Tejano Music 2010, Asian American International Film Festival, Casual Connect Seattle, LA Shorts Fest, ITVFest, Highlight July Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

Now in its 11th Anniversary, Latin Alternative Music Conference which will be held in New York this year, July 6-10, is geared towards the marketing of Spanish-language alternative music, addressing topics such as: Marketing to Urban Latino Culture, Approaches to Retail, Print Media/Television/Radio, Advertising and Sponsorship, Non-Traditional Revenue, Technology, International Markets, Music in Film, and others. Galway Film Fair, based in Galway and running July 6-11, co-ordinates pre-scheduled meetings between filmmakers with projects in development and invited Film Financiers, Distributors and Producers. Among slated workshops this year, the Actors Masterclass 2010 will provide an intensive interactive environment in the skills, methodology and aesthetics of film acting whilst dealing with all the common fears and questions actors have regarding work in front of the camera. The Long Island International Film Festival, happening this year, July 8-18 in Bellmore, shows approximately 120 short and feature-length independent films from the world over, but also includes panels, parties, publicity and networking opportunities. The LIIFF’s week is started with an complementary opening night party. Opening July 9-11 in San Antonio, this year's Tejano Music 2010 unites the 7th Annual Tejano Music National Convention with the 30th Annual Tejano Music Awards and the 6th Annual Tejano Academy Awards for the first time. Aside from the music masterclasses, Tejano Dance Instruction is one of the more popular Convention programs, an opportunity to learn basic technique of Tejano dancing, or to add new techniques to what you already know.

Future Media Concepts conducts a session on Introduction to Sound Editing in Final Cut Studio on the Apple Macintosh, in Washington, D.C. The course focuses on practical, professional techniques used to add professional music and sound effects to video and multimedia projects. Kids First! Film Festival, a showcase for children's films, TV shows and DVDs from major studios and independent filmmakers, builds on its kid-interactive program by partnering with more than 150 venues worldwide who host more than 10,000 screenings of Kids First! films year-round to an audience of more than one million, with youth given a true voice - as curators, as audience members, as film critics, as volunteer staff and as filmmakers showing their work in the July 15 Santa Fe event. Asian CineVision, Inc. is a not-for-profit national media arts organization dedicated to the development, promotion and preservation of film and video arts by and about people of Asian descent, stages the Asian American International Film Festival in Manhattan’s Chelsea district, July 15-24, presenting 23 features and 71 shorts from international and national filmmakers, in addition to presenting Asian and Asian American films, the festival will host workshops, panels and after parties featuring live music. The final installment of a three-part series examining the business of music, songwriters, and music publishing, will be conducted from a New York venue on July 17, and explores the interplay between songwriting, publishing deals, and recording contracts - examining the differences in copyright protection between musical compositions (songs) and sound recordings (masters).

The annual Casual Connect Seattle, from July 20-22, brings together knowledgeable experts in the casual gaming field to further the casual games industry through networking and learning. For instance, a Pre-Funk Party sponsored by ChaYoWo Games happens at Triple Door on July 19; the Games For Gamers mingle happens July 20 in the Founders Room for people interested in console, indie, and game studio start-ups; the Official Casual Connect Party sponsored by Samsung will be held at the Seattle Art Museum, July 20; the July 21 Mobile Mingle in the Founders Room is for people interested in the Mobile space; and the Official Casual Connect Speaker Dinner sponsored By Plimus will be July 21 at a local restaurant. An Opening Gala for the Okanagan International Film Festival will be held in Kelowna Community Theatre, and a separate VIP Party will be July 24 in the Mon Reposa Luxury Penthouse. The force behind the festival, which runs July 21-25, the Okanagan Film Festival Society, founded in 1998, is a not for profit charitable organization, whose mission is to educate and promote the Canadian and International film industry through film screenings, competitions and professional industry workshops and forums. Hollywood’s LA Shorts Fest is accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, and reportedly, in past years, 33 participants have earned Academy Award nominations, with 11 filmmakers taking home the Oscar. This year, the NXT Stage Conference will be held in conjunction with LA Shorts Fest on July 27. LA Shorts Fest will run July 22-30. NXT STAGE is where content producers, media executives and digital entrepreneurs meet to develop key business relationships.

