The St. Louis International Film Festival is coming -- and at our November 5th meeting,
the MCA will be hosting a panel discussion with some of the filmmakers. You'll get a chance
to see trailers or excerpts from several award-winning films, meet the filmmakers,
and hear about their journey from development to distribution. Just a warning: some of
the clips you'll see may have "adult" language or content, so parental guidance is
recommended.
This is our third year doing the Sneak Peak of the St. Louis Int'l Film Festival.
It's always well-attended, and there's no charge! That's right, this meeting is FREE
for everyone -- and not only that, but we'll have FREE food. Plus a great line-up
of filmmakers. We'll be trying to add a couple of panelists, but here's who we had
confirmed by press time....
-- Rob Clark, a veteran St. Louis actor, who was also executive producer and co-writer
of the short film, "Capdance," which won three awards at the St. Louis Filmmakers
Showcase this year (Best Script, Best Dramatic Short, and Best Actor for Rick McGougan).
-- Aaron Coffman, a Webster University graduate, whose first feature film, "Texas Snow,"
shot on a budget of $2,000, is in the festival's Indieflix competition. Aaron, a prolific and accomplished writer, is also the winner of the Cinemaspoke screenwriting competition
for both 2007 and 2008.
-- Jay Kanzler has two films in this year's festival, a feature-length documentary,
"St. Benedict's Rule," and a comedy short, "My Uncle Arnie." Jay's other documentary
features include "A Magical Life: Circus Flora," which he co-wrote with screenwriter
Brian Hohlfeld, and "Riverboat Dreams," which he wrote, produced, and directed.
In 2006, Jay and his law firm partner, Rich Witzel, were named "Best Lawyer,"
by "The Riverfront Times."
-- Carlos Leon, one of the stars of the award-winning, made-in-St. Louis sci-fi film,
"Shadowland." Carlos was an accomplished fashion model, dancer, and actor in his
native country of Venezuela, appearing in major plays, soap operas, variety shows,
catalogs, and television commercials, before moving to St. Louis, where he attended
school -- he has a BA in psychology from Webster University and an MA in social work
from Washington University. He's also the co-host of a local Spanish-language TV show,
"Entrate," which airs on My46TV. "Shadowland" won three awards at the recent St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase (Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy, Best Director, and Best Actress for Caitlin McIntosh).
Carlos, who divides his time between St. Louis and Miami, has also been
instrumental
in getting "Shadowland" into festivals around the world and in opening
some doors on the distribution front.
-- Patrick Rooney, a producer of, and one of the actors in "Streetballers," an Irish
urban drama about street basketball, shot in St. Louis. The film won the
"Jury Award -- Honorable Mention" in the "Best Feature Film" category at the
2008 Hollywood Black Film Festival and the "Best Dramatic Feature" at this year's
St. Louis Filmmaker's Showcase.
-- David VonAllmen, writer, director, and producer of "Say Goodnight," a raunchy
comedy shot in St. Louis and starring several young Hollywood stars, including
Rob Benedict, Carly Pope, Aaron Paul, David Monahan, Shannon Lucio, Chris Gessner,
and Smith Cho.
Much thanks to our friends at Cinema St. Louis for co-sponsoring and hosting this event
at the Centene Center in midtown St. Louis.
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