Nick Russell/writer of the short comedy film Twisted and David McCracken director of short comedy Ostrichland called in to talk about their films showing at the Laguna Beach Film Festival.

Kicking off the 4pm show, Tuesday September 29th, with Austin Fickman, founder of the Laguna Beach Film Festival, followed by Nick Russell and David McCracken. Nick wrote the short film Twisted and David is the Director of the short comedy Ostrichland. Here's the scoop on these two guests:

Miss Nick on today's show? Listen here!

ABOUT NICK RUSSELL

For over a decade, Australian screenwriter and producer, Nicholas Russell has spent a lot of time working between Australia and Los Angeles. As an independent filmmaker, Nicholas has produced and written many award winning short films. Most recently with The Trophy Thief (Directed by D. Edwardz, Seattle International Film Festival, LA Shorts Fest and UrbanWorld NYC) and the multi award winning Twisted (Directed by Stuart Bowen, Tropfest, HollyShorts Film Festival and many more). Both films are currently touring the festival circuit.

Twisted Director: Stuart Bowen
Writer: Nick Russell
Cast: Steen Raskopoulos, Andrew Steel, Kat Beck

School reunions are strange for anyone, but especially our socially awkward hero. When the girl of his Middle School dreams makes her appearance known, he will stop at nothing to win her over.

LINK TO THE FILM: http://exitfilms.com/clips/twisted-2/

Miss Dave on today's show? Listen here!

ABOUT DAVE MCCRACKEN

DAVID MCCRACKEN is a Director, Writer, Producer, and Actor. Most recently earned his MFA in Film & Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. McCracken has been awarded the prestigious 2011 USC James Bridges Memorial Scholarship for Directing, the 2012 Alfred P. Sloan Science Foundation Production Award, and the USC Phi Kappa Phi Student Recognition Award for his short film I Am Become Death. OstrichLand, McCracken’s USC graduate thesis film, has been to more than twenty festivals around the world, including Vancouver, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Ostrichland Director: David McCracken
Writer: David Haskell

Cast: Mike C Nelson

Two estranged brothers drive across the country in a truck full of their dead dad's UFO memorabilia.

LINK TO THE FILM: https://www.facebook.com/OstrichLandMovie

Austin Fickman, founder of the Laguna Beach Film Festival, chatted with me Tuesday at 4pm on KUCI 88.9fm - streaming www.kuci.org

If you missed Austin on today's show, listen here!

ABOUT AUSTIN FICKMAN

Austin Fickman has been making movies for more than half of his life…and he’s only 18!    Filmmaking is in his genes.  His father is director/writer/ producer Andy Fickman and his mother is Hollywood manager Elissa Leeds. 

Austin started making films at the age of eight and by the time he reached the 7^th grade, his films were competing in – and winning – competitions and film festivals around the world.   While his passion is comedy, recently he has broadened his subject range, making his first socially conscious film Take a Stand, based on a true story dealing with the reality of bullying.  Take a Stand has already garnered multiple film festival awards.

Providing entertainment and enjoying the filmmaking process is the driving force for Austin.  In fact, his love of the medium prompted him to begin the Laguna Beach High School Film Club, which is the largest student-created club in the school.

Believing strongly in the importance of filmmakers having an opportunity to be showcased and judged within the parameters that accurately reflect their peer groups, the ambitious 18-year-old created the Laguna Film Festival, which debuts this fall featuring short films from young and emerging filmmakers.  The response has been overwhelming and the festival received over 1000 submissions from 69 countries. 

Austin has a big year ahead of him, dividing his time between his senior year of high school, making films and developing and launching a short film festival.

ABOUT THE FILM FESTIVAL

The Laguna Film Festival, a festival of short films which takes place Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 18, is proud to announce the film line-up for the inaugural festival. Created as a platform for young and emerging filmmakers, the response has been overwhelming, having received over 1000 submissions, representing 69 countries. 

LFF was founded by Austin Fickman, an ambitious 18-year-old who has been making films since the age of eight and competing in film festivals for nearly as long. "The quality of film submissions we received were outstanding," said Fickman. "I'm thrilled about the program we've put together and believe people will be glad they attended. For me, filmmaking is a passion and I'm excited about being able to share this experience with the Laguna community, festival attendees and my peers."

The LFF will present three days of activities, including select films being shown in competition, plus some of Hollywood's top professionals engaging in panel discussions covering a wide range of topics important to emerging filmmakers. The panels and panelists will be announced soon.

DATES:
10.16 - 10.18
Recurring daily

ADDRESS:
25471 Rancho Niguel Rd
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

LOCATION:
Regency Directors Cut Cinema at Rancho Niguel

TIMES:
Screenings and panels throughout the day

ADMISSION:
prices vary (see website for details)

Handicapped Accessible: Yes
WEBSITE:
Visit Website

Sara Eckhardt, a senior at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications, joined me at 9:00am pst to talk about here "I Am Enough" Campaign!

Special thanks to Sara Eckhardt for calling in to today's show! If you missed Sara, listen to our conversation here! 

ABOUT SARA ECKHARDT
I'm a senior BDJ major at Syracuse University in Newhouse. I spent my summer in Portland, Oregon interning with adidas America in their Corporate Communications department. I hope to either work in communications or marketing for a sports or fitness company. Previous work experience: Interned with CNN in their Creative Marketing department.

The I Am Enough campaign was inspired by Brené Brown's TED Talk that I watched in my sorority's programming.

In my spare time, I love dancing and running.





MEDIA COVERAGE:

http://issuu.com/alphagammadelta/docs/summer_2015-issuu_67de12ab420449 (Slide 23)


http://issuu.com/jerk_magazine/docs/jerk_may_2015/52


http://news.syr.edu/campaign-encourages-women-to-say-i-am-enough-47710/


http://dailyorange.com/2015/04/member-of-su-greek-life-promotes-self-acceptance-through-campaign/

Serena Dykman, Writer/Director/Producer joined me Monday 9:00 am pst

If you missed Serena Dykman on today's show,
listen to our conversation here.

ABOUT Serena Dykman
Writer/Director/Producer
Serena Dykman is a NY-based filmmaker, and a recent graduate from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her work, ranging from comedy to drama and documentary, has won her numerous awards, including at the Cannes Film Festival, and has been selected to show in countless festivals around the world. She wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning shorts THE DOORMAN, and WELCOME, and is now launching a comedic short entitled BED BUGS & COMPANY on the festival circuit. Serena is a 'third-culture kid' born in Paris, and raised between London, Brussels, and New York. Her passion for travel has informed much of her work, and her interest in elephants has led to travels all across Asia. Her latest project is a feature documentary about her grandmother, an Auschwitz survivor.

www.serenadykman.com

www.vimeo.com/serenadykman

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5660378

@SerenaDykman

Documentary feature filmmakers Sybil Azur and Linda Cevallos-French joined me Monday 9/21 at 9:30am pst to talk about their inspiring film Pushing Motherhood!

Filmmaker Sybil Azur joined me this morning to talk about her documentary with Linda Cevallos-French. Linda was unavailable to join us, so we will reschedule another time. You can listen to my conversation with Sybil here.

PUSHING MOTHERHOOD, an inspiring film about the joys and pitfalls of late-in-life motherhood, which was released for rent and purchase on Vimeo on Demand on August 30, and I wanted reach out and put the film on your radar for possible coverage.

This intimate and illuminating documentary feature film by Sybil Azur and Linda Cevallos-French witnesses the filmmakers' lives from the moment they and their partners choose to have a family throughout their very different journeys to late-in-life first-time motherhood.

Life-long friends and professional dancers and actresses, Sybil Azur and Linda Cevallos-French created a fully-funded Kickstarter campaign and are now introducing “Pushing Motherhood” as a Vimeo On Demand release to encourage and empower other women to take charge of their reproductive lives and make their own informed decisions.

Costly, emotional and risky, some women may prefer to remain childless. For others, the film explores the options available today, including assisted reproductive technology, adoption, acupuncture, holistic medicine, gestational carriers, egg freezing, and egg donation.
 
“While making the film, we realized that we were largely clueless about the realities of a woman’s fertility,” said Linda Cevallos-French. “We knew the basics, but in interviewing the experts, we discovered that there are a lot of important choices one can make when trying to build a family.”
 
“Trying to have a baby is a deeply personal and emotional journey. This is a conversation that needs to come out from behind closed doors,” added Sybil Azur. “Through telling our own stories, we hope to encourage viewers to talk to one another about their struggles and successes, and take control of their reproductive lives sooner rather than later.”

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE.