Seventh Annual Napa Valley Film Festival Films,
Special Events and Celebrity Tribute Honorees
Honorees Included Will Ferrell (Maverick Actor Tribute), Nancy Meyers (Legendary Filmmaker Award), Michael Shannon (Trailblazer Tribute) and Michael Stuhlbarg (Spotlight Tribute)
Rising Star Tributes Were Awarded to Ana de Armas, Odeya Rush, Austin Stowell, Gregg Sulkin and Alex Wolff
A Special Humanitarian Tribute was given to Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder
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A graduate of USC Business School, Jonathan Wolf has held an illustrious career in finance and business within the film industry. He joined IFTA in 1993 as Senior Vice President of Business and has been Managing Director of the AFM since 1998. I sat with Jonathan Wolf at the Fairmont Hotel during the 2017 AFM to get his opinion on the climate of the current marketplace. Here is what he had to say:
This is an interesting year in distribution, right? ...
Producer J. Miles Dale onstage at 'The Shape of Water' screening at Trustees Theater during 20th Anniversary SCAD Savannah Film Festival on November 2, 2017 in Savannah, Georgia. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for SCAD)
Winner of the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro's latest film 'The Shape of Water' (2017) is a Cold War magical realism love story set in 1962. The film is sweeping up awards at international film ...
Actress Kyra Sedgwick. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD)
'Story of a Girl' (2017). Synopsis: “When a compromising video of sixteen year old Deanna Lambert hits social media, her teenage life is changed forever. Overcoming bullies, hurtful school-yard taunts and the enduring rage and disappointment of her father, Deanna longs to escape a life defined by her past. Directed by Kyra Sedgwick (feature directorial debut) and starring Ryann Shane, Jon Tenney an...
Ryan Suffern
Director/Producer Ryan Suffern's award winning documentary 'FINDING OSCAR' (2017) recounts the tragic story of the infamous massacre of Dos Erres, Guatemala which took place on December 6th 1982 during which over 200 people, including women and children, were brutally murdered by the Guatemalan military under de facto president Efrain Rios Montt. The film follows the decades long search for Oscar Ramirez, the unlikely survivor of the tragedy who was then only thre...
Director/Producer Cameo Wood’s first narrative film 'Real Artists' (2017) starring Tiffany Hines (Bones, 24: Legacy) and Tamlyn Tomita (Joy Luck Club/Berlin Station) made its debut at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival as part of the 2017 Marché du Film. Adapted from the short story by bestselling author Ken Liu, 'Real Artists' takes place in the near future and tells the story about an animator challenged to choose between her dr...
Actress Karen Allen has been acting for over 35 years in commercial film and theater. With some of her most renown characters being Katy from 'Animal House' (1978), Marion Ravenwood from 'Raiders of the Lost Arc' (1981) and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (2008), Jenny Hayden from 'Starman' (1984) and Claire Phillips from 'Scrooged' (1988), she has played hundreds of roles in film, TV and theater. An award winning actress and h...
Pescara born Umberto Smerilli is one of Italy's emerging masterful film composers. A graduate of the Italian National School of Cinema at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Umberto is best known for his work on 'Scrambled' (2007), 'Il Torneo' (2008) and 'Worldly Girl' (2016). He is a multi talent who synergizes the old and new world with confidence, grace and Italian panache. My first encounter with Umberto was at the Off Camera Film Festival in Krakow, Poland i...
Argentine born Director/Writer/Producer/Actress Romina Schwedler is a woman of many talents. She moved to NY at the age of 15 and began her career studying dance at the School of American Ballet and music at The Juilliard School. She followed with intensive acting training at the William Esper Studio during which she began to be featured in films and TV series.
In 2014, she jumped behind the camera for the first time to direct a spec commercial. Through it she was s...
Producer/Director/DOP Alain Delannoy's short animation film 'The Talk True Stories About the Birds & the Bees' (2016) relates the very adult story about grownup men remembering the moment their fathers explained to them about the birds and the bees. Since its premiere, it has since been travelling to international festivals picking up numerous awards in its wake, including the Prix De Varti Award at Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Audience Award at Dawson City International Short Fi...
Brian Neil Hoff is the founder and festival director of the Palm Springs International Animation Festival (http://www.psiaf.org/home.html), the first edition of which is set to take place post AFM from November 9-11, 2017. Hoff has been working in animation for the last fifteen years and is a teacher/mentor of animation at the Palm Springs High School. He began the works for the PSIAF in 2009 and has now created a snowball effect with over 2,000 film submissions and...
Writer/director Amman Abbasi's debut film 'Dayveon' (2017) is a coming of age story about 13 year-old Dayveon as he navigates his way through the oppressing Arkansas summer heat and the relentless bullying of a local gang after having just lost his older brother.
The film screened to international buyers at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival Market with Visit Films conducting international sales. FilmRise is handling North American distribution.
The film pre...
PGA producer Kayvan Mashayekh
PGA “Producers Without Borders” started in Cannes three years ago by PGA member Kayvan Mashayekh and the general manager of The Royal Film Commission of Jordan Geroge David. The event is sponsored by The Royal Film Commission of Jordan.
