2010 Feel Good Film Fest Announces Award Winners

THE 2010 FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

“GOD’S EARS” RECEIVES THE JURY PRIZE FOR BEST FEEL GOOD FEATURE

“BUTTERFLY CIRCUS” IS NAMED BEST FEEL GOOD SHORT FILM

AUDIENCE AWARDS GO TO “10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS” FOR FEEL GOOD FEATURE AND “MARY ANNE GOES TO THE MARKET” FOR FEEL GOOD SHORT

“HERPES BOY” TAKES BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST ENSEMBLE

BRENT FLORENCE NAMED BEST DIRECTOR FOR “EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP”

LOS ANGELES, CA August 17, 2010 – The Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces the award winners for its 3rd outing with Michael Worth’s GOD’S EARS taking home the Panavision Grand Jury Prize for Best Feel Good Feature Film (with more than $70,000 in in-kind prizes) and Joshua Weigel’s BUTTERFLY CIRCUS named as the winner of the Hollywood Rentals Grand Jury Prize for Best Feel Good Short Film.

Camadeus Audience Awards went to Jennifer Yee’s 10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS for Feel Good Feature and Ethan Cushing’s MARY ANNE GOES TO MARKET for Feel Good Short. The Feel Good Award for Best Student Film was presented to Ryo Shiina and Bassem Wahbi for CHINESE ANTIQUE, while Dana Jones’ and Joel Reaves’ FLYING FOR MICE received a runner up nod in the category.

Nathaniel Atcheson’s HERPES BOY swept the performance categories with Byron Lane and Ahna O’Reilly named as Best Actor and Best Actress and the film receiving the Best Ensemble nod, as well. Brent Florence was named Best Director for EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP.

Martin Garner’s “Shinola” won the Feel Good Screenplay Competition and Jessica De Rooij won the Feel Good Original Score Competition for her work on the film, WAKIYAKU MONOGATARI (CAST ME IF YOU CAN).

For GOD’S EARS Best Feel Good Feature Award, Worth was presented with a prize package of more than $70,000 highlighted by $60,000 in-kind & 4 week camera rental from Panavision, $5000 in-kind from Camadeus, $3000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals, $2000 in-kind from ISS Props, and $500 in-kind from IndieRentals.

BUTTERFLY CIRCUS’ Best Feel Good Short Award earned Weigel a prize package of more than $4000, led by $2000 in-kind from Camadeus, $1000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals and $1000 in-kind from ISS Props.

Both filmmakers also received one copy of Final Draft, a subscription to SCRIPT Magazine, a copy of Showbiz Budgeting and Showbiz Labor Guide, 3 hours of Architectural design consultation from MEHRNOOSH, membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box.

Yee took home $1000 in-kind from Camadeus and $1000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals for 10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS’ Best Feel Good Feature Audience Award and Cushing received $500.00 in-kind from Camadeus for MARY ANNE GOES TO THE MARKET’s Best Feel Good Short Audience Award.

The Audience Award winners also received one copy of Final Draft, a copy of Showbiz Labor Guide, membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box.

For their Best Feel Good Student Film honor bestowed upon CHINESE ANTIQUE, Ryo Shiina and Bassem Wahbi received a one-week scholarship at the New York Film Academy and $1000 in-kind from Camadeus, while FLYING FOR MICE earned Dana Jones and Joel Reaves one-week scholarships to New York Film Academy as well. The student film winners also received one copy of Final Draft, a copy of Showbiz Software and Showbiz Labor Guide, membership to Film Independent and an Eclore Soap gift box.

Martin’s Best Feel Good Screenplay honor garnered him one copy of Final Draft, a subscription to SCRIPT Magazine, membership to InkTip.com, one-week scholarship to New York Film Academy, a copy of Showbiz Labor Guide, membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box. All other finalists in the competition received membership to InkTip.com, as well.

Jessica De Rooij’s Best Feel Good Score brought her one day of studio recording with an engineer at Tuff Cut Sound, as well as a copy of Showbiz Labor Guide, membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box.

Brent Florence’s Best Director kudos also came with a one-week scholarship to New York Film Academy, a subscription to SCRIPT Magazine, a copy of Showbiz Labor Guide, a $300 gift certificate to Dr. Gordie, Inc., membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box. Each of the performance awards included a subscription to SCRIPT Magazine, a copy of Showbiz Labor Guide, membership to Film Independent, Barefoot Wine, TETEO Tequila and an Eclore Soap gift box as well.

Kristen Ridgway Flores, FGFF Founder and Co-Director, said, “in our third year, the Feel Good Film Festival began the process of widening our scope and redefining what it means to “feel good” through the programming of our films and our New Media panel. We really felt we grew this year, as an organization and an event. It was especially gratifying for myself and co-director America Young to have our first female Host (Cheryl Hines) and our first female Feel Good Life Tribute Honoree (Shirley Jones). We feel humbled that this film festival has quickly become a mark-your-calendar event for so many people and we feel like our ‘feel good’ spirit has really got a solid toe-hold in the independent film community now.”

The festival featured 64 films, including 14 features, 39 shorts, and 11 student films. Along with the films offered throughout the festival, highlights included a lively Opening Night intro from Host Cheryl Hines; a New Media panel “Why Web Series Suck” presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation discussing some hot-button issues prevalent in the web community and highlighted by the world premieres of a handful of web series, an outdoor bazaar highlighted by “green” and health-oriented vendors, and nightly after parties in the Egyptian Theatre Courtyard.

The weekend concluded Sunday evening with a Closing Night Awards Gala hosted by comedian and actor Hal Sparks featuring the Feel Good Life Tribute to film and television legend, Shirley Jones. Jones made her way to the podium to accept her honor to a standing ovation and spoke of the need for events such as the Feel Good Film Festival before her husband Marty Ingels joined her at the podium and chided the major networks and news for not being present and covering the event designed to make people “feel good”. Other attendees included Dan Lauria, Josie Davis, John Saxon, Heather Stephens, Marisa Cuevas, April Macie, Eliza Schlesinger, Todd Glass, Nicki Aycox, Dash Mihok, Ray Abruzzo, Frances Fisher, Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, Caryn Richman and Eric Stonestreet (who attended the Opening Night screening of his film FATHER VS SON, while taking time to raise awareness for the Motion Picture & Television Fund).

(Kristen Ridgway Flores, Shirley Jones, America Young – Photo by Teresea Martino)

JURY AWARDS:

BEST FEEL GOOD FEATURE FILM: GOD’S EARS

Dir: Michael Worth

BEST FEEL GOOD SHORT FILM: BUTTERFLY CIRCUS

Dir: Joshua Weigel

BEST FEEL GOOD STUDENT FILM: CHINESE ANTIQUE

Dir: Ryo Shiina, Bassem Wahbi

BEST FEEL GOOD STUDENT FILM RUNNER UP: FLYING FOR MICE

Dir: Dana Jones, Joel Reaves

BEST FEEL GOOD DIRECTOR: Brent Florence (for EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP)

BEST FEEL GOOD ACTOR: Byron Lane (for HERPES BOY)

BEST FEEL GOOD ACTRESS: Ahna O’Reilly (for HERPES BOY)

BEST FEEL GOOD ENSEMBLE: HERPES BOY

FEEL GOOD ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY AWARD: “Shinola”

Writer:                        Martin Garner

FEEL GOOD ORIGINAL SCORE AWARD: WAKIYAKU MONOGATARI (CAST ME IF YOU CAN)

Composer:            Jessica De Rooij

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

FEEL GOOD FEATURE: 10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS

Dir: Jennifer Yee

FEEL GOOD SHORT: MARYANNE GOES TO THE MARKET

Dir: Ethan Cushing

2010 FGFF JURY MEMBERS

FEATURE FILM JURY includes:

Zachary Matz

Zachary Matz is an award-winning veteran producer of independent feature films and a versatile entertainment industry executive with more than two decades of experience. Credits include CITY ISLAND, JOLENE, MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT, WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD, DRUM and PARANOIA 1.0. His production company, filmsmith, is an international entity which develops, finances, and produces its own films, as well as consults and represents other filmmakers.

