The closing night film, “Dirt Nap,” starring John C. McGinley, D.B. Sweeney, Paul Hipp and Malibu resident Ed Harris, will be shown at 7 p.m. tonight, April 6, at the Louis B. Mayer Theater in Woodland Hills.
By Ryan O’Quinn / Special to The Malibu Times
The 8th annual Method Fest Film Festival kicked off Friday in Calabasas. The festival touts itself as the only major film festival in the country that pays homage to the actor and, festival organizers say, seeks to discover breakout-acting performances in independent films.
The opening night film, “Dreamland,” screened at the Louis B. Mayer Theater at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills. Despite the rain on Friday night, the red carpet event and West Coast premiere was well attended and the screening was standing room only.
Nearly 30 feature films and numerous short films and student films were screened this week at various locations around Calabasas. The lineup includes numerous West Coast premieres and seven world premieres. Screenings will continue through tomorrow night when the festival wraps up with an awards ceremony at the Carlson Family Theatre at Viewpoint School on Mulholland Highway.
Leading up to closing night, the Method Fest presents various awards throughout the week and Friday’s screening was no exception as “Dreamland” stars Agnes Bruckner and Kelli Garner received the festival’s “Rising Star” Awards, which awards exemplary acting performances to emerging stars.
“I want to thank Method Fest and everyone here because I love acting,” Garner said at the festival.
Calabasas mayor Dennis Washburn also presented commendations to the film’s stars, director Jason Matzner and producer Andrew Spaulding.
“We’re delighted to be here,” Spaulding said on behalf of Echolake Productions. “It’s an honor to be part of this festival. It premiered at Sundance and we’ve been very pleased with the positive audience response and turnouts.”
Method Fest executive director Don Franken said the festival has gotten bigger and better each year and is recognized as one of the premiere festivals in the country.
“When you bring in filmmakers from all over the world, you want everything to be first class,” Franken said. “Everything we do is for the filmmakers and for the public. We try to create an atmosphere of family here where people can forge relationships.”
Franken, who has a background in public relations and marketing, has been involved with the festival since its inception eight years ago. He said much of the achievements of the festival can be attributed to the staff of mostly volunteers who have worked together for years. He also said the city of Calabasas and other sponsors were generous in helping make the event a success.
“I love giving these movies a chance to get into the marketplace and this film festival helps drive that opportunity for producers and filmmakers,” Franken said. “It has really grown and has been the place to go when you’re looking for talent and career-defining performances like those we have seen recently from actors like Peter Falk and Beau Bridges.”
Franken said one of the festival’s proudest new accomplishments is the addition this year of the Carlson Family Theatre as a venue for screenings and the awards ceremony.
The state of the art facility is located at Viewpoint School, an independent day school for grades K-12.
“The arts have always been important to us,” said Dr. Bob Dworkoski, headmaster of Viewpoint. “We didn’t have a theatre until this year and Method Fest has very strong ties with the city [of Calabasas] and it worked out with our schedule as we are on holiday this week.”
The theater also hosts Method Fest’s Youth Workshops, which offers young filmmakers workshops on animation, acting and digital filmmaking. On Saturday the festival also screened the films in competition from the young filmmakers.
Other awards presented this week were the Indie Hero Award honoring actor Michael Rapaport prior to the screening of his film “Push” on Saturday, and the Lifetime Achievement Awards presented to actresses Julie Harris and Ruby Dee preceding a screening of “The Way Back Home” on Sunday.
The closing night film, “Dirt Nap,” starring John C. McGinley, D.B. Sweeney, Paul Hipp and Malibu resident Ed Harris will be shown at 7 p.m. tonight, April 6, at the Louis B. Mayer Theater. The awards presentation will be tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Carlson Family Theater located at 23620 Mulholland Drive. More information on screening times and festival winners can be obtained at the Web site www.methodfest.com