Ann’s Marketing Memes

Santa Claus made an appearance at the screening of Finn on the Fly and gave away Eloise: Little Miss Christmas, Thomas and Friends: Ultimate Christmas and The Happy Elf to all the kids attending. They also received Wubbzy stickers and toys at the Santa Fe Film Festival, Saturday, December 6^th.
The 5th Annual IFFS has held in Las Vegas this week. Both Ranny Levy and Ann Church from KIDS FIRST! attended the summit that started Sunday, December 7th. Ranny participated on a panel discussion regarding year around programming. This is an important summit for film festivals to attend as it is truly the only networking location for festival people. I was able to finally meet many of the festival directors that we have worked with over a number of years, including Denver, Ashland, Oxford, Atlanta and made some incredible contacts interested in children’s programming.
Many of the events addressed and were moderated by the large festivals, Sundance, Tribeca and Telluride, but the small breakout sessions were the gems of the summit. Additionally, afternoon gatherings allowed for easy interaction between the attendees and sponsors, B-Side, Without a Box and IMDb. The summit ran a full 2 ½ days and one way to determine the success is that on the final afternoon, the room was still full and the conversations still interesting.
As with many young festivals, there is still much that can be added to help the small to mid size festivals.  This year’s hot topic seemed to be about film distribution and the economy, with some sessions designed to help with budgeting and board retention. I suggest that if you are a festival director or programming, this should be on your radar for next year. www.filmfestivalsummit.com

Beginning Monday, November 17^th, the Saugatuck Center for the Arts starts its run of KIDS FIRST! independent films. The lineup includes student films, including Super Kitten and the Power Pets, from middle schooler, Peter Gundling to one of my personal favorites, Dear Fatty. Public screenings are Saturday, November 22^nd. This is the first year that KIDS FIRST! has partnered with SCA, which is located in Saugatuck, MI. 

For tickets and information, go to www.sc4a.org or call 26*-857-2399. 

In 2001 a group of citizens established a fully-recognized 501 (C) 3 not-for-profit corporation and purchased the factory building that housed the former Lloyd J. Harriss Pie Company at

, Saugatuck. With grants from the State of Michigan “Cool City” initiative, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), the ARCUS Gay and Lesbian Fund, The Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, The Perrigo Foundation, and generous corporate and private donations, today the renovated pie factory is the home of Saugatuck Center for the Arts (SCA). The SCA runs a year-round program of high quality arts programming. 

KIDS FIRST! has partnered with the Santa Fe Film Festival for children’s programming year around and its annual film festival, which is Dec. 3-7. November kicks off a new partnership with a local sponsor, Los Alamos National Bank. The bank sponsors weekly free screenings at the Film Center. The new Emma Watson film, Ballet Shoes is screening November 1st. Free tickets are available at both Los Alamos National Bank lobbies. Free kid films are every Saturday morning at 10am at the Film Center on St. Michaels Drive. www.santafefilmfestival.com

Favorites for Halloween are the R.L. Stine Goosebumps stories, One Day at Horrorland, Monster Blood and A Night in Terror Tower. As Jon Bowman, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Film Festival says, “If you are going to scare kids, this is the time of year!” The Goosebumps series has been in the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival for several years and will play this coming weekend at the Key West Film Society, the Film Center at Cinema Cafe, the Denver Film Society and the Austin Public Library. For the younger set, KIDS FIRST! has Fat Alberts Halloween Special. Be safe and have fun!

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII KIDS FIRST! FILM FESTIVAL PARTNERS WITH MAUI COMMUNITY COLLEGE-VITEC “COLLEGE FOR KIDS” PROGRAM TO PRESENT A FREE EVENING OF FAMILY FILM AND FUN UNDER THE STARS ON MAUI
College for Kids, offered through the Maui Community College-VITEC program, joins with the University of HawaiŒi at Manoa KIDS FIRST! Film Festival to present an evening of free family fun under the stars on Maui. The festivities include, a screening of the feature film, Alice Upside Down, and a new Wubbzy episode from Starz. In addition, there will be door prizes and information on future programs. The event has been scheduled for August 22nd and begins at 6:30 pm on the Great Lawn located at the center of the Maui Community College campus. Plenty of parking is available. Bring lawn chairs, mats and a picnic dinner. Snacks will be available for purchase from the Valley Isle Girlz 4-H club. Alice Upside Down is appropriate for children ages 8 and above.
Alice Upside Down was developed from the award-winning popular series of books by Newbery Medalist, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Alice McKinley (played with great charm by Alyson Stoner) is an endearing, 11-year-old heroine growing up without a mother. Through a series of incidents both hilarious and poignant, Alice grows from tweenship into teenship in an all male household, with her father, Ben (Luke Perry) and 17-year-old brother, Lester (Lucas Grabeel). Her mother died six years ago and her father has moved the family to a new town for a new beginning. But as the new girl in school, Alice¹s life is full of anxiety, awkward moments and overwhelming challenges. With the support of her father, a special teacher (Penny Marshall) and her new friends, Alice charges forward through the chaos and embarrassment with imagination, humor and heart.
College for Kids, offered through the Maui Community College-VITEC program, introduces children to the college environment by providing an enriching, project-oriented, interdisciplinary curriculum and a positive learning experience that is safe, creative and interactive. The University of HawaiŒi
KIDS FIRST! Film Festival is presented by UH-Manoa Outreach College, and is supported in part by the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust and Starwood Hotels & Resorts HawaiŒi.
For more information, call (808) 984-3231 on Maui.
http://maui.hawaii.edu/

The 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival hosted the Orange County Premier of Alice Upside Down featuring Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Penny Marshall and Luke Perry will make its Orange County Premiere at the Festival. Alice Upside Down and the appearance of Alyson Stoner were courtesy of KIDS FIRST!
 

