June is a busy month for indie filmmakers in Los Angeles and it’s a great time to come visit because there’s a lot going on:
Cine Gear Expo (June 1-4) We like Cine Gear Expo because it’s all the good stuff related to making movies. NAB is cool, but there’s a lot of stuff we’re not that interested in there. And Cine Gear Expo happens a couple times a year in different cities, so it’s convenient even if you don’t live in LA. This June, it’s at Paramount Studios in Hollywood and if you’ve never been, its fun to visit the lot where so much cinema history was made.
Dances with Films (June 1-11) This film festival in Hollywood has a special place in our hearts because it’s where Sonja’s feature film, “The Olivia Experiment,” premiered in 2012. If you’ve only ever attended a huge film festival, like Sundance, we highly recommend trying out some of the smaller, more local fests like this one. It’s easier to get in to actually see the films and the choices are often more interesting and refreshingly less “Hollywood.” They also have a cool event, the Short Film Challenge, where 10 filmmakers are given the chance to make a 2 minute film during the festival and one of them is selected as the winner.
E3 (June 13-15) This conference for all types of electronic entertainment is a bit more oriented to games but we’re going because we want to see virtual reality demos (especially from our friend Sean Wagstaff at Nvidia!) and other cutting edge innovations in entertainment technology.
LA Film Festival (June 14-22) One of the “big five” film fests in North America, getting your film into this festival can be a career-maker. The films that screen in this festival can qualify for the Independent Spirit Awards and also the Academy Awards.