After having helped to cast the various panelists myself for this year's 3rd annual PGA PWB edition, I interviewed Kayvan. Here is what he had to say:
How did ...
American director, editor and actor Daphne Schmon's short film “All of Me” premiered at the 2017 Cannes Marché du Film, which was selected “Best of Cannes shorts to screen” by Creative Market Group. Made by an all female team, “All of Me” is the story of a talented, genderqueer musician named Viv (played by British actress Chereen Buckley). Director Schmon, writer Emily Carlton, producer Jemma Moore and editor Philippa Carson w...
French born Cyril Morin is a man of many talents. A prolific music composer, writer, director and producer, some of his many credits include: 'Samsara' (2001), 'A Simple Heart' (2008), 'I Do' (2015), 'Hacker's Game' (2015), 'NY84' (2016) and 'An American Trilogy' (2017). He spends his time working between Europe, USA and China and is proof that to be successful in the film business, it helps to be a Renaissance personality like...
Acclaimed actress Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1926 where she lived until she moved to Illinois to attend Illinois State University and later Northwestern University. A drama student, she participated in various local beauty pageants which she won, including Miss Chicago in 1946. With dreams of becoming an actress, she moved to New York where she began her theater career which segued into TV and film. Cloris has successfully graced our TV and silver screens for over 65 years...
Director/writer Daniel Mentz and director/writer Julia Butler co-direct 'Slipaway' (2017), a heartrending film about the unlikely friendship between an older woman, Fall (played by Elaine Partnow), and a young man, Adam (Jesse Pepe). Reminiscent of The Intouchables (2011), the film presents a story about the platonic bond between an elderly ailing woman at the end of her life and a young man beginning his.
Adam is a young homeless drug addict who dreams of becoming a musician bu...
Dmitry Milkin
Writer/director Dmitry Milkin's award winning 3D animated short 'Curpigeon' (2016) is making audiences coo and awe as it tells the story about birds communicating with humans in a spiritual transcendent way. The ancient Egyptians did this, so why not in 2016 with a group of old bonding men in a community park? Reminiscent of Pixar's 'UP' (2009), this unique animation leaves audiences feeling closer to each other and nature in an ...
Matt Schrader
What is a film without a soundtrack? This questions is answered in writer/director Matt Schrader's crucial and poignant feature documentary 'Score: A Film Music Documentary' (2016). Imagine 'Titanic' without the epic sounds of Enya's voice weaved in with James Horner's haunting pipes; 'Gladiator' without Lisa Gerard's ethereal voice mixed with Hans Zimmer's soaring symphonies; 'Star Wars', 'Jaws' or 'Indiana Jones...
George Parra
Producer George Parra has been a venerated industry professional for over thirty years, having worked on such prestigious films as- 'Waterworld' (1995), 'Sideways' (2004), 'The Descendants' (2011), 'Silver Linings Playbook' (2012), 'American Hustle' (2013); to name a very few. He first began his illustrious career as a Set Production Assistant on 'The Terminator' (1984) which led to his position as Second Assistant Director on mo...
Palm Springs native George Kosturos is a talented acting force in the indie film world making a splash success as 'Ali' in the award-winning film 'American Wrestler: The Wizard' (2016) where he co-stars with legendary actors Jon Voight and William Fichtner. The film recounts the true story of wrestler Ali Afshar who escaped from Iran in the 1980's and moved to the US for a better life, only to be met with hostility by Americans due to the concurrent Iran hostage crise...
Film industry attorney, consultant and published writer Steven Beer has become a super star in his own right, even deemed “Super Lawyer” after his feature in 2006 edition of "Super Lawyers/New York Metro Edition" where he was classified as top 5% in New York. Having successfully represented film producers, financiers, distributors and nurtured some of entertainment's most renown talent including award-winning writers, directors, producers, and multi-platinum...
IFTA’s Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of the AFM since 1998, Jonathan Wolf deems the AFM as the global film world coming to its Hollywood Mecca. A graduate of the University of Southern California Business School, Wolf's extensive professional background, previous to his pivotal roles with IFTA and AFM, includes film distribution as well as finance as CFO of New World International in international operations. The AFM acts as a six month Fall bookend market to the Spri...
Writer/Director Lucky McKee's latest film, 'Misfortune', was announced at the 2016 American Film Market. McKee is known for his successes in the horror/thriller genre with such titles as 'The Woman' (2011), 'Red' (2008) and 'May' (2002) under his belt. 'Misfortune' is a noir thriller about three friends in the wilderness caught up in a greedy battle over a fortune; the film is currently in pre-production stages and Radiant Films Internatio...
Moldovan born Sasha Yelaun is an Irvine based PGA producer who opts to stay out of the LA madness. He travels to LA a few times a week for important meetings but for the most part he feels that if you really want to get stuff done you need as little distraction as possible. He recently attended the AFM for meetings about packaging his latest films. He has worked on such films as The Book of Love (2016), Wild Oats (2016), 10,000Saints (2015) and Benjamin Troubles (2015). He has a num...
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