Expresión en Corto is a state-sponsored, non-profit, cultural event that does not charge admission to its viewing audience and is made possible in large part thanks to: the State Government of Guanajuato, and other institutions. From July 23 through August 1, more than 300 films are screened from 10 am until 4 am each day in 18 venues, which include such unusual locations as: the Jardín Principal (main square) of San Miguel de Allende; the classical open-air staircase of the University of Guanajuato; the subterranean streets and tunnels beneath Guanajuato Capital (where gay, lesbian, erotic and underground films are projected); as well as horror films that are screened in the municipal graveyards (panteónes). The festival hosts an annual International Pitching Market as well. BMI is a sponsor of the Kauai Music Festival, a four-day immersion into the art of songwriting taking place on the island of Kauai. At the Conference, participants can consult, one-on-one, with award winning songwriters, Grammy-winning producers, A&R, and other music industry professionals. In addition, any music submitted can be heard in small group seminars by established songwriters, as well as be placed in the songwriting competition. The Independent Television Festival (ITVFest) is a Los Angeles festival for independently produced, original and innovative television pilots and web-series. The focus is on TV pilots at this festival happening July 30 through August 5. Now in its fifth year, the festival maintains support from institutions like Comcast, Current TV, Brightcove and FX, and the talent of pilotmakers from all over the world.

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 www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at http://actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Last month the video news summary featured Grey Duck Production's 'The Telephone Game', Matt Oakey of Toronto based music and film producers, Padded Cell Productions with ‘Little Noise’, Indian Slap Bass master out of Kerala, India, Jayen Varma, Parisian film director Vince Bosco with latest work, ‘Beyond Love’, Pop Rock  band out of  São Paulo, MegaRex. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. Streaming video can now be played directly into your Real Media Player at link: http://actorschecklist.com/video/realaudio_realvideo.html, and your Windows Media Player at link: http://actorschecklist.com/video/windowsmediastream.html. Past video from the monthly video news summary is archived on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

CMA Music Festival, Tony Awards, Los ...

CMA Music Festival, Tony Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sexy International Paris Film Festival, JazzAscona, Highlight June Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

As the Aruba International Film Festival gets underway, opening night will be "Island Chic" themed with a relaxed, lounge and chic ambiance on the beach surrounded by fire pits and torches, food stations, open bar and live entertainment that will include a screening of Hachiko, A Dog’s Tale, starring Richard Gere, who will also take part in the Festival’s “In Conversations With” series. Running until June 11, the festival will also include a Latin Night and a Bollywood Night, where the ballroom of the Aruba Marriott Resort in Santa Cruz will be converted in a Bollywood venue, decorated with draped ceilings, lounges and colorful mandalas, with an exotic menu served “ family style”, open bar with a noted Bombay DJ, and live performance drawn from Oscar winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, directed by the film’s choreographer. International Animated Film Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year during the festival which runs June 7-12 in Annecy. The International Animation Film Market (Mifa) runs alongside the Festival and opens with a cocktail sip at Brasserie du Parc de l'Impérial Palace. And at a DreamWorks master class, followed by a DreamWorks Animation recruitment session, Sion Otto and Kristof Serrand bring you behind the scenes of a atypical DreamWorks film.

The IFP Independent Filmmaker Narrative Lab is a program in Brooklyn, from June 7-11, supporting first-time feature directors with low-budget, independently produced films at the crucial rough cut/post production stage. The Labs are an intensive, free mentorship program providing professional and creative guidance to directors. CONNECTIONS: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase is an executive event taking place in Santa Clara, June 8-10, focused on the market developments and growth factors for advanced digital lifestyle solutions, offering recommendations for new business models and opportunities in digital media/content, connected consumer electronics, broadband and value-added services, and home systems. SCENEPR is hosting a panel for Internet Week New York to explore Social Media's influence on both on Film and Television, and how social media is used to launch films, build social communities around TV series and films. Following “The Socialization of Film,” the program of which is a panel/Q&A moderated by Brian Reich, a free (RSVP needed) after-party follows until midnight at SoHo restaurant/lounge, Delicatessen. The Billboard Country Music Summit opens June 7-8 in Nashville, and is co-presented by the Country Music Association. In a key event, Grammy Award-winning Kansas native Martina McBride takes part in a Keynote Q&A interview with Wade Jessen, Senior Chart Manager, Billboard, discussing her career, her take on the current state of the music business, and her personal observations about career longevity.

