Lady Filmmakers October 9th & 10th with David Lynch, Glenn Close, Roman Polanski, Lily Taylor, John Mahoney, and James Brolin!

Lady Filmmakers October 9th & 10th-hot indie films with David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Glenn CLose, James Brolin, Lily Taylor!!

Amazing Line-up of films by talented filmmakers and actors!!! We are so excited about our programming this year AND its only our 2nd year! We have amazing films from around the world. This is a film festival by filmmakers, actors and industry professionals for filmmakers and movie lovers!!! So where should I start first?? I am equally excited about our up and coming filmmakers and casts as the established ones but I guess I will list the famous ones that we all know and love. We are also very excited about all three features we have this year: "One Hundred Mornings-Ireland", "Jucy-Australian" and "Angel Camouflaged-USA".

The entire program is on our web site: www.ladyfilmmakers.com. We have a Halloween Block of Films and a Family Friendly block of films as well. Advanced tickets are only $4 for individual programs and $20 for All-Access passes. Prices will be higher at the door.

"Angel Camouflaged" starring James Brolin, Dilana Robichaux, and Carlos Bernard- USA

"Pax" directed by Glenn Close- USA

"Red Fish/ Piexe Vermelho" -guest starring David Lynch - Brazil

"Tired of Being Funny" - starring Lily Taylor and John Mahoney, directed by Rodrigo Garcia and produced by Julie Lynn and Karen Graci- USA

"Ahate Pasa" - featuring interviews with famous directors including Roman Polanski and featuring scenes with James Gandolfini in the sopranos.- Spain

"Sweet As" and "Something Special" produced by Barrie Osborne (Matrix and Lord of the Rings)- New Zealand

"Text Me" starring Matt Bennnett (Virginity Hit)

"Lychee Thieves" produced by Stephen Gyllenhaal- USA

Please check out the individual film info listed on our web site and resever your half-price tickets now while they last!

Article about Lady Filmmakers,Courtney Cox & Nia Peeples

Female Filmmakers Flaunt Flicks At Aero
Amy Lyons, Mirror Contributing Writer
The Aero Theatre put ladies first last weekend, when the first annual Lady Filmmakers Festival filled the iconic theatre’s big screen. From amateur filmmakers to big-name stars like Courtney Cox, the festival showcased a slew of talent, featuring films by and about women of all shapes and sizes. A portion of proceeds from the festival benefited The Mary Magdalene Project, a program serving women who have been victimized by street prostitution. While struggling to exit the world of prostitution, clients of The Mary Magdalene Project have access to HIV testing, transitional housing, therapy, substance abuse counseling and more. The weekend-long film festival kicked off on Saturday morning with a segment of short films entitled Ladies Illuminate. The two-hour segment included six short films: Sleeping, Beyond Words, I’m Not Britney, The Manual, The Sacrifice and Courtney Cox’s The Monday Before Thanksgiving. Topics varied, from the solemn tone of Sarah Spillane’s The Manual – a story centered on a young boy whose parents ship him off to be “cured” of his homosexuality – to the more upbeat, runway model’s statement made in I’m Not Britney. Chilling events unfolded in Diane Namm’s The Sacrifice, which glimpses the polygamist lifestyle and its violent impact on young girls. In Doug Conant’s Sleeping, a young girl is hired to baby-sit, but doesn’t know about the family’s heartbreaking secret. Conant’s film would not have qualified for the festival if not for its female producer, Christina Nayve. Festival rules dictate that films must have females filling the role of producer, writer, director or cinematographer. Nayve said that having Sleeping in the festival was an honor, and a nice reminder that she is an accomplished woman. “We have a strong female presence in the film, beginning with the origins, a flash-fiction story by acclaimed author Katharine Weber,” Nayve said, adding that the film’s cinematographer, production designer, set decorator and script supervisor are all women. Nayve also said it was an honor to be featured alongside Courtney Cox’s film, a short starring Laura Dern that traces a single woman’s grieving process after the death of her mother. In addition to the short film category on Saturday morning, several other shorts were shown over the weekend, as well as several feature-length films. Filmmakers came from the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K., France and a handful of other countries. A post-festival special award was given to Nia Peeples, and several awards were given to the festival’s featured filmmakers. The Audience Choice Award went to “Slap” a short film directed by Grant Barbeito and produced by Gayla Kraestsch Hartsough, about two ordinary guys who get into a heated debate on a range of topics...hmm…ladies first? For a full list of awardees, e-mail festivalinfo@ladyfilmmakers.com

Naked Sushi Accepted to Sexy Film Festival!!!

Naked Sushi has been selected to screen in Melbourne, Australia at the Sexy International Film Festival!! The festival is the week after Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in October 2009!!

Hopefully Naked Sushi will get to do the world tour with Sexy!!!!

