Saturday October 15th
Workshop/Panel C - Importance of Casting Your Indie Feature Film 10 am
The Panel is for Filmmakers looking to make a feature film under $10 million.
Featuring Matt Lessall and Monika Mikkelson
Location is at Porta Via in Beverly Hills. The Cost is $20 per person.
* Includes Breakfast, Tax, and Gratuity.
* RSVP and Purchase Required at door.
* See Menu Below
RSVP to mp@luckybagfilms.com
* Includes Breakfast, Tax, and Gratuity.
* RSVP and Purchase Required at door.
* See Menu Below
RSVP to mp@luckybagfilms.com
Matthew Lessal
Matthew Lessallʼs credits include Sundance standouts, “Rocket Science,” “Mean Creek,” as well as the NetFlix Find Your Voice 2010 competition winner “Almost Kings.” This year, he joined the new media revolution in casting the mega-successful webseries, “Mortal Kombat,” for Warner Premier. Most recently he completed casting “BAIT 3D” for Arclight Films, and the independent films: “The Healer,” “Saving Lincoln,” “The Romance of Loneliness,” “One Kine Day,” “Polish Bar,” “The House of Last Things” & “Cherry.” Matthew has cast films with established, name actors (his projects have starred Liam Neeson, Donald Sutherland, Julie Delpy, Brian Cox, Anna Kendrick, Gerard Depardieu, Jim Caviezel, Justin Long, Christina Ricci, Ana Paquin, Joel Courtney, James Le Gros, Isabelle Fuhrman, Peter Bogdanovich, et al). In addition to features and television casting, Matthew has also cast for the theatre at the prestigious Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and was a director of feature film casting at 20th Century Fox and the in-house casting consultant for the Fox Searchlab writer/director program. Matthew is a member of BAFTA and in 2009 became a board member of the CSA. www.lessallcasting.com
Monika Mikkelsen
Monika Mikkelsen, CSA (National Board Member)
Mikkelsen Casting
A California native, Monika graduated from UCLA and has been involved in casting ever since.
Her list of credits includes high profile features such as SERVING SARA, THE CLEANER, Rob
Zombie’s THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and his HALLOWEEN franchise films. But it is the independent
film that has her heart, starting with THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL for director Wim Wenders,
NURSE BETTY for Neil Labute, and the precious treasures that live long and prosper in the
festival world, like ALL GOD’S CHILDREN CAN DANCE, LOVE LIZA, and MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU.
Mikkelsen Casting
A California native, Monika graduated from UCLA and has been involved in casting ever since.
Her list of credits includes high profile features such as SERVING SARA, THE CLEANER, Rob
Zombie’s THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and his HALLOWEEN franchise films. But it is the independent
film that has her heart, starting with THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL for director Wim Wenders,
NURSE BETTY for Neil Labute, and the precious treasures that live long and prosper in the
festival world, like ALL GOD’S CHILDREN CAN DANCE, LOVE LIZA, and MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU.
Hammad Zaidi
CEO and Principal of Lonely Seal Releasing
Lonely Seal Pictures and Baby Seal Releasing
Hammad Zaidi is the CEO of Lonely Seal Releasing, an international film and television distribution company. Lonely Seal Pictures is the production company and Baby Seal Releasing is the children’s division.
At Lonely Seal Releasing, Zaidi has served as the international distributor for several award-winning films worldwide, including Whaledreamers, produced, narrated and composed by Julian Lennon and Dalai Lama Renaissance, narrated by Harrison Ford. With a travel schedule north of 100,000 miles per year to the world’s most significant film festivals and film sales markets, and a list 7,000 international buyers deep, Lonely Seal Releasing blankets the Earth to showcase its product to qualified buyers.
At Lonely Seal Pictures, Zaidi is currently developing and producing several film and television projects, including The Fate Escape, a feature film he wrote, produced and directed. The comedy was shot throughout the Canadian Yukon, Guatemala, Los Angeles and Carmel. Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis appears in the film.
Hammad has also executive produced award-winning feature films and documentaries, including The La Mastas (1998), The Stone Cutter (2001), Shades of Gray (2003), American Stag (2006), and The Men Who Fell (2007). In addition, Zaidi has produced two concert documentaries: Peter Di Stefano: Loyalty (2007) and Stephen Pearcy: Defending The Faith (2008).
At Baby Seal Releasing, Hammad Zaidi executive produced Monkey Presents, Kid Smart Classics (2009-2012), a TV/DVD children’s series that recreates world literature classics, as told by hand puppets, for children.
Hammad Zaidi writes Going Bionic, a weekly columnfor Film Threat.com. Going Bionic publishes its 75th consecutive weekly article on October 18, 2011. Furthermore, a few of Zaidi’s articles are being published as chapters in the second edition of the book, An Independent’s Guide to Film Distribution (2012).
