The Palm Springs International ShortFest welcomes filmmakers and industry attendees for the ShortFest Forums and Panels during the festival, June 17-23.
Two Master Classes will feature indie film guru and Fandor CEO Ted Hope discussing his film experiences, as well as director Allison Anders will 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 will participate in four days of ShortFest Forums covering a wide range of emerging trends and new practices in the global film community.
Both the Master Classes and Forums take place at the Mojave Learning Center at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel.
The schedule includes:
June 19
11 a.m.: Reality Television: Reality as Entertainment – It’s either the hottest ticket in town for creative expression and dedicated fan bases, or it’s manipulated and manufactured “unscripted” content that drives people crazy. The panel is loaded with the top reality TV producers who, among them, produce such hits as I F**king Love Science, Alien Invasion, Tornado Alley, Face, The Biggest Loser, Beauty and Beast, Whale Wars, Project Greenlight among dozens of others.
Expected panelists: Liz Bronstein (The Lizard Trading Company), Kelly McPherson (Karga Seven Pictures), Matthew Westmore (Matt Westmore Media), Sarah Wetherbee (Karga Seven Pictures), Emre Sahin (Karga Seven Pictures).
1 p.m.: The Casting Chat – The Casting Society of America presents the casting panel, "The Casting Chat", where filmmakers will hear from and speak with award-winning casting directors. Moderated by Ivy Isenberg, known for pop culture casting such as Robot Chicken, Chucky and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Expected panelists: Richard Hicks (Zero Dark Thirty, Gravity, Game Change), Rich Mento (Safe Haven, Youth In Revolt, Step Up), Claire Simon (Chicago PD, Crisis for NBC and pictured at right), Yesi Ramirez (Associate on Nebraska, 21 Jump Street, The Descendants) will address the latest trends and obstacles in the casting process.
As an added bonus to the panel, famed acting teacher and coach Lesly Kahn will talk about how performers can best ready themselves to advance their careers through the audition process.
3 p.m.: Master Class- Lecture with Ted Hope (The Artist As Entrepreneur: My Secret Formula For Success In The Era Of Digital Transformation) – Join the indie film guru and Fandor CEO as he brings his wealth of film experience as a creator, curator, advocate and innovator in the film community to bear on the state of the industry today. Hope will also speak to his vision for how Fandor will grow in the ever-changing digital world of content distribution.
June 20
11 a.m.: Strategic Publicity & Marketing Designed for Emerging Filmmakers – A line up of the best publicists and festival strategists working with filmmakers today are prepared to share ideas, warn of common mistakes and teach strategic planning to make the most of the film festival circuit for you, your film and your next project. Expected panelists: Amy Grey (Dish Communications), Rebecca Fisher (PMK•BNC), Chris Libby (Ginsberg-Libby), David Magdael (David Magdael & Associates), Annalee Paulo (42West).
1 p.m.: Master Class – Music with Allison and Tiffany Anders – Allison Anders (gas, food, lodging, Grace of My Heart, Four Rooms) and her musician/music supervisor daughter Tiffany Anders (Like Crazy, Smashed, Grace of My Heart) will speak to the creative and practical aspects of using music in film, for film, with film.
3 p.m.: MythBusters – Notes from the (film festival) front – An extraordinary array of remarkable filmmakers will share their lessons learned, thoughts, advice, war stories and even a little gossip from their travels on the film festival circuit over the past two years. These filmmakers have made the most of their strategic approaches, engaged audiences, industry, press and future collaborators, and survived to tell the tale (and film another day).
Expected panelists: Alvaro Delgado Aparicio, director (The Companion, PSSF 2012, Sundance 2013), Javier Aguayo, producer (That Wasn’t Me, PSSF 2013, Academy Award nominated short film 2014), Lasse Scharpen, producer (At Home, Berlinale 2014-Winner Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (Forum), Maggie Kiley, director (Brightest Star, Dial A Prayer-2015).
June 21
11 a.m.: Meet the Programmers – Easily the 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.
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 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 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).
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.
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