Palm Springs Shortfest Forums:

Jason Reitman Serves as Keynote Speaker;

Representatives from Anonymous Content, The Black List, CAA, CSA, Fandor, ICM Partners, IndieGogo, Preferred Content, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and many others

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is best known for its award-winning film shorts, but each year the Festival also welcomes a long guest list of filmmakers and industry attendees for the ShortFest Forums’ Panels and Roundtables. Academy Award nominated director Jason Reitman will be this year’s Keynote Speaker on Sunday, June 21. Prominent industry figures from Anonymous Content, The Black List, CAA, CSA, Fandor, IndieGogo, Preferred Content, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and other organizations will participate in three days of ShortFest Forums covering a wide range of emerging trends and new practices in the global film community. The Festival takes place June 16-22, 2015.

“In addition to presenting 330 international shorts we are very excited to be providing myriad professional development opportunities for the more than 500 international filmmakers pouring into Palm Springs,” said Helen du Toit, Palm Springs ShortFest Forums Producer. “From intimate roundtables to panels covering the gamut from the latest trends in indie financing and low budget filmmaking to directing and speed-schmoozing with top indie casting directors – there’s sure to be something for everyone.”

“The Forums have been a key component of our educational and industry outreach efforts at ShortFest for many years, and this year’s program of seminars, master classes and roundtable discussions will place a particularly strong emphasis on the creative aspects of filmmaking, shifting the balance from what has been a more business-oriented agenda in the past,” said Festival Director Darryl Macdonald. “It’s an approach that we feel will serve the nascent filmmakers at the Festival in a very positive way, while focusing our efforts regarding the business end of things more appropriately on the Festival’s Film Market.”

 

The schedule for this year’s ShortFest Forums included:

Thursday, June 18th.

11:00 a.m. Indie Financing and Crowd Sourcing - Financing is forever in flux. Top indie producers and industry experts will download the latest intel on best routes to finance your next shorts and indie feature projects. Moderator: Jeremy Kay (US Editor, Screen International) Guests: Marc Bortz (Preferred Content), Marc Hofsatter (IndieGoGo), Nick Ogiony (CAA)

1:00 p.m. Polish & Pitch: Franklin Leonard cracks the code. - When Franklin Leonard's list of the most popular unproduced screenplays arrives in their inbox, Hollywood development executives screech to a halt… then the buying frenzy begins. Having flagged films like Juno and Lars and the Real Girl, both of which went on to be nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, in this realm, Leonard is Hollywood’s undisputed taste maker. Join us for a no-holds-barred session with Franklin Leonard, on how to get your screenplay to the top of the Black List.

Moderator: Helen du Toit

Guest: Franklin Leonard (The Black List)

3:00 p.m. Casting Magic - Award-winning casting directors gather in the desert to break down the casting process for you. They’ll cover the roll of casting director, what you need to know about the casting process, early attachments, what they need from you to get the offer to stars.

Moderator: Sharon Swart (Journalist)

Guests: Matthew Lessall (Trick ‘r Treat, Mean Creek, After Life), Ivy Isenberg (Robot Chicken, Stargate SG-1, Dead Like Me), Rich Mento (No Strings Attached, Safe Haven, The Road Within)

 

Friday, June 19th

11:00 a.m. The Art of Directing - Making your short film may have been challenging but making a feature film is a whole new deal. Our award winning directors, masters of planning, will share their secret plans for how to elevate your game when the pressure is on.

Moderator: Helen du Toit

Guests: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring)

1:00 p.m. Actors on Directing Them - Method actors, classically trained actors, Stanislavski, Adler and Meisner actors, naturalist actors, non-actors… every single one has their own method. And if, as a director, you come to set with one fixed notion of how to direct them, the range and depth of performance you evoke while be reduced to a mere wedge. Join us for the inside scoop from a group of top actors on how to draw out their Oscar-worthy performance.

