit yoyeuristic experiences in my own life, surely! But Montreal is a city conducive to peeping, in all its many guises, and spending a lot of quality time on Montreal’s glorious rooftops – for purely non-peeping purposes! - sparked the initial idea. Later, when I was writing the film with Dan Perlmutter and Mark Slutsky, our writing room had these big, big windows that looked out at an opposing apartment building’s bathroom windows. There were a lot of hard-to-ignore showers going on over there. So that fed into the script, to be sure, and maybe slowed us down, too, because it took us a few years to finish the thing. Then Andi State came on board as producer, and it was damn the torpedoes full steam ahead right to production. We shot predominantly on the chilly November rooftops of Montreal. We were a little army of peeping toms, making it - under cover of night! With nudity! But it was cold, cold, cold, and we had to hustle. We were shooting like crazy to get the thing done in two weeks, and it was an ambitious little production for the budget and time that we had.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.
A: For over a decade, I’ve been making underground films under the umbrella of Automatic Vaudeville Studios, and screening them at our boisterous live events. We’re somewhere between a comedy troupe and a major motion picture studio. We’ve shot every genre under the sun – monster pictures, westerns, musicals, Germanic art films. All for around ten bucks. Peepers was an amazing opportunity to make a film with a real budget, and all the perks that come with it. Now I may have to stay above-ground for a little while longer. That having-a-budget thing – I fear it’s gotten its bejeweled claws in me.

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)
A: Automatic Vaudeville has a nice little repertory of friends and actors who’ve been in a lot of our films, and our producer Andi State also happens to be a talent agent, so we kind of brought those two houses together to create the ensemble. Montreal is a city with a lot of amazing, undiscovered talent, and I’m so happy we managed to get so many great folks in the film, even in the smaller roles. The actors had it pretty rough on this one. It’s tough to be funny when you’re freezing your ass off on a windy rooftop in the middle of the night. And they all rose to the occasion.

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?
A: I spend most of the time on the couch, wondering when I am going to be able to make another smash indie film. The couch is also a great place for finding change, and the perfect vantage point from which to indulge my appetite for an unhealthy amount of reality television programming. When it’s nice out, I may even take a walk.

 

PEEPERS screens at 8:15 PM today, Thursday, April 29 in the Edwards Island theater 4.

 

Click here to purchase tickets for shorts showcase:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256887

 

Watch the film’s trailer here:

 

NBFF Wednesday Night Lineup

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Take a gander at what we have lined up for tonight at #NBFF.

Plus the Asian and Irish Spotlights hit tonight with:

Asian Spotlight: SOPHIE'S REVENGE screens at 8 PM in Edwards Island Theater 5. With an after party at Ten, 4647 MacArthur Boulevard, Newport Beach, CA 92660-1946

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256917

Dumped by her fiance just two months before their wedding, comic strip writer Sophie hatches an elaborate plan to get her Jeff back and punish the movie star, Joanna, who seduced him away. She finds herself a partner, Gordon, an ex-lover of Joanna's. The two start on a comic adventure full of laughs and tears, aided by Sophie's two best friends, Lucy and Lily. At the eve of her success, Sophie suddenly realizes that she has been so focused on revenge that she has not heard her own change of heart...

Irish Spotlight:A SHINE OF RAINBOWS screens at 8 PM in the South Coast Village Theater. With and after party at Muldoon's Irish Pub - 202 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256753

Tomas, a frail, shy eight-year-old boy, has been living a solitary life in a drab orphanage - sad, friendless and alone. Then a joyous burst of colour comes into his world: Maire, whose smile and spirit light up the darkest room - and Tomas's heart. Soon, Tomas is on a boat, sailing to wind-swept Corrie Island off the coast of Ireland, where he meets Alec, her reticent husband who cannot hide his disappointment with the boy. Undiscouraged, Maire introduces Tomas the wonders of his new world.Slowly, Alec too begins to see in Tomas what Maire always has. But when tragedy strikes, Tomas is faced with his greatest challenge yet, for he'll lose everything unless he can find, and share, the magic that's inside him.

 

 

More screenings added for When the World Breaks & Living it Forever

UPDATE: We've just added two more screenings to Thursday's lineup. Both are documentaries that have been drawing a lot of attention at the festival.

The first, WHEN THE WORLD BREAKS will screen at 12:30 PM Thursday, April 29th in Edwards Island Theater 5.

Extreme times are also times of heightened creativity and innovation - when necessity becomes the mother of invention - and that perhaps in looking back at Depression-era life, art, cinema, literature, music, architecture, entertainment, culture, politics... we can discover new ways to see ourselves today. Going beyond a look into the Great Depression of the 1930s and the bread lines and dust bowls, there lies a vibrant story of one of the most formative decades in American history.

Click below to purchase tickets:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=263839

LIVING IT FOREVER shows at 3:15 PM Thursday, April 29th at the South Coast Village Theater.

Follow the epic era of surfing for Newport Beach, the mid-1950s through the 1960s, chronicling the carefree days of those early surfers who lived the dream as a reality. The viewers meet Newport's earliest surf personalities who, fifty years ago, shared a passion for the sport and the lifestyle despite being ridiculed by society. This film examines their surf culture and the implications it had on what eventually emerged as a multi-billion-dollar industry. It begins with a historic overview of the of Newport Beach's earliest days. Subjects touched on include: the surfboard revolution, fashion, High School, Balweek, and the camaraderie enjoyed by surfers and those around them. Archival footage features certain of these surfers as mere teenagers. The same surfers, in modern day interviews, look back and reflect on their extraordinary experiences.

Click below to purchse tickets:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=263838