The 2014 Season is off to a great start with outstanding submissions from all over the world! Just in case you missed our last newsletter, we announced our new team members Shahari Moore and Sandy Marquis!

We love our alumni, fans, and supporters!  Thank you for all of your support and please share with us any news! Check out what's new below!
 

Come mingle a little with us on 
Thursday June 26th in Beverly Hills @ flemings Steakhouse! First 20 people to RSVP will receive a free Happy Hour drink! Passed Hors' d' oeuvres the first hour. Great Happy Hour menu for additional purchase.

Now in our 6th year we have hundreds of filmmakers that can say they are a part of the Lady Filmmakers "Alumni Family". We are proud of our talented alumni comprised of women and the men who collaborate with them!
 
Call For Entries!

Next Submission Deadline is July 1, 2014!

Keep tabs on facebook and visit us online at www.ladyfilmmakers.com.
 
Alumni Accolades
 
In this section we highlight achievements and news from our past Filmmakers, Cast, Honorees, Speakers, and Team Members!

To Submit news please send us details HERE! 
 

Amy Belling and AJ Bond of Stress Position
(2013 Best Experimental Film) happily announce a successful theatrical opening in Toronto at the Carlton Cinemain April and further expansion including Vancouver on May 23, 2014 at the Vancity Theatre. Get your half-price tix HERE. They also have a new campaign to raise funds for their next project: Support the campaign for S16mm feature SONGS SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE SHE KNOWS.

 
Eljon Wardally of Docket 32357 is thrilled to announce that in October of last year, Docket 32357 The Web Series was born. With the help of Seed & Spark, a crowd funding platform, we were able to raise enough funds to make Lois and Valerie's story continue. We are almost at the end of the post production process and are excited to announce that the series is now available here: www.docket32357.com 
 
 
Christine Elise McCarthy (festival programmer and alumni) has a new book Bathing and the Single Girl is 30% off on the eBook in the US, UK & Australia!!!! The sale begins in Canada on May 20th. Using the free Kobo app. You can then read it on your DESKTOP, eREADERS, TABLETS, IOS, ANDROID, WINDOWS. Go HERE and use discount code STOCKUP30. 


 Please Welcome our new Team Members!


Shahari Moore, Director of Diversity has joined the LFFF team! Shahari is an alumna of Chicago State University, where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and was a recipient of the Kanye’ West scholarship for emerging artists in 2007. As a post-graduate, she later completed workshops with Second City, the Hurston Wright Foundation, Nickelodeon Writers Lab, On The Page Studio and the Writers Guild of America West. Read moreHERE.



Sandy Marquis, Programmer and Advisor has joined the LFFF team! Sandy is a successful business owner with a wealth of arts/culture organization experience who has a devotion to,and a passion for,enhancing her community through the arts. In 2009,Sandy became a Board member of L/A Arts,the designated Arts Agency for Lewiston-Auburn,Maine and was subsequently elected Board Chair.While serving as Board Chair, Sandy created the L/A Arts’ Minerva Award which recognizes how the arts are used to address community-wide social, educational and economic development issues. The first Minerva Award was presented to a performing artist who has ties to both LA (east) and LA (west) – actor and philanthropist Patrick Dempsey, a Lewiston native and founder of The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Read moreHERE.
 

Did you attend last year's awards ceremony?
If not, check out the acceptance speeches of
 Sharon Stone and Camryn Manheim!
 

Send us updates about screenings and more immediate news to be posted by us on the Lady Filmmakers Facebook Page.
 

Please welcome our new Team Members!

Dear Friends! 

The 2014 Season is off to a great start with submissions from all over the world! Our Team has expanded to include Shahari Moore and Sandy Marquis bringing their wonderful backgrounds and expertise to make this a great festival year! We are making plans for an upcoming networking event along with the next festival in the fall. We love our alumni, fans, and supporters! Thank you for all of your support and please share with us any news! Check out what's new below!

Now in our 6th year we have hundreds of filmmakers that can say that they are a part of the Lady Filmmakers "Alumni Family". We are proud of our talented alumni comprised of women and the men who collaborate with them!

