WELCOME to the 2013 Hollywood Black Film Festival!
HBFF 2013 will be screening an Official Selection of 73 films at the Ricardo Montalban Theater, located at 1615 N. Vine St, Hollywood CA 90028.
HBFF 2013’s INFOTAINMENT CONFERENCE takes place at the W Hotel Hollywood, 6250 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028 and features a wealth of informational panels and workshops covering a wide variety of topics which include: film production, distribution and marketing, pitching, writing for television and film, in addition to specific programs designed to inform and educate actors.
CLICK on titles of films or panels to get more information or to BUY TICKETS. CLICK on the category name on the right side of the page to sort by category.
Individual Panel Tickets (W Hotel Hollywood) - $30, plus fee
Individual Screening Tickets (Ricardo Montalban Theater) - $15, including fee
Schedule Subject to Change
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee (includes Part 1 & 2)
Project Stargazer NASA Panel (Part 1)
A panel of NASA scientists and engineers will discuss how science fiction has influenced the reality of advanced engineering and technology solutions, as well as how these solutions to real world space science challenges have given birth to products that address everyday societal needs. We will address current and future space missions and ways to inspire and excite audiences about the future of space exploration.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
This discussion will give filmmakers the necessary information to successfully navigate film festivals in order to maximize your time, make career changing connections, and gain visibility for your project.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee (includes Part 1 & 2)
Project Stargazer NASA Panel (Part 2)
This will be a dynamic and interactive discussion between NASA engineers/scientists and writers/filmmakers to inspire new ways of portraying science fiction while uncovering the realities of space science facts. The goal is to further the collaboration between an industry that is charged with telling visual stories and an organization responsible for undertaking the pursuit of hard science and space exploration. The two groups will meet to focus collectively on uncovering material useful to both the scientific and filmmaking communities, with an emphasis on a quality information exchange that is accurate, compelling, and innovative.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Ogondah (12:00)
Suni Man (19:00)
Unspoken (10:00)
Adopted ID (61:00)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
This panel will talk to artists who had momentum in their careers and they used that momentum to create a success story. Panelists will share their stories of struggle to triumph. Come learn what it takes to take your career from aspiring to true Hollywood story.
(Private Workshop for Project Stargazer Semi-Finalists Only)
In this closed-session workshop, Screenwriting Professor Steve Duncan shares his advice on writing sci-fi screenplays that meet the high bar of expectations when it comes to Hollywood Sci-Fi.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
This panel will discuss opportunities for U.S. filmmakers to go overseas and make their movies, co-productions, financing, etc. Learn what you need to know to film overseas, and how is it different. Find out what shooting abroad can offer in terms of locations, financial instruments and incentives, cast and crew, infrastructure and co-producing. With the right preparation and local partners, filming overseas can be the experience of a lifetime.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
NHAMO (12:00)
Touch (14:00)
Midnight Scorpion (22:00)
Sodiq (44:00)
(Private Workshop for Storyteller Semi-Finalists Only)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Discover opportunities to reach new audiences and promote your projects on your own. In this hands-on session, entertainment industry professionals will finally learn the difference between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, which tools to use, and critically, when and how to use them. From blogs to wikis to widgets, find out how to navigate social media to expand your entertainment brand.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Produce & Distribute Films on any Budget panel is a lively discussion amongst executives and producers who will to share how the availability of commercial distribution opportunities for films at any budget level is changing as the industry embraces an explosion of new and unconventional resources for financing, producing and distributing independent films.
Mix and Mingle!
RSVP HERE by October 2, 2013 for FREE ADMISSION. After that, there will be a $10 ticket fee for this event.
The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) invites you to our “HBFF 2013 Comedy Sho'Down” Showcase hosted by Esau McGraw. Discover the comedy stylings of new comedians looking for their big break!
Parking is just $2 for 4 hours with our validation.)
Presented in partnership with the PGA Diversity Workshop
(Private Workshop for the semi-finalists only)
In this closed-session workshop, Project Stargazer semi-finalists will further developed their sci-fi pitches with an eye to working up a strong narrative through-line, affecting characters, character arcs, subplot, and a sense of what the story is about most, i.e. what the writer is trying to communicate most in telling the story being told. The goal of the workshop is to prepare Project Stargazer semi-finalists to give their best pitch possible during the Project Stargazer Pitch Panel.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Sponsored by Quick Film Budget
Join filmmaker Adam Lebovitz for a seminar, as he speaks about the pre-production process and his experience in the film industry. Adam Lebovitz's credits include "Unrest" (Lionsgate, 2006), "Tortured" (Sony, 2008) and "Bloody Knuckles" (Fox TV Studios, 2009).
