Opening Night at the LA Film Festival

Opening night of the 2008 LA Film Festival in Westwood.

Film Fest Attendees await the opening night screening of "Wanted," starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freemen, and Angelina Jolie.

Paper or Plastic? Executive Producer Oren Jacob (left) and Director/Cinematographer Alex D. da Silva with Debra Eckerling (Final Draft, Script magazine) at the LAFF Opening Night party. Director/Producer Justine Jacob is waiting on her and husband's Oren's next production--their next child. (Update: Ellis Noemi Jacob joined siblings Toby, 4 1/2, and Sammy, 2 1/2. Mother and daughter are doing great!) Paper or Plastic? premieres on June 20th at The Regent, 1045 Broxton in Westwood, at 7:30 pm.

At 5 pm, witness firsthand the fastest grocery bagger contestants as featured in the Los Angeles Film Festival’s documentary competition film "Paper or Plastic?" State Champions from the National Grocers Association (NGA) will provide live demonstration of the NGA BEST BAGGER CONTEST. James Hunter - California Best Bagger Champion; Brian Bay - Utah Best Bagger Champion; and Jacob Richardson - Virginia Best Bagger Champion, will be competing in front of The Regent. You will never view grocery baggers the same way again!

Actress turned Writer/Director Lori Petty with producing partner Peter Quartaroli at the Festival Opening Night Party. Lori's autobiographical film, The Poker House, which she co-wrote with David Alan Grier, premieres Friday, June 20, at The Mann Festival Theatre, 10877 Lindbrook Drive in Westwood.

The film, starring Selma Blair as Petty’s struggling abused mother, Bookeem Woodbine, David Alan Grier, and newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, is based on Petty's teenage experiences and struggles in a poor, small town in Iowa, circa 1976.


For more info on these and other films at the festival, go to www.LAFilmFest.com

LA Film Festival Opens Tonight

The Los Angeles Film Festival, held annually for ten days in June, showcases the best of American and international independent cinema. With an expected attendance of over 100,000, the festival screens over 175 narrative features, documentaries, shorts, and music videos. Now in its fourteenth year, the festival has grown into a world-class event, uniting new filmmakers with critics, scholars, film masters, and the movie-loving public.

This year's festival runs from June 19 - June 29 in Westwood Village.

For more information, go to: www.LAFilmFest.com

AFI Top 10 List of 10 Film Genres

Here is the American Film Institute's top-10 lists of the best in 10 film genres:

ANIMATION

1. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.

2. "Pinocchio," 1940.

3. "Bambi," 1942.

4. "The Lion King," 1994.

5. "Fantasia," 1940.

6. "Toy Story," 1995.

7. "Beauty and the Beast," 1991.

8. "Shrek," 2001.

9. "Cinderella," 1950.

10. "Finding Nemo," 2003.

FANTASY

1. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.

2. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.

3. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.

4. "King Kong," 1933.

5. "Miracle on 34th Street, 1947.

6. "Field of Dreams," 1989.

7. "Harvey," 1950.

8. "Groundhog Day," 1993.

9. "The Thief of Bagdad," 1924.

10. "Big," 1988.

GANGSTER

1. "The Godfather," 1972.

2. "Goodfellas," 1990.

3. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.

4. "White Heat," 1949.

5. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.

6. "Scarface: The Shame of a Nation," 1932.

7. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.

8. "The Public Enemy," 1931.

9. "Little Caesar," 1930.

10. "Scarface," 1983.

SCIENCE FICTION

1. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.

2. "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope," 1977.

3. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.

4. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.

5. "The Day The Earth Stood Still," 1951.

6. "Blade Runner," 1982.

7. "Alien," 1979.

8. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," 1991.

9. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," 1956.

10. "Back to the Future," 1985.

WESTERN

1. "The Searchers," 1956.

2. "High Noon," 1952.

3. "Shane," 1953.

4. "Unforgiven," 1992.

5. "Red River," 1948.

6. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.

7. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.

8. "McCabe & Mrs. Miller," 1971.

9. "Stagecoach," 1939.

10. "Cat Ballou," 1965.

SPORTS

1. "Raging Bull," 1980.

2. "Rocky," 1976.

3. "The Pride of the Yankees," 1942.

4. "Hoosiers," 1986.

5. "Bull Durham," 1988.

6. "The Hustler," 1961.

7. "Caddyshack," 1980.

8. "Breaking Away," 1979.

9. "National Velvet," 1944.

10. "Jerry Maguire," 1996.

MYSTERY

1. "Vertigo," 1958.

2. "Chinatown," 1974.

3. "Rear Window," 1954.

4. "Laura," 1944.

5. "The Third Man," 1949.

6. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.

7. "North By Northwest," 1959.

8. "Blue Velvet," 1986.

9. "Dial M for Murder," 1954.

10. "The Usual Suspects," 1995.

ROMANTIC COMEDY

1. "City Lights," 1931.

2. "Annie Hall," 1977.

3. "It Happened One Night," 1934.

4. "Roman Holiday," 1953.

5. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.