The Country Music Association actually begins it’s own CMA Music Festival a couple days later, opening June 10-13, also in Nashville. The festival is broken into activity zones with a lot to do, including the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall where fans can connect with the country music artists they admire. Taylor Swift will be hosting “Taylor Swift’s 13-Hour Meet & Greet” at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena during the Festival. Half of the proceeds from CMA Music Festival  have been earmarked as support for public school education, but the remaining 50% will aid flood victims from the recent flooding. The American Theatre Wing's 2010 Tony Awards® honoring exemplary feats of the stage will be held in New York on June 13. The Black-Tie only ceremony will have a live telecast over the CBS Network starting at 8 pm ET, and Sean Hayes, the star of  Promises, Promises, and Will & Grace, will host the Awards. At the Banff World Television Awards, opening June 13-16 in Alberta, the Drama categories at this year’s Rockies Awards will now expand to include Soap Operas, and three Francophone categories will be added to the roster. And this year at Banff’s Canwest Showrunner Training Program, up to five experienced series writers will be chosen to participate in the program which provides further insight into the demands of producing series television.

Manhattan Repertory Theatre in New York launches its SUMMERFEST 2010, where over 350 plays and over 1700 theatre artists have participated. Among selected playwrights offerings, Curveball, by Brendan Burke, is a one act play about a young couple, one of them a former star baseball player, coming to terms with the end of their youth amid the recent banking crisis. Another production of the play will be presented at the Strawberry One Act Festival at nearby St. Clements Church in August. There is an "Opening Twilight Reception" at Hotel Wallea, a "Starry Night MoonDance following at Tommy Bahama Tropical Cafe, and Zac Efron, the star of Disney's "High School Musical" will accept the Maui Film festival's Shining Star Award to open the Maui Film Festival in Kahului, June 16-20. As before, the Emerald Golf Course will be available to golfers, and one-on-one or small group private Maui surf lessons and adventures created especially for festival goers will be available. North by Northeast is celebrating its 16th year as an annual Toronto showcase and showcase for the best new music and music-related films — screening music movies, from concert classics to the latest indie docs. “FM USA” – The NXNE Music Meeting will offer insight into the inner workings of some of America’s most influential radio programs, and in "SOCAN – The Mountains and Revenue Streams", a panel of experts will discuss their experiences in both writing songs, and making money from them.

Los Angeles Film Festival, organized by the non-profit Film Independent organization, runs June 17-27, and fields 200 features, shorts, and music videos, from more than 40 countries, including the Pat Tillman documentary, The Tillman Story, Focus Feature’s The Kids Are All Right, and Revolución,, a collaboration by ten renowned Mexican filmmakers. LAFF also carries over its usual offerings of the Filmmaker Retreat, Ford Amphitheater Outdoor Screenings, Poolside Chats. Eighth Film Palace Festival happens this year June 19-26, in the Black Sea town and resort of Balchik in Southern Dobruja, within the former summer residence of the Romanian queen Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh. Film Palace puts an emphasis on aiding the professional contacts between showcasing filmmakers and producers through workshops and Film Market: where submitters show their films to buyers and programmers via the Market Video Library. The Sexy International Paris Film Festival’s (SIPFF) opens in Paris, from June 20-27, and its goals are to discover, promote and screen the best independent films from around the world that explore the themes of “Sexy” — sexuality, love, marriage, divorce, lust, romance, seduction, relationships and the erotic — by both jury panel and audience voting. To be sure, The festival follows a code of ethic, with the festival being porn-free and smut-free.

Spike Lee will be on hand at this year’s American Black Film Festival in Miami, June 23-26, to discuss various aspects of developing a film from the vantage point of his 25+ years of experience as a writer/director. The Opening Night Party sponsored by BET Networks happens at Klutch Nightclub, a Film Life Tenth Anniversary Party occurs June 24  at the Fontainbleau Hotel, and there is a closing ABFF Honors Award After Party. As in years past, BET and HBO will have a strong presence at this year’s ABFF program. The JazzAscona New Orleans & Classics festival, devoted to classical and mainstream jazz, transforms the area of the Ascona lakefront with its Mediterranean climate into a European New Orleans, providing ten days of great jazz, running June 24 to July 4, with sprinkles of blues, R&B, soul, Latin rhythms, funk, played by 40 bands of 250 musicians from all over the world and especially from New Orleans. Noted bass player Gordon Edwards will debut at JazzAscona, joining with his New York-based band, "Stuff", singer Roy Bennett, and introducing tenor saxophonist EZra Brown (ezrabrown.magntize.com), performing R&B and soul music of the 1960s and 1970s.