Caroline Mitchell

Mitchell began her film career as a dialogue coach, working with established actors such as Jeremy Irons, Harvey Keitel and Sigourney Weaver. In 1993, she became involved in the creation, organization and development of the Equinoxe Screenwriter’s Workshop. Mitchell created the Festival International Cinema & Costume Moulins in 2006, and in April 2011 she will unveil the first edition of the Boulogne-Billancourt International Film Festival (France) in partnership with the Los Angeles Feel Good Film Festival.

Robert Yu

Robert Yu is currently a film consultant specializing in distribution.  Most recently, Mr. Yu was the Vice President of Acquisitions for PorchLight Entertainment overseeing all aspects of acquisitions and development.  Prior, Mr. Yu was the Head of West Coast Operations for CinemaVault Releasing International, supervising the Los Angeles office.  Previously Mr. Yu was the Vice President of the entertainment law firm / producer’s representative, Harris Tulchin & Associates / Tulchin Entertainment. Robert Yu started his career at Paramount Classics and Alliance Atlantis in Marketing and International Sales respectively.

SHORT FILM JURY includes:

Bill Chott

Chott is one of the stars of DISNEY’S WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE, as well as the feature film THE RINGER. Recent television guest spots have been on “Monk” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Chott als lends his voice to animated segments on “Saturday Night Live” as well as PBS’ “Curious George.” An alum of Second City, Chott is one of the country’s top improv teachers and professional coaches.

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly moved out to Los Angeles shortly after graduating from the

University of Texas at Austin, and has worked for Disney, Sony Pictures, The Jim Henson Company. After working in development as a story editor and director of development, he entered the wide world of blogging where he currently writes for sites like Cinematical, io9, Joystiq, /Film, Film School Rejects, Los Anjealous, LAist, and others. There’s a constant supply of pop culture being dripped into his veins these days, and he’s always looking for a new fix.

Jennie Monica Hammond

Hammond has worked in Casting and Production at Nickelodeon for 12 years. She was part of the founding crew for “SpongeBob SquarePants” and has continued to be a part of the production’s success. She is currently an Associate Producer at Nickelodeon.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY JURY includes:

Jason Berlin

Jason Berlin was born in New Jersey and soon after went to Harvard, where he got grades so good, they made A’s look like F’s.  To celebrate, he attended the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow.  He’s been writing for TV since ‘99, with an emphasis on comedy and reality.  Credits include ABC’s “Wipeout”, NBC’s “Tommy Lee Goes to College”, and for MTV, “Undressed”, “DisMissed”, and “Next”.  In the past four years, he created two comedy/reality pilots for Fox Television Studios, and 2 comedy pilots for SpikeTV and SciFi with his sketch comedy troupe, The Ministry of Unknown Science.  This April, the 2010 L.A. Comedy Shorts Festival screened one of these pilots, called “Operation: BALLS”.  Jason is gorgeous, though you wouldn’t know it to look at him.  He’s been doing standup since April and is 15 years late for famous.

Robert Knott

Robert wrote and produced APPALOOSA with Ed Harris.  Harris directed, Knott directed second unit. As an actor, Knott starred as the troubled waterman in SWIMMERS with two time Tony Winner, Cherry Jones.  SWIMMERS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Seattle International Film Festival.  Robert also starred along with APPALOOSA’S Tom Bower in Robert M. Young’s HUMAN ERROR, a comedy based on Richard Dresser’s play that also premiered at Sundance.  Robert’s been working in theater, film and television for over 30 years.  His film credits include: POLLOCK, directed by Ed Harris, Stephen Frears’ HIGH LOW COUNTRY with Billy Crudup, STORM with Martin Sheen, BUFFALO SOLDIERS with Danny Glover and Walter Hill’s, WILD BILL with Diane Lane and Jeff Bridges just to name a few.  Robert had the pleasure of working on stage ‘also’ with Tom Bower in Harold Pinter’s THE CARETACKER.  As a writer Robert has written a diversity of scripts, depicting the stories of his family’s wayfaring past to stage plays about oil riggers.

Colin O’Reilly

Following a stint as an assistant in the development department at New Line Cinema, O’Reilly went on to become a literary manager at Smart Entertainment where he served as co-producer on BLADES OF GLORY. Shortly after he left to go out on his own and sold the screenplay for the film SUNSHINE CLEANING. He has sold film and TV projects to Universal, Paramount and New Line Cinema.

ORIGINAL SCORE JURY includes:

Richard Kraft

Richard Kraft is the founder of Kraft-Engel Management, one of the world’s leading agencies specializing in representing film and theatre composers. Together with his partner, Laura Engel, they represent such clients as John Barry, Christophe Beck, Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Jon Brion,  Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Marvin Hamlisch,  Alan Menken, David Newman, John Ottman, John Powell, Trevor Rabin, Graeme Revell, Marc Shaiman, Gabriel Yared and Aaron Zigman.

David Campbell

Arranger-conductor David Campbell’s work appears on more than 425 Gold or Platinum albums.   During his long recording career, albums David worked on have received 50 Grammy awards and film scores have earned 2 Oscars. David has composed music for many films, and for commercials for George Lucas, Panasonic, Sony and others.  He orchestrated and conducted scores for Dead Man Walking, Friday Night Lights, Oliver Stone’s W, Scott Pilgrim versus The World and the Oscar-winning score for Brokeback Mountain.  As arranger/ conductor for motion picture songs, Campbell worked on Armageddon, Dreamgirls, City of Angels, Daredevil, Men in Black II, Spiderman 2, Ladder 49, the Oscar-nominated song from Pearl Harbor, and the Oscar-winning song “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan. In recent years, David has enjoyed recording and arranging for Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, Elton John, Air, Cat Power, Leonard Cohen, Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Macy Gray, Beyonce, Metallica, The Mars Volta, Josh Groban and Dido. Later this year, David Campbell will write incidental music and orchestrations for the Broadway production of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, directed by Julie Taymor with music & lyrics by Bono and The Edge.

Ludek Drizhal

Drizhal most recently composed the score for the film ALABAMA MOON directed by Tim McCanlies. He has worked on a number of Starz Productions as well as independent films, such as BADLAND directed by Francesco Lucente and SIMON SAYS directed by Bill Dear.   He recently finished work on the European production U PANA BOGA ZA MIEDZA (God’s Little Village) with acclaimed Polish director Jacek Bromski. Ludek graduated with a Masters of Music from the USC Thornton School of Music where he also taught for six years.

ACTING JURY includes:

Scott David

David has been in casting for nearly 15 years and worked with many amazing Casting Directors such as April Webster and Nan Dutton. Currently, he is casting “Criminal Minds” and recently cast the show’s new spin-off, as well as the “Army Wives” spin-off for Lifetime. Past film credits include THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, 2012, THE CHICAGO 8, amongst others.

Feel Good Film Fest Announces Hosts, Tribute Honoree and New Media panel

THE FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES

ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER AND CURRENT EMMY NOMINEE SHIRLEY JONES AS FEEL GOOD TRIBUTE RECIPIENT

CHERYL HINES AS OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION HOST

HAL SPARKS AS CLOSING NIGHT AWARDS CEREMONY HOST

NEW MEDIA PANEL FEATURES WORLD PREMIERES OF “ALIEN NINJA,” “MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND,” “THE TREASURE HUNT: A CHAD, MATT AND ROB INTERACTIVE ADVENTURE” WEB SERIES

LOS ANGELES, CA August 4, 2010 – The 2010 Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces Academy Award winner Shirley Jones will be the Feel Good Tribute Honoree for the 3^rd edition of the film festival.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines will serve as the Host for the Opening Night Celebration on Friday, August 13. Comedian Hal Sparks takes on the hosting duties for the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 15.

Details were also announced for the FGFF Filmmaker Panel. Focusing on new media, the panel is titled, “Why Web Series Suck.”

Hines will serve as the host for the Opening Night Celebration co-presented by FETE that will feature the presentation of Joe Ballarini’s FATHER VS SON. Beginning with the film festival’s signature “yellow” carpet entrances (in honor of FGFF’s sunflower logo), in the Egyptian Theatre courtyard, the Gala event will include an after party presented by Roaring Lion, The Happy Ending Bar & Restaurant, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and TeTeo Tequila.

A two-time Emmy nominee for her work on the Golden Globe Award-winning series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and director of last year’s critically acclaimed indie dark comedy SERIOUS MOONLIGHT, Hines most recent project has required her to serve as executive producer on the upcoming NBC reality series “School Pride.” The decidedly feel good project is a proactive, alternative series that tells the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. While transforming the school, the community also restores its sense of value and school pride. The cameras follow students; teachers and parents as they roll up their sleeves and rebuild their own schools, concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school.