Zaidi’s screenplays have also garnered notoriety. Get A Life was a winner Telluride Indiefest, (2002), and a national finalist at Practical Paradox (2004). The Brotherhood of Invisible Men was a national semi-finalist in both action adventure and comedy at the Screenplay Festival (2004).
Hammad has written several National Public Service Announcements, including Champions of Hope, (2002) a September 11th related piece endorsed by the White House, Ogre Achiever, (2004-present), a Shrek-based national billboard campaign to encourage children to achieve and Generosity, (2007), which won Hammad a Telly Award for writing.
Hammad Zaidi also created Script Accessible, a screenwriting contest that promotes writers with disabilities as well as non-disabled writers who write about characters with disabilities.
As a director, Zaidi helmed Champions of Hope; which was released theatrically on over 5,000 screens as well as on major TV and cable networks. As a result, 650,000-1,000,000 children across the United States were called to action in their communities. Zaidi also directed Pet Divorce Court, his TV series, The Fate Escape, and Baptized at Lucky Lube, a short film that played in twenty-six film festivals in six countries (USA, Australia, England, France, Canada and Mexico).
Hammad has been a judge, panelist and or sponsor at fifty film festivals worldwide. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the UCLA Summer Producers Program from 1995-1997, the Chapman University Graduate School of Film in 1998, the Watkins Film School in 2001, and the Avila University School of Visual and Communication Arts from 2006-2008. Zaidi has also lectured at several universities nationwide, including but not limited to UCLA, Vanderbilt, The University of Kansas, and San Diego State.
Hammad Zaidi received his Masters of Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 1994.
Lonely Seal Pictures and Baby Seal Releasing
Hammad Zaidi is the CEO of Lonely Seal Releasing, an international film and television distribution company. Lonely Seal Pictures is the production company and Baby Seal Releasing is the children’s division.
At Lonely Seal Releasing, Zaidi has served as the international distributor for several award-winning films worldwide, including Whaledreamers, produced, narrated and composed by Julian Lennon and Dalai Lama Renaissance, narrated by Harrison Ford. With a travel schedule north of 100,000 miles per year to the world’s most significant film festivals and film sales markets, and a list 7,000 international buyers deep, Lonely Seal Releasing blankets the Earth to showcase its product to qualified buyers.
At Lonely Seal Pictures, Zaidi is currently developing and producing several film and television projects, including The Fate Escape, a feature film he wrote, produced and directed. The comedy was shot throughout the Canadian Yukon, Guatemala, Los Angeles and Carmel. Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis appears in the film.
Hammad has also executive produced award-winning feature films and documentaries, including The La Mastas (1998), The Stone Cutter (2001), Shades of Gray (2003), American Stag (2006), and The Men Who Fell (2007). In addition, Zaidi has produced two concert documentaries: Peter Di Stefano: Loyalty (2007) and Stephen Pearcy: Defending The Faith (2008).
At Baby Seal Releasing, Hammad Zaidi executive produced Monkey Presents, Kid Smart Classics (2009-2012), a TV/DVD children’s series that recreates world literature classics, as told by hand puppets, for children.
Hammad Zaidi writes Going Bionic, a weekly columnfor Film Threat.com. Going Bionic publishes its 75th consecutive weekly article on October 18, 2011. Furthermore, a few of Zaidi’s articles are being published as chapters in the second edition of the book, An Independent’s Guide to Film Distribution (2012).
Zaidi’s screenplays have also garnered notoriety. Get A Life was a winner Telluride Indiefest, (2002), and a national finalist at Practical Paradox (2004). The Brotherhood of Invisible Men was a national semi-finalist in both action adventure and comedy at the Screenplay Festival (2004).
Hammad has written several National Public Service Announcements, including Champions of Hope, (2002) a September 11th related piece endorsed by the White House, Ogre Achiever, (2004-present), a Shrek-based national billboard campaign to encourage children to achieve and Generosity, (2007), which won Hammad a Telly Award for writing.
Hammad Zaidi also created Script Accessible, a screenwriting contest that promotes writers with disabilities as well as non-disabled writers who write about characters with disabilities.
As a director, Zaidi helmed Champions of Hope; which was released theatrically on over 5,000 screens as well as on major TV and cable networks. As a result, 650,000-1,000,000 children across the United States were called to action in their communities. Zaidi also directed Pet Divorce Court, his TV series, The Fate Escape, and Baptized at Lucky Lube, a short film that played in twenty-six film festivals in six countries (USA, Australia, England, France, Canada and Mexico).
Hammad has been a judge, panelist and or sponsor at fifty film festivals worldwide. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the UCLA Summer Producers Program from 1995-1997, the Chapman University Graduate School of Film in 1998, the Watkins Film School in 2001, and the Avila University School of Visual and Communication Arts from 2006-2008. Zaidi has also lectured at several universities nationwide, including but not limited to UCLA, Vanderbilt, The University of Kansas, and San Diego State.