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. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at http://actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. Streaming video can now be played directly into your Real Media Player at link: http://actorschecklist.com/video/realaudio_realvideo.html, and your Windows Media Player at link: http://actorschecklist.com/video/windowsmediastream.html. Past video from the monthly video news summary is archived on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

Buddhist Film Festival, GameSoundCon ...

Buddhist Film Festival, GameSoundCon 2010, Festival de Cannes, Jazz Foundation Benefit, DocMiami Film Festival, Highlight May Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

Following the Opening Night screening of 'Soundtrack for a Revolution', the Ninth Santa Cruz Film Festival continues the celebration with a “Southern-style” culinary offering prepared by a soul food guru, along with a no-host bar, music by a live DJ and gallery viewing in the Museum of Art & History @ the McPherson Center where festivities take place and continue through May 15. After-Film Parties are held practically every night of the Santa Cruz Film Festival. The Future of Cinema Festival is for high school filmmakers looking to become part of a global community of other passionate, driven high school students in cinema, while screening national and international works of high school students, from May 7-9 in Interlochen. The Second Annual Buddhist Film Festival, Colombo, May 9-16, is in celebration of the birth, enlightenment and the Parinibbana of Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha. The Film Festival provides an opportunity to all filmmakers from around the globe to showcase their creations on Buddhist themes. The Festival will be brought to a climax in 2011, in celebrating 2600 years of Buddhism, where “VESAK 2011” will be the home to all filmmakers on Buddhist themes. On May 10 in Seattle, popular music innovation group, Experience Music Project, will organize and host the GameSoundCon 2010 Conferences and Seminars for composers, sound designers, audio engineers and others who want to learn what it takes to work in the video game music and sound industry with a focus on craft, technology and tools for composing game music and creating game sound effects. "My Production Workshop in Commercial Advertising" will be held May 12-16 in North Hollywood, as an accelerated creative production workshop on how to create, develop, pre-produce, produce, post produce and deliver a 30 second commercial, with participants emerging from the five-day workshop with a completed reel to be able to submit in future job searches.

Evolving as a business hub  for the low-budget indie film industry, now in its third year — and for this year taking place May 12-23 — Cannes Independent Film Festival (separate from, but organized in conjunction to Cannes Film Festival) is the first major addition to the Festival de Cannes since the Director’s Fortnight in 1968 started with a mission to provide independent films an opportunity to be screened at the world's most prestigious film festival and the biggest International Film Market — the Festival de Cannes. Villa Off the Croisette, the designated CIFF venue during the Festival de Cannes, combines a chilled social space with pool, garden, and is also the location of networking poolside cocktail soirees, meet-and-greet breakfasts, and other launch events. The Festival de Cannes has celebrated cinema for more than 60 years, and this year holds its festivities May 12-24, in Cannes. Festival de Cannes offers programmes and events which enable festival goers to discover its offerings differently, including: Cannes Classics, Cinema Masterclass, tributes, Cinéma de la Plage held outdoors. Services such as the Film Market, allow professionals to meet and exchange ideas: the International Village, Producers' Network and cinando.com, and the Village international, a place where all motion picture-producing countries have the chance to showcase their cinematography within a pavilion. The Ravel Orchestral Study Group Los Angeles holds an open study session at a Studio City restaurant, May 14, followed by lunch. The session — led and organized by ASCAP Film/TV composer Ron Jones — will be an in-depth examination of Ravel's art and the technique of his orchestrations and music, includes a special performance by an instrumental guitarist, and is open to anyone wishing to attend.