Hines previous credits include the feature films THE UGLY TRUTH, RV, WAITRESS, THE GRAND and BART GOT A ROOM, as well as ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters” and “In the Motherhood,” Hines has also produced and directed various television projects, including the award-winning comedy series “Campus Ladies” for the Oxygen Channel and the Starz Networks original comedy series “Hollywood Residential.”

Regarding taking the reins from previous FGFF hosts Rainn Wilson and Carlos Mencia, “It’s a thrill to be the first woman to host the Feel Good Film Festival’s Opening Night Celebration. Just like Carlos and Rainn, I’ll put on my Old Spice and Spanx and do my best. It’s a great festival and I look forward to kicking off the weekend of films and events with some really, really good feelings.”

Popular comedian and actor, Hal Sparks, will host the FGFF Closing Night Filmmaker Awards Ceremony.

Following his hosting duties on E! Entertainment Television’s “Talk Soup” (1999-2000) and frequent appearances on a myriad of comedy clip shows on VH-1, Sparks is primarily known for his work on Showtime’s “Queer as Folk” (2000-2005).

Currently, Sparks has been dividing his time on the comedy tour following the release of his “Charmaggedon” DVD, as well as performing with his band, Zero 1.

The choice of Shirley Jones as the Feel Good Tribute Honoree also will mark the first time a woman has been so honored, following Jonathan Winters and Ed Asner during the first two years of the film festival.

From her start in the classic big screen musicals OKLAHOMA! (1955), CAROUSEL (1956) and THE MUSIC MAN (1962), Shirley Jones embodied the image of singing ingénue. Her startling Academy Award winning performance in ELMER GANTRY (1960) simply confirmed her versatility on the big screen.

Of course, any discussion of Jones’ impact on the world of entertainment has to include her role as the iconic ‘Shirley Partridge’ on the classic 70s situation comedy “The Partridge Family” (1970-74). Co-starring with her real life stepson David Cassidy, the series not only was immensely popular during its four-year run, but also has proved evergreen gaining fans through syndicated runs and DVD releases up to the present.

A four-time Golden Globe nominee (ELMER GANTRY – 1960), (THE MUSIC MAN – 1962), (“The Partridge Family” – 1971 & 1972), Jones has recently added another Emmy nomination to her impressive list of accolades for her performance last season in “The Cleaner”. The nomination follows previous nods for “Silent Night, Lonely Night” (1969) and “Hidden Places” (2006).

Feel Good Film Festival Founder and Co-Director, Kristen Ridgway Flores said, “We are thrilled to have two fabulous feel-good female role models for the 2010 festival! With Cheryl Hines opening the festival and then honoring the legendary Shirley Jones on Closing Night, I guess we could call this year the “Year of Woman”. What an exciting time!”

The Feel Good Film festival also announced details for its annual featured Filmmaker panel to take place at the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, August 14. Focusing on New Media and presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation, the panel is entitled, “Why Web Series Suck.”

Taking the form of a mock trial, the panel will screen some of the hottest web content currently available online, as well as offer up notable world premieres of highly anticipated series – all in the service of looking at the inroads that scripted entertainment produced for the internet have made over the last few years.

Co-moderated by FGFF Programmer Matt Bolish and FGFF Co-Director America Young, confirmed panelists will include Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Dave Poland (Movie City News) and Dana Tuiner (Manager, Comedy Development – FOX Broadcasting).

Participating Web series include:

ABIGALE’S TEENAGE DIARY

SCR/PROD/CAST: Hayden Black

ALIEN NINJA (World Premiere)

DIR/SCR: Greg Aronowitz

PROD: Sheri Bryant

MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND (World Premiere)

DIR/PROD: Brian Amyot

SCR/PROD: Steven Tsapelas

PROD: Patrick Cohen

THE LEGEND OF NEIL

DIR/SCR/EXEC PROD: Sandeep Parikh

PROD: Jeff Winkler

SCR/CAST: Tony Janning

PROD: Leah Mann

THE TREASURE HUNT: A CHAD, MATT, AND ROB INTERACTIVE

ADVENTURE (World Premiere)

DIR/SCR/PROD/CAST: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

DIR/PROD: Tyler Gillett

SCR/CAST/PROD: Rob Polonsky

PROD: Justin Martinez

PROD/CAST: Chad Villella

Regarding the announcement of the “Why Web Series Suck” panel, Young said, “While there has been a lot of discussion and forums about web shows, they seem to be done mainly by those who already appreciate and/or create them.  There are a lot of critical views of web series.  We wanted, with respect and fun, to open up the floor to differing opinions with the hope of broadening the influence and popularity of quality web shows even further. This panel should be a creative way to call attention to that while debuting and shining a light on some of the best work being done on the web.”

Festival passes and tickets are available for purchase on fgff.org.

2010 Feel Good Film Festival Announces Full Schedule

THE FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS
TO AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE’S EGYPTIAN THEATRE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 13 THROUGH SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010

“FATHER VS SON” ANNOUNCED AS OPENING NIGHT FEATURE PRESENTATION

“EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP” MAKES WORLD PREMIERE

“LIFTED” GETS A SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW

FULL FESTIVAL LINEUP ANNOUNCED

WINNING FILMMAKERS TO RECEIVE PRIZES TOTALLING $100,000

LOS ANGELES, CA July 13, 2010 – The 2010 Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces it will return to American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood Friday, August 13 through Sunday, August 15. The three-day event once again will feature films aimed at both adult and family audiences that highlight positive themes, happy endings, laughter, and capture the beauty of our world.

The Opening Night presentation of Joe Ballarini’s FATHER VS SON will kick start a program that will feature 64 films, including 14 features (11 narrative and 3 documentaries), 39 shorts, and 11 student films. Along with the films offered throughout the festival, additional activities will include the film festival’s signature “yellow” carpet entrances (in honor of FGFF’s sunflower logo) on Opening Night, celebrations in the Egyptian Theatre courtyard each night of the film festival presented by Roaring Lion, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and TeTeo Tequila, an original screenplay competition, an original score competition, a panel discussion, and the film festival’s signature Closing Night Awards Celebration.

FATHER VS SON will screen as part of the Opening Night Celebration co-hosted by FETE on Friday, August 13. Directed by Joe Ballarini, the comedy follows the difficulties that ensue when a man fresh off a divorce, moves in with his loverlorn son and joins him on the dating scene–only to fall in love with the same mysterious woman as his son. The film stars Josh Dean (Y.P.F.), Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”) and Heather Stephens (“The Forgotten”).

Regarding his film being the Opening Night Celebration feature selection Ballarini said, “FATHER VS SON is a movie that uplifts audiences and leaves them laughing on a cloud. Which is how it feels to be premiering at the epic Egyptian Theatre as part of the Feel Good Film Festival. In such strange, turbulent times, it is a joy to be a part of a festival that offers smiles, light, and good vibes.”

Also screening as part of the Opening Night Celebration will be the short film BUTTERFLY CIRCUS, directed by Joshua Weigel, and featuring Doug Jones (HELLBOY, PAN’S LABRYNTH) and motivational speaker Nick Vujcic, as well as the short film THE MOUSE THAT SOARED, directed by Kyle T. Bell.

Feel Good Film Festival Founder and Co-Director, Kristen Ridgway Flores said, “FATHER VS SON is a laugh-out-loud comedy sure to provide audiences with exactly the kind of movie-going experience we created this film festival for with a wonderful lead-in courtesy of BUTTERFLY CIRCUS and THE MOUSE THAT SOARED. We look forward to giving Joe and his cast a HUGE Celebration for it’s LA debut with an opening at the historic Egyptian Theatre, walking our yellow carpet, and ultimately having loads of fun!”

Brent Florence’s EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP will be making its official World Premiere as the centerpiece of FGFF’s Saturday Celebration on August 14. The comedy follows a team of documentarians as they seek to capture an inside look at the making of a soft- core film. However, they soon become embroiled in an on-set dispute as the filmmakers struggle to make an artistic love story versus the steamy commercial product the studio intended. The film stars real life husband and wife, Bruce Abbott and Kathleen Quinlan, as well as Vincent Young.