Call For Entries! Submissions are now open! Keep tabs on Facebook and visit us online at www.ladyfilmmakers.com.

Alumni Accolades

In this section we highlight achievements and news from our past Filmmakers, Cast, Honorees, Speakers, and Team Members!

Christine Elise McCarthy has a new book out inspired by her hit short film that blazed through the festival circuit of the same name! Check out her book Bathing and the Single Girl! It is the smutty, mercilessly irreverent and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel by actress Christine Elise McCarthy. Inspired by her one- woman short film of the same name, it’s the kind of novel Jonathan Ames might write if he’d dropped out of college and had been working as an actress in Hollywood for the last 20 years.

Aya Tanimura has created a #GayPropaganda movement with support from Madonna and Katy Perry and featured on The Adocate, Huffington Post, etc. Use the hashtag & raise your voice in support of LGBT people in Russia & around the world facing prejudice & violence. #GayPropaganda seeks to reclaim, educate, empower, and inspire LGBT people and their allies. Watch all 3 PSAs: http://bit.ly/GayPropagandaPSAPlaylist

Romell Foster Owens is one of 20 women being honored by the California Women's Museum in San Diego as part of a special exhibit. The honor is for contributions to the TV and Film industry, California and to her home town, San Diego. She was the first African American to win the crown of Miss San Diego City and County. Her formal gown and swimsuit is on display at the museum. She is the first African American to be in the top five of the Miss California Pageant. It was televised. The exhibit will run thru the end of March. www.jowharahfilms.com 

Please Welcome our new Team Members!

Shahari Moore, Director of Diversity has joined the LFFF team! Shahari is an alumna of Chicago State University, where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and was a recipient of the Kanye’ West scholarship for emerging artists in 2007. As a post-graduate, she later completed workshops with Second City, the Hurston Wright Foundation, Nickelodeon Writers Lab, On The Page Studio and the Writers Guild of America West. Read more HERE. 

Sandy Marquis, Programmer and Advisor has joined the LFFFteam! Sandy is a successful business owner with a
wealth of arts/culture organization experience who has a devotion to,and a passion for,enhancing her community through the arts. In 2009, Sandy became a Board member of L/A Arts,the designated Arts Agency for Lewiston-Auburn,Maine and was subsequently elected Board Chair.While serving as Board Chair, Sandy created the L/A Arts’ Minerva Award which recognizes how the arts are used to address community-wide social, educational and economic development issues. The first Minerva Award was presented to a performing artist who has 
ties to both LA (east) and LA (west) – actor and philanthropist Patrick Dempsey, a Lewiston native and founder of The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Read more HERE.



Send us updates about screenings and more immediate news to be posted by
us on the Lady Filmmakers Facebook Page.
To submit to the news please email us at: news@ladyfilmmakers.com

Thank you again to our Party Venues & Sponsors! 


Did you attend last year's awards ceremony? If not, check out the acceptance speeches of Sharon Stone and Camryn Manheim! See below!

Dear Friends,

Looking for things to do in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles next weekend? With the Festival only a week away, we are excited to announce our upcoming panelists!  Want total festival access?  Purchase a VIP pass and save!  VIP All Access Pass includesFriday & Sunday parties, Receptions with refreshments, wine & beer and preferred seating in all film and panel programs with RSVP. Panel space is limited, so book early! Tickets are now on sale at www.ladyfilmmakers.com/2013-schedule.  Facebook fans: We're now at over 800 likes!  Become at facebook fan at www.facebook.com/LadyFilmmakers!  A lucky Facebook Fan will receive TWO VIP PASSES to our upcoming festival.  
 
Women Helping Change the Lives of Women

Femme - Women Healing the World: Sunday, September 29th at 1:30 pm

Producer Sharon Stone’s documentary Femme - Women Healing The World, celebrating women healing and transforming the world.


   
Brave Miss World: Sunday, September 29th at 5:15 pm  

Director Cecilia Peck’s Brave Miss World documents 18 year-old beauty queen Linor Abargil, who was violently raped in Milan, Italy, and won the Miss World crown only 6 weeks later. The film follows her fight for justice and her journey to speak out about rape. 
 

