Posted by Larry Gleeson

Newport Beach, CA – April 27, 2017 – The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) announced today the winners of the 2017 Festival. On April 27, 2017, the Festival wrapped up its eight day run with the Southern California Premiere of THE EXCEPTION starring Christopher Plummer, Lily James and Jai Courtney at the Lido Theater (3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach) with the post party in the Via Lido Plaza. The Festival opened with the West Coast Premiere of Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton.

The Newport Beach Film Festival celebrated outstanding contribution to global cinema at a special event during the 18th annual Festival at the Balboa Bay Resort on April 22. Additionally, The Festival’s selection committee reviewed more than 2,500 films. The Festival screened over 350 films, representing 50 countries. The films competed for Jury, Festival Honors and Audience Awards. 

The 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival jury featured an impressive roster of film industry professionals, including Claire Best, CEO and owner of Claire Best & Associates, Hunt Lowry, producer and CEO/President of Rosework Films, Actor Robert Reed Carradine, Mike Repsch, Senior Vice President of Distribution and Sales at Breaking Glass Pictures, Arianne Rocchi, VP of Publicity at Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing, Larry Greenberg, Head of Acquisitions and Domestic Distribution for Ambi Media Group, Oscar Nominated writer/director Tom Van Avermaet, and Todd Slater, co-founder and partner at Blue Fox Entertainment.

Newport Honors Awards

Aishia tyler

Artist of Distinction Award

Aisha’s passion for volunteering and giving back to the community is reflected in her work beyond the lens. She has been involved in organizations such as Planned Parenthood, where she served on the board, the Trust for Public Land organization, International Rescue Committee, and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Aisha has dedicated significant time towards the Wounded Warriors Project, a charity that offers services and programs to wounded veterans and their families. In correspondence to the Wounded Warriors Project, Aisha has visited veterans at the Walter Reed hospital and has had a veteran on her podcast, “Girl on Guy”, to talk about his story and his sacrifices. We’re lucky to have Aisha’s new feature film, AXIS, which she directed, in our festival program this year. With all of her charitable contributions and her diverse array of talents in filmmaking, we’re proud to award her the Artist of Distinction Award at this years NBFF Honors.

NAT SANDERS AND JOI MCMILLON

BREAKOUT AWARD

Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon are film editors who have recently been nominated for an Academy Award on the Best Picture Winner Moonlight. With Joi’s nomination, she was the first African-American to be nominated for the Editing Category. Moonlight also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing, which was Nat’s second time receiving the award, the previous being the film Short Term 12. We congratulate both Nat and Joi for having a truly Breakout Out Year in film and we can not wait to see what they will do in the future.

EOIN MAKEN

ONE TO WATCH

Eoin is currently shooting season 4 of Sony/NBC’s hit summer series THE NIGHT SHIFT playing the lead character of “TC”. He was last seen in theaters starring opposite Milla Jovoich and Ali Larter in Screen Gems’ franchise RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER, written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Last year he was also seen in theaters starring opposite Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney in Focus Features’ THE FOREST directed by Jason Zada, as well as being seen on TV in National Geographic Channel’s Emmy nominated event series KILLING JESUS, starring opposite Stephen Moyer, Rufus Sewell and Kelsey Grammer.  Eoin also wrote, directed, and stars opposite Jack Reynor and Tom Hopper in the Independent feature LEOPARD which is available on Amazon.  He is also known for his work in the hit BBC series MERLIN starring as the swashbuckling hero “Gwaine”, and recurred on the fourth season of Showtime’s Emmy-winning series THE TUDORS.  He also starred opposite Emilia Fox in Mike Figgis’ SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF.   Eoin can add to his multitude of talents, accomplished novelist, having published his first book KINGDOM OF SCARS which was short-listed for the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards in 2014. 

2017 AUDIENCE AWARDS:

Feature Film – Don’t Tell

Foreign Film – Sami Blood (Sameblod)

Documentary – I’ll Push You

ACTION SPORTS – Under an Arctic Sky

Art, Architecture + Design – The Gamble House

FAMILY– Scales: Mermaids are Real

SHORT – Speechless

music – Man in the Camo Jacket

2017 JURY AWARDS

BEST FILM – Moon Dogs

Best Actor – Jack Parey Jones – Moon Dogs

BEST ACTRESS – Olivia Cooke – Katie Says Goodbye

Best Director – Len Collin – Sanctuary

Best Cinematography – Marden Dean – Boys in the Trees

Best Documentary – City of Joy

Best Documentary: honorable mention – Dateline – Saigon

BEST SCREENWRITER – Wayne Roberts – Katie Says Goodbye

SHORT FILMS

Best Narrative SHORT FILM – Enemies Within

Best Narrative SHORT FILM:HONORABLE MENTION: Thanks for Dancing

Best Documentary SHORT FILM – Refugee

Best Documentary SHORT FILM:HONORABLE MENTION – Seeing is Believing: Women Direct

