The White Sands International Film Festival kicks off this Thursday, April 15, in Las Cruces. Among the local features screening are Justin Evans’ action thriller A Lonely Place For Dying and Rod McCall’s coming-of-age drama Becoming Eduardo . There’s also a wealth of New Mexico-shot shorts, like Luke Fitch’s sci-fi drama “Black Gold 2051,” Paul Porter’s postapocalyptic tale “Res Q” and Wes Studi’s horror comedy “Good Night, My Zombies.” In addition to the 18 features and 26 shorts being screened at the sixth annual festival, there are several panel discussions featuring filmmakers, actors and other industry professionals. For a complete schedule of screenings, workshops and parties, log on to wsiff.com.
Reel World: Act Quickly! Act Quickly!
April 16 through 18, the New Mexico branch of Screen Actors Guild will host The Business of Acting Conference and Vendor Fair 2010. Friday night (5:30 to 8:30 p.m.) is a free, open-to-the-public mixer. Saturday sessions (9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.) will feature top industry professionals and a variety of topics. These sessions are $20 for non-SAG members for the entire day. Of course, N.M. SAG members are admitted free. Topics include the casting process, marketing yourself and working with SAG. Saturday night’s “all-star” panel (6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) includes The Hurt Locker producer Tony Mark, Crazy Heart producer Alton Walpole, Captain Ron director Thom Eberhardt, Appaloosa first assistant director Kaaren Ochoa, and local casting directors Jo Edna Boldin, Marie Kohl, Angelique Midthunder and Kathy Brink. All events take place at the Hilton Garden Inn (6510 America’s Parkway NE). If you have questions, e-mail Tammy Decker at tdecker@sag.org.
Reel World: Pitch To Friends Pitch To Friends
Friends of Film, Video and Arts will have its monthly meeting this Sunday, April 18, at Harwood Art Center (1114 Seventh Street NW). Meet-and-greet starts at 3 p.m. with open sheet screenings by members at 3:30 p.m. At 4 p.m., there’s a professional development presentation titled “Pitch Package 101.” Using an animated TV series as an example, FoFVA will look at what goes into pitching a show. The event is free to members, $5 to $10 suggested donation for nonmembers. For more details, log on to filmvideoarts.org.