  Things I Don't Understand:
Saturday, September 28th at 3:30 p.m.  

Violet Kubelick, a brilliant young grad student studying near-death experiences, now withdrawn and closed-off after a mysterious, failed suicide attempt. She and her two artist-roommates are forced by financial matters to finally step out of the protective bubble they've created for themselves in their Brooklyn loft while Violet herself forms a cathartic relationship with a young, terminally ill girl in a hospice she is interviewing
for her thesis and the damaged bartender who lives downstairs.           

   Chastity Bites: Saturday, September 28th at 8:30 p.m.

In the horror/comedy 'Chastity Bites,' notorious serial killer Elizabeth Bathory believed that bathing in virgin blood would keep her young and beautiful forever. Still alive today she’s found a perfect hunting ground for her “botox” as an abstinence educator in conservative America…but will a brave young blogger and reporter for the high school paper finally put an end to the “Blood Countess’s” reign of terror, and save her best friend from becoming the next victim?


  Stress Position: Sunday, September 29th at 3:30 p.m.
 
Stress Position is a genre-bending feature film about two close friends who make a bet to see which of them can withstand a week of psychological torture at the hands of the other.

  

Page B. Ostrow joins
Film Packaging and Distribution Panel

 
Lady Filmmakers welcomes Page B. Ostrow to our Film Packaging and Distribution Panel, taking place in Panel F,Sunday, 9/29 at 3:30 pm.  As a veteran entertainment industry executive and founder of Ostrow and Company, Page has arranged financing and or negotiated distribution for over 250 feature films and numerous documentaries working initially on behalf of numerous international distributors.  In 2000, she was inspired by a vision to protect the interests of independent filmmakers and shifted the company focus to representing films and projects on behalf of filmmakers and producers requiring distribution and financing.  Some of the films represented are Stolen Childhoods, (Meryl Streep), Juvies (Mark Wahlberg on HBO), The Bros (Lionsgate), Drugging of Our Children (Michael Moore), and "Make It Funky (Sony Pictures) to name a few.
  
Check out all of our 2013 Festival Panelists!
    
 
  Click here for panelist details!

   2013 Film Festival Official Selections:
   

• The Gift
• Kill Of The Night
• Unburden
• Heart to Heart
• The Morning After
• Tryouts
• The Visit
• Unravel
• Too Late Now
• The Butcher's Dozen
• Revelations
• Chastity Bites
• Hotline
• Like Me
• Voyeuse
• OMG
• Brave Miss World
• Femme - Women Healing the World
• Things I Don't Understand
   

• The Other Woman
• Alianza
• Mercy
• Leave Keys In Car
• Bikini Blues
• Abuelas
• Stress Position
• Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution
• High Heels and Hoodoo
• Belgian Psycho
• Good Night
• Joan's Day Out
• David Sedaris' The Learning Curve
• Sunny Boy
• The Perfection of Anna
• Dance of the Books
• Not Delivered
• The Light
• The Robber

  
And the Nominees are...
 
  
Best Actor:

David Amito of Stress Position
Sam La France of Butcher's Dozen
Matt Gluber of David of Sedaris' Learning Curve
Steve West of The Morning After
 

Best Actress:
 
Kincaid Walker of Morning After
Odessa Rae of The Visit
Sally Greenland of Butcher's Dozen
Molly Ryman of Things I Don't Understand
Camryn Manheim of Hotline
 
 
Best Supporting Actor:
 
A. J. Bond of Stress Position
Dylan Osean of The Visit
Aaron Mathias of Things I Don't Understand
Eduardo Rioseco of Chastity Bites
 

 Best Supporting Actress:
 
Valorie Hubbard of Butcher's Dozen
Sharon Lawrence of The Visit
Francia Raisa of Chastity Bites
Grace Folsom of Things I Don't Understand
 

* Purchase Tickets

*Charles Aidikoff Theatre Info  *Party Location Information

  2013 Art Exhibit

 
Don't miss our 2013 Art Night Exhibit at the Aidikoff on Saturday, September 28th!  We welcome new Canadian-American Artist 
May Charters and returning Arizona Artist Cara Pabst Moran.


