IFFLA Announces Seminars/Jury

7TH ANNUAL INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES (IFFLA)
AND PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS
ANNOUNCE

“IN PRIME TIME: HOLLYWOOD’S SPOTLIGHT ON INDIA” SEMINARS

IFFLA RHYTHM VILLAGE PERFORMANCES

IFFLA ALSO ANNOUNCES THE FESTIVAL’S JURORS

SPECIAL SCREENING OF BIG PICTURES’ “SIKANDAR”

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 7, 2009 – The 7th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and major sponsor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP announce “In Prime Time: Hollywood’s Spotlight on India” seminars to take place in conjunction with the film festival at the Creative Artists Agency on Friday, April 24.

IFFLA also announces the lineup of jurors for the 2009 edition of the popular festival which runs April 21-26 at ArcLight Hollywood. Members include production executive, Paul Federbush; veteran independent filmmaker Rana Joy Glickman; NPR/KCRW journalist Matt Holzman; Emmy-winning director Richard Shepard; screenwriter Gill Dennis; Academy-Award® winning documentary filmmaker Mark Jonathan Harris; IDA Executive Director Michael Lumpkin; Raskin Peter Rubin & Simon Managing Director David Tenzer; actor Rupak Ginn; SHORTS INTERNATIONAL’s Linda “O.” Olszewski; and Sundance and Los Angeles Film Festival programmer Hebe Tabachnik.

The addition of a special screening of Big Pictures’ dramatic thriller SIKANDAR has been announced for the 2009 IFFLA film schedule. Written and directed by Piyush Jha (KING OF BOLLYWOOD, CHALO AMERICA), the film follows the events that occur after an innocent boy in Kashmir becomes embroiled in a power struggle between militant groups when he finds a gun on his way home from school. The film stars Parzaan Dastur, Madhavan, Sanjay Suri, Ayesha Kapoor and Arunoday Singh.

Held in the Ray Kurtzman Theater at CAA (2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles) on Friday, April 24 from 2:30PM – 5:30PM, IFFLA and PricewaterhouseCoopers will offer two separate panels focusing on Indian entertainment and filmmaking through the lens of the business community.

After opening comments by David Tenzer and remarks regarding the state of the Indian entertainment industry by Marcel Fenez, managing partner, global entertainment & media practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Smita Jha, director from the India entertainment and media practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, attendees will have the opportunity to hear insightful discussions with executives from Disney, Fox, Hyde Park Entertainment, Film Independent, NFDC, Nuclear Mango Studios and Phat Phish – all of whom have produced or are in production for Indian-themed films for the international market with an Indian cast. Also participating in the panel discussions will be IFFLA honoree and Bollywood legend Anil Kapoor.

The panel topics are as follows:

PRODUCING INDIAN CONTENT FOR THE INDIAN AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET

MODERATOR:      Mike Goodridge, US Editor, Screen International

PANELISTS:

Ashok Amritraj, Chief Executive Officer, Hyde Park Entertainment                                                                                                            Jill Gwen, Chief Financial Officer, Fox Searchlight
Anil Kapoor, Actor (Slumdog Millionaire), Anil Kapoor Productions
Jason Reed, Executive Vice President, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production

FILM FINANCING: CO-PRODUCTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES

MODERATOR:      Josh Welsh, Director of Talent Development, Film Independent

PANELISTS:

Karim Ahmad, Programming Manager, Independent Television Service (ITVS)
Sanjay Bhattacharjee, CEO Motion Picture Division, Phat Phish
Nina Gupta, Managing Director, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC)
Govind Menon, Co-President/Nuclear Mango Studios, Founder/Split Image Pictures

The panels will follow the presentation of the IFFLA Industry Leadership Awards to Richard Fox and Amit Khanna which takes place the day prior on Thursday, April 23 (as previously announced). Fox is the Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. International and heads up all of Warner Bros.’ non-US initiatives in all phases of the entertainment industry. Khanna is the Chairman of Reliance BIG Entertainment, the media arm of the $75 billion Ambani Group that recently completed its purchase of Dreamworks and announced that it would spend $1 billion on the Indian film and entertainment business. Presenting the awards will be Walt Disney International Chairman Andy Bird and Deborah Bothun, entertainment media and communications advisory leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The award presentation will be made at the IFFLA Industry Leadership Award Luncheon at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. The event will also include a musical performance by Gingger Shankar.

Christina Marouda, IFFLA Festival Director said, “These seminars and the IFFLA Industry Leadership Awards are major business events for this festival which has always placed an emphasis on strengthening the bonds between the creative side of the Indian and Hollywood entertainment and film community with the business interests that can further their art.”

IFFLA’s popular Rhythm Village, presented by Rukus Avenue, will feature free public outdoor entertainment at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas courtyard April 22 – 25. Among the scheduled performances by the entertaining and eclectic talent assembled are the South Asian acapella group Andaaz; performing duo The Dyad; “conscious” music artist Hoodini; the desi outfit O.C.P.; IFFLA alumni and sketch performer Rasika Mathur; experimental fusion group, The Rhetoricalz; and singer songwriter and multi-instramentalist Tasneem Nanji.

Tickets are on sale now at ArcLight Hollywood Cinema’s box office located at 6360 W. Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, CA and online at http://www.arclightcinemas.com.

