The Palm Springs International Film Festival, held in the Coachella Valley at the base of Mt. San Jacinto in Southern California, screens a majority of the official international submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. While screening over 200 films from more than 60 countries to an audience of over 120,000, the programming also includes a large selection of short films.
The festival which runs until January 16, also features cultural events, filmmaker tributes, industry seminars and an annual black-tie gala award presentation. One of the planned Black Tie Awards Galas happens January 7 with cocktails, dinner and awards show.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the trade association promoting growth in the $190 billion USA consumer electronics industry. CEA owns and produces the International CES, the annual consumer technology trade show taking place in Las Vegas. This year, from January 10-13, more than 2,500 exhibitors are expected to travel to Vegas to show off their latest innovations in 30 product categories and the content that supports them. CES is not open to the general public, so to attend, you must be affiliated professionally with the CE industry. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer delivers a keynote address the day before the official opening, at The Venetian, Palazzo Ballroom. This year, mobile apps producers will have two minutes to demo their app, and an applause-o-meter will measure audience enthusiasm to determine the winners at the planned Mobile Apps Showdown. And try not to miss the parties at 1OAK Nightclub during CES to celebrate the best of digital, and experience a potent night of networking, dancing and more in “Mashable style.” The Official CES Closing Party happens at The Venetian, TAO Nightclub.
Music rights organization BMI will salute gospel leaders Kirk Franklin and Pastor Hezekiah Walker at its 13th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon taking place January 13 in Nashville. The invitation-only event will honor Kirk Franklin, the best-selling contemporary gospel artist in SoundScan history, and Pastor Hezekiah Walker, a Grammy-winner and leader of the Love Fellowship Choir. Then in a follow-up to the luncheon, gospel music’s Stellar Awards show, honoring gospel music artists, writers, and industry professionals for their contributions to the Gospel Music Industry goes live January 14. The Chicago-based Central City Productions, Inc. (CCP) produces the Stellar Gospel Music Awards, and a national air date is set for March 5, 7 pm EST, over the Gospel Music Channel.
The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards will take place in Beverly Hills with a live telecast airing on NBC starting at 5 pm (WST). Founded in the 1940’s during World War II, parent organization HFPA was originally comprised of a handful of Los Angeles based overseas journalists. Each year, the organization holds what has become the third most watched awards show on television, the Golden Globe Awards, which has enabled the organization to donate more than $12 million to entertainment related charities and scholarship programs. Actor Morgan Freeman is set to receive this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award. This year’s awards ceremony is hosted again by British comedian Ricky Gervais.
Graphation Film Into Comics Festival is a Los Angeles festival built around short films that can then be made into graphic novels and comic books. Winning films and scripts will be taken and passed off to the Graphation stable of artists, a group made up of both established professionals and talented amateurs, and comic books will be created of those films. Graphation Film Productions already has several short projects in the works, both animated and live action, and is also hosting a free monthly movie night at Hive Gallery where the festival will be held from January 15-17
The New York City located Ticket Summit is a conference and trade show focused on the ticketing and live entertainment industry. The three-day event which begins January 18 features a trade show, industry seminars, and networking opportunities for industry professionals. There will be a special Networking Cocktail Party on the evening of opening conference day, and “After Dark” events are slated as well.
The twice yearly held NAMM show (at least in the USA) serves buyers looking to find new state-of-the-art music products, and the exhibitors that are given an opportunity to connect with customers that comprise their target audience. Taking place in Anaheim, January 19-22, attendees benefit from sessions like, “Doing Business in a New Key: Recreational and Community Music Making” at the RMM Coalition Meeting on January 20. Learning sessions also reveal techniques on how to drive more participation during in store activities, connect with community music activities and become the music-making hub in your community. NAMM 2012 will also host the 2nd Annual NAMM YP Gutterball (bowling) Invitational. Activities include drinks, food and bowling while networking with attending peers and industry mentors. Concerts and live performances happen every day of the festival schedule.
Annual Sundance Film Festival opens its season January 19-29 in Park City. Organizer and festival owner, Sundance Institute, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences for film. Originally founded by actor Robert Redford in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, the Institute seeks to discover, support, and inspire independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work through the annual festival and other cultural programs it runs. Again this year the Festival presents the Sundance ASCAP Music Cafe, a showcase for live performances by emerging and established artists, including solo acts and major bands.
Competing head on with Sundance as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging independent artists, Slamdance Film Festival happens at just about the same time (dates are January 20-26) and in the same vicinity as Sundance Festival. The festival accepts films in every genre and any topic from every country around the world. But unlike Sundance, Slamdance will show far fewer feature films while showing about the same number of shorts. The organization now consists of the Film Festival, Screenplay and Teleplay Competition and Slamdance Studios.
Opening its first year at a new Miami Beach venue after operating from the west coast for many years, the annual National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Conference and Market is the much anticipated program market serving the worldwide television community. For anyone that will buy, sell, develop, finance, advertise, market or license content, implement technology, exploit rights, or leverage media assets, this annual conference and exhibition taking place January 23-25 is a forum offering solutions and guidance. The “Content First” segment of the conference happens for all three days of the conference, and helps define the focus of NATPE as the destination for buyers and sellers to meet and do business. The NATPE 2012 Kick-off Party is a day before the official conference start, on January 22, but cocktail parties usually end every day of the busy conference schedule including the 9th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award gathering on the conference’s second day.
At the Driven Music Conference in Hollywood, January 27-29, AP Magazine and AP Tour CEO and Founder, Mike Shea, along with major label A&R and producers, are Featured to take part in a planned panel. Anyone planning to attend can sign-up with the Recording Academy, Florida Chapter, on January 28 at the informational booth. Chapter staff will mingle with the conference attendees to provide membership and other information about The Recording Academy. The VIP Meet and Greet Friday Kick Off Party will include featured panelists and conference sponsors. Showcase performances by selected artists happen January 27-28, and are open and free to conference attendees as well as the general public.
As this year’s MIDEM opens in Cannes on January 28, Music Pitch Sessions are an opportunity for anyone to present their tracks before music supervisors from worldwide advertising agencies searching for tunes to place in their projects. midemlab showcases the latest digital innovations that help music executives, artists, and brands to engage and monetise audiences. The showcase is the result of finalists of the startups and app developers competition. The second MIDEM hack day assembles 30 developers from around the globe who are given 48 hours to conceptualize, collaborate, and build a new generation of applications. This year MIDEM attendees can attend three nights of live performances featuring established performers and up-and-coming artists at the first-ever MIDEM festival. A classical music night will be held January 30, organized by MIDEM in partnership with the project management agency Harrison Parrott. The conference closes January 31.
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 which now has a language translation button to convert page contents into most widely used languages. In this month’s story page photo is Germany’s mega-artist, Lando Van Herzog, who conveys his support for the Occupy Wall Street movement through a new music video, ‘Egomania’. And in a look ahead into February event dates, there is the Editor’s Retreat, in Austin, the Victoria Film Festival, in British Columbia, a Marketing Your Books Workshop, in Jacksonville, Big Easy International Film and Music Festival, in Arcadia, Amelia Island Film Festival, on Fernandina Beach, just to run through some dates to give you something to look forward to. And don’t forget that the News and Events and the site blog have translation tools to deliver page content in an array of translatable languages other than English.