The exhibit and reception is open to Ticket and Pass Holders.  Pieces are available for sale.  Painting by Pabst Moran pictured right.  Beer & Wine included for VIP Pass Holders. Read more details here!
 
Join us at our Festival Party Venues
Party details: CLICK HERE!  
A special thanks to our 2013 Festival Sponsors:
 
 


Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (A Four Seasons Hotel)
*Festival-goers receive a special room rate of only $350 (plus tax), when reserving by phone by using the code "Lady Filmmakers Film Festival Rate Offer."  www.fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire
 
  
FINALDRAFT DISCOUNT CODE:
*Use code lfmf0913 to receive a special discount on software! 
 
  
 
IMDBPRO DISCOUNT:
Festival-goers receive a 20% discount on IMDbPro!  Discount code Pro4lfff
     
RESIDENCE INN DISCOUNT:   
*Festival-goers receive special room rates starting from $169 (plus tax) when reserving by phone - refer to the "Lady Filmmakers Film Festival Rate Offer." 
    
BLVD Restaurant:
*Enjoy special Happy Hour rates at the bar Friday, 9/27 and Saturday, 9/28!
$8 drinks from 4 pm - 10 pm (regular price $15-$18)     Get social with us!
 

 

 

Media Contact:

Patricia DiSalvo Viayra

424-777-3576

patricia@luckybagfilms.com


 BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD TO RECEIVE 2013 SPOTLIGHT AWARD

 AT LADY FILMMAKERS FILM FESTIVAL

For Immediate Release: Los Angeles (September 17, 2013) – The 5th Annual Lady Filmmakers Film Festival is proud to announce Bryce Dallas Howard as the recipient of the 2013 Spotlight Award for her outstanding achievements on and off camera.  The Festival takes place September 28th-29th at the Aidikoff Theater in Beverly Hills.  Lady Filmmakers will be co-presenting and co-sponsoring the award with the Casting Society of America.

Ms. Howard directed the film "When You Find Me," which received the Best Drama Award at the 2012 Lady Filmmakers Film Festival.  Most recently, Howard directed an MTV Supervideo for M83’s “Claudia Lewis,” starring Lily Collins and Israel Broussard.  Howard was also chosen to direct a short film as part of a series to commemorate Vanity Fair's centennial, presented in collaboration with American Express.  As part of the series, which features renowned directors interpreting the history of the past century, Howard explores the 1960s through the eyes of some of the decade's most beloved personalities.  

Earlier this year she directed one of five short films included in The Lifetime Original Movie event “Call Me Crazy: A Five Film,” an anthology featuring five interwoven stories that raise a new understanding of what happens when a loved one struggles with mental illness.  Howard's other career highlights include brilliant performances in "The Help," "50/50," and "Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

Now in its 5th year, the film, music, and art festival promotes ladies from all ethnic, religious, and sexually-oriented communities and brings awareness to social issues and challenges women face world-wide.  Honors are awarded to strong and influential female actress/filmmakers for their achievements.

2013 screenings include the Producer Sharon Stone’s documentary “Femme - Women Healing The World,” celebrating women healing and transforming the world.  http://www.ladyfilmmakers.com/femme-women-healing.html

Director Cecilia Peck’s “Brave Miss World” documents 18 year-old Beauty Queen Linor Abargil, who was violently raped in Milan, Italy, and won the Miss World crown only 6 weeks later. The film follows her fight for justice and her journey to speak out about rape.  http://www.ladyfilmmakers.com/brave-miss-world.html

Lady Filmmakers Film Festival has presented films from over 20 countries and has showcased filmmakers and actors such as Courtney Cox, Laura Dern, Ron Howard, Danny Glover, Glenn Close, Olivia Wilde, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor, Barrie Osborne, David Lynch, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard, and Rita Wilson.  The festival’s Executive Director is Patricia DiSalvo Viayra.  Festival details and tickets are available at www.ladyfilmmakers.com.

