'Fine Cut' Summit Guides Student Filmmakers Through the Festival Circuit
In advance of its 25th anniversary in 2024, Fine Cut hosted a Film Festival Summit on Saturday, April 20 at Radford Studio Center in Studio City, California.
Designed to provide tomorrow's generation of filmmakers with opportunities to engage with various entertainment industry experts, the summit welcomed all semi-finalists and finalists of last year's 24th Annual Fine Cut Festival of Films, as well as students from any regional film school or educational organization that emphasizes the arts.
The Fine Cut Festival of Films is PBS SoCal's flagship program showcasing local student filmmaking for 25 years, with funding made possible by The Bridges/Larson Foundation. It's a tribute to actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer Jack Larson, who founded Fine Cut in the late 1990s as a student film series that would provide talented students with the much-needed opportunity to have their short films selected for television broadcast.
Whether filmmakers wanted to learn more about submitting to festivals, networking or even securing a distribution deal, Summit panelists shared insights from their experiences in various aspects of the film industry — from creation to curation — in a forum moderated by NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Executive Director, Larry Laboe.
Summit panelists included:
- Kelley Kali, producer/director (I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking), SXSW Jury Winner)
- Meghan Oretsky, lead curator for Vimeo
- Irene Soriano, Writer/Film Programmer/Independent Film Curator
- Anna Zlokovic, writer/director (Appendage, Hulu)
- Derek Horne, Director of Programming at Annapolis Film Festival/USC Distribution Coordinator
- Jorge Molina, Programming Manager at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
- Tammy Garnes, Vice President of Education & Understanding, ARRAY
Topics discussed included streaming and other online opportunities (including online film festivals), ways that films can influence public policy and further social justice goals, mentorship opportunities within the film industry and the importance of self-promotion.
Student filmmakers were also given the opportunity to mingle with their peers — including those studying at other institutions — to help them make new connections and create a creative community in Los Angeles.
Fine Cut
The submission period for the 25th Annual Fine Cut Festival of Films opened on April 1 and will close on May 31, 2024. Films must be under 25 minutes in duration and submitted via FilmFreeway.com under the categories of live action (either documentary or scripted/narrative) or animation.
A group of esteemed entertainment industry experts will serve as judges to select top film submissions to be included in the festival. Fine Cut episodes will be streamed on the free PBS App, on the PBS SoCal website and on the PBS SoCal YouTube channel.
