Editor

In addition to the 245+ film screenings from around the globe which will be scheduled throughout the weekend, other highly-anticipated Festival events set for Saturday and Sunday include a dynamic hands-on animation workshop presented by Bruce Bertrand, several stimulating professional panel discussions, and a live read of the screenplay competition winner. The Festival concludes with a lavish Awards Banquet on Sunday evening. -TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT!

The schedule can be viewed in its entirety here: https://tinyurl.com/y6p476p8

Garden State Film Festival 2019 honorees and acting award nominees will be in attendance at the Festival throughout the weekend and they will receive their awards at the black-tie-optional Awards Banquet at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel on Sunday, March 31st.

This year’s Honorees and VIP’s include:

•Dr. David Stout – 2019 Honorary Chair:  Dr. David Stout currently serves as President of Brookdale Community College.  Prior to his selection as the College’s 7th President, David served in various roles at Brookdale over 21 years, including Vice President for Student Success, Dean of Enrollment Development and Student Affairs, Dean of the Freehold Campus, Department Chair and Professor of Psychology and Human Services, Student Development Specialist, and Learning Assistant. As President, Dr. Stout has enacted strategies to predict and influence enrollment trends, address facility needs, analyze and control expenditures, update major institutional strategic plans, build financial reserves, and develop programs that address the needs of Monmouth County residents.

•Siobhan Fallon Hogan – Lifetime Achievement Award: Actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan will be seen this summer in The Professor, starring Johnny Depp. Other upcoming film and television projects include The Shed , Fox TV’s What We Do In The Shadows  and Yes directed by Rob Margolies.  Some of her film and television credits include, Men In Black, Forrest Gump, Going In Style, Private Life, Seinfeld, SNL, Billions, The Negotiator, Dancer in the Dark, New In Town, Baby Mama, Charlotte’s Web, The Bounty Hunter, Holes and 30 Rock. Fallon Hogan has written a film, Frat Haze, that Rob Margolies will be directing this fall in Upstate, New York. Siobhan has resided in Rumson, New Jersey for the past fifteen years with her husband, Peter, a builder, daughter, Bernadette, a political reporter for the New York Post, son, Peter, an actor and daughter, Sinead, college bound.

•August Diehl – Independent Spirit Award: Actor August Diehl starred in Stefan Ruzowitzky’s The Counterfeiters, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. He is best known for his stand out performances in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Salt opposite Angelina Jolie. He has most recently been seen as one of the leads in Stephen Poliakoff’s Close To The Enemy for BBC1 and in cinemas in Robert Zemeckis’ Allied for Paramount with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. August can next be seen playing lead roles in Raoul Peck’s Le Jeune Karl Marx, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and in Terrence Malick’s highly anticipated Radegund. He has just wrapped on the independent features, The Bird Catcher, GSFF's stunning opening film this year, and Thomas Vinterberg’s Kursk.

•Brian O'Halloran – Spirit of New Jersey: Brian O’Halloran was born on December 20, 1969 in New York City, New York, USA as Brian Christopher O’Halloran. He is an actor and producer, known for Clerks, Mallrats and Clerks II.

•Kim Waltrip – 2019 MVP: Director, producer, actress and long time GSFF supporter and friend, Kim Waltrip started her career as a model in New York City. Her projects have premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival and Palm Springs Film Festival . She has been the catalyst to bring GSFF some of its favorite films as well as VIPs. Congratulations, Kim for all you have accomplished and thank you for your continued support of GSFF.   

•Allison Strong – Rising Star Award:  The award, which recognizes up-and-coming actors for achievements in theater, film and television, is open to actors of all ages and affiliations. Eligible candidates must showcase an undeniable passion for acting, with a progression of work in theater, commercials, television or film.

Actress and singer Allison Strong was born and raised in Hudson County, New Jersey and is proud of her Colombian heritage. She can be seen starring alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in the Netflix original feature The Week Of, released on April 27th in 2018. She is currently recurring as Talia Goldstein in Season Two of the Emmy-winning Amazon Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Strong’s other television credits include NBC’s The Blacklist and Nickelodeon’s Dora and Friends. As a teenager, Strong made her Broadway debut as an ensemble cast member of Bye Bye Birdie. She has since gone on to perform in the Broadway cast of Mamma Mia, while simultaneously completing her studies as a Musical Theater Major and honors student at Montclair State University. She also starred as Ado Annie in Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! at Bard Summerscape. Ben Brantley of the New York Times called her performance “captivating.” Strong’s theater aspirations began at age 9, when she became a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s chorus and appeared in productions of Carmen and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Strong is an alumna of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Project and ASCAP’s Pop Songwriter’s Project. In 2014, she released her debut album March Towards The Sun and was featured in Diego Luna’s Fusion Network documentary series Back Home, filmed in her family’s native Colombia. She continues to record original music in English and Spanish, and will be releasing a new single early this year.  

