Film Festival offers quality workshops

FALLBROOK — The Fallbrook Film Factory announces a series of filmmaking workshops to be held during the inaugural Fallbrook Film Festival on Saturday, April 26, at the Art Campus, 310 East Alvarado Street.

In addition to many excellent screenings, the festival also features workshops, student productions and special recognition of those who work behind the scenes to make and distribute films.

There are five workshops being taught by experienced professionals in the filmmaking business: “Acting for the Camera,” a “how-to” filmmakers panel, “Art of Cinematography,” “Market Your Film Online” and a meet-and-greet presentation by Adam McKay, writer/director of “Anchor Man,” “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers.”

Workshops are $30 each for general admission or $20 each for students and members of the Fallbrook Film Factory. Workshop admittance is included for VIP pass holders.

Register for the workshops online at http://www.artcampusatfallbrook.com using PayPal or call (760) 728-6383.

“An important aspect of Fallbrook’s first film festival is its filmmaking workshops sharing the craft of filmmaking with anyone who has an interest,” stated Linda Mandrayar, independent filmmaker with many film credits including “White Rainbow,” “Ele My Friend” and “Oh Father Where Art Thou.” “We have the privilege of having the best-of-the-best talent coming to our Friendly Village to teach us how to make and produce films.”

“Acting for the Camera”

9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Art Campus at Fallbrook

Patricia West Del Ruth, MA, will be giving the first workshop on “Acting for the Camera.”

West Del Ruth has a longstanding career in acting, screenwriting and independent filmmaking. She was voted one of the top 50 people to watch by San Diego Magazine for 2005 for producing and hosting award-winning television programming that featured film industry professionals.

Earlier in her career, West Del Ruth appeared in the feature film “Quicksilver” with Kevin Bacon. She was also seen on television shows “Hill Street Blues” and “General Hospital.”

West Del Ruth trained with top acting coaches including Stella Adler, Jeff Corey, Allen Miller and Judith Weston. In the mid-80s, she was accepted into the ABC Television Networks Talent Development Program taught by Tad Danielewski, who also trained James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen and Sigourney Weaver.

Besides studying acting, West Del Ruth has studied with top screenwriting instructors Syd Fields and Robert Mckee. She also interned for “LA Law,” casting its first season.

West Del Ruth is currently Director of Cinema Arts Education and serves on the board for Film Oregon Alliance. For 27 years she managed the cinematography career of her husband, Thomas Del Ruth. They have two sons, Matthew and Sean, who work on the current hit shows “Chuck” and “Big Shots.”

“How-to” filmmakers panel

9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Art Campus at Fallbrook

Linda Mandrayar will be hosting the filmmaker’s panel. On this panel, several independent filmmakers will discuss the obstacles and triumphs of getting their films made.

All panelists have their films in the festival, including Lisa and Greg James for “Defying Gravity,” Freddy Hakimi for “Grand Junction,” Adam Pitman and Adam Stilwell for “Paper Dolls” and Jason Hagen for “Merciful Death of Jonas Blake.”

“Art of Cinematography”

11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Art Campus at Fallbrook

Tom Del Ruth, ASC, a former Fallbrook area resident, will discuss and answer questions about the role cinematographers play in the collaborative art of filmmaking during a two-way dialogue with the audience.

He will share memories of what it was like growing up in Hollywood, why he decided to become a cinematographer and how he achieved that goal.

Del Ruth has compiled more than 70 narrative credits, ranging from the memorable feature films “The Breakfast Club,” “Outlaw Jose Wales” and “Stand By Me” to such classic television movies and series as “ER” and “The West Wing.”

He has earned two Emmy awards and five other nominations for narrative films and episodic series produced for television. His peers in the American Society of Cinematographers have nominated him for an unparalleled 11 Outstanding Achievement Awards in an annual narrative filmmaking competition.

A Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Del Ruth during the film festival at the awards ceremony on Sunday, April 27.

“Market Your Film Online”

11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Art Campus at Fallbrook

Award-winning indie filmmaker Marc Rosenbush will lead this workshop, sharing the secrets of how his “unwanted” film made $40,000 in DVD sales in the first two days.

In today’s film marketplace, learning self-distribution is no longer an option, it’s a necessity! Discover the closely-guarded Internet marketing secret that huge publishing companies use to get books onto the Amazon and New York Times bestseller lists!

The workshop is geared toward those who want to sell their films to thousands of people fast, maintain creative and financial control over the projects, make money on the films and keep the profits, build loyal fan-bases and make distributors come to them.

Adam McKay presentation

12:30 to 2 p.m.

Art Center, Main Gallery

Meet writer/director Adam McKay and learn about his career and filmmaking experiences as he shares tips on how to make it in Hollywood.

McKay, the filmmaking partner of Will Ferrell, started his career as a writer on “Saturday Night Live,” then went on to co-write “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” which he also directed.

In 2007, McKay and Ferrell launched the wildly successful user-submitted comedy video Web site Funny or Die.

McKay will conduct a seminar and receive a Spotlight Award to recognize his contributions to film, television and the Internet.

In addition to the workshops, a full weekend of festivities and special events are planned throughout Fallbrook. There is a Saturday night presentation by Dennis Martinez, one of the legendary skateboarders featured in “DOPE,” a documentary on the rise and fall of skateboarding in the 1980s.

Single tickets screenings and festival passes are on sale at the CAST Box Office across the street from the Mission Theatre, (760) 731-2278. Screenings will be held at Mission Theatre, The Art Campus, Café des Artistes and J.J. “Purty” Landers in downtown Fallbrook.

One-day screening passes are $30, three-day passes are $75 and VIP passes for all screenings, workshops and special events are $150. Tickets for the opening reception on April 25 at the Fallbrook Art Center are $35 each and include the opening night film. Tickets to the closing night awards ceremony on April 27 are $35. Free admission to screenings is being offered to military personnel.

The Fallbrook Film Factory is a consortium created to bring a filmmaking capability to creative people who would like to write, act, produce and direct films. To learn more about the festival go to http://www.fallbrookfilmfestival.com. For more information about the Fallbrook Film Factory, go to http://www.fallbrookfilmfactory.com.