Cine Gear Expo, is the film, video, and digital media expo for specialists in the entertainment production and post production world opens in Los Angeles. It is structured to give attending artists and technicians a path to discover the latest technology and techniques through hands-on training from industry veterans. Attendees can handle the latest equipment, hear breaking industry news and network with peers and industry leaders. This annual four day conference through June 8 includes: exhibits, premiere and Master Class seminars, film series competition and finalist screenings, new product announcements, demonstrations, VIP Awards Ceremony, special events.
A screening of Feature Film Finalists, Student Short Finalists, Independent Short Finalists, starts on June 5. A Master Class on the PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 cameras, and how to shoot raw with FS700 with the Odyssey 7Q will be conducted from the Sony Digital Motion Picture Center in Culver City on June 8. In addition, the class will look at the cameras different shooting modes including high frame rate shooting. The F5 and F55’s super 16mm crop mode shooting plus advanced features such as the interchangeable optical low pass filter that is capable of varied special effects.
A Cine Gear Award Reception and Party happens June 6 where Indy, Student Shorts and Feature Film Competition winners will be announced. The Cine Gear Expo 2014 Cinematography Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Adam Greenberg, ASC, in recognition of the contributions he has made to advancing the art and craft of Cinematography. The 2014 Technical Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Andres Valles and Alfredo Valles, in recognition of the varied contributions they have made to advancing the art and craft of film making.
The CMA Music Festival is a Country Music festival hosted each June by the Country Music Association in Nashville. Started in 1972 as Fan Fair, the event presently features artists holding autograph sessions, “meet-and-greet” sessions and other fan interaction events for festival goers happening at various staging areas. Artist of the Day appearances will include: LeAnn Rimes on June 5, Sara Evans on June 6, Craig Morgan on June 7, Lady Antebellum on June 8. Each day of the Festival, Fan Fair X will feature an artist on their designated day. And there will be Q-and-A sessions between the artists and fans as well as acoustic performances. A pre-festival kick-off concert on June 4 features The Grascals, with additional performances by Brazilbilly, Lindsay Ell, Marshall Tucker Band, Morgan Evans, Shooter Jennings and Waymore’s Outlaws, Small Town Pistols, Tim Hicks, at Chevrolet Riverfront Stage from 11:00.
There are many special festival activities that are slated to happen. CMA Close Up Stage will feature an artist, band or panel in performance or discussion with an audience Q&A following. The Durango Music Spot will host various artists at the Fan Fair X. Kix Brooks will present his American Country Countdown radio program live from Fan Fair X on June 7 (11:15 CT). Great American Country, the network that delivers original lifestyle programming celebrating American living and Country Music is hosting a Great American Country Breakfast Series at Fan Fair X. In a first look at films and TV shows by and featuring Country artists, The Screening Room will feature “Like a Country Song,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Alive at Brushy Mountain,” a documentary by Mark Collie, A&E’s new series “Big Smo,” and VH-1’s “LeAnn & Eddie,” a satirical look at the lives of one of the most gossiped about celebrity couples.
And in yet more CMA activities taking place, kid-friendly activities include inflatable bounce houses, face painting and balloon artists, musical instrument lessons by Nashville Symphony members, a music recording studio experience, arts and crafts, the Nashville Public Library and Wishing Chair Productions Puppet Truck will present “The Frog Prince” each day, and Now Playing Nashville will provide various family friendly activities. The very popular autograph sessions in Music City Center returns again in 2014 with new improvements for how to enter the drawing. In addition to autographs, visitors can now enter to win access to exclusive performances at the HGTV Lodge located in Fan Alley. Festival activity and concerts will happen across several different stages with the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage situated on the bank of the Cumberland River as the festival epicenter. The Country Music Association aspires to heighten the awareness of Country Music and support its on-going growth. Half of the proceeds from the festival each year are donated to charity, while the other half are earmarked by the CMA for “the advancement of country music.
