The Victoria Film Festival wants to expose youth and adults to a broad range of cultural, artistic and philosophical ideas and lifestyles through the presentation of film, video, new media and inter-activities while keeping it very relevant to the local community in Victoria. This year the Festival, which runs through February 12, shines a spotlight on Linda Blair for two days beginning with a screening of Director William Friedkin's 'The Exorcist', followed by a meet and greet with actress Linda Blair hosted by Bon Rouge the following day. At a Sips 'N' Cinema festival event, a trip to the film house for a screening of, 'House of Pleasure', is followed with a seating at the Veneto Tapa Lounge for a sampling of appetizers, and where well regarded bar master Simon ogden will lead a cocktail tasting. After the tasting, Festival Programmer Donovan Aikman will open up discussion of the film just presented.During Grammy Week, the 22nd Annual MusiCARES “Person of the Year” award ceremony is set to honor 14-time GRAMMY winner and Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement and Trustees Award recipient, Sir Paul McCartney, who will also perform along with other artists in attendance. The event is set for February 10 in Los Angeles. MusiCares Foundation -- founded in 1989 by the Academy -- provides a safety net of critical assistance for music professionals in times of need. MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, allowing affected musical artists to continue with dignity. The evening begins with: Cocktail Reception and Silent Auction, followed by the Gala Dinner, then the Concert and Award Presentation.
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards is on February 12 in Los Angeles. It will air live on the CBS TV network at 8 pm EST / 5 pm PST. The show will also be supported on radio worldwide via Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com, CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys. Following last year's 2011 ceremony, NARAS -- the parent organization of the awards ceremony -- overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. And for the first time in seven years, the Grammy Awards is doing away with its no-host format and has enlisted rapper-turned-actor, LL Cool J, who has served as host of the Grammy nominations concert for the last four years. Announced performers for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards include current GRAMMY nominees Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Coldplay, Rihanna, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift.
At this year's Sedona International Film Festival, February 18-26, Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne returns with his favorite classic films; Academy Award-winning producer, artist and costume designer Kathleen Glynn (Bowling for Columbine, Farenheit 911) will moderate and host this year’s workshops, one of which, “Composing Music for Film,” will be led by Oscar-winning lyricist and five-time nominee Don Black (Born Free); Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Moresco (Crash) will be in attendance as will actress Lea Thompson. Workshops happen every morning from Tuesday through Saturday during Festival week when the 145 full-length features, shorts, documentaries, animated films, foreign films and student films have screenings. This year a special midweek jazz concert in partnership with the Arizona Music Festival features the Brubeck Brothers and screening of new biographical film, 'In Good Time, The Piano Jazz of Marian McPartland' takes place on February 22 at the Sedona High School Performing Arts Center.
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. On February 21, the BRIT Awards will be broadcast live in London on ITV1 network starting from 8 pm. Founded in 1973, BPI is the representative trade organisation of the UK recorded music industry, which includes the UK's four major record labels and hundreds of independent music companies. BPI also organizes the annual BRIT Awards show as well as a Classical BRIT Awards show. Featured artists in this year's award show include: James Blake, Lady Antebellum, Chase and Status, Ebow, Kasabian, Muse, Empire of the Sun, others. Previous BRITs winner who was a 2011 nominee, Mark Ronson, will be hosting the War Child post BRITs party at Indigo2 immediately after the main show. War Child is an official charity partner of the BRIT Awards this year. Actor/writer James Corden will host the actual Brit Awards ceremony.
Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. MTV co-founder/Clear Channel executive Bob Pittman, noted futurist David Houle, CMT’s Stephen Linn, and “Twitter For Dummies” book co-author Laura Fitton are keynote speakers in addition to others that are schedued over the course of the convention. All events take place for three days starting February 22 in Nashville. Singer-songwriter Alan Jackson is confirmed for a Capitol/EMI Records Nashville luncheon performance on February 23 in the Convention Center. On the Wednesday and Thursday night of the seminar, radio personality Bob Kingsley’s Acoustic Alley will be open for after-hours acoustic entertainment. The Acoustic Alley venue will showcase performances from some of Nashville’s top songwriters. The conference's 2012 Career Achievement Award will be given to legendary artist, now on a farewell tour, Glen Campbell. Across the Atlantic (ocean), in an unrelated Country music event, the CMA (Country Music Association) and music rights organization, BMI, will present a Country Music series with four successful songwriters from Nashville, who will take the stage, and with guitar in-hand take turns telling the stories behind their hit songs while performing them. The series is February 22-25, and tours London, Dublin and Belfast.
The Carnival of eCreativity (CeC) is an annual event for free spirited creatives, and the brainchild of Academy of Electronic Arts of New Delhi. It brings together experimental and generally creative practitioners from around the world and India. The sixth annual Carnival of e-Creativity happens February 24-26, from within the compound of the landmark Sattal Mission Estate and Methodist Ashram. The location is situated just above Bhimtal, near Nainital, in the Lower Kumaon of the Himalayan Indian state of Uttarakhand. The agenda is a varied array of experimental creative pursuits executed through performances, presentations and screenings. Performers from around the world will bring a distinctive set of styles, experience and expertise in arts, sciences, performance, technology, and Global Video Art and Short Creative Videoworks screened non-repetitively in a separate section. Master and innovator of Indian Slap Bass, Jayen Varma of Kochi-Kerala, performs with his band Khayal Groove with Indian classical vocalist Aparna Panshikar. He will also engage in a performance with an experimental vocalist from Germany.
The 84th Academy Awards will be held in Hollywood, and televised live by the ABC Television Network (7 ET/4 PT). Brian Grazer and Don Mischer are producers for this years show. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide. The show is presented by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. AMPAS was originally conceived by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio boss Louis B. Mayer as a professional honorary organization to help improve the film industry’s image and help mediate labor disputes. In this award year the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences has launched "Celebrate the Movies," a digital exhibition spotlighting iconic moments from 84 films. The exhibition appeared on digital billboards in Los Angeles, and on ABC's digital "SuperSign," an electronic landmark in New York's Times Square. It is also showcased on an online gallery reachable at Oscar.com, and extended to youtube.com/Oscars, where fans can share their most memorable movie-going experiences through video or text. Billy Crystal will host the 2012 Oscars.
The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the "Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events" page at: http://www.actorschecklist.com/news.html which now has a language translation button to convert page contents into most widely used languages. Also this month is a new undertaking to offer the news summary in various translated versions, viewable as a .pdf document and delivered via file sharing and content deliver network protocols among other means. Gazing ahead into the next month March, be aware that... The Intl Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival of Athens, the ONECLOUDFEST, based in Sweden, where Audience Award winners in each category is determined by the number of Facebook "likes" received, the 4th Annual Film Finance Forum West, is in Los Angeles, The 3rd Guangzhou International Theater & Cinema Fest, is in Guangzhou, SXSW 2012, will be in Austin, and the 2012 LA Film + Music Weekend, is in Los Angeles, just to run through some events getting close and to be aware of. And don't forget that the News and Events and the site blog have translation tools to deliver page content in an array of translatable languages other than English.