Through this seminar you will learn how to get your project into production and how to save TIME and MONEY - the two most valuable ingredients to bringing your creative vision to fruition. Adam will help you with: Creating a budget, getting your film financed, the casting process, and how to Sell your film.
Adam Lebovitz has launched a revolutionary budgeting tool QuickFilmBudget.com which he will also demonstrate. Quick Film Budget helps independent and aspiring filmmakers move toward production. It is a user-friendly website that empowers writers, directors, producers, and actors to create professional customized film budgets in minutes. Quick Film Budget is the first budgeting technology to automate the process by asking some key questions and instantly delivers a professional customized film budget. Quick Film Budgets are also modifiable.
After the presentation, Adam will make himself available for a Question and Answer session.Program Screening Tickets $15, fees included
A Profile in Courage: Linda L. Smith (25:00)
Prison Body Freedom Soul: The Saga Of Robert Coney (34:00)
Individual Panet Ticket $30, plus fee
This panel will explore the ever evolving development, distribution and marketing of content and show you how you can take advantage of new opportunities as digital content options are spreading across new platforms such as the web (Internet TV), phones and tablets, and audiences evolve how they watch content. New programming options created by YouTube, Google, Netflix, Amazon and Yahoo, to name just a few, have changed the strategy for producing content and the way it is monetized.
You need to be prepared to talk about you and your project at any time or place. In this workshop, you’ll develop and sharpen your pitch, polish your presentation skills, and learn how to clearly convey your passion and the marketability of your film, TV or new media project. Then you’ll have an opportunity to use what you just learned while getting mentorship from top executives, producers and artists in the industry.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Finding My Obama (9:00)
Jump (15:00)
Life Coach Chronicles (8:00)
Hub-City (16:00)
Mommy Uncensored: Confessions of A Real Mom (7:00)
Southern Hospitality (14:00)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
This panel discussion will help filmmakers understand the creative process and how to tackle the daunting task of making a feature film. How do producers and industry gatekeepers decide to take on a project? How do you assemble the right team? How to polish a script? How do actors interpret the story? The questions can be endless for a new filmmaker. This panel serves to answer some of those questions with practical answers.
(Private Workshop for Storyteller Semi-Finalists Only)
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Beyond the Echo of the Drum (20:00)
Tin (7:00)
Death of a Wizard (16:00)
Dust (9:00)
Nigga…Nigga…NIGGA!* (17:00) (Adult Language or Situations)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Project Stargazer presented in partnership with ACT ONE
Do you have an idea for a movie that is worlds away or light years ahead of its time? This panel will talk about how to flesh out your futuristic hero, create detailed new worlds, weave your fiction from the laws of physics and the universe, and transcend the typical science fiction story to write a really special script. A good sci-fi movie relies on both a high concept idea and the emotions of a human story to make it enduring. Learn how to turn your idea into a working screenplay that crafts a visual narrative and tells a compelling story then bring it all together in post-production to create an epic-looking film that is visually stunning and keeps moviegoers on the edge of their seats. Explore the technologies, visual effects and CG Environment techniques that increase the production value of your sci-fi film.
This panel will feature writers, directors, producers, and visual effects supervisors discussing the essential creative elements of storytelling and how they intersect with technology to create ground-breaking and original films.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Fall Beats (10:00)
Secrets for Strangers (7:00)
Girls Like Us! Part 1* (76:00) (Adult Language or Situations)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
The internet's influence on motion pictures is relatively new but already has affected distribution, intellectual property rights, and revenue models. In each of these cases a new technology threatens or displaces established business practices. What changes should one anticipate next? Those of us practicing our craft over the next several decades need to be keenly aware of the technological environment in which we'll be operating. An understanding of what's cutting edge and what's on the drawing board is a valuable asset. How does the internet change the way we make movies? Join Jim Fitzgerald, Founder, Lightspeed eps, and Bruce Sands, formerly with Sony Pictures Entertainment, to discuss how today's emerging internet technologies will help filmmakers run tomorrow's high tech, green productions. Participants will see the latest paperless production tools from Lightspeed.
Mix and Mingle!
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