Actress Alyson Stoner, the lead in Alice Upside Down is appeared at Build-A-Bear Workshop® in Fashion Island for a one hour long autograph signing session on Saturday, April 26. Stoner is best known for her roles in Cheaper by the Dozen, Mike’s Super Short Show, Phineas & Ferb and the new upcoming Disney TV movie Camp Rock, with The Jonas Brothers.
 

The Newport Beach Film Festival 2008 Family Film series showcases a collection of innovative and entertaining family films that capture the refreshing independent spirit of filmmaking. The Festival’s family friendly slate includes feature length narratives, documentaries, short, animated and student produced films crafted to entertain and inspire festival-goers of all ages, from kindergartners to teens. Billed as Orange County’s largest celebration of independent family films, the two-day event featured film screenings, question and answer sessions with cast and crew, interactive workshops and autograph signings.
 

This is the fifth year that KIDS FIRST! has collaborated with the Newport Beach Film Festival, providing studio, independent and student films and talent for the festival.

Special Sneak Peek of Sesame Street: Dinosaurs! PHOENIX — Children and families have enjoyed a full month of screening of KIDS FIRST! films across Maricopa County during the month of April. 

The closing event is this Saturday, April 26th at the Arizona Science Center from 10am - 2pm and features the sneak peek at the new Sesame Street: Dinosaurs (for the young ones) and the incredibly realistic Prehistoric Park for the older crowd. The CGI animated dinosaurs are so life like in Prehistoric Park, that it may be too intense for the under 5 crowd. The first family film festival in the region was being held at a variety of arts and cultural organizations to give families the opportunity to expand their cultural literacy and enjoy some of the highest quality films available to children.  www.mpacarts.org   

Meet Jane and Dragon.

Jane is a medieval middleclass girl being raised as a Lady-in-Waiting, but she’s got much bigger plans for her future! Training to become a Knight is what she’s all about - good thing she’s got a 300 year-old fire-breathing dragon as a best friend. 

In the episode selected by the Children’s Museum of Houston and the Women’s Museum in Dallas, Dragon is feeling sick, very sick with a pig disease: curly tail. It is curable but the antidote is a difficult quest away. Jane volunteers for the quest and Theodore assigns Gunther to quest with her. Meanwhile, Dragon is proving to be a very difficult patient.  Also here’s your chance to get the inside scoop on all things Jane. Martin Baynton, creator of “Jane and the Dragon,” answers YOUR questions! 

http://www.qubo.com/jane_ask.asp    

 Dad’s Pet Food Joins with Governor Ed Rendell  in Honoring K-9 Officers and their Partners at the Premier of Ace of Hearts

 Dad’s, a leading pet foods manufacturer in Pennsylvania, has joined with PA Governor Ed Rendell in honoring the work of the K-9 units in our local communities. In a letter of support, the Governor has declared April 12, 2008, as “K-9 Recognition Day in Pennsylvania.”

The recognition is all part of the excitement surrounding the premier of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s feature family film, Ace of Hearts, on April 12th at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle, PA. The movie, staring Dean Cain, tells the story of Officer Daniel Harding, a distinguished member of the K-9 police unit and his K-9 partner, Ace. Ace of Hearts is part of the PA Children’s Film Festival. Admission for the full day of films is free to everyone!

Dad’s contributed over 500 lbs of dog food to be handled out to the movie goers “as a way for Dad’s to recognize the importance of both the K-9 dogs that will be honored at the screening and the family pet in our lives.” The local rescue shelter, Promises For Pets, will be on hand to distribute the pet food.

Also featured Saturday is the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with a surprise appearance by Alvin, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, Care Bears: Grizzle-ly Adventure, Bob the Builder: On-Site Roads and Bridges, My Senator and Me, and the Mr. Men Show.

In an effort to bring quality children’s programming to our region, the PA Film Institute, in partnership with The Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, has established the PA Children’s Film Festival. The Children’s Festival is dedicated to “promoting excellence in children’s films” and in “enhancing the opportunities for children and their families to view some of the most outstanding children’s films available anywhere.”

With our partnership, the PA Children’s Film Festival becomes part of the largest children’s film festival in the world…KIDS FIRST! Film  Festival.

Manoa’s Outreach College was honored with the Best Non-Credit Program for the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival by the Western Association of Summer Session Administrators.  The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival is the largest traveling children’s film festival in the world, providing films that are free of racial, ethnic, gender or religious bias; inappropriate content; and condescension toward children. 

Outreach College held the festival in June and July with a second festival slated for summer 2008. In March and April in honor of Women’s History Month, the festival presents the GRLS R GR8! Mini-Film-Fest celebrating the achievements, challenges and adventures of girls.