6. "When Harry Met Sally ...," 1989.

7. "Adam's Rib," 1949.

8. "Moonstruck," 1987.

9. "Harold and Maude," 1971.

10. "Sleepless in Seattle," 1993.

COURTROOM DRAMA

1. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.

2. "12 Angry Men," 1957.

3. "Kramer Vs. Kramer," 1979.

4. "The Verdict," 1982.

5. "A Few Good Men," 1992.

6. "Witness for the Prosecution," 1957.

7. "Anatomy of a Murder," 1959.

8. "In Cold Blood," 1967.

9. "A Cry in the Dark," 1988.

10. "Judgment at Nuremberg," 1961.

EPIC

1. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.

2. "Ben-Hur," 1959.

3. "Schindler's List," 1993.

4. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.

5. "Spartacus," 1960.

6. "Titanic," 1997.

7. "All Quiet on the Western Front," 1930.

8. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.

9. "Reds," 1981.

10. "The Ten Commandments," 1956.

Script Frenzy - Down to the Wire

Well, maybe not quite THAT down to the wire.

Script Frenzy encourages writers to complete a screenplay in a month. The month of April, to be exact. Next Thursday is May 1st, which means - if you are a fast writer, there's still time to start. and, if you are a procrastinator and already started your great American screenplay, there's still time to finish! Good luck to all.

Miss out on Script Frenzy? National Novel Writing Month is in November.

Script Frenzy

On Your Mark...Get Set...Write!

This year’s Script Frenzy—the screenwriter cousin of National Novel Writing Month—is in April. That’s right 30 days, 100 pages, and a completed screenplay at the Finish Line.

The point of Script Frenzy is productivity. The math is simple: If you write moving forward, with a page-count goal, you end up with a finished product. The website—Script Frenzy—offers message boards, announcements of local write-ins, resources, and other motivating fare.

Script Frenzy is a donation-funded nonprofit, and there is no fee to participate. The only prize, which is awarded to all who finish, is a Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon. The best prize? A completed screenplay. Whoo hoo!

According to the site, here are the 5 Basic Rules of Script Frenzy:

1. To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script (or multiple scripts) of at least 100 total pages and verify this tally on ScriptFrenzy.org


2. You may write individually or in teams of two. Writer teams will have a 100-page total goal for their co-written script or scripts


3. Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on April 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on April 30, local time


4. You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires


5. You must, at some point, have ridiculous amounts of fun

Stephanie Palmer Booksigning

Stephanie Palmer, author of Good in a Room: How To Sell Yourself and Your Ideas and Win Over Any Audience, was beaming as she signed books at The Grove in Los Angeles Tuesday night. The crowd of about 50 friends and fans came out to support her first book, and learned a little bit more about taking meetings in the process.

According to Palmer, some of the classic mistakes people make during meetings are "saying too much, speaking too quickly, and asking for more than one thing."

Palmer, a former MGM executive who has taken more than 3,000 meetings with writers, directors, and producers, says "It would be ideal if great ideas sold themselves."

Since that is not often the case, Palmer developed a system to help people take better meetings, so they get the results they want. She started her company—Good in a Room—after she left MGM. She has since coached 12 Oscar winners, 5 Emmy winners, and numerous corporate executives, including Fortune 500 CEOs.

Palmer's book's purpose is to help more people gain access to this important information.

The best part of her job?

"To help someone with a fantastic idea bring their idea to life," Palmer says. "There's nothing better than that for me." For more information, go to The Writers Store.

2008 Cinema City International Film Festival

On Monday, March 10, the ballroom at the Century Park Hyatt sparkled. Soldiers, filmmakers, and supporters came out to honor the winners of the 2008 Cinema City International Film Festival, as they capped off their 2-day screening competition.

Cinema City is dedicated to supporting the next generation of independent filmmakers. Yet the festival was much more than that. The Gala served as a fundraiser for numerous burn foundations, and honored American Soldiers who have endured burn injuries while serving our country.

Final Draft was pleased to sponsor the award for Best TV Pilot Script. Our winner, Liz Alper, who wrote Wheat in Chicago, was absolutely ecstatic.

"I feel like I'm on top of the world," she said. "I have a gold statuette that tells me I can go out and do anything."

Wheat in Chicago is the story of two brothers who went to Chicago during the Great Depression to make a better life, and wound up getting seduced by the gangs.

"The heart of the story," Alper says, "is based on a relationship I had with a friend, who was a role model for me."

The friend has since passed away, and Alper dedicated her award to him. Alper knows her journey as a writer is just beginning.

Congratulations to all the 2008 Cinema City International Film Festival Winners:

Best TV Movie Script - Watching Closely

Best TV Pilot Script - Wheat in Chicago

Best TV Short Form Pilot - The Volt

Best TV Pilot - Loving the InLaws

Special TV Pilot Diversity Award - The New Americans

Best Music Video - Siempre Pude Ver

Best Commercial - Too Many

Student Filmmaker Award - Marcus Clarke

Audience Award - A tie between Gunmen and Undoing Time

For more information, go to Cinema City International Film Festival