As part of the evening, FGFF will also screen a special sneak preview of Lexi Alexander’s LIFTED. The musical drama marks a distinct departure for Alexander following 2008’s PUNISHER: WAR ZONE. The film follows the efforts of a boy to support his family via a singing competition after his soldier father has to leave home to fight in Iraq. The film stars Trace Adkins, Nicki Aycox, Dash Mihok and Ruben Studdard.

Other stars dotting the films in the 2010 FGFF schedule include James Darren, Sally Field, Jorja Fox, Gregory Harrison, Cliff Robertson (ACCIDENTAL ICON: THE REAL GIDGET STORY), Greta Gerwig, Iggy Pop (ART HOUSE), Daniel Baldwin, Orson Bean, Willie Garson, Clint Howard, Craig Sheffer (ASHLEY’S ASHES), Margot Farley, Mitzi Kapture, John Saxon, Tim Thomerson (GOD’S EARS), Anne Hathaway, Leeza Gibbons (10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS), Beth Grant (HERPES BOY), James Hong, Jenna Jameson, Ken Jeong, Josh Meyers, Kristen Ritter, Ian Somerhalder (HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A WOMAN), Tim Allen, Louis C.K., Tommy Davidson, Dana Gould, Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman (I AM COMIC) and Elaine Hendrix (THE CLOGGERS).

The Closing Night ceremonies will feature the presentation of generous award packages totaling over $100,000 worth of prizes from such sponsors as Panavision, Hollywood Rentals, Final Draft, Showbiz Software, New York Film Academy, Film Independent, InkTip.com, Tuff Cut Sound and MEHRNOOSH.

Those awards will go to the Feel Good Film Festival’s Best Feel Good Feature Film, Best Feel Good Short Film, Best Feel Good Student Film, and Audience Awards for Best Feel Good Feature Film and Best Feel Good Short Film.

Additional awards will be presented to the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Ensemble and Best Director from the 2010 lineup.

The winners from the Best Screenplay and Best Original Score competitions will also be announced that evening.

Regarding the announcement of FGFF’s third year, Festival Co-Director America Young says, “We feel in many ways the film festival is becoming the annual, mark-your-calendar event we all envisioned for it three years ago. Our slate of films promise to build on our successes the past two years and once again the Egyptian will be a destination for so many people that look forward to sitting in a movie theatre and watching a film that will make them laugh or uplift them, and ultimately make them feel good.” The Feel Good Film Festival lineup will represent 7 countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, UK, USA and Venezuela.

Festival passes and tickets are available for purchase on fgff.org.

The 2010 Feel Good Film Festival’s films are as follows:

FEATURE LENGTH FILMS (in alphabetical order):

ACCIDENTAL ICON: THE REAL GIDGET STORY (USA/documentary)
Dir: Brian L. Gillogly
Appearances: James Darren, Sally Field, Gregory Harrison, Cliff Robertson
Narration: Jorja Fox

A MI ME GUSTA (Venezuela/narrative)
Dir: Ralph Kinnard
Cast: Diana Aboujian, María Antonieta Ardila, Jonathan Ashford

ART HOUSE (USA/narrative)
Dir: Victor Fanucchi
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Iggy Pop

ASHLEY’S ASHES (USA/narrative)
Dir: Christopher Hutson
Cast: Daniel Baldwin, Orson Bean, Willie Garson, Clint Howard, Craig Sheffer

EAGLES IN THE CHICKEN COOP (USA/narrative)
Dir: Brent Florence
Cast: Bruce Abbott, Kathleen Quinlan, Vincent Young

FATHER VS SON (USA/narrative)
Dir: Joe Ballarini
Cast: Josh Dean, Heather Stephens, Eric Stonestreet

GOD’S EARS (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Michael Worth
Cast: Margot Farley, Mitzi Kapture, John Saxon, Tim Thomerson

HERPES BOY (USA/narrative)
Dir: Nathaniel Atcheson
Cast: Beth Grant

HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A WOMAN (USA/narrative)
Dir: Scott Culver
Cast: James Hong, Jenna Jameson, Josh Meyers, Krysten Ritter, Ian Somerhalder

I AM COMIC (USA/documentary)
Dir: Jordan Brady
Appearances: Louis C.K., Tommy Davidson, Dana Gould, Ritch Shydner

LIFTED (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Lexi Alexander
Cast: Trace Adkins, Dash Mihok, Ruben Studdard

10 MOUNTAINS 10 YEARS (USA/documentary)
Dir: Jennifer Yee
Narration: Anne Hathaway

WORKS IN PROGRESS (USA/narrative)
Dir: Stephen Wallace Pruitt
Cast: Kathryn Batholomew, Christina Blodgett, Greg Brostrom, Ben Jeffrey

WAKIYAKU MONOGATARI: CAST ME IF YOU CAN (Japan/narrative)
Dir: Atsushi Ogata
Cast: Tôru Masuoka, Hiromi Nagasaku

SHORT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

BEAUTIFULLY ESTHER (USA/narrative)
Dir: Ricardo Korda

BUTTERFLY CIRCUS (USA/narrative)
Dir: Joshua Weigel

THE CLOGGERS (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Elaine Hendrix

COLORBLIND (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Joseph Otanez

THE DEVIL’S CANDY (USA/narrative)
Dir: Jennifer Lauer

ELEVATED (USA/narrative)
Dir: Jared Mark

FAIRLY CRIMINAL (USA/narrative)
Dir: America Young

FOOLISHLY SEEKING TRUE LOVE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Jarrett Lee Conaway

GOD OF LOVE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Luke Matheny

HAPPY ENDING (USA/narrative)
Dir: Greg Benson

HECTOR CORP (USA/narrative)
Dir: Gary H. Lee

HELP WANTED (USA/narrative)
Dir: Teo Guardino

HENRY AND SUNNY (Ireland/narrative)
Dir: Fergal Rock

I GOT MAIL (USA/narrative)
Dir: Michelle Meeker

INTO THE UNKNOWN (USA/narrative)
Dir: John Dion

INTREPID NOTHING (USA/narrative)
Dir: America Young

JILLIAN DILLON (USA/narrative)
Dir: Yvette Edery

L.A. ACTORS (USA/narrative)
Dir: Ric Halpern, Justin Wells

LEAGUE OF S.T.E.A.M.: MONKEY BUSINESS (USA/narrative)
Dir: James Lavrakas

LIFE IS… (Canada/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Ryan Knight

THE LIFTER UPPER (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Micah Chambers-Goldberg

LOVESICK FOOL (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Dominic Polcino

MARY ANNE GOES TO THE MARKET (USA/narrative)
Dir: Ethan Cushing

MILK MAN (UK/narrative)
Dir: James Rumsey

THE MOUSE THAT SOARED (USA/narrative)
Dir: Kyle T. Bell

THE MUSIC BOX (Australia/narrative)
Dir: Jennifer & Nicholas Oxley

NICO’S CHALLENGE (USA/documentary)
Dir/Scr: Steve Audette

PAPERBOY (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Mark LaFleur

PENGUINS DON’T FLY (USA/narrative)
Dir: Michael Granberry

STRAWBERRIES (USA/narrative)
Dir: Charles Kaplan

THE SUPER HOLIDAYS (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Kevan Peterson

TEA MASTER (Canada/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Aaron Au

TELEMAFIA (USA/narrative)
Dir: Diane Namm

THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE ME (USA/documentary)
Dir: Jeffrey Vincent

THERE MIGHT BE DRAGONS (USA/narrative)
Dir: Jim Krueger

TIME LINES (Canada/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Suzanne Crocker

UNDERCOVER (USA/narrative)
Dir: Iman K. Zawahry

UP JUMP THE BOOGIE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Estella Chizhik

WORKED FOR ME (Canada/narrative)
Dir: Ken Simpson

STUDENT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY (USA/documentary)
Dir: Dave Baker

CHINESE ANTIQUE (USA/narrative)
Dir: Ryo Shiina, Bassem Wahbi

CINEMAZING (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Jamie Kennedy

CUPID CORP (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Bryan Zhang

EWE AND ME (USA/narrative)
Dir: Lauren Flores

A FISH TALE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Lia Burton

FLYING FOR MICE (USA/narrative)
Dir: Dana Jones, Joel Reaves

MIST FORTUNE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Michael Kontaxis

QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN ARC RIDER (Australia/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Steve Anthopoulos

SEASONS (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Philip Gerber

WARREN BUDD AND HIS PROPELLER PLANE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr: Jackson Adams

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION (in alphabetical order):

AEROBIC HEIRESS
Writer: Selah Victor and Daireen Galeano

ARTHUR’S SALVATION
Writer: Karen Webb

AVENGER
Writer: Leslie Goodyear

CHRISTMAS WISHES
Writer: Heidi Anderson Swan

HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS
Writer: Jeff Hare

THE HIGHWAY ROBBERIES
Writer: Arnold Chan

LONDON FOG
Writer: Tasha Hardy

SHINOLA
Writer: Martin Garner

SINGING IN SHORTHAND
Writer: Wayne Baltz and Terry Baltz

ORIGINAL SCORE COMPETITION (in alphabetical order):

THE CROSSES
Composer: Bill Bentley

LONG AWAITED
Composer: Patrick Kirst

NANNY BOARDING
Composer: Flash Red

OUT HERE IN THE FIELDS
Composer: Rick Salter and Will Ryan

SNEAKERS AND SOUL
Composer: Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn

WAKIYAKU MONOGATARI: CAST ME IF YOU CAN
Composer: Jessica De Rooij

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS
Composer: Fabrio Acri

2009 Feel Good Film Festival Announces Winners

THE 2009 FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

“DANCE OF THE DRAGON” RECEIVES THE JURY PRIZE

FOR BEST FEEL GOOD FEATURE

“LUCY: A PERIOD PIECE” IS NAMED

BEST FEEL GOOD SHORT FILM

AND

AUDIENCE AWARDS GO TO

“ROCK SLYDE” FOR FEEL GOOD FEATURE

AND “GRANDE DRIP” FOR FEEL GOOD SHORT

LOS ANGELES, CA August 10, 2009 – The Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces the award winners for its sophomore outing with Max Mannix’s and John Radel’s DANCE OF THE DRAGON taking home the Panavision Grand Jury Prize for Best Feel Good Feature Film and Julie Sagalowsky’s LUCY: A PERIOD PIECE named as the winner of the SLX Rentals & Sales Grand Jury Prize for Best Feel Good Short Film.

Hollywood Rentals Audience Awards went to Chris Dowling’s ROCK SLYDE for Feel Good Feature and Angelo Salvatore Restaino’s GRANDE DRIP for Feel Good Short. The Feel Good Award for Best Student Film was presented to Kunal Savkur for HAPPY MAN’S PANTS and Best Feel Good Webisode went to Brinton Bryan’s PINK EYE. Cass Warner’s documentary THE BROTHERS WARNER received a Special Mention in the Feel Good Feature category.

UNIVERSAL SIGNS took the two acting categories with Anthony Natale and Sabrina Lloyd named as Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, and SUMMERHOOD also snagged two honors, with Jacob Medjuck named Best Director and Ewan Dickson cited for Best Production Design. The Panther Award for Best Cinematography went to John Radel for his work on DANCE OF THE DRAGON.

Travis Mann’s and Michael Toay’s (with story by David White) “Godspeed” won the Feel Good Screenplay Competition and Skyebat (Stephanie Batailler) won the Feel Good Original Song Competition for the song, “Step on the Moon.”

Graphic Designer June Tan, who was representing DANCE OF THE DRAGON at the film festival was presented with a prize package of more than $70,000 ($60,000 in-kind & 4 week camera rental from Panavision, $3000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals, $3000 in-kind from SLX Rentals & Sales, $2000 in-kind from ISS Props, $1500 in-kind from Fujifilm, $500 in-kind from IndieRentals, 1 copy of Final Draft Version 8 and 1 copy of Showbiz Budgeting as the winner of the Best Feel Good Feature Length Film.

Sagalowsky received a prize package of more than $4500 ($1500 in-kind from SLX Rentals & Sales, $1000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals, ISS Props and Fujifilm, 1 copy of Final Draft version 8 and 1 copy of Showbiz Budgeting for winning the Best Feel Good Short Film.

Dowling received $1000 in-kind from Hollywood Rentals, as well as 1 copy each of Final Draft Version 8 and Showbiz Budgeting for the Feature Film Audience Award and Restaino took home Final Draft Version 8 and Showbiz Budgeting as well.

For his Best Feel Good Student Film honor, Savkur received a one week scholarship at the New York Film Academy, $800 in-kind from SLX Rentals and Sales and 1 copy of Final Draft Version 8. Bryan also received copies of Final Draft version 8 and Showbiz Budgeting for his Best Webisode award.

$3000 in-kind from SLX Rentals & Sales was given to Radal along with his Panther Award for Best Feel Good Cinematography; the Best Actor and Best Actress nods came with a 1 year membership to Film Independent to go along with the Final Draft version 8 and Showbiz Producer and Showbiz Film and TV Contracts software, along with a demo reel shot by FINT Films; and Medjuck’s Best Directing nod included Showbiz Budgeting and Showbiz Scheduling, as well as a 1 week scholarship to New York Film Academy. The Best Production Design award included $500 in-kind for ISS Studio props, a 3- hour design consultation by MEHRNOOSH, and a 1-year membership to Film Independent.

Memberships to Film Independent and InkTip.com as well as the Final Draft and Showbiz Software were part of the package presented for the Best Feel Good Screenplay and 1 day of studio recording with an engineer at Tuff Cut Sound was awarded for the Best Feel Good Original Song.

Kristen Ridgway Flores, FGFF Founder and Co-Director, said, “The second year of the Feel Good Film Festival was a huge and happy leap forward. Our Opening Night Gala presentation of ROCK SLYDE was sold out with a standing-room-only crowd and each screening block, panel, and musical performance throughout the weekend had a solid attendance. I was thrilled to celebrate Ed Asner and our jury and audience award-winning projects this year. They are an inspiration! The positive feedback we have received again this year makes me confident there is a need for the festival’s counter-programming and I could not feel more thrilled at what we’ve accomplished in just our second year.”

The festival featured 60 films, including 16 features, 34 shorts, and 10 student films, as well as 2 webisodes. Along with the films offered throughout the festival, highlights included Carlos Mencia serving as host for the Opening Night Gala; a filmmaker panel exploring the limits of language and content in feel good entertainment and films featuring Emmy winning writer Rick Overton, Frank Conniff (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Lisa Ann Walter (DRILLBIT TAYLOR), Jacob Medjuck (SUMMERHOOD) and David Sleven (Manager, Comedy Development, FOX Broadcasting); musical performances in the Egyptian Theater Courtyard; and an outdoor bazaar highlighted by “green” and health-oriented vendors.

The weekend concluded Sunday evening with a Closing Night Awards Gala hosted by Brian Krause (“Charmed”) featuring a Tribute to film and television legend, Ed Asner. Asner could not attend, but sent an acceptance video. The ceremony also included the screening of a music video of the song “Til My Voice is Gone” by The Old Ceremony that starred Asner and Eileen Ryan. The award winners all received the distinctive Feel Good Film Can w Sunflower awards designed by Lauren Bicknell and Scott Thewes with bases by Corkologie.

One of the highlights of the award ceremony occurred when Anthony Natale, who is deaf, accepted his Best Feel Good Actor award for UNIVERSAL SIGNS. As part of his acceptance speech, which he signed and was translated for the audience, Natale “taught” everyone how to say “feel good” in sign language.