Hammad Zaidi received his Masters of Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 1994.
Jodie Markell
JODIE MARKELL (Director)
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Jodie Markell studied theater from an early age and eventually attended Northwestern University where she was mentored by renowned Tony Award winning writer/director Frank Galati (Ragtime, The Grapes of Wrath). After moving to New York, Markell studied at Circle-in-the-Square Theater. She helped rediscover the Tennessee Williams' play Confessional, and her company was granted the rights to produce it as a New York premiere. Her success grew as an actress, as she worked with accomplished theater directors such as John Patrick Shanley, John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Simon Curtis, and Michael Greif, and eventually starred at Lincoln Center, Manhattan Theater Club, Circle Rep, The Public, Steppenwolf, Williamstown, and The Mark Taper Forum. Markell has been featured in films by directors including Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch, Todd Haynes, and Barry Levinson. On television, she played a recurring role on HBO’s Big Love.
After receiving the OBIE award for her leading performance at The Public
Theater in Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (a play she rediscovered and brought to Joseph Papp's attention), Markell was invited by Richard Eyre and the National Theater in London to be the creative consultant to Stephen Daldry on his subsequent award winning production of Machinal with Fiona Shaw.
Markell adapted and directed the award winning short film “Why I Live at the P.O.,” based on Pulitzer Prize writer Eudora Welty's classic story. The film
premiered at Seattle International Film Festival/Women in Cinema, and has played at numerous festivals since including the New Orleans Film Festival where the film was awarded the Moviemaker Magazine Breakthrough Award -- the highest award given to any film in any category at the festival. The film was recently invited to screen at the National Museum of Women In The Arts in Washington D.C.
Markell’s feature film directing debut is Tennessee Williams’ The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before the theatrical release. The New York Times calls the film “a significant feat of reclamation.” The LA Times says, “Lovely. A film to savor. Rich in ways that are all too rare these days.”
www.teardropdiamond.com
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Jodie Markell studied theater from an early age and eventually attended Northwestern University where she was mentored by renowned Tony Award winning writer/director Frank Galati (Ragtime, The Grapes of Wrath). After moving to New York, Markell studied at Circle-in-the-Square Theater. She helped rediscover the Tennessee Williams' play Confessional, and her company was granted the rights to produce it as a New York premiere. Her success grew as an actress, as she worked with accomplished theater directors such as John Patrick Shanley, John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Simon Curtis, and Michael Greif, and eventually starred at Lincoln Center, Manhattan Theater Club, Circle Rep, The Public, Steppenwolf, Williamstown, and The Mark Taper Forum. Markell has been featured in films by directors including Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch, Todd Haynes, and Barry Levinson. On television, she played a recurring role on HBO’s Big Love.
After receiving the OBIE award for her leading performance at The Public
Theater in Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (a play she rediscovered and brought to Joseph Papp's attention), Markell was invited by Richard Eyre and the National Theater in London to be the creative consultant to Stephen Daldry on his subsequent award winning production of Machinal with Fiona Shaw.
Markell adapted and directed the award winning short film “Why I Live at the P.O.,” based on Pulitzer Prize writer Eudora Welty's classic story. The film
premiered at Seattle International Film Festival/Women in Cinema, and has played at numerous festivals since including the New Orleans Film Festival where the film was awarded the Moviemaker Magazine Breakthrough Award -- the highest award given to any film in any category at the festival. The film was recently invited to screen at the National Museum of Women In The Arts in Washington D.C.
Markell’s feature film directing debut is Tennessee Williams’ The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before the theatrical release. The New York Times calls the film “a significant feat of reclamation.” The LA Times says, “Lovely. A film to savor. Rich in ways that are all too rare these days.”
www.teardropdiamond.com
Breakfast Menu Options
Pick One:
1. 2 eggs any style served with breakfast potatoes and grilled baguette
2. Steel Cut Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup
3. Grand Marnier French Toast with fresh cut Strawberries
4. Tomato Basil Omelette Served with Breakfast Potatoes and Grilled Baguette (available with whole eggs or egg whites)
5. Chicken Spinach and Onion Omelette Served with Breakfast Potatoes and Grilled Baguette (available with whole eggs or egg whites)
* Coffee and Soft Drinks included.
1. 2 eggs any style served with breakfast potatoes and grilled baguette
2. Steel Cut Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup
3. Grand Marnier French Toast with fresh cut Strawberries
4. Tomato Basil Omelette Served with Breakfast Potatoes and Grilled Baguette (available with whole eggs or egg whites)
5. Chicken Spinach and Onion Omelette Served with Breakfast Potatoes and Grilled Baguette (available with whole eggs or egg whites)
* Coffee and Soft Drinks included.
