Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF), and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, is bringing the 2010 edition of LAFF to downtown Los Angeles from its prior roost in Westwood, Calif.
LAFF runs from June 17-27 and will encompass venues throughout the City of Los Angeles and be centered at L.A. LIVE. The move is reflective of the LAFF’s continued growth and its efforts to embrace the cultural diversity and energy of Los Angeles. The Festival will present its screenings and events at the new Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, the REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), the Downtown Independent, the Soundstage Theatre at the GRAMMY Museum©, JW Marriot Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. Live, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Los Angeles, Orpheum Theatre, and California Plaza. The Festival will also continue its tradition of nighttime screenings at the outdoor John Anson Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood and the Los Angeles Times will again serve as presenting partner, as it has since ’06.
Over the past 16 years, LAFF has grown from being held in one theater with 5,700 attendees to include a sprawling list of event venues that attract more than 85,000 attendees. The Festival moved to Westwood Village in 2006 to accommodate its growing audience, which doubled in the four years it was based there.
“The Festival’s move to downtown Los Angeles allows us a unique opportunity to celebrate the history and future of our City,” said LAFF director Rebecca Yeldham. “Our new location will continue to pave the way for LAFF to realize its potential as an international destination event, and unites our filmmakers and audiences with the diverse arts community that exists downtown.”
More than 200 features, shorts, and music videos from more than 30 countries make up the main body of the Festival. LAFF’s official film selections will be announced in early May.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More