JURY AWARDS:

BEST FEEL GOOD FEATURE FILM: DANCE OF THE DRAGON
Dir:        Max Mannix and John Radel
Exec. Prod:    Pierre Andurand, Gary Hamilton, Max Mannix, John Radel, Ying Ye
Prod:         Robin Leong
Cast:        Hyuk Jang, Fann Wong, Jason Scott Lee

SPECIAL MENTION: THE BROTHERS WARNER
Dir:        Cass Warner

BEST FEEL GOOD SHORT FILM: LUCY: A PERIOD PIECE
Dir:        Julie Sagalowsky
Prod:        Josh Feldman, Julie Sagalowsky

BEST FEEL GOOD STUDENT FILM: HAPPY MAN’S PANTS
Dir:        Kunal Savkur
Prod:        Zach Guglin, Kunal Savkur, Stephanie Sorenson

BEST FEEL GOOD WEBISODE: PINK EYE
Dir:        Brinton Bryan
Prod:        Ryan Alosio, Brinton Bryan, Julie Gonzalo

BEST FEEL GOOD DIRECTOR: Jacob Medjuck (for SUMMERHOOD)

BEST FEEL GOOD ACTOR: Anthony Natale (for UNIVERSAL SIGNS)

BEST FEEL GOOD ACTRESS: Sabrina Lloyd (for UNIVERSAL SIGNS)

BEST FEEL GOOD CINEMATOGRAPHY (PANTHER AWARD): John Radel (for DANCE OF THE DRAGON)

BEST FEEL GOOD PRODUCTION DESIGN: Ewan Dickson (for SUMMERHOOD)

FEEL GOOD ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY AWARD: “Godspeed”
Writer:        Travis Mann, Michael Toay (Story by David White)

FEEL GOOD ORIGINAL SONG AWARD: “Step on the Moon”
Music & Lyrics:    Skyebat (Stephanie Batailler)

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

FEEL GOOD FEATURE: ROCK SLYDE
Dir:        Chris Dowling
Exec Prod:    Ed Ojdana, JB Orecchia, Dolores Robinson, Patrick Warburton
Prod:        Milan Chakraborty, Chris Dowling, Jason Manns, Will Wallace,  Josh Young
Cast:        Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Elaine Hendrix, Rena Sofer

FEEL GOOD SHORT: GRANDE DRIP
Dir:        Angelo Salvatore Restaino
Exec. Prod:    Hugo Perez, Jeff Silverman
Prod:        Ryan Cheevers, Emily Moss, Greg Wilson

2009 FGFF JURY MEMBERS

FEATURE FILM JURY includes:

Julia Benaroya
Julia Benaroya is currently in International Publicity at Paramount Vantage where she has worked on such titles as REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, AMERICAN TEEN and LAST CHANCE HARVEY. She joined Paramount in 2008 after having worked in feature production at both Twentieth Century Fox and Fox Atomic. Julia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from Emerson College, Boston, MA.

Orian Williams
In 2004 Producer Orian Williams secured the rights to a biography based on the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the band Joy Division.  CONTROL had its world premiere in Cannes 2007 opening the Director’s Fortnight and came away with 3 awards including Best European Film and received 4 BAFTA nominations including one win for writer.   Orian recently completed a documentary based on Jack Kerouac’s novel The Big Sur, called  ONE FAST MOVE OR I’M GONE: Kerouac’s Big Sur, featuring Tom Waits, S. E. Hinton, Patti Smith, Sam Shepard and Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie).  Next year Orian will work with famed director Wim Wenders and will also begin production on a film about JEFF BUCKLEY.  Orian was honored as one of Variety’s Top Ten Producers of the Year in 2007.

Robert Yu
Robert Yu is currently a film consultant specializing in distribution.  Most recently, Mr. Yu was the Vice President of Acquisitions for PorchLight Entertainment overseeing all aspects of acquisitions and development.  Prior, Mr. Yu was the Head of West Coast Operations for CinemaVault Releasing International, supervising the Los Angeles office.  Previously Mr. Yu was the Vice President of the entertainment law firm / producer’s representative, Harris Tulchin & Associates / Tulchin Entertainment. Robert Yu started his career at Paramount Classics and Alliance Atlantis in Marketing and International Sales respectively.

SHORT FILM JURY includes:

Danielle Reardon
Danielle Reardon recently joined 100% Womon (a partner of Overbrook Entertainment) which produced HUMAN CONTRACT and HAWTHORNE, currently airing on TNT. Prior to 100% Womon she worked at the US branch of the Japanese company, Kadokawa Pictures which produced such titles as ONE MISSED CALL and the Showtime television series, MASTERS OF HORROR. Danielle graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Tuft University, Boston, MA.

Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly moved out to Los Angeles shortly after graduating from the
University of Texas at Austin, and has worked for Disney, Sony Pictures, The Jim Henson Company. After working in development as a story editor and director of development, he entered the wide world of blogging where he currently writes for sites like Cinematical, io9, Joystiq, /Film, Film School Rejects, Los Anjealous, LAist, and others. There’s a constant supply of pop culture being dripped into his veins these days, and he’s always looking for a new fix.

Bill Chott
Bill Chott is a Feel-Good Guy. He’ll be appearing soon in THE RUM DIARY with Johnny Depp.  He is one of the stars of DISNEY’S WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE, and he was Thomas in the feel-good hit THE RINGER.  Bill teaches and coaches improv in LA and his home town of St. Louis, where he teaches improv to at-risk kids and adults.  He brings a fun atmosphere to events, teaches improv to Global Messengers of the Special Olympics and performs at dozens of charity events each year.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY JURY includes:

Bradley Bredeweg
Brad Bredeweg and his writing/producing partner Peter Paige are currently writing REPEAT AFTER ME for Single Cell Pictures alongside producers Sandy Stern, Michael Stipe (BEING JOHN MALCOVICH, SAVED) and Gina Resnick(RESERVATION ROAD).  Bredeweg and Paige are also the Creators and Co-Executive Producers of FLY GIRLS, a new docu-reality series for The CW. Brad is the co-writer of LOVE SHACK for ABC Family as well as THE KATIE MAY SHOW, a ` driven scripted drama pilot for E!.  Bredeweg is a producer of the film SEX CRIME PANIC, based on the award-winning book by Neil Miller, directed by Peter Paige. Finally, Bredeweg is the Writer and Producer of ALYX, a pilot for ABC Studios, alongside Executive Producers Madonna, Guy Oseary, and Melissa Rosenberg.  Bredeweg (and Paige) are repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, and lawyer Karl Austen.

Robert Knott
Robert is a third generation actor.  His grandparents had a traveling tent show theater that followed the wheat harvest.  When the show closed his family made camp in Oklahoma where Robert was born and raised by actors, musicians and storytellers.  Prior to acting and writing, Robert spent his early years working across the globe on oil rigs.  As an actor Robert most recently starred as the troubled waterman in SWIMMERS with two time Tony Winner, Cherry Jones.  SWIMMERS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Seattle International Film Festival.  Robert also starred along with APPALOOSA’S Tom Bower in Robert M. Young’s HUMAN ERROR, a comedy based on Richard Dresser’s play that also premiered at Sundance.  Robert’s been working in theater, film and television for over 30 years.  His film credits include: POLLOCK, directed by Ed Harris, Stephen Frears’ HIGH LOW COUNTRY with Billy Crudup, STORM with Martin Sheen, BUFFALO SOLDIERS with Danny Glover and Walter Hill’s, WILD BILL with Diane Lane and Jeff Bridges just to name a few.  Robert had the pleasure of working on stage ‘also’ with Tom Bower in Harold Pinter’s THE CARTACKER.  As a writer Robert has written a diversity of scripts, depicting the stories of his family’s wayfaring past to stage plays about oil riggers. Robert wrote and produced APPALOOSA with Ed Harris.  Harris directed, Knott directed second unit.

Sarah Mohazzebi
Sara Mohazzebi is an international journalist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles.  A graduate of the American Film Institute, Sara is a frequent contributing writer for Emirates Woman Magazine, the largest monthly magazine in the Middle East, and covers entertainment and human interest subjects.  Prior to her career in writing, Sara worked in development for Director Penny Marshall and as consultant for the Dubai International Film Festival.
ORIGINAL SONG JURY includes:

Richard Kraft
Richard Kraft is the founder of Kraft-Engel Management, one of the world’s leading agencies specializing in representing film and theatre composers. Together with his partner, Laura Engel, they represent such clients as John Barry, Christophe Beck, Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Jon Brion,  Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Marvin Hamlisch,  Alan Menken, David Newman, John Ottman, John Powell, Trevor Rabin, Graeme Revell, Marc Shaiman, Gabriel Yared and Aaron Zigman.

Fay Aiyana
Raised in South Carolina, Fay gave her first vocal performance at the young age of three. Having a voice described as sultry, depth-full and packed with heart, it is no surprise that Fay has accomplished a great deal since her move to LA in 2002.  In no time, she was the assistant music editor for LAS VEGAS and NUMBERS.  Her songs have been featured on hit films and television shows such as 7TH HEAVEN, WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB and TRULE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET.  Currently, Fay spends most of her time song-writing and working as a full-time music editor on the hit show THE CLEANER starring Benjamin Bratt and Whoopi Goldberg.