For information on how to purchase tickets for the IFFLA Leadership Awards Luncheon and the IFFLA Seminars at CAA, visit http://www.indianfilmfestival.org/events.php.

For more information on IFFLA please go to http://www.indianfilmfestival.org.

Features Jury

Paul Federbush
Paul Federbush is a thirteen-year independent film production, development and acquisition executive. While Paul has spent the majority of his career working within the studio system, most recently as a founding member and Senior Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at Warner Independent Pictures (WIP), he has also served as a conduit between the studios and the worlds of independent and international film.  Some films acquired during his tenure at WIP include SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, PARADISE NOW, and GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

Rana Joy Glickman
Rana Joy Glickman rode into the film industry on horseback starting out as an equestrian stunt woman. Raised in NYC, Rana Joy was immersed in theater, film, photography, ballet, and music. She ultimately started producing, writing and directing. Her films have premiered at many festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and New York. Some of her films include: GOD SAID, “HA!”, KICKING AND SCREAMING, FULL TILT BOOGIE, FEMALE PERVERSIONS,  and SLEEP WITH ME. Her production company Shakrah Films is in post and development with a slate of captivating independent films.

Matt Holzman
An award-winning public radio arts and culture reporter, Matt Holzman is now the producer of The Business, public radio’s show about the business of show business heard locally on KCRW 89.9FM. He also comments on the state of the business with The Business Brief during KCRW’s afternoon broadcast of NPR’s All Things Considered and is the curator and host of Matt’s Movies, the station’s highly-regarded screening series for members. His opinions can be strongly swayed by a generous serving of homemade Tikka Masala.

Richard Shepard
Richard Shepard is an Emmy-Winning director (for the pilot of UGLY BETTY) of such movies as THE MATADOR with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, and THE HUNTING PARTY with Terrence Howard and Richard Gere. Besides UGLY BETTY, Richard directed the pilot for CRIMINAL MINDS. His latest film, I KNEW IT WAS YOU, a documentary about John Cazale (Fredo in THE GODFATHER), premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and will air on HBO in the fall.

Gill Dennis
Gill Dennis is a Master Filmmaker-in-Residence at the American Film Institute Conservatory. In addition to the 2005 film WALK THE LINE, he wrote the mini-series “Home Fires” for Showtime, which was selected by Time Magazine as among television’s Top Ten in 1987 and has received the Los Angeles Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Direction in the theater. Recently, Gill wrote THE SMALL BOAT OF GREAT SORROWS for Kennedy/Marshall, THE TATTOOED SOLDIER for Davids/Canton, and FOREVER with Tatia Pilieva for Present Pictures.

Documentaries Jury

Mark Jonathan Harris
Mark Jonathan Harris is an Academy-Award® winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, novelist, and film professor. Among the many documentaries he has written, produced and/or directed are THE LONG WAY HOME and INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT, both winners of an Academy Award® for Best Feature Length Documentary in 1997 and 2000, respectively.  Since 1983 Harris has taught filmmaking at the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, where he is a Distinguished Professor.

Michael Lumpkin
In January 2009 Michael Lumpkin took over the leadership of the International Documentary Association as its new Executive Director. He had previously served as both Executive Director of Frameline and Festival Director for the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.  He also co-produced the highly acclaimed documentary THE CELLULOID CLOSET.  Michael has participated as a competition juror for the Sundance Film Festival, and served in an advisory capacity for numerous film festivals around the world.

David Tenzer
David Tenzer is an entertainment lawyer, business consultant and content producer, with extensive experience in many sectors of the media industry. For more than 20 years, David worked at Creative Artist Agency as an executive in Motion Picture Business Affairs before moving on to head Television Business Affairs. As a television packaging agent, David was responsible for selling more than 40 produced series, movies and specials, with budgets in excess of $800 million. David currently is on the board of directors of the International Documentary Association and the Banff World Television Festival.

Shorts Jury

Rupak Ginn
Rupak Ginn’s love for acting started at a young age and followed him into college at Harvard University, where during his senior year, director Mira Nair offered him a supporting role in THE NAMESAKE. Upon graduation, he ventured into the off Broadway world of New York City theater before he moved to Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, he landed a breakout role in Disney’s “The Cheetah Girls: One World”, where he played romantic lead Rahim, a Bollywood star. Rupak sits on Variety’s Power of Youth Advisory Board and volunteers with Aid Still Required in their campaign against genocide in Darfur.

Linda “O.” Olszewski
Linda “O.” Olszewski joined SHORTS INTERNATIONAL in January 2006 as co-head of global acquisitions.  She acquires for and leads SHORTS on iTUNES USA, UK & Canada, and acquires films for SHORTS TV, television broadcast, new media and airline clients. Her credits include co-founder/director of the DreamWorks Short Film Festival; worldwide acquisitions director for EVEO; head of shorts for THE HATCHERY; and senior programmer for the Palm Springs Short Film Festival.

Hebe Tabachnik
Hebe Tabachnik is a short film programmer for Sundance and Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF), as well as a feature film Latin American Consultant for the LAFF and Palms Springs International Film Festival. She also serves on the selection committee and the Board of Directors for Dance Camera West.  She is also the Co-Founder and Vice President of Lokro Productions, Inc., a film production company established in 1999 which produced the 3-D World Film Expos in 2003 and 2006, the largest retrospectives on 3-D films ever presented in the U.S.