The 68th Annual Tony Awards will be on the evening of June 8 in New York City. The Tonys will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall, on the CBS television network. The live red carpet coverage can also be viewed at TonyAwards.com starting at 18:00. The line-up of performances for the award ceremony includes: 2014 Tony Nominee Neil Patrick Harris and the cast of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; 2014 Tony nominee Sutton Foster with the cast of Violet; Alan Cumming reprising his Tony Award-winning role in a performance from the revival of Cabaret; and 2014 Tony Nominee Idina Menzel performing from the new musical If/Then. The evening will also feature performances by the casts of this year’s Best Musical and Best Musical Revival Nominees. The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. During the telecast, behind-the-scenes companion coverage of the show can be followed at: TonyAwards.com/secondscreen.
Marking its 35th year of operation, BANFF World Media Festival is the annual media content creation event structured to create opportunities for co-production deals, enabling new business relationships and revealing future industry trends. The Festival combines an international program competition – the Banff World Media Awards, with a conference agenda that will engage areas: BANFF TV, Kids and Animation, Non-Fiction, nextMEDIA. The Banff Keynote, moderated by veteran TV journalist Dan Rather, will be delivered by Eileen O’Neill, Group President, Discovery, Science and Velocity Networks, who will discuss the Discovery Channel climb to record-breaking ratings and social engagement.
Qualified BANFF registrants get their chance to interact by pitching their new concepts and business models. These meetings can be booked exclusively by BANFF delegates using the .” Connect” networking platform. The ‘Face to Face with a Development Executives’ series is an opportunity for BANFF delegates to meet with international development executives from global networks, broadcasters, production companies, digital distribution platforms, advertising and media buying agencies. A planned June 9 Facebook Feature Interview titled: “Demystifying Digital vs. Traditional: The Golden Age of TV & The Second Screen Syndrome,” examines evolving viewing habits in which Canadians multitask with an Internet-connected device while watching TV.
This year, Banff World Media Festival will honor Canadian actor, songwriter and TV game and talk show host, Alan Thicke, with this year’s Canadian Award of Distinction. The award is presented to a Canadian whose body of work illustrates outstanding achievement, the Canadian Award of Distinction will celebrate the new industry standards set by Thicke’s professional achievements. Presented in partnership with Entertainment One (eOne), Thicke will accept the honor at the annual Rockie Awards Gala, a ceremony that has awarded names in the entertainment industry, including: Will Arnett, Howie Mandel, Eric McCormack and Martin Short.
Networking receptions and parties at this 35th Banff include on June 8: the “Rockies Program Competition Nominee Reception” and “CBC Radio-Canada Opening Reception”; June 9: “Breakfast with a Development Executive,” “Rockie Awards Luncheon,” “Netflix Late Night After Party”; June 10: “Breakfast with a Development Executive,” “Lunch With a Development Executive,” “A&E Reception”; June 11: “Breakfast with a Development Executive,” “Lunch With a Development Executive,” BANFF’s 35th Birthday Party. The Banff Springs Hotel, where the conference is held, is a luxury hotel that was built during the nineteenth century as one of Canada’s grand railway hotels, constructed in Scottish Baronial style and located in Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times, screens new American and international features, music videos, and shorts from over 40 countries and with access to critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals and emerging cinematic talent. Taking place in the heart of downtown Los Angeles from June 11-19, the Festival has also programmed live musical performances, parties and informal gatherings, as well as the exclusive, pre-festival Filmmaker Retreat.
Select narrative features, documentary features and short films participate in the Festival’s three competitive sections, the winners of which are chosen by a special jury. Most features and shorts are also eligible for Audience Awards, which are chosen based on ballots submitted by Festival audiences. The Festival is a qualifying festival in all categories for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, as well as for the Narrative, Animated and Documentary Short Film categories of the Academy Awards.
The Festival also hosts Fast Track, a program of Film Independent that is set-up to help filmmakers move their current narrative or documentary projects into the next phase. Fast Track is a film financing market that connects them financiers, production companies and other industry professionals. This selective program is open to established as well as up-and-coming filmmakers with exceptional projects still seeking funding. The Los Angeles Film Festival is a program of Film Independent, a non-profit, membership film organization that champions independent film and that organizes and hosts the Spirit Awards.
The annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival typically takes place on the second Thursday in June. The main attractions of the four-day festival are the multiple stages of live music, featuring a diverse array of musical styles including indie rock, world music, hip hop, jazz, americana, bluegrass, country music, folk, gospel, reggae, pop, electronica, and other alternative music. But beyond musical showcases, there are other varied activities as: cinema, art displays, eat and drink adventures, Kalliope, exercise and camping.
A short list of some of the highlighted musical acts set to take the stage at Bonnaroo include: Susan Tedeschi, Damian Marley, Janelle Monae, Arctic Monkeys, DJ Logic, Lauryn Hill, Taj Mahal, Ice Cube, The Flaming Lips, Elton John, Fritz and The Tantrums, Lionel Richie, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sarah Jarosz, The Avett Brothers, Skrillex, Vampire Weekend, Cake, Kanye West. For artists looking for performance opportunities at Bonnaroo, as of 2014 festival management has partnered with Sonicbids to accept submissions for performance slots at the festival.
The Bonnaroo Cinema Tent will screen new independent features before they are released, documentaries, comedies, cult classics and host fun (as in comedy) live interactive happenings. The cinema is open 24 hours and will integrate into the format live Q&A sessions with special guest filmmakers, actors and unique cinematic performances with musicians and comedians. Kalliope Stage is a new offering at Bonnaroo in 2014. In the evening Kalliope Stage becomes a staging area for a light show filled with cryogenics, lasers and serial beams and an enhanced audio system.
The Game Stage at Bonnaroo powered by Xbox One will function as an alternative to the musical stages offering game addicted fans a chance to battle giant mechanical Titans, race the fastest cars in the world, hunt zombies or just send questions to your favorite Bonnaroo artists via Skype video. Yoga classes take place at locations across The Farm. Yoga Roo takes place Friday through Sunday, sunrise to sunset, at various locations across The Farm. All classes are free and open to yogis of all levels. For the second year in a row the “Roo Run” will be held June 14 – the day before the festival close – to race the 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) across the festival grounds. Prizes will be awarded.
North by North East is the an annual music and arts festival with conference held each June in Toronto, Ontario, patterned on the South by Southwest festival held earlier in the year in Austin, Texas. The festival is broken down along the lines of: NXNE Music Festival (June 18-22), NXNE Film (June 13-15), NXNE Interactive (June 17-21), NXNE Comedy (June 18-22), NXNE Art (June 16-22). The festival takes over Toronto’s downtown core, with many venues (thought to be over 50 Toronto music venues) grouped along Queen Street West, College Street, and the Bloor Street Annex. Most venues host six bands a night. Some of the scheduled musical acts for 2014 will include: ASAP FERG, Big Name Actors, D!GGY the DJ, Drugs in Japan, Emma Frank, Falling Androids, Gangis Khan aka Camoflauge, Ghost Town Jenny, Greys, Tequila Mockingbird and others
NXNE Film screens the year’s selected music-themed features, documentaries, shorts, and experimental films from around the world. This year in partnership with Hot Docs, NXNE presents screenings that include, ‘Vann “Piano Man” Walls: The Spirit of R&B’, directed by Steven Morris, a film for anyone curious about the origins of rock n’ roll. NXNE Comedy, hosted by Fleshlight and in partnership with Empire Comedy Live, will feature special festival presentations like: The Epic Nerd Show, Sunday Night Live with The Sketchersons, Fan Fiction The Show, presenting Sailor Moon. In the art segment, NXNE Art Team will make selections from OCAD University’s graduating class of 2014 to exhibit among works of other artists. There will be an Art Party in the Art Lounge June 20 with music and drinks.
NXNE Interactive (NXNEi) is a digital interactive media conference bringing together content-creating artists, tech entrepreneurs, digital marketing gurus, web business experts, and social media aficionados for workshops, presentations, and panels. Oliver El-Khatib, a co-manager for Toronto based Rap artist Drake, and founder and creative director of OVO, will deliver the NXNEi keynote address and share insight on the music industry, the development of the OVO brand, and the importance of championing Toronto.
With its global perspective in regard to programming, the festival organization strives for certain achievements in the course of the festival run, including: provide a forum for new music in which fans can see rising talent at Toronto club venues, screen the year’s curated music-themed films, explore and develop common ground between the creative industries and the interactive world, present Toronto with a marquee tourist festival destination by showcasing international headline performers at free outdoor concerts. Getting to play NXNe is a matter of submitting an Electronic Press Kit through Sonicbids where it will be then taken up for consideration by the NXNE listening team.