Peter Pappas who has been with Valko/Miller Casting doing such series as Malcolm in the Middle, Two & a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Center of the Universe, Side Order of Life, and upcoming Fox midseason comedy, Sons of Tucson, conducts a May 15 workshop in Costa Mesa. The Media-Tech 2010 Global Expo and Summit in Frankfurt, May 19-21, is an equipment show combined with a conference highlighting emerging trends in the media manufacturing industry and focusing on current optical disc formats and future growth markets such as electronic games, flash memory, and Blu-ray Disc. On May 20 in New York, The Jazz Foundation presents its annual gala concert to benefit the Jazz Musicians Emergency Fund — “A Great Night in Harlem". With hosts Michael Imperioli, Chevy Chase, Danny Glover, and David Johansen, the evening will raise money to assist  jazz and blues musicians in time of need, feature an intimate private dinner for the major sponsors, patrons and celebrity guests before the concert, and the VIP after-party  where performers, celebrities and participating audience gather, drink, dance, and get treated to rare after-hour performances with stellar musicians. The 36th Seattle International Film Festival, a large film festival generally screening more than 400 features, documentaries and short films to an audience of over 140,000, gets started this year with an opening night reception screening the comedy, The Extra Man, starring Paul Dano, Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly and Katie Holmes, with both the film and gala party taking place at  Benaroya Hall with complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Urban Individualists (info@theurbanindividualists.org), Helene Ruiz, curator, opens a gallery reception for "MASQUERADE": A Multi-Media Arts Event and Masquerade Ball! on May 22 in Fort Lauderdale, an exhibition that will include masks and other art works by artists responding to symbolic and concrete uses of masks related to carnival, ceremonial, spiritual, and other societal appearances of "masking". The evening's presentation also includes performance-poetry reading by Mia Roman-Hernandez and "Masked" performance by Jean Minuchin, wine and refreshments.

London’s Audio Engineering Society Convention is a known gathering point — of learning, networking and business opportunities — for audio professionals and enthusiasts for over 60 years. A slated workshop “Life in the Old Dogs Yet—Part One: Keeping Studios Alive”, gives an analysis of the trends in the professional recording business in recent years and invites a new generation of recording entrepreneurs to share ideas. In addition, Professor Andrew Leyshon from Nottingham University presents his analysis of the changing worldwide recording climate followed by a distinguished panel of recording stakeholders discussing current and possible future recording business models. Competitive film festival, DocMiami International Film Festival, opens May 27-30 in Miami, and in addition to the special youth screenings, expert panels, and awards gala, are three evening benefit concerts hosted by Tito Puente, Jr. who will be joined by Music Concert Director, Ivan Van Hernandez of Radio Caracol, and others. The Mexico International Film Festival is held in the town of Rosarito, situated on the Baja coast, with the crystal azure of the Pacific as a backdrop. There are awards given in several categories, round-table discussions, and seminars that explore the craft, creative and business process of cinema, and there are also nightly live events and parties including a widely anticipated beach party and closing night awards ceremony.

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 www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. Last month on the video news summary you saw new video from newly released single on iTunes - Make Your Move - from UK's soulful, R&B songstress, Bukola. Music producing Padded Cell Productions of Toronto with a newly released art film, Jane Doe. And there was the "spiritual fusion of acoustic sitar experimental chanting spoken word improvisation"  of Scot Aaron and Govinda Schlegel who form Shaman Strings. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

2010 French Quarter Festival, NAB Sho...

2010 French Quarter Festival, NAB Show, Country Music Awards, Tribeca Film Festival, FOCAL Awards, Highlight April Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

The 2010 International Experimental Media Congress, the first Congress of its kind since the 1989 Toronto Experimental Film Congress, will assemble film, video, new media artists, theorists, archivists, and curators from around the world, who will be in Toronto through April 11 for panels and discussions related to experimental media production, exhibition, dissemination, criticism, pedagogy and reception. The International Film Festival Summit (IFFS) is an annual conference and trade show for professionals from the film festival industry who will be in Amsterdam through April 9 to participate in presentations, interactive panel discussions and networking events, and to look forward to the Dinner With Strangers event that allows attendees a unique and fun opportunity to meet and dine with festival colleagues from all over the world. The 2010 French Quarter Festival, opening April 9-11, highlights New Orleans’ signature music, food, and culture in the historic neighborhood, mostly by a musical smorgasbord of jazz, r&b, funk, folk, opera, gospel, blues, and brass bands, but also with over 105 food and beverage booths located in Jackson Square, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, and the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint, forming the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch” with local cuisines from the area’s finest restaurants including such festival favorites as Jambalaya, Crawfish Bread, Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Muffaletta, Crawfish, and more.

The annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference and expo for professionals who create filmed entertainment, and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums and platforms, happens this year from April 10-15 in Las Vegas. Comic strip icon, Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Silver Surfer), will be at this year's event, and the NAB Education Foundation (NABEF) in partnership with the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) and Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) will host its annual spring Career Fair at the NAB Show. Nailing Jello Productions conducts a short film screening, fundraiser and panel discussion on how independent filmmakers are using social and emerging media to fundraise, market and distribute their films at an event conducted in New York City on April 14. Tours and activities in Wine Country sets the theme for the Sonoma International Film Festival as activities interwoven into the festival's daily screenings, happening April 14-18. Leading off the Sonoma Festival will be the world premiere of the documentary, "Coals to Newcastle", about one of Britain's cutting-edge funk bands, the New Mastersounds, who will be in town for the festival and perform live after the screening.

The Beverly Hills Film Festival, a competition festival dedicated to showcasing non-studio films and screenplays of emerging filmmakers in the city generally recognized as the headquarters for VIPs to the motion picture industry, is now in its tenth year, opening for a run from April 14-18, while treating festival goers to nightly theme parties, seminars, and a charity benefit. Nashville Film Festival, an Academy qualifier for short films, opens April 15 this year, through April 22, and because it takes place in "Music City" it is only natural that part of the focus be on music in films. So in addition to the many films about music and the Music Films in Music City awards, NaFF presents showcases, workshops, and other events where songwriters and artists come together with film professionals from Hollywood and around the world to promote collaboration. The 45th Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas on CBS television network Sunday, April 18 at 8 pm (EST), hosted by Reba McEntire. For those fortunate to attend the Awards live in Las Vegas, the ACM All-Star Jam follows the award ceremony featuring impromptu performances from artists who participated in the Awards show. Mediabistro hosts an April 20 L.A. Cocktail Party for professionals in the media industry.  Conversation will be geared toward the latest media industry developments as party hosts, Write On! Online freelance writer, Debra Eckerling, and Kaiser Permanente senior web editor, Michelle Thatcher, help you enjoy yourself and make some great connections.

The mission of the Rincón International Film Festival is to support and promote culture and the arts in Puerto Rico through the medium of film. Rincón, Puerto Rico is also a Surfer's paradise, so the festival is also looking to screen great surfing films, particularly at the beachfront resorts that will be used as screening venues during the festival run, April 20-25. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry performers and business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora. Awards will be presented on April 22 (the festival itself runs April 20-25) at the IFFLA Industry Leadership Award Luncheon held at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. The show will include performances by TAAL Dance Collective. Championing the short film format, Filmfest Dresden promotes a film category which is mostly disregarded by cinemas and television. This year, Filmfest Dresden is supplementing its film programmes with an extensive range of special events discussions, receptions and get-togethers such as on April 22 when the Saxony Film Association, the German Short Film Association, Filmfest Dresden, the School-goers Cinema Dresden, the Dresden Narrow Gauge Festival and other institutes are holding a reception where people will have an opportunity to get together for mutual exchanges.

As it usually does, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York will host many free events during its run from April 21 to May 5, for film fans and families, including: Tribeca Drive-In, an outdoor screening series that takes place at the World Financial Center Plaza, where you can watch professional salsa dancers, listen to live salsa music, enter dancing contests, and even take salsa lessons, following the screening of the HBO documentary The Spirit of Salsa. Then there will be the Tribeca Talks: Industry panels touching on all aspects of the filmmaking trade, and The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day. Opening on April 22 until April 26, Palm Beach International Film Festival, started in 1996 to give the area a foothold in the film industry as well as to benefit the area's community schools through grant and scholarship awards, will emphasize its newly formed Friends of the PBIFF, which offers an array of fun-filled events to raise funds and awareness on a year-round basis for the PBIFF. Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival, running April 22 to May 6, is thought to be one of the longest-running film festival in the Americas. This year, SFIFF has an line-up of narrative feature films, live action and animated shorts, television and theatrical documentaries, experimental work, digital media, and industry panels, seminars, awards events, onstage tributes, retrospectives, and the well regarded Schools at the Festival program, which brings an estimated 4,200 grade school students into the festival.

ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles is the west coast counterpart to the show held in New York City in March — but runs for two days, April 24-25. Like New York the Los Angeles Expo includes a wide range of networking opportunities including the Exhibit Hall, Workshops/Seminars, Round Table Discussions, Headshot Displays, etc., and most importantly, live audition opportunities for which there is limited enrollment on a first come basis. MUSEEXPO 2010 will be in Los Angeles from April 25-28, and will incorporate the intimate format that marked its beginnings as organic networking dinners organized by A&R Network and A&R Worldwide architect Sat Bisla, aimed at bringing together friends and like-minded relationships from the global radio, A&R, film/TV music supervision, publishing, new media and artist management communities. In London on April 27, noted film director and FOCAL International’s Chair of Patrons, Lord David Putnam, opens the FOCAL International Awards festivities with a champagne reception sponsored by AP Archive, followed by a three-course dinner. FOCAL was formed in 1985 as an international, non-profit professional trade association representing commercial film/audiovisual, stills and sound libraries. The black tie and evening cocktail attire affair ends late with an after party also sponsored by AP Archive.

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 www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. Last month on the video news summary you saw new video from newly released single on iTunes - Make Your Move - from UK's soulful, R&B songstress, Bukola. Music producing Padded Cell Productions of Toronto with a newly released art film, Jane Doe. And there was the "spiritual fusion of acoustic sitar experimental chanting spoken word improvisation"  of Scot Aaron and Govinda Schlegel who form Shaman Strings. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

The Oscars, LUNAFEST, European Indepe...

The Oscars, LUNAFEST, European Independent Film Festival, … Music Make Money, ShowBiz Expo, Highlight March Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

This year at the Durango Independent Film Festival, a special filmmaker panel will be titled, "Avatar and the Use of 3-D in Narrative Film", and will be held at Jean-Pierre Bakery and Wine Bar in Durango. There are also many parties at the festival, which runs through March 7, including Welcome the Filmmakers Party & Sutcliffe Wine Tasting. In Toronto, the World of Comedy Film Festival presents comedy films from around the world showcasing films of the genre from both Canadian and International filmmakers, and classic comedy favorites, through March 7. The Athens International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival, organized by the Science Fiction Club of Athens, Greece, had its roots as a retrospective of  Greek genre short films but has now become international in scope. The festival runs March 4-10 in Athens. The Miami Film Society in association The Actor's Checklistwith Miami Dade College’s School of Entertainment & Design Technology, and the University of Miami’s School of Communication, opens the Miami International Film Festival, March 5-14, hosting a festival format that presents the REEL Seminar Series, with dialogue from speakers discussing various aspects of the creative process of film production and financing to distribution and new technologies, and continues the Encuentros Program, started in 2003 to import commercially viable projects from both Spain and Latin America to Miami. PitchMarket 2010 in Vancouver, on March 6-7, promises the opportunity to meet decision makers from every level -- big budget studio execs to low-budget indie producers -- creating opportunities for networking as in the Sunday Networking Breakfast in the Sunday PitchMarket, and the Oscar Wrap Party with a full dinner menu held on closing night. PitchMarket is making a list of confirmed executives available on its Facebook page.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards, also known as The Oscars, will be broadcast live from Los Angeles over the ABC Television network beginning at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific time. Across the U.S., sanctioned viewing parties will be given, produced by local nonprofit organizations with the active participation of the local ABC-TV affiliate station. The Oscar Night® America events, are held under the auspices of the Academy, capturing the festive atmosphere of the official program taking place at The Kodak Theater. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Awards. LUNAFEST, the fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women's issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities, opens exactly on the day of International Women’s Day, March 8, offering just one of many events taking place in the month honoring women and women's achievements. The Tenth Annual International Film & TV Summit looks at the role of banks and specialized finance companies in providing financing for film production, and how to obtain financing to get independent feature films made, distributed and marketed in challenging economic times. It meets in Los Angeles from March 8-9. This year at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, in addition to usual conference lectures, panels, tutorials and round-tables, the twelfth annual Independent Games Festival, where new, unpublished games compete for the attention of the publishing community, is also taking place, along with the tenth annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Many parties and networking functions will be held, including the iPhone Games Summit Reception. The Center for Asian America Media hosts the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) every March as a showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, this year running from March 11-21. The opening night gala and reception at the Asian Art Museum, treats its guests with free-flowing desserts and drinks.