Ludek Drizhal
Ludek is currently completing the score for the film ALABAMA MOON directed by Tim McCanlies. He has worked on a number of Starz Productions as well as independent films, such as BADLAND directed by Francesco Lucente and SIMON SAYS directed by Bill Dear.   He recently finished work on the European production U PANA BOGA ZA MIEDZA (God’s Little Village) with acclaimed Polish director Jacek Bromski. Ludek graduated with a Masters of Music from the USC Thornton School of Music where he also taught for six years.

Feel Good Film Festival Announces Host, Panel, Music

THE FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
CARLOS MENCIA AS OPENING NIGHT GALA HOST

FESTIVAL ALSO ANNOUNCES AWARD NOMINATIONS

FILMMAKER PANEL PARTICIPANTS

MUSICAL PERFORMERS

LOS ANGELES, CA August 4, 2009 – The 2009 Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces that Carlos Mencia will serve as the host for the Opening Night Gala festivities at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday, August 7 prior to the presentation of Chris Dowling’s ROCK SLYDE.

The star of Comedy Central’s “Mind of Mencia” will entertain and start the proceedings by introducing the film and filmmakers at the Gala event.

The Feel Good Film Festival also announces the nominees for the new award categories to be presented at the film festival’s award ceremony on Sunday, August 9. The nominees for those award categories are as follows:

BEST ACTOR
Michael Flynn from FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Barry Hilton from FINDING LENNY
Joel McCary From JESUS PEOPLE
Anthony Natale from UNIVERSAL SIGNS
Dustin Seavey from TRUE BEAUTY THIS NIGHT
Patrick Warburton from ROCK SLYDE

BEST ACTRESS
Elaine Hendrix from ROCK SLYDE
Patrizia Hernandez from LOVE SIMPLE
Sabrina Lloyd from UNIVERSAL SIGNS
Edi Patterson from JESUS PEOPLE
Sarah Paulson from WHOSE DOG IS IT ANYWAY?
Antoinette Valente from KATE WAKES

BEST DIRECTOR
Ann Calamia from UNIVERSAL SIGNS
Cindy Chupack from WHOSE DOG IS IT ANYWAY?
Chris Dowling from ROCK SLYDE
Jeff Hare from BITTER/SWEET
Jacob Medjuck from SUMMERHOOD
Michael Spence from FRIENDS FOR LIFE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
Cale Finot from HIS GOOD WILL
James Liston from SUMMERHOOD
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom from BITTER/SWEET
John Radel from DANCE OF THE DRAGON
Jake Ures from THAT’S MAGIC!
Daniel Watchulonis from UNIVERSAL SIGNS

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Lacey Anzelc and Amy Maier GRANDE DRIP
Ewen Dickson from SUMMERHOOD
Carlos Espinoza from ROCK SLYDE
Bill Johnson from THAT’S MAGIC!
Meghan Rogers from DANDELION DHARMA
Jenna Sanders from CHARLIE THISTLE

FGFF also announces details for the Feel Good Filmmaker panel on Saturday, August 8 at 10:30AM in the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian. The subject of the panel is “Exploring the Limits of Feeling Good at the Movies,” with topics including the issues of current boundaries of language and racy content in comedies, as well as the responsibility of “truth in advertising” for films marketed to age groups the films are arguably inappropriate for.

Panelists will include actor, comedian, and Emmy Award winning comedy writer Rick Overton, Andy Dick (ROCK SLYDE), Frank Conniff (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Jacob Medjuck (director, SUMMERHOOD), and David Sleven, (Manager, Comedy Development, FOX Broadcasting). The panel will be moderated by John Wildman (Director of Press & Public Relations, FGFF and Head of PR, American Film Institute). Admission for the general public, space permitting, is $10.00.

Musical performers on the Audiorents Feel Good stage in the Egyptian Theatre Courtyard will range from rock to pop to bluegrass featuring several performers with songs nominated for Best Feel Good Song honors at the festival this year.

Performers include: Blonde Jersey, Poorgood, Land of Deborah, The Mysterious Ticking Sound, MeryKid, Sons of Jack, Kingsley, Doron Diamond, Ballroom Madness, Babylon Saints, Skyebat, Lee Whittaker, Jason Manns, ModelK, Freddy & Francine, and Sarah Sharp. Also performing will be the Goddess A Go‐Go dance troupe and Improv performers, Woodshop Improv.

The 2009 Feel Good Film Festival Announces Full Schedule

THE FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS
TO EGYPTIAN THEATRE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 THROUGH SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009

ROCK SLYDE ANNOUNCED AS OPENING NIGHT GALA PRESENTATION

FULL FESTIVAL LINEUP ANNOUNCED

ED ASNER WILL BE SUBJECT OF TRIBUTE

LOS ANGELES, CA July 17, 2009 – The 2009 Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces it will return to the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood Friday, August 7 through Sunday, August 9. The three-day event once again will feature films aimed at both adult and family audiences that highlight positive themes, happy endings, make audiences laugh, and capture the beauty of our world.

The Opening Night Gala presentation of Chris Dowling’s ROCK SLYDE will kick start a program that will feature 60 films, including 16 features, 34 shorts, and 10 student films as well as 2 webisodes. Along with the films offered throughout the festival, additional activities will include the film festival’s signature “yellow” carpet entrances (in honor of FGFF’s sunflower logo), live musical performances in the Egyptian Theatre courtyard presented by Audiorents, an original screenplay competition, an original song competition, a panel discussion, and a Closing Night Awards Gala, hosted by Brian Krause (“Charmed”) highlighted by a Tribute to film and television legend, Ed Asner.

ROCK SLYDE will screen as the Opening Night Gala feature film presentation on Friday, August 7. Written and directed by Chris Dowling, the film stars Patrick Warburton as an eccentric private detective balancing an office building turf war with a religious cult leader played by Andy Dick and a bizarre case involving a mysterious and beautiful woman (Rena Sofer). The film also stars Elaine Hendrix, with a number of cameo appearances including Jason Alexander, Eric Roberts, Lea Thompson and Tom Bergeron. The screening will mark the film’s Los Angeles Premiere with Warburton, Dick and Alexander all confirmed to attend and participate with the director, Dowling in a Q&A at the conclusion of the screening.

Also screening as part of the Opening Night Gala will be the short films FURTISSIMO, directed by Jacob Cementina, and TRUE BEAUTY THIS NIGHT, written and directed by Peter Besson.

Dowling expressed his happiness that ROCK SLYDE will enjoy its L.A. premiere as the FGFF Opening Night Gala, saying “Our cast and crew are thrilled to be having our West Coast premiere at the opening night of the Feel Good Film Festival.  We feel the FGFF represents an aspect of independent filmmaking that is largely forgotten – having fun and making people laugh.  We look forward to screening at the historic Egyptian theatre, walking the yellow carpet and having some fun.”

In addition to the Closing Night Tribute honoring Ed Asner, the Gala ceremonies will include the presentation of filmmaker awards. The awards will include prizes with a total value of $7750 ($3000 in goods and services from SLX Rentals and Sales, $3000 in goods and services from Hollywood Rentals, $1500 in film stock from Fuji Film, and a copy of Final Draft Version 8) for the winner of the Best Feel Good Feature Length Film and $3750 ($1500 in goods and services from SLX Rentals and Sales, $1000 in goods and services from Hollywood Rentals, $1000 in film stock from Fuji Film, and a copy of Final Draft Version 8) for the winner of the Best Feel Good Short Film.

In addition, prizes that total $1250 ($1000 in goods and services from Hollywood Rentals and a copy of Final Draft Version 8) will be given to the Audience Award winner for Best Feel Good Feature Film, and $250 (a copy of Final Draft Version 8) will go to the Audience Award for Best Feel Good Short Film.

The Panther Award for Best Cinematography brings with it $3000 in goods and services from SLX Rentals and Sales, the Best Feel Good Screenplay takes a prize worth $1000 (an InkTip online membership, a copy of Final Draft Version 8 and a $500 unrestricted cash prize from the Feel Good Film Festival), Best Original Song receives $500 in unrestricted cash from the Feel Good Film Festival), and the winner of the Feel Good Student Film category will enjoy $800 in goods and services from SLX Rentals and Sales as well as a one week complimentary tuition package at the New York Film Academy.