Best AnimatED SHORT FILM – Second To None

Best AnimatED SHORT FILM: HONORABLE MENTION – Sisyphus

2017 FESTIVAL HONORS:

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: DIRECTING – Doug Nichol – California Typewriter

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FEATURE FILM – Axis – Aisha Tyler, Director

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FEATURE FILM – Score: A Film Music Documentary – Matt Schrader, Director

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – David Tennant – Mad To Be Normal

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Sam Elliott – The Hero

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Seána Kerslake – A Date For Mad Mary

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ACTING – Olivia Holt – Class Rank

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: SCREENWRITING – Rick Darge – Zen Dog

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ENSEMBLE CAST – Heart, Baby – Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jackson Rathbone, Shawn-Caulin Young, Keir O’Donnell, Justice Leak, Shaun Brown, Ritchie Montgomery, Dana Gourrier, Quinton Aaron, Jamie Kennedy, Michael Badalucco, Abraham Benrubi , Big Freedia, Marcus Lyle Brown, Jay Huguley, Ann Cusack , Rick Shapiro , Gary Grubbs , Kerry Cahill, Tom Proctor

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FOREIGN FILM – Cardboard Gangsters

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: CINEMATOGRAPHY: Aerial Ireland

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: EDITING: Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story

SHORT FILMS

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – The Spa

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – Feeding Time

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING – The Boy by The Sea (De Jongen Bij De Zee)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: FORIEGN SHORT FILM – Night Dancing

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: DOCUMENTARYSHORT FILM – The Legendary Jerry G

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: ANIMATED SHORT FILM – Ropes in Life (Cuerdas en la Vida)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: BREAKOUR PERFORMANCE – Wang Nan – Bao

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKING: MUSIC VIDEO – Kolshik

Attendance at the 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival was on par with last year’s record attendance of 50,000 people. The 18^th annual Festival had the largest participation of International filmmakers and showcased films from over 58 countries with delegations attending from Australia, Germany, Ireland and Canada. The Newport Beach Film Festival is sponsored in part by City of Newport Beach, Visit Newport Beach, Experian, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Celebrity Cruises, Fashion Island and Los Angeles Times

(Source: Newport Beach Film Festival)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Mr. Fish is a cartoonist who’s found career success creating compelling, and often, adult themed editorial cartoons. But now, editors once willing to back his controversial work are disappearing as fast as the newspapers which once employed him. With a family to raise, but a unique defiant voice, Mr. Fish struggles to stay true to his creativity in a world where biting satiric humor has an ever-diminishing commercial value.

The screening is happening tonight, Wednesday, 4/26 at 7:30pm at Triangle Square

Q&A immediatley following the screening with Mr. Fish and Director Pablo Bryant, Producer Ted Collins and Executive Producer Tom Brady

(Source: Newport Beach Film Festival Press Office)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Two estranged teenagers begrudgingly find themselves walking home together on Halloween 1997, embarking on a surreal journey through their memories, dreams and fears.

What starts off as a walk through empty suburban streets descends into something darker and magical as they tell each other ghost stories, drawing upon their fears of the world around them. But on the night of the grave’s delight, even the most buried truths will find a way to come to life.

BOYS IN THE TREES starring Toby Wallace, Mitzi Ruhlmann, Justin Holborow, Gulliver McGrath is screening at Newport Film Festival on Thursday April 27th at 7.30pm,  The Triangle 1870 Harbor Blvd Costa Mesa, CA 92627

 Q&A with writer/director Nicholas Verso will follow.

(Source: Press materials provided by Olivia Calver, Production and Distribution Coordinator, Mushroom Pictures)

The winner of the Napa Valley Film Festival and the Grand Jury Award winner at the Alaska International Film Awards!

Adventure, life and death survival, rescue and self-discovery. Set on the frozen tundra of the Canadian Arctic and Los Angeles where the real-life events took place, Heaven’s Floor is based on the true story of the life of first-time screenwriter/director Lori Stoll.

Heaven’s Floor will screen today, Sunday, April 23 (2:15pm)

 The Triangle, 1870 Harbor Blvd

Costa Mesa, CA 92627 

“Gripping. Opens up a reality we rarely see on film.”

Source: Lori Stoll’s HEAVEN’S FLOOR to screen at Newport Beach Film Festival

Posted by Larry Gleeson

TAKE MY NOSE PLEASE – A FILM BY JOAN KRON

Award winning film from renowned journalist JOAN KRON goes in depth with a comedic take on women and their plastic surgery and their career as artists.  The film will make its premiere at the 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival. Don’t miss this film!

***NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL PREMEIRE***

SCREENING TIME: 6:00 pm

LOCATION: The Triangle 1870 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Source: TAKE MY NOSE PLEASE

Posted by Larry Gleeson

The smash hit horror comedy will screen at the prestigious Newport Beach Film Festival on April 25, 2017

For tickets go to: https://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com/event/the-night-watchmen/

From an executive producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the creator of The Hamiltons, comes the next “cult movie” horror-comedy gore-fest, The Night Watchmen. In this highly anticipated movie, a mistaken warehouse delivery unleashes a horde of hungry vampires and it’s up to three inept night watchmen, aided by a young rookie and a fearless tabloid journalist, to fight an epic battle against the scourge of undead that threatens to take over the city of Baltimore.

“While directing The Night Watchmen, I wanted to get back to those 80’s horror films that you’d rent on VHS like Night of The Comet, Fright Night, or Killer Clowns From Outer Space…They were fun, cheesy, and scary all at the same time. I had so much fun watching those movies and wanted our audiences to experience the same thing.” – Mitchell Altieri

Director Mitchell Altieri has premiered films at Sundance, SXSW, SF, Paris, as well as popular genre fests like Fantasia and Screamfest. His films The Hamiltons and The Thompsons are award winners, while his latest film, A Beginner’s Guide to Snuff just took home Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Feature Film at FEARnyc.

“The Night Watchmen has everything you could want from a horror movie.”

-Entertainment Weekly

“Honestly, great, and it has me thinking of The Evil Dead, Big Trouble in Little China, John Dies at the End, and the camp cable re-runs classic Killer Clowns From Outer Space. This kind of in-the-trenches, one-liners at the ready working class horror concept is a rare beast these days.”

-Deadline.com

(Source: Press materials provided by Ken Arnold

Posted by Larry Gleeson

“STRAWS” exposes the negative impact the 500 million plastic straws we use per day have in our oceans.

Throughout the documentary, marine researchers, citizen activists and business owners discuss how it’s possible to make a sea of change through use of sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as Aardvark paper straws.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2017) – Recent reports show that 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons are floating at sea, up to 80 percent of plastic in oceans comes from land-based sources and an estimated 5-13 million tons of plastic enter oceans each year. To educate the nation about the growing plastic pollution crisis, director, producer Linda Booker created a new documentary that exposes the negative impact of the billions of plastic straws that live in our landfills and oceans.

“STRAWS,” narrated by American actor and screenwriter Tim Robbins, charts the history of straws and reveals our culture’s current obsession with single use conveniences. Throughout the documentary, marine researchers, citizen activists and business owners discuss how it’s possible to make a sea of change through use of sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as Aardvark paper straws.

“Before diving into the research for this project, I didn’t realize something as small as a plastic straw was such a significant litter and ocean pollution problem,” said Booker. “My goal for this documentary is to make people think about how small habits can add up to huge impact. Removing plastic straws is a tangible, simple change people and businesses can do that can truly help make a difference.”

“STRAWS” will be showcased at the 18th annual Newport Beach Film Festival on Saturday, April 22, at 11 a.m., in Triangle 1. The film is part of the “Short Slice of Life Documentaries” program. Booker and The Last Plastic Straw Founder Jackie Nunez, who is featured in the film, will be in attendance.

(Source: Press materials provided by Mallory Sturgeon, Dittoe PR)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

“Heart, Baby!,” to make its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival–Friday 4/21 at 5:30PM

About the Director: Angela Shelton

Angela Shelton is an award-winning filmmaker, whose first screenwriting and producing credit, “Tumbleweeds” (1999), received the Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker’s Trophy (2000) and earned actress Janet McTeer an Academy Award® nomination and a Golden Globe®.

After being named one of the Top Ten Screenwriters to Watch (Variety), Angela followed-up Tumbleweeds with an adaptation of Kaye Gibbons’ novel “Charms For The Easy Life” (2002) starring Mimi Rogers and Gena Rowlands (Showtime). In 2001, she made her directorial debut with the documentary “Searching For Angela Shelton”. Angela traveled the world with the documentary for ten years and became internationally recognized as a social activist and public speaker, raising money for various rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters. Her memoir, Finding Angela Shelton, published by Meredith Publishing in 2006, describes how making the documentary changed her life.

In 2016 Angela returned, writing, producing and directing her first feature film, “Heart, Baby!,” starring Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire), Jackson Rathbone (The Twilight Saga) and Shawn-Caulin Young (Godless).