• The John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers® - 2019 Broader Vision Award For Filmmaking Dedicated To The Greater Good: A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preventing drunk driving deaths and injuries by promoting the use of responsible designated drivers. The HERO Campaign was established by the family of Navy Ensign John R. Elliott of Egg Harbor Township, NJ, who was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in July, 2000, two months after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. The HERO Video Network produces and showcases videos honoring victims of drunk driving tragedies, videos made by high school students to promote the use of designated drivers, commercials and news and event videos. As part of an exciting student-initiative, the Campaign works with high school students across the state, asking them to develop ideas, create and then submit public-service announcement videos that promote being a designated driver. The videos are then uploaded to social media and the HERO Campaign student website.

•Linda Krebs 2019 Educator of the Year:  Linda Krebs has over 20 years of experience in public education in New Jersey. Starting out as a teacher for the Gifted & Talented, Linda went on to teach middle school language arts and then became a school library media specialist, taking on additional roles as enrichment coordinator, technology coach, and returning to her roots as a teacher of the gifted and talented. Currently Linda is the school library media specialist at HW Mountz School in Spring Lake, a position she loves. She has experience in the public school environment working with students from preschool through grade 8. Linda received her BA in American Studies from Drew University; an MA in American Studies from the University of Wyoming; completed graduate education courses through Kean University, and holds a Master of Library & Information Science from Rutgers University. Linda is an active member of the Shore Consortium for the Gifted & Talented.

•Erin Gomez 2019 Educator of the Year: Erin Gomez has over 20 years teaching experience within the state of NJ. After receiving her BA in Education from East Stroudsburg University, PA, she started her career as a Kindergarten teacher at St. Jerome School in West Long Branch, NJ. Five years later she began working in the Keansburg School District as a 5th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. During this time period, Erin earned her MA in Education with a Reading Specialist Certification from Georgian Court University. For the last 15 years, Erin has been instructing the Gifted and Talented Program. She enjoys working with the G&T students in grades 2-8 and providing enrichment to the first grade students of the district. She is an active member and Secretary of the Shore Consortium for the Gifted & Talented.

Other notable filmmakers and actors planning to attend the 2019 Garden State Film Festival include Ed Asner, Artie Pasquale and Steve Stanulis just to name a few.

GSFF Executive Director Lauren Concar Sheehy says, “For the past 17 years, the Garden State Film Festival has been achieving its mission of promoting the art of filmmaking on all levels, and we’ve been having a a blast doing it!” Sheehy enthusiastically invites anyone who enjoys movies and filmmaking to this year’s Festival. She ads, “This year we’re planning a lot more fun, and we’ll once again showcase amazing films by independent filmmakers from around the world. Plus, the Festival is a fabulous learning opportunity, too, where industry leaders share their knowledge and skills at our workshops and events.” The Festival’s events are listed along with the complete film screening schedule on the Garden State Film Festival website at https://2019.gsff.org

This year’s participating venues include the historic Paramount Theatre, Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, The Asbury Lanes, The Asbury, House of Independents, Jersey Shore Arts Center, the Asbury Park Senior Center, and City Council Chambers inside City Hall.

Free jitney service will be offered throughout the weekend.

Two related apps are available for download; one for the volunteers and one for the patrons, both will link to the City’s Parking APP and may be found on the GSFF website at www.gsff.org.

In addition to meeting and mingling with filmmakers and celebrities and other exciting perks, volunteers will receive a special badge that provides access to the Friday night cocktail party, film screenings, panel discussions and after parties. Those interested in volunteering can contact GSFF at volunteer@gsff.org for more information and register using their volunteer management software app https://tinyurl.com/yanky4zl.

Individual film screening tickets are $15 online and $17 at the door. Weekend Passes for the Festival are $50 and includes all events and film screenings – except the Awards Banquet on Sunday evening. Day Passes are also available - the Saturday Day Pass is $30 and Sunday Day Pass is $25.

Tickets for the Friday night Gala Cocktail Party & Screening are $30 each or two for $55 (in advance only) and includes first screening (This event IS included in the weekend pass). Sunday Night Awards Banquet advance-purchase tickets are $125 each (early-bird price) and $115 (early-bird price) for entire table (seats 10). Tickets are available at https://www.gsff.org/tickets/ and at Festival box offices. For more information about the Garden State Film Festival, please visit the GSFF website at www.gsff.org.

About The Garden State Film Festival:

The Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) was envisioned by 25-year film industry veteran Diane Raver and the late Hollywood actor Robert Pastorelli in 2002 and launched the following year. Since 2003, thousands of films have made their public premieres, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have attended; and the total infusion of cash to local businesses since inception exceeds $5million. It is held in Asbury Park and surrounding area. The GSFF is a 501-c-3non- profit organization.

For more information about the Garden State Film Festival, contact: info@gsff.org

For social media updates on the GSFF, please visit the sites below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenStateFilmFestival

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GardenStateFilm

Instagram: http://instagram.com/gardenstatefilmfestival