Naked Sushi News & Lady Filmmakers Festival Update

Last Wednesday night Naked Sushi was screened at the Laemmle theatre in Pasadena, CA with a packed house!!! We got tons of laughs!! We are waiting to hear back from the NBC Universal Short Cuts, NexTV, and Temecula Film Festivals......

Lady Filmmakers Film Festival has free software from Mariner Software to give away to award winners and audience members at our festival!!! Software they will be giving us includes, StoryMill, Contour, and Montage!!! Thank you!!!!

The 1st Annual Lady Filmmakers Film Festival takes place October 17th & 18th, 2009 at the Aero Theatre. The Aero is located on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, CA!!

1st Annual Lady Filmmakers Film Festival Launched!

Now accepting submissions from around! We are officially launched! Sponsor Announcements coming soon!

We are hosting the First Annual Lady Filmmakers Film Festival promoting short & feature movies made by ladies. Films selected are considered entertaining to broad audiences and showcase the commercial viability of Lady Filmmakers. The festival will honor a strong and influential celebrity actress or filmmaker for her achievements in the industry. A portion of the selected films will bring social awareness to issues facing today's women.

* Each Submission will get a film page with their trailer, movie web site, and filmmaker bios.

* We will have a hybrid selection process! The selection committee will review the movies & fans get to vote which movies they want to see! The committee will take into consideration which movies get the most votes!

* Films selected will be put into the following program categories; all prgrams followed by Filmmaker Q&A.

    - LADIES FIRST- Films in this category must be premiering at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival. Any genre. 

    - LADIES ILLUMINATE- Films that bring awareness to social issues that face women and families today. Any genre. 

   

    - LADIES KICK BUTT- Films that have an intrinsic entertainment value and/or portray strong female leads.  Any genre 

My First Distribution Offer!!

Hello! I know...it's been over a week! I needed to decompress and get to work on What's Next....  I had the pleasure of having an Italian filmmaker that I met in Cannes stay and visit for a few days while he attended the Dances with films film festival. Vincenzo won the honorable mention award for his clever and adorably funny short film "Being Handy". The festival had shorts and features however I saw only one block of shorts. The other Short I really liked was "Pissing Vocal Gold" (winner of the audience award). We (Amanda, Mike, Shant, and I) were invited by Vincenzo to attend their awards party event. It was held at a club at Hollywood and Highland. Appetizers & Awards  followed by dancing. My cup of tea!

Vincenzo let me assist a little with his next short film that he is filming around the world. It was a lot of fun and I learned about how he gets his footage for the green screen work he is doing. We also had a soiree for Vincenzo, and two other filmmakers AJ and Shant showed up. This turned into an impromptu mini shorts festival. They all showed their films to my friends.  This is an event that I hope to continue and help build an audience for them as well.  I will post their movie web sites soon. I am also back hard at work writing my feature comedy with my dear friend and writing partner Amanda.  I met a few producers in Cannes interested in the project.

I sent off my film festival submission screeners off to the Levante Film Festival in Italy (per their request-I met the presidente, Mimmo) and the Temecula International Film Festival (I was very lucky to meet the very friendly Jo in Cannes) this week.  So let's cross our fingers....still waiting to hear back from the LA Shorts Fest and the Sexy International Film Festival.  Still strategizing what the next choice will be for my next round of submissions.  Still missing Cannes......

Today was a great day for several reasons but I will tell you the two highlights. 1) My friend DawnMarie won a trip to Rome and she invited me to go with her!! Woohoo!!! Congrats! You deserve it! 2) This evening I received a distribution offer for Naked Sushi!! Yahoooo!! Details to follow.......:)

After life in Cannes...What's Next?

I am glad to be back in LA but certainly miss being at the Cannes Film Festival. There was always something going on, something to do or see, or someone special to meet right around the corner. And yes, really good inexpensive local wine! I have been busy following up with new friends and contacts. I have also been approached by two new film festivals to submit who saw Naked Sushi or heard of it. The next question is where do I submit next? What's the next move? I am currently waiting to hear if we get into Palm Springs and the LA Shorts Fest. No matter what, I am attending the Palm Springs Shorts Fest because it is a similar set-up to the Short Film Corner where there will be a lot of buyers and interested parties regarding Shorts. So, I will be there with my Naked Sushi hat, t-shirt,and post cards. Also, I have one buyer that I am waiting to hear back from especially over the next 2 weeks. Wish me luck!
I am filling my days with festival submission paperwork and writing. I am working with a writing partner on a female comedic buddy movie-feature length. Almost done. I also have someone interested in developing an animated story I am writing, and I am working on Naked Sushi as a feature and./or a tv show. :) My grandpa always used to say that "Busy hands are Happy hands". How true!