Los Angeles, CA – The San Pedro International Film Festival (SPIFFest) celebrates its 6th anniversary presenting from October 5-15, 2017 in San Pedro’s historic waterfront district. SPIFFest has also announced it's moderator and panelists for its Production and Design Panel from SIGGRAPH's very own, Alex Bryant, Chelsea Roehl and Rebecca Yanis. To mark it's 6-year milestone, SPIFFest has it's expanded multimedia programming over two weekends, including music performances and latest technology innovations spotlighting virtual reality.
The Production and Design panel is scheduled on Saturday, October 14th at 12pm and will bring together top creatives and visionaries from diverse portfolios to explore an insightful discussion as how production and design applies to film and television.
Moderator: Alex Bryant. Originates from the United Kingdom, an ADDY and EMMY recipient for his contributions to television and marketing, Alex's credits spans over a variety of companies including: CBS, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Vanity Fair, Access Hollywood, NAACP Image Awards, NBC Universal, Esquire Network, and most recently with Dick Clark Productions. As a natural philanthropist and lifelong student, Alex continues to share his humbleness, living to the fullest, and inspiring his growing support system to Dream BIG!
Panelist: Chelsea Roehl, Graphic Designer at NBC Universal. Chelsea Roehl has origins from the great northern land of Alaska. Born and raised there her entire life, she attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. After receiving her Bachelors of Art with a Minor in Business this past May, Chelsea immediately packed up her bags and moved to Studio City, California as she had been hired by NBC Universal a Graphic Designer for their Creative Services Team. Now she creates online advertisements, print
ads, and other fun miscellaneous projects for the home entertainment family. Some of the movies that she had the honor of working on includes: Atomic Blonde, Get Out, The Secret Life of Pets, and the Fate of the Furious.
Panelists: Rebecca Yanis, Production Assistant at DreamWorks Animations. Rebecca Yanis is a Cum Laude graduate of Middle Tennessee State University where she majored in Animation and minored in Studio Arts. While at MTSU she was the Director of Public Relations for her SIGGRAPH chapter and was awarded the 2016 Jill Green Memorial Scholarship at the 23rd Annual Student Awards from the College of Media and Entertainment. After interning with DreamWorks’ VeggieTales she was hired on as a Production Assistant/VFX Artist. She is currently working on a new animated show at DreamWorks in Glendale, California, and recently celebrated her first year being employed by the boy on the moon. She is honored to work alongside many creative and talented individuals and is excited for the part that she will play in future animations.
Additional panelists also includes Graphic Designer Shane Crocker from Fandango and Production Manager AJ Mayers from Lionsgate.
The festival kicks off October 5th during San Pedro’s First Thursday Art Walk and continues Friday with it’s Opening Night Film Dreams I’ve Never Had directed by Iyad Hajjaj with Malcom McDowell and Robin Givens. On Sunday is Sweden’s official Oscar entry The Square (Cannes Palm d’Or winner) directed by Ruben Ostlund, and Human Flow directed by Ai Wei Wei (Venice Film Festival).
A screening of Some Kind Of Wonderful celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary, highlights local San Pedro locations will be the highlights of the weekend and horror classic Friday the 13th will screen Friday October 13th.
The second weekend continues with shorts and documentary programming, and Every Nights a Saturday Night directed by Jeff Stacy, and about Bobby Keys, saxophone player for the Rolling Stones.
October 15th SPIFFest hosts a look at Virtual Reality and its applications in cinema and entertainment, featuring a panel discussion and demo of the latestworks by some of today’s top VR innovators.
Top tier sponsors include: StayCool (Universal Toiletries, UK), the Relativity School of Los Angeles and Pappys Restaurant of San Pedro, host of the opening weekend celebratory party and VIGO, a social media content creation app.
Tickets and festival passes range from $10 to $65, there will also be some free screenings. For more information and to register for the mailing list visit www.SPIFFest.org