                                                                             # # #

Lady Filmmakers
Film Festival E-News
September 13, 2013
Lady Filmmakers
Announces our 2013 Official Selections!

 

Dear Friends,

With the Festival only 2 weeks away, we are excited to announce our 2013 film selections!  This year's event has a wide variety of features, shorts, documentary, and foreign films guaranteed to spark the attention of all festival-goers.  Be sure to browse our list of 2013 sponsor section for great deals on hotel rooms, and tickets are now on sale at www.ladyfilmmakers.com/2013-schedule! 

 
 
Bryce Dallas Howard Named 
2013 Lady Filmmakers Spotlight Award Winner

We are very proud to present our 2013 Spotlight Award to Actress and Director Bryce Dallas Howard.  Bryce received a Golden Globe nomination for her acting role in The Help and directed the award-winning short, When You Find Me, which was executive-produced by her father, Ron Howard.  She most recently directed the TV Movie Call Me Crazy: A Five Film.
 
  2013 Film Festival Selections:
   The Gift  *  Kill Of The Night  *  Unburden  *  Heart to Heart * The Morning After

Tryouts * The Visit * Unravel * Too Late Now * The Butcher's Dozen * Revelations

Chastity Bites * Hotline * Like Me * Voyeuse * OMG * Brave Miss World *

Femme - Women Healing the World * Things I Don't Understand

The Other Woman * Alianza * Mercy * Leave Keys In Car * Bikini Blues * Abuelas

Stress Position * Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution * High Heels and Hoodoo

Belgian Psycho * Good Night * Joan's Day Out * David Sedaris' The Learning Curve

Sunny Boy * The Perfection of Anna * Dance of the Books * Not Delivered * The Light
 
  
Festival Dates:
September 27th - 29th
Tickets now available!

* Purchase Tickets

*Charles Aidikoff Theatre Information

*Party Location Information

  

Alumni Accolades


In this section we feature our past Filmmakers, Artists, Honorees, and VIP Speakers, and Actors from prior festivals.  We will post on the lady filmmakers BLOG page, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest Pages and where relevant the Pinterest Page!
 
We hope to not only promote your work, but create interest in each other and build a sense of community for future collaboration. This is a bi-weekly newsletter. We hope that you will participate and enjoy reading about each other's successes and relevant industry news!
 
Additionally you can send updates about screenings and more immediate news to be posted by us on the Lady Filmmakers Facebook Page.
 
To submit to the news please email our Marketing Coordinator, meg@luckybagfilms.com.
 
 
Congratulations to Writer Eljon Wardally, whose short, Docket 32357, has won the Grand Jury Prize for the Huffington Post's Black Voices Breakthrough Theater Series!  She is also in production for "Docket 32357," the web series, set to film in October.  This 7-episode series will follow what happens to Lois and Valerie after the last moment in the short film.  Everyone can follow the progress on the Facebook page Docket 32357 and on twitter @docket32357.  The film can still be seen on Huffington Post's website.




Writer/Director Julia Camera, 2012 Lady Filmmakers Festival Directors Award-Winner for House Cleaning, back this year directing her new film, Bikini Blues.  In the film, a young woman’s day at the beach turns sour after her bikini top mysteriously vanishes.  Julia has written the features films Area Q (starring Isaiah Washington) and Open Road (starring Andy Garcia, Camilla Belle and Juliette Lewis).


Producer/Cinematographer Amy Belling, 2012 Festival Selection for Madame Perrault's Bluebeard, is also back this year with her new film Stress Position.  This genre-bending feature film is about two close friends who make a bet to see which of them can withstand a week of psychological torture at the hands of the other.  Amy also appeared as Cinematographer our 2012 festival screening of The Ties That Remain.  For more, visit www.amybelling.com and stressposition.thesiblings.ca.
 
