Backlot Film Festival Announces Date, Venues and Call for Entries.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2006
BACKLOT FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
DATES, VENUES AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS AND CALL FOR ENTRIES
FOR 2006 EVENT.

Culver City, CA…The Backlot Film Festival is pleased to announce dates, venues, special screenings and call for entries for the 2006 event.

Opening night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 13 at 7pm, at the Crest Theatre in Westwood. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 14 through 16 is slated for the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills from 2pm to midnight.

Closing day, Sunday, September 17, begins at 3pm, at Veteran’s Auditorium in Culver City with three free screenings: HENRY FONDA-THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD LEGACY, a ninety-minute oral history interview, conducted by Charlton Heston. This rarely seen program is being offered by The Screen Actor’s Guild Foundation, members and actor John Kerr (South Pacific/Tea and Sympathy), who helped launch the Legacy Program, will be on hand for a brief Q&A, following the screening; COMPLICATED WOMEN, narrated by Jane Fonda, provided by Turner Classic Movies and Timeline Films, explores the Hollywood of the pre-production code era (1929-1934) when screen heroines were racy, glamorous and sophisticated. Producer Andi Hicks and director Hugh Neely will introduce the film; TOUCH THE PAST-BE A PART OF THE FUTURE, THE LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM. Margaret Farnum, Chief Administrative Officer for the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, will present the short film produced by the USC Film Department.

Festival winners for Best Features, Best Documentary and Best Short and Midnight Madness, the next great cult horror or fantasy movie, will be announced that evening, along with the second Thomas Ince Award honoree. This award is given out for outstanding contributions to the motion picture industry.

Features must be at least 80 minutes in length. Documentaries can be up to 90 minutes. Shorts can be a maximum of 35 minutes. Submission fees are $35.00 for features and documentaries. Shorts are $20.00. Screening copies must be on DVD or video. Submission forms and more information can be downloaded at www.backlotfilmfestival.com. Submission deadline is August 12, 2006.

The first Backlot Film Festival, held at the West Los Angeles College Fine Arts Theatre
in December of 2004, celebrated 1939, Hollywood’s greatest year. Films shown included GONE WITH THE WIND, introduced by last year’s Ince Award winner Daniel Selznick, son of producer David O. Selznick, THE WIZARD OF OZ and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX. Nanette Fabray, who made one of her first screen appearances in the Warner Bros. epic, was on hand to talk about what it was like to work with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and Vincent Price in one of the first Technicolor motion pictures.

Festival Producer Ross Hawkins comments, “The purpose of the festival is to give independent filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their work for industry executives and distributors. The theaters where the films will be screened were picked to bring back vestiges of Hollywood’s golden era, when going to the movies was an event. People got dressed up, ushers wore uniforms and bowties, and handed out programs.”

Festival sponsors to date include The Greater West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, The Crest Theater, Alliance Bank, San Gennaro Café-Brentwood, The Westwood International Film Festival, The Front Page (Los Angeles’ Westside leading newspaper) and Damian Gerard Curran & Associates.

The festival is open to all genres. More information, entry guidelines and submission forms go to www.backlotfilmfestival.com.
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For additional information contact: Marcia N. Groff 310/855-0498
Entertainment Enterprises, 656 West Knoll Drive, #104, West Hollywood, CA 90069