One Mic Nite, MusiCares Event, 50th Grammy Awards, NACA National Convention, International Children's Film Festival, The Oscars: 80th Annual Academy Awards, Durango Songwriters Expo, are Selected Highlights For February's Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

The Orlando Entertainment and Events Association is holding it's first of monthly parties on October 6 where you can make friends with agents, managers, radio personalities, talent company principals, performers, meeting planners, and more. One Mic Night (www.myspace.com/onemicnite) continues its open mic showcases accommodating performing artists of all types, every Monday night in New York's East Village following the featured act. 'Making Your Media Matter' is a Washington D.C. conference from February 7-8 for established and aspiring filmmakers, non-profit communications leaders, funders and students looking to learn and share cutting-edge practices for creating media that matters. During the 58th Berlin International Film Festival, running February 7-17, the Berlinale Talent Campus takes place parallel to the Berlinale and works as an intensive week-long academy for talented people from around the world involved in all areas of filmmaking. Additionally, the European Film Market (EFM) runs for 9 days during the Berlinale. Seventeen-time GRAMMY-winning recording artist Aretha Franklin will be honored as the 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year, February 8 in Los Angeles. The red carpet affair benefits the Musicares fund and is two days prior to the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards.

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles and broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8-11:30 pm (ET/PT). The show also will be broadcast on radio via Westwood One worldwide and XM Satellite Radio, and covered online at GRAMMY.com. The show honors musical achievement of the 2007 recording year in which recordings were released between October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. Billboard and Hollywood Reporter will host "Mobile Backstage", February 13, as a break-out session at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, running February 11-14 in Barcelona. The Millenium Music Conference (MMC12) showcases new music with four nights of showcase performances by 300 original acts and artists at 30 venues in and around Harrisburg, February 15-18, in addition to business keynotes, panels, clinics, workshops, mentoring and demo listening sessions and a trade show. The National Association for Campus Activities hosts their NACA National Convention -- "Show Me," designed to give colleges and universities around the country the chance to meet one-on-one with artists, performers and agents, and view live performance showcases at the annual convention, running February 16-20 in St. Louis. Academy Award winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, has been selected by the Board of Directors of American Cinema Editors (ACE) to be honored with the organization’s prestigious ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award at a ceremony in Beverly HIlls, February 17. Fusion 2008 in Vancouver, February 20-21, dedicated to digital media - video games, online communities, digital entertainment, multi-platform animation, film and music properties, mobile content and eLearning - will showcase early and growth stage companies that are original content/intellectual property ventures or developing platform, and enabling tools to deliver digital media content.

The San Francisco International Children's Film Festival showcases films from around the world made for children, plus animation workshops they can take part in, when it runs from February 22 to March 2. Each year the Motion Picture Sound Editors presents the MPSE Golden Reel Awards to acknowledge the year's best work in the various areas of sound editing: Dialogue and ADR, Effects and Foley and Music. This year's presentation is in Los Angeles on February 23 in which Michael Bay will receive the 2008 MPSE Filmmaker's Award. This year's Film Independent Spirit Awards are being held under a tent in beachfront Santa Monica. To be eligible, films must be at least 70 minutes long, and have either played one week in a commercial theater in 2007, or have been shown at one of the designated six film festivals. The 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will be televised live from Los Angeles by the ABC TV network on February 24. Jon Stewart is scheduled to host the Oscar Night awards -- his second time. Join BMI's Myles Lewis and over 40 music industry pros and songwriters for a networking experience, with workshops, listening sessions, panels, showcases, and open mics, that is customarily limited to 200 attendees -- the Fifth Annual Durango Songwriters Expo happening February 28 to March 1 in Buellton. The International Family Film Festival (IFFF) promotes and encourages the creation and sharing of family films and screenplays through seminars, networking and film camps for kids, when it opens February 28 running through March 3 in Hollywood.

The above events are only a sampling of what is listed. Most of the reported events above have a submission process for indie and/or performing artists to take part in. Complete details are on the "Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events" page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at most popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor's Checklist at http://actorschecklist.com/loudblog/ a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. This month on video you will see trailers and video clips of Shaolin Boogaloo! (http://www.myspace.com/sweetzombiejesusfilms / www.kallixti.net) a.k.a. "The artist formerly known as Sweet Zombie Jesus!" with a remix of "Superego Exchange - Doctor Hu's Signal Loss Mix"; "CODEX ATANICUS", "FAQ", "PROXIMA", a video collection from Spanish director Carlos Atanes (http://www.myspace.com/codex_atanicus / www.carlosatanes.com), reflecting a body of work from the sci-fi and horror genre; London based, alternative pop vocalist, Adama (http://www.myspace.com/adama / www.adamaworld.com) now touring the U.S. promoting an upcoming CD release "Delicate Dragon". The Actor's Checklist now lets you check the latest musical artists song releases on Apple's iTunes, updated on an hourly basis, at: http://www.actorschecklist.com/resources/itunes.php