This year will also mark the addition of an award presented to the brand new Feel Good Webisode category,as well as honors to be announced for Best Art Direction, Best Directing, Best Actress and Best Actor.

Regarding the announcement of FGFF’s second year, Festival Founder and Co-Director Kristen Ridgway says, “The second year of the film festival promises to build on the success and fun all of us enjoyed as we launched FGFF last year. As much as we (obviously) had hoped to have a successful film festival, we were all blown away by the overwhelming turnout and response by the filmmakers and fans alike to our “happy” counter-programming. And ROCK SLYDE, with priceless performances by both Patrick Warburton and Andy Dick, could not be a better choice to start the festival with a bang and a lot of laughs.”
FGFF Co-Director America Young agreed and emphasized the addition of the webisodes section as well as a new “After Hours: Feel Good Enlightened double feature on Friday night as evidence of the growth of the programming this year saying, “Using the concept of ‘feel good’ films or entertainment as a leaping off point, rather than a constraint has been a central focus in our second year. We’re excited by the opportunity to not simply entertain, but to also explore and expand the definition with our audiences”.

FGFF will also screen the winning entry of an online competition co-sponsored by the festival on Indieflix.com.  That film will be chosen from a lineup including Marc Havener’s AND WHAT REMAINS, Marin Rosete’s BASKET BRONX, Patrick Taggart’s CHARLIE APPLEBEE, Jeremy Provost’s DAYS OF BEING WRINKLE FREE, Maurice Moore’s THE SAVIOR, Matt Sklar’s STAYING GOLD: LOVE, SEX AND HAPPINESS IN OUR GOLDEN YEARS, and Conor Britain’s YOU WIN SOME YOU LOSE SOME.

The Feel Good Film Festival lineup will represent nine countries, including the U.S, U.K., Thailand, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, Ireland, Netherlands and Canada.

Festival passes and tickets are available for purchase on fgff.org.

The Feel Good Film Festival’s films are as follows:

FEATURE LENGTH FILMS (in alphabetical order):

ALWAYS WILL (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Michael Sammaciccia
Cast:        Andrew Baglini, Noelle Meixell, Mark Schroeder

BITTER/SWEET (Thailand/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Jeff Hare
Cast:        Kip Pardue, James Brolin, Laura Sorenson, Napakpapha  Nakprasitte

THE BROTHERS WARNER (USA/documentary)
Dir:        Cass Warner
Subjects:    Debbie Reynolds, Denis Hopper, Angie Dickinson

DANCE OF THE DRAGON (Singapore/narrative)
Dir:        Max Mannix, John Radel
Cast:        Hyuk Jang, Fann Wong, Jason Scott Lee

FINDING LENNY (South Africa/narrative)
Dir:        Neal Sundstrom
Cast:        Barry Hilton, Russel Savadier

FRIENDS FOR LIFE (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Michael Spence
Cast:        Michael Flynn, Jimmy Chunga, Tayva Patch

JESUS PEOPLE (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Jason Naumann
Cast:        Wendi McLendon-Covey, Laura Silverman, Mindy Sterling, Tim  Bagley, Jennifer Elise Cox

LILY (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Hiroshi Nakajima
Cast:        Josh Long, Renevva Jensen, John Bolen

LOVE SIMPLE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Mark von Sternberg
Cast:        Francisco Solorzano, Patrizia Hernandez

PAPER OR PLASTIC (USA/documentary)
Dir:        Alex D. da Silva, Justine Jacob

ROCK SLYDE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Chris Dowling
Cast:        Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Rena Sofer, Elaine Hendrix, Jamie Alexander, Jason Alexander, Eric Roberts, Tom Bergeron, Lea Thompson

SHOOTING BEAUTY (USA/documentary)
Dir:        George Kachadorian

SOMETHING UNKNOWN (Netherlands/documentary)
Dir:        Renee Scheltema

SUMMERHOOD (Canada/narrative)
Dir:        Jacob Madjuck, Tony Dean Smith
Cast:        Jacob Medjuck, Raquel Alessi, Joe Fleherty, (narration by) John  Cusack

UNIVERSAL SIGNS (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Ann Calamia
Cast:        Anthony Natale, Sabrina Lloyd, Lupe Ontiveros, Margot Kidder, Robert Picardo

2012 – WE’RE ALREADY IN IT (UK & USA/documentary)
Dir:        Patty Greer

SHORT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

A SUMMER RAIN (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Ela Thier

BE GOOD (UK/narrative)
Dir:        Barney Cokeliss

BILLY (Australia/narrative)
Dir:        Matthew Graham

BILLY & THE HURRICANE (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Rocky Benoit

CHARLIE THISTLE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Bragi Schut

CRAVINGS (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Jane Sablow

DANDELION DHARMA (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Veronica DiPippo

DANZAK (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Gabiel Yepes

DUCK LOVES TESCACOIL (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Tyler J. Kupferer

FURTISSIMO (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Jacob Cementina

GRANDE DRIP (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Angelo Restaino

HIS GOOD WILL (Canada & USA/narrative)
Dir:        Cayman Grant

ICE CREAM (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Dawn Asher, Alex Beh

KATE WAKES (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Jasmine Kosovic

LAUGHTER(RX): NO HARMFUL SIDE EFFECTS (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Chelsey D’Arrigo, Brandi Kosloy, Nani Dickinson, Charlie Vaughn

THE LAUNDRY (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Alex Beh

THE LITTLE CEO (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Sari Karplus

LUCY A PERIOD PIECE (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Julie Sagalowsky

MAN WITH A GUITAR (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Ryan Falkner

MUGGING (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Jason Benesh

RIMSHOT (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Kirk Diedrich

THE ROMANTIC FOIBLES (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Canyon Prince

SCENIC ROUTE (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Jonathan Fredrick

SILENT TREATMENT (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Jonathan Rothell

SLICE OF PIE (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Tim Reischauer

SWEETENER (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Paul Preston

TAH DAH (Canada/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Stacey Chomiak

THAT’S MAGIC! (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Brandon McCormick

TRUE BEAUTY THIS NIGHT (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Peter Besson

WEATHERED (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Matt Barber, Matt Webb

WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON (Ireland/narrative)
Dir:        Declan Cassidy

WHEN I GROW UP (USA/narrative)
Dir:        Michelle Meeker

WHOSE DOG IS IT ANYWAY? (USA/narrative)
Dir/Scr:    Cindy Chupack

STUDENT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

FOR ALL MANKIND
Dir:        Dan Clifton

GRACE
Dir/Scr:    Natalie Williams

HAPPY MAN’S PANTS
Dir:        Kunal Savkur

LOVE LESSONS FOR MILES
Dir/Scr:    Matthew Morgenthaler

THE MASTERSONS
Dir:        Dana Jones

OVER THE FARM
Dir:        Zander Hartung

PRETTY UGLY
Dir:         Abbey Paccia

STRIKE (Australia)
Dir:        Jenna Dunkley

THE WORLD WITHIN UPS AND DOWNS
Dir:        Jason Gerber

WOW! WHAT A GREAT QUESTION
Dir/Scr:    Wesley Ruby

WEBISODES (in alphabetical order):

CATHERINE AND ANNIE
Dir:        America Young

PINK EYE
Dir:        Brinton Bryan

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION (in alphabetical order):

CRAYON NETWORK
Writer:        Debrah Neal

GODSPEED
Writer:        Travis Mann, David White, Michael Toay

LA JAPONAISE (CHRISTMAS CAKE)
Writer:        Karen Webb

NIGHTINGALE
Writer:        Andrew Arneson

9 GREYHOUNDS
Writer:        Miguel Rionda

PONYTAIL
Writer:        Jason Ginsburg

ORIGINAL SONG COMPETITION (in alphabetical order):

Chris and Steve
Music & Lyrics:    Freddy & Francine

Dandelion Dharma
Music & Lyrics:    Marc Aramian, James Geralden, Veronica DiPeppo

Groupidity
Music & Lyrics:    Merykid

Lucky Loser
Music & Lyrics:    Stephen Hampar

Planetarium
Music & Lyrics:    Stephanie Batailler, Skyebat

Potluck
Music & Lyrics:    Land of Deborah

The Way to Dance
Music & Lyrics:    Matt Daniels

You’re Not Listening
Music & Lyrics:    Rob Giles

Mirror
Music & Lyrics:    Zoe Myers