 
A special thanks to our 2013 Festival Sponsors:
 
 


Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (A Four Seasons Hotel), a history-rich luxury hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills, California, just steps from Rodeo Drive.  Enjoy relaxing spa treatments, a Mediterranean-style pool, and luxurious fitness center during your stay!  *Festival-goers receive a special room rate of only $350 (plus tax), when reserving by phone by using the code "Lady Filmmakers Film Festival Rate Offer."  www.fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire
  

We're excited to welcome back Final Draft back as a 2013 sponsor!  Select award winners will receive complimentary copies of their top-selling software - keep an eye out for a promo code, as well!  Final Draft is the professional’s choice and the entertainment industry standard in screenwriting software, the #1-selling screenwriting program for screenwriters, TV writers, playwrights, and writers of new media.  It seamlessly formats your script as you type.  Tab and Enter keys make formatting your script a snap, and More’s and Continued’s automatically appear at page breaks where needed.  Join the ranks of Hollywood’s most notable writers and use your creative energy to focus on the content while Final Draft takes care of the style.  www.finaldraft.com
 
 
IMDb is generously offering festival-goers a 20% discount on IMDbPro!  You'll get connected with all the industry information you need at your fingertips and get access to over 200,000 Hollywood insiders for your contact book.  It offers the most features, at the lowest price!  An "inside view" of the entertainment world!  SIGN UP

You can also find free info and stats on film and TV on IMDb, including showtimes and box office information.  Browse their photo galleries, read trivia, and get some great app information, all at imdb.com.

  
Residence Inn Marriott Beverly Hills has boutique-inspired elegance awaiting you at its Beverly Hills hotel, situated just blocks from the world-renowned Rodeo Drive.  Festival attendees will appreciate spacious guest suites, complete with a full kitchen, luxury bedding, and complimentary internet access. Indulge in a complimentary breakfast each morning.  *Festival-goers receive special room rates starting from $169 (plus tax) when reserving by phone - refer to the "Lady Filmmakers Film Festival Rate Offer."  www.beverlyhillsresidenceinn.com

Salon Viva is located in Santa Monica, with salon services that include haircuts and styling, conditioning treatments, as well as makeup and brow waxing.  For more details, visit salonviva.co. 
SENNA Cosmetics is known for its superb skin perfecting foundations, richly pigmented eye colors, innovative mineral makeup, and the patented Form-A-Brow® stencil kit that launched a whole new beauty category by giving women perfect classic brows in minutes.  The company was founded by Emmy-nominated makeup artist Eugenia Weston.  New Fall Looks include their Midnight Wine Collection, Ravishing Ruby, and Neo Copper.  www.sennacosmetics.com
  
THE Blvd Restaurant, with views overlooking the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, is a chic and sophisticated restaurant and lounge located inside Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (A Four Seasons Hotel).  The 18-foot illuminated onyx bar and the backlit wine display featuring over 1,000 bottles will take your breath away.  theblvdrestaurant.com
  
Tikkun Holistic Spa is a wellness sanctuary designed to heal and rejuvenate your mind and body. Their special treatments have been carefully selected to restore your health and well-being, helping you to relax and replenish your energy. Let experienced therapists take care of you and revitalize your essential being.
www.tikkunspa.com


  
Facebook fans: We're now at over 800 likes!
Become at facebook fan at www.facebook.com/LadyFilmmakers!
A lucky Facebook Fan will receive TWO VIP PASSES to our upcoming festival. 
 

Join us at our Festival Party Venues
 
We're excited to introduce our opening-night venue and sponsor SFixio!  The restaurant is located in the heart of Beverly Hills and their extensive menu fare includes lobster, veal shank, and homemade pasta. Party Access for all Filmmaker and VIP passholders! Party details coming soon! www.sfixio.net




Lady Filmmakers is excited to announce our special closing night party host, Bouchon, which offers traditional French bistro fare with a menu that showcases the best products available each day.  Bouchon also features a raw bar with select oysters on the half shell and many other Fruits de Mer.  Seasonal offerings change throughout the year and are complemented by Vin de Carafe, a unique wine program that brings recognition to local wine producers.  Party access for Filmmaker and VIP pass holders! Party details coming soon! bouchonbistro.com/beverlyhills