The Opening Night Filmmakers Reception and Cocktail Party for the Honolulu Film Festival, given along the shores of Waikiki Beach, from March 12-14, is held from Tiki's Grill and Bar. After three days of film screenings, special Hawaiian premieres, celebrity tributes, interactive panel discussions, a screenplay competition, a filmmaker reception luau, there will be a Closing Night Awards Ceremony to close the festival at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. While the ÉCU goal for the European Independent Film Festival is to bring worldwide attention to European independent filmmakers, there are also four foreign categories open to independent filmmakers from the Americas, Africa and Asia. And to make the ÉCU Film Festival a rewarding film festival experience for all during its run in Paris, March 12-14, festival goers can attend editing workshops given by AVID, screenwriting labs hosted by Scriptshark, join in on discussion panels just as attending directors  have the opportunity to speak about their films at the “Speak to the Directors” panel sessions, and get hands-on experience with the latest filmmaking technology. South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival will be conducted in three parts: Interactive, on March 12-16; Film, on March 12-20; Music, on March 17-21. Regarded as a place of discovery and interactivity, the event in Austin offers multiple networking opportunities and immersion into the art and business of the areas it addresses. The 24th annual South By Southwest Barbecue and Softball Tournament, happens Sunday, March 21, at Monroe "Lefty" Krieg softball complex. A March 13 New York workshop, titled, "Hit Factory: Making Your Music Make Money", will use the morning hours to present “Understanding Your Market”; helping to develop individual business strategies, followed by the afternoon session that will continue with “Making The Hits”, then finish with “Selling the Hits”. Songs by workshop attendees will be reviewed and all attending are encouraged to either bring their song recordings on an iPod or a CD.

BMI is a co-sponsor of The Latin Rock Conference, a platform of selection and promotion of up and coming Latin Rock bands. The conference will begin a rock tour that moves through various music halls of Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn to select the ten best Latin bands in New York that will go on to play in the Grand Concert at Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, in July. The 2010 winning band will travel to Colombia to participate in "Rock al Parque" (Rock to the Park) in Bogota, one of the largest concerts of this music in this country. The Bermuda International Film Festival takes place in Hamilton, March 19-25, and is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for the Short Film Academy Award, screening some 30 shorts plus seven documentary features and seven narrative features in competition. The Delray Beach Film Festival gets started this year March 22-28, and has a short screenplay competition, sidebar programs dedicated to 3D films, music videos, environmental films, and surf and extreme sports films. But this year at Delray will also feature Ellen Jacoby of Ellen Jacoby Casting International presenting a casting workshop, and Michelle Hillery from the Palm Beach Film and Television Commission hosting a filmmaker brunch. Women's International Film & Arts Festival, held annually during Women's History month, WIFF 2010 will include nine days of film viewings, from March 26 through April 3, in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, along with workshops, panel discussions and parties to celebrate women’s history month and WIFF. ShowBiz Expo New York offers  a wide range of networking opportunities including the Exhibit Hall, Workshops/Seminars, Designers’ Showcase, Focus Groups, Round Table Discussions, Film Festival, Headshot Displays for casting, live auditions for performers, Movie Reel Showcase, Original Music Showcase, and much more. The Association for Performing Arts & Entertainment Professionals opens its annual United States Institute for Theatre Technology in Kansas City, March 31 through April 3. The conference is geared specifically to the design, production, and technology professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry, and this year will celebrate 50 years with a special anniversary party.

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 actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. After a brief layoff for restructuring purposes, the video news summary looks to make an early reappearance this month featuring new video and upcoming album release from UK's soulful, break beat songstress Bukola, electronic, ambient music producers and feature filmmakers, Padded Cell Productions of Toronto, and the "spiritual fusion acoustic sitar experimental chanting spoken word improvisation" of Scot Aaron and Govinda Schlegel who form Shaman Strings. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.

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