Moderator: Jenelle Riley (Variety)

Guests: Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous, Gone Girl), Q’orianka Kilcher (The New World) and Barry Primus (American Hustle)

3:00 p.m. Bang for your buck: seasoned filmmakers reveal their best tips - Small crews, digital cameras, reduced stunts, cheap or free locations, shooting on the fly, green screen, begging, borrowing and stealing… there are myriad ways to get more bang for your buck on screen. In this panel we will use brilliant case studies to breakdown top tips for stretching your dollar to the max while still delivering a work of art.

Moderator: Sharon Swart (Journalist)

Guests: Joshua Caldwell (Layover) and Mark Polish (Northfolk)

 

Saturday, June 20th.

11:00 a.m. Crafting Beautiful Images: Cinematography Masterclass - The relationship between a cinematographer and a director is central to the success of a film. Do you build a body of work with one cinematographer or find a different one for the style of each film? What are the key things to discuss when designing the look of your film together? How can you build trust to make each scene support the overall theme of the film? Moderator: Debra Kaufman (Freelance, American Cinematographer) Guest: Tobais Datum (Eyes of a Thief; Mother, I Love You; Doll & Em)

1:00 p.m. Meet the Programmers - While the internet is cracking open the possibilities of taking your film to a wider audience, there is nothing like a film festival to help you truly connect with people – audiences, journalists, industry, fellow filmmakers – and programmers. If a programmer gets behind your film, your career can suddenly jump to the next level. Join us for a tell-all discussion with top international film festival programmers.

Moderator: Penny Bartlett

Guests: Sharon Badal (Tribeca), Dilcia Barrera (Sundance), Amanda Salazar (Fandor and Newport Beach Film Festival), Landon Zakheim (AFI Fest, LAFF, Sundance)

3:00 p.m. Post Festival Partum: Where to now?! - Your short is making the festival rounds – sometimes with you in tow. But rent is due and you are starting to wonder whether you can support your family by doing the thing you love… Don’t worry – help is on the way! Our panel of experts can help you hatch a plan for keeping the dream alive.

Moderator: Steven Gaydos (Executive Editor, Variety)

Guests: Alix Madigan (Anonymous Content), Michelle Morgan (director, K.I.T.) and Peter Trinh (ICM Partners)

 

Sunday. June 21st

12:30 p.m. Luncheon with keynote speaker Jason Reitman - He may have descended from Hollywood Royalty but award-winning writer-director-producer Jason Reitman spent his time in the trenches too. Reitman worked as a production assistant and made six short films before moving onto his first feature, Thank You for Smoking, which was nominated for two golden Globes and won two Indie Spirit awards. He has gone on to an extraordinary career, with indie classics like Juno and Up in the Air. Jason also doubles as a producer, with credits on the Duplass Brothers’ Jeff, Who Lives at Home and last year’s indie hit Whiplash directed by Damien Chazelle. Plus he’s Short Fest Alum!

 

About Palm Springs International ShortFest

Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA and BIFA as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest & Short Film Market, one of the most acclaimed short film showcases in the world, will take place in Palm Springs on June 16-22. Now in its 21st year and recently taking 8th place in the annual USA Today 10Best poll, ShortFest will showcase over 300 short films from more than 50 countries. The concurrent Short Film Market will feature a library of more than 3,000 films available to film buyers, industry and press, the only Short Film Market in North America. The ShortFest Forums are four days of panels, roundtables and master classes staged free of charge for attending filmmakers.

The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include: Panavision, Stampede Post Productions, LA Creative, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, the Casting Society of America, Radiant Images, Vacation Palm Springs, Smart Source/CRE and The Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles. The official host hotel and media center is the Renaissance Palm Springs and the official rental car is Hertz.

For more information and tickets, call (760) 778-8979 or (800) 898-7526 or visit the website: www.psfilmfest.org.

 

Edited by Vanessa McMahon; June 20, 2015.