InfoComm opens in Las Vegas, an annual AV trade show featuring the latest technologies for audio, video, display, projection, lighting, staging, digital signage, conferencing, digital content creation, networking, signal distribution and more. InfoComm International is the trade association behind the convention representing the professional audiovisual and information communications industries worldwide. The conference segment of the convention runs June 14-20 and the exhibits segment runs June 18-20. Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow and Author of FUTURETAINMENT, delivers the Opening Keynote on June 17, focusing on the next five years of industry innovation.
InfoComm will have a Tech-Know Job Fair, June 18-20 during show hours in the InfoComm International booth. For 2014, InfoComm introduces two new Solutions Summits – conferences focused on digital signage and unified communications and collaboration. The program opens on June 17 and continues through June 20 with keynotes, case studies and panel discussions on the concerns of using these technologies and integrating them into the organization.
InfoComm Technology Pavilions and Special Exhibits areas will showcase over 950 exhibitors and thousands of products representing areas of audio, digital signage, conferencing, lighting and staging and security. Over time, certain popular pavilion areas have come to establish themselves, such as: Digital Signage Presentation Stage, Production Camera Showcase and Production Zone, Rigging Safety Demo, Audio Demo rooms, the Technologies for Worship magazine Live Events Experience stage.
Established in 1939, InfoComm International has more than 5,000 members, including manufacturers, systems integrators, dealers and distributors, independent consultants, programmers, rental and staging companies, end users and multimedia professionals from more than 80 countries. InfoComm International serves its members and the industry through education, including technical and business courses, in the classroom and online; resources, such as AV standards, thought pieces and market research; and events, including local roundtables and international trade shows.
Black Entertainment Television network will present their annual BET Awards on June 29 in Los Angeles. The awards celebrate the achievements of African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are the culmination of a three-day extravaganza called The BET Experience which will happen throughout the L.A. Live district. BET Awards ’14, will be hosted by Chris Rock and will be broadcast live on BET from approximately 20:00 PT. Beyonce and Jay-Z lead the nominations with five each. Drake, Pharrell Williams and August Alsina are tied for four. The 2014 lineup for BET Experience at L.A. Live, the lead-up to the awards that opens on June 27, will feature performances from notable R&B, Hip-Hop acts, including Outkast, Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, Jill Scott, Trey Songz, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross, Jennifer Hudson, Marsha Ambrosius, K. Michelle, and Ty Dolla $ign.
Leading up to the BET Awards, the BET Experience at L.A. LIVE will feature three days of music and comedy concerts, “106 & PARK” tapings, BET Fan Fest, seminars, GRAMMY Museum exhibits, a signature food festival, celebrity meet and greets and other special appearances. Most of the interactive events are popular holdovers from previous years. BET Experience Fan Fest is an interactive expo with its own Pavilion where guests engage with their favorite BET shows, talent and brands through exhibits, demonstrations and giveaways. The Fan Fest is free to the public and includes a signature food experience. Genius Talks are seminars focusing on pragmatic advice on money, culture, entertainment, family, celebrity and relationships. The GRAMMY Museum Exhibit will offer an exhibit of past “BET Awards” Lifetime Achievement Honorees. The popular “106 & PARK” program will present free musical performances, new talent showcases and celebrity appearances on its stage. Late night VIP after parties with featured DJ’s will happen at selected and exclusive venues.
The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. The events blog also shows links to pages that are translated into ten of the most widely used international languages read over the Internet other than English. This month’s photo placement highlights action sequences from Warner Bros. sci-fi feature, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. If the photo does not appear in this post please visit the blog page to view it. Looking ahead into the next month, although the industry gets quiet during the summer, be aware that: the Los Angeles Acting School Acting Conservatory School will conduct sessions in Santa Monica, Casual Connect USA 2014 will be held in San Francisco, Media/Broadcast/Cinema Today as three co-located events will come to Chennai. Comic-Con International 2014 will be in San Diego. The Engaging Youth: Where They Want, How They Want! Conference will happen in London.
