Just a quick shout out to find out who is heading to Park City this week for Sundance. The Valley Film Festival will be there in a few short hours and we'd love to meet up with you.
Our no-fee submission period opens 2/1 but if you find us at Sundance, we'll take your film on the spot! To make it even easier, we're inviting a few industry pals to join us for coffee at our condo on Saturday (1/22) at 9:30am. If you're around and would like to join, please contact us at info@...
The Valley Film Festival has always celebrated The Valley for all of its
contributions, so we've decided to blog about them too! Our "It Happened
in The Valley..." posts will point out the overlooked treasures of the
fabulous (818)! Like, did you know that The Valley is the birthplace of
California as a state?
Directly across from Universal Studios, and hidden behind native plants, sits Campo De Cahuenga, where on January 13, 1847 General Andres Pico (Mexico) and Lt. Col. ...
The Valley Film Festival (VFF) is currently working on an article about "no fee" call-for-entries to coincide with our month-long free submission period in January 2011.
VFF is looking for other film festivals --- all over the world --- who have a gratis submission policy. Whether it's a short/specific time frame (like VFF), or fee waivers for volunteers who work X amount of hours, or if it's always free to submit and everything in between. Please share the wealth.
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Our tireless editor, James Latham, updated The Valley Film Festival blog during the festival with reviews, musings, and our VFF10 award winners.
VFF10 Day One ~ Festival Launch Party/Meet The Filmmakers
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/11/meet-filmmakers-party-big-success.html
VFF10 Day Two ~ First Day of Screenings
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-pairing-on-first-day-of.html
VFF10 Day Three ~ Second Day of...
The Valley Film Festival wants to know if you're in L.A. and in Santa Monica and at AFM. Is this your first time? Have you attended several times? Let us know what you're doing there and what's shaking on the floor or in the lobby!
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From musicals (Sudden Death) to music videos (My Southern Can is Mine), to thrillers (Love Me Tender) and thrills (52 Takes of the Same Thing, Then Boobs), to local gems and foreign finds, The 10th Annual Valley Film Festival has a varied selection of short films competing for the coveted 10 Degrees Hotter award.
(Please note that these short films precede our feature films and do not screen in a single program.)
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The 10th Annual Valley Film Festival presents a series of three narrative feature films. Ranging from psychological thrillers (The Commune) to tense drama (Boiler Room) to a coming-of-age comedy (Driver's Ed Mutiny), these films showcase independent filmmakers from The Valley and other L.A. environs.
THE COMMUNE (Elisabeth Fies)
When Jenny Cross (Chauntal Lewis) has to spend summer vacation with deadbeat dad (Stuart G. Bennett) on his creepy commun...
The 2010 Valley Film Festival presents documentary features on topics ranging from our forgotten heroes (Home from the War) to YouTube celebrities (Butterflies) and The Valley's other film industry (Paid for Pain: The Making of a Bondage Video). VFF is proud to showcases the work of filmmakers all from the San Fernando Valley! Go (818)!
For this series of spotlights, we asked the filmmakers to tell us how they chose their subject and why it was important to share. For their a...
We're almost there! Can you feel the excitement through your computer? In 10 days, we'll be holding court at the historic El Portal Theatre, and here's your official invitation!
To start off the magical day, join us for our mini-expo: The 1st Annual Valley Indie Filmmaker Expo Presented by AVS
To celebrate 10 years of showcasing independent cinema, The Valley Film Festival has teamed up with Advantage Video Systems (AVS) to launch The 1st Annual Valley In...
The Valley Film Festival presents its tenth annual "Girls on Film" program of short films. Amour, wit, identity loss and a roaming bull prove there's more behind these shorts then the "double X" factor--there's talent and passion.
Gina Ronhovde makes a political statement with BEREFT LEFT: A VERY BRIEF, VERY AMERICAN TALE. A college student tries to cure himself of his left-handed orientation and attempts to live a right-handed lifestyle.
BEYOND...
The 10th Annual Valley Film Festival is pleased to present a diverse program of comedic short films. From a group of children who finally get revenge on a mean, old lady to a wannabe French rapper who stumbles onto something big, from imaginary friends to confessions from best friends, these films are short in length but big on laughs.
Alex Berger directs three long-time friends who confess their hidden lives around a BBQ.
Wannabe rap...
The 10th Annual Valley Film Festival presents a program of dramatic short films on a variety of subjects. All of the films make powerful statements, exploring love, forgiveness, friendship, music and politics--providing a stirring experience.
Director Mateo Hobbs delves into the AFTER LIFE with his short film. Michael Paton is dead, with no recollection as to why. Separated by death, Michael's body and soul have to work together to salvage what redemption they have left.
FRAGILE come...
Nonfiction film is an art in itself. Trying to find a common thread to program a documentary showcase around is also an art. The Valley Film Festival
took an unorthodox artistic approach and programmed four very different
films that have absolutely nothing in common, other than being kick ass
and entertaining.
Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges, co-directors of ASTRONAUT PAM: COUNTDOWN TO COMMANDER love space! This talented directing duo was last seen at VFF06 with CHRISTA McAULIFFE, REAC...
Made in the (818) is The Valley Film Festival's signature showcase of films shot in or showcasing, and/or made by filmmakers currently living in The Valley. VFF believes that the San Fernando Valley has a diverse landscape for every film shoot, whether you're using the backlot of Universal Studios or shooting guerrilla style at Hansen Dam. VFF encourages local production by creating a showcase just for these films, and we hope you'll consider the fabulous San Fernando Valley for your next fi...
We're a little over two weeks out to opening night and our carefully thought out, well laid plans seem to be
falling apart. OK, maybe we're exaggerating.
And, maybe we're not.
To finish reading the blog, and see what our Festival Director looks like when she's stressed out, follow the link:
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/10/countdown-to-vff10t-minus-17-days.html
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In a previous post, we mentioned that we were going with a French New Wave theme this year -- it just felt right! And look, we have a Jean-Luc Godard-esque concept. Compare it to the iconic photograph and tell us what you think. We're still working out the kinks but we kind of like it.
See the pictures and read the blog here:
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/10/countdown-to-vff10t-minus-21-days-aka.html
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After beginning as an actor, John Putch now works as a director in television and independent film. His TV work includes Cougar Town, My Name is Earl, Outsourced, and Ugly Betty. Three of his films have won Best Feature at The Valley Film Festival, including Bachelorman (2003), Mojave Phone Booth (2006) and Route 30 (2008); John is currently set to begin filming the sequel to the latter film in December.
James Latham interviewed John Putch for The Valley Film Fest blog. Read the interview...
We contacted Beth Einhorn recently to ask about her experiences working as a writer, producer, and director in TV comedy. She’s worked on The Chris Rock Show, HBO’s George Carlin specials, and Saturday Night Live, to name a few. Beth is currently a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She’s also written and directed independent films that screened at The Valley Film Festival (Simple Roasted Chicken in 2009 and A 3 1/2 Foot Perspective in 2007). This year VFF is screening 500 Days o...
Wasn't it just 100 days 'til opening night a few short weeks ago? Oy! Our publicists are going to kill us.
We are extremely pleased to announce our 10th annual showcase of
outstanding short films from across The Valley and around the globe! It
was really important to us to include as many alumni filmmakers from
over the years as possible, so you'll see some familiar names. And, we
wanted to continue our global outreach by programming as many foreign
films as time permit...
If you're in LA this week, there are two FREE events you should check out:
Tuesday, September 28 (Burbank, 7-9pm)
Video Symphony's Pizza & Post: What's New w/Cinema 4D's Release 12?
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/09/pizza-post-whats-new-in-cinema-4d.html
Friday, October 1 (Hollywood, 7-10pm)
Reefer Movie Madness book release + screening of Dark Side of the Rainbow
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/09/reefer-movie-madness...
Wow. We're down to 50 days. That's just over a month.
We were hoping to have our program announced by 9/15, but a week later isn't too bad, right? Without further ado, here's a preview of our 2010 feature film selections:
Documentary Features
Butterflies: Documentary about YouTube
Home from the War: The Voices of Vietnam
Paid for Pain: The Making of a Bondage Video
Narrative Features
Boil Maker
The Commune
Driver's Ed Mutiny
Pickin' & Grinnin'
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It's T-Minus 54 days to VFF10 and we're 3 days behind schedule, but that's
not going to stop us from hanging out with our friends at Dances With Films!
If you're sensing a trend here, you're right. VFF & DWF have merged
our monthly mixers. As an FYI, they're the 3rd Tuesday of the month and
will alternate between The Valley, Hollywood, and West Side.
Last month we closed down The Hudson LA (WeHo) & this month, we're going
to rock The Smokehouse across from War...
Earlier this year, our fearless founder, Tracey, had the opportunity to meet icon Jean-Paul Belmondo at the L.A. Film Critics awards, and the seed for our 10th Anniversary theme was planted...50 years of French New Wave. Our desire to embody 1960's cool was reinforced by our move to our new venue, CAP Theatre, which already had its own 60's vibe. With Jean-Luc Godard scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy next year, and the passing of New Wave director Claude Chabro...
When
The Valley Film Festival was founded 10 years ago, a few of our goals
included incorporating a film expo into the festival, along with a
script contest, location services, a music component, etc. Aah, those
were the idealistic, carefree days. Once the reality of producing the
festival hit us, the accoutrements took a back seat.
Why launch a film expo when our fabulous supporter CineGear does it so well? Our friends at Shriek Fest had a handle on screenplay competitions...
Since Friday night (AKA, T-Minus 76 Days) we've been on a VFF10 high! We've had five very busy days that you can read all about here:
http://valleyfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/08/countdown-to-vff10t-minus-72-days.html
P.S. Let us know which Valley Film Festival alumni you'd like us to interview next. As always, thanks for reading and for your input!
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