The 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival which will be running this year through January 18, presented under the auspices of the Film Society, is dedicated to nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema and providing audiences with the opportunity to engage in an appreciation of, and a conversation about, the art of cinema as it is seen around the world. The International CES, produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), presents its annual event, January 7-10 in Las Vegas, and among its program offerings presents a SuperSession, The Twitter Revolution: How The Real-Time Web is Changing the CE. Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) 2010 is the official festival of Government of Maharashtra in a joint venture with Pune Film Foundation, and happens January 7-14. This close alliance draws on Pune’s stature of being home to a number of colleges, along with the presence of the historic National Film Archive of India, also situated in Pune. Renowned as Sydney¹s first beachside cinema, Flickerfest kicks off the (Australian) summer cinema season outdoors under the stars at Bondi Beach, January 8-17, screening short films from Australia, and the rest of the world, in a relaxed summer environment. After the Sydney festival Flickerfest tours to 20 venues around Australia.
A two-day production assistant workshop in Sherman Oaks, January 9-10, teaches essentials you need to know to get an entry level job in film production including, but not limited to, radio/walkie use; function and terminology; all production paperwork; set “do’s” and “don’ts”; how each department functions and interacts; specifics of the AD team; PA responsibilities and behavior; industry employment. NAMM Music Products Trade Show happens this year from January 14-17 in Anaheim, and brings together all facets of the music products industry – musical instruments, lighting technologies and pro-audio, sound, and stage equipment – to reveal new musical instruments/products, and ideas to help music products retailers and manufacturers become more successful. BMI will honor gospel greats Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch at its 11th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon, on January 15 in Nashville. The invitation-only ceremony, held the day before the 25th Annual Stellar Awards, which will be celebrated with hosts Kirk Franklin, Vickie Winans, and Donnie McClurkin, and will acknowledge gospel music’s premier songwriters, recording artists and music industry executives, as well as the genre’s legends. The first annual 30A Songwriters Festival will debut January 15-17 along the resort highway on the Florida panhandle between Destin and Panama City Beach — that includes Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, Seaside, Miramar Beach, WaterColor and Grayton Beach. More than 50 songwriters, including Jeffrey Steele, BMI Icon John Oates, Sam Bush, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Matthew Sweet, Rodney Crowell, the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris, Shawn Mullins, Chely Wright, and many more are slated to perform. The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which originated somewhere in the early 1940s by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizes achievements in both television and motion pictures, and takes place this year on January 17 in Los Angeles.
In “New Hollywood Cinema”, Northwest Film Forum explores the themes and styles of the New Hollywood movement which lasted from 1967 to 1980. Key films will be screened, studied for their cinematic power, and discussed for how they reflect the wider culture, in which gender roles were changing along with sexuality and views of class and race in the Monday sessions that run January 18 to February 22 in Seattle. In an outdoor cinema located at the main square in the heart of Tromsø, and set against the dark polar nights, Tromso International Film Festival gets underway January 18-24, with screenings, parties, and other off-screen events including an industry and social meeting for regional film workers organized by Nordnorsk Filmsenter and MEDIA Desk Norge, that takes place at the festival January 20. Anusha Rizvi’s debut film “Peepli Live” has been selected to the world cinema narrative competition section of Sundance Film Festival. The black comedy which may be the first Indian film in this category, produced by Aamir Khan (www.aamirkhan.com), and using the sound mixing and sound design talents of Harikumar Pillai (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=693280704), is a satirical look at the predicament of a poor farmer deep in debt. Sundance Institute, begun by actor Robert Redford in 1981, features the national and international exhibition of new, independent dramatic and documentary films, runs January 21-31, and has screening venues in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Non-screening events and live showcases such as the Sundance ASCAP Music Café extend the event in new areas.
MIDEM, the annual global music event taking place in Cannes, is inaugurating the MIDEM Managers’ Village hosted by the IMMF. The lounge and business area will host events, such as: Trading Conditions for artists and managers in 2010; and match your act to leading brands coaching sessions. At Listening Sessions, play your tracks in front of music industry people looking for music to place in their projects (video games, advertisements, film and TV scores, etc.), and showcase artists in live concerts at The Fringe showcase and other showcasing events during the event’s run from January 23-27. From January 25-27 in Las Vegas, the annual NATPE Conference & Exhibition is an American program market serving the worldwide television community, affecting television professionals who buy, sell, develop, finance, advertise, market or license content; implement technology; exploit rights; or leverage media assets. In Rotterdam starting January 27 and running through February 7, the International Film Festival Rotterdam launches an ambitious experiment in film-making in this digital era through Cinema Reloaded, that allows filmmakers to directly connect with film lovers in order to finance and distribute their projects through combined online crowd sourcing and crowd funding. Cinema Reloaded will be accompanied by a year-long discussion and debate, and Rotterdam’s international co-production market, CineMart, has chosen 33 projects for the selection of its 27th edition. Every year prior to the Grammy Awards, MusiCares, a charity founded by The Recording Academy, honors a musician as their person of the year. T Bone Burnett, Patty Griffin, Elton John, Lady Antebellum, Leon Russell, and host Jack Black have been added to the lineup for the 2010 Musicares Person Of The Year tribute to Neil Young happening on January 29 in Los Angeles. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, at which Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Maxwell, and Taylor Swift are slated to perform, will be held on January 31, and broadcast live from Los Angeles over the CBS Network, from 8-11:30 pm (ET/PT).
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. 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. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: twitter.com/actorschecklist. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film, music and documentary. Last month was featured musical work in progress by Swedish musician Jan Verner-Carlsson, Gyprock Records, ‘Final Act,’ from United Front Video, Los Angeles, and Land of Misery Films with upcoming release, ‘Chase’. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. The Actor’s Checklist is proud announce the return of the Digital Media & Podcast Blog to find and/or view download to your iPhone the 10 ior 5 minute video or audio podcast presentation.
Tags: bondi beach, consumer electronics association, filmmaking talent, golden globe awards, government of maharashtra, international film festival, national film archive, palm springs international, palm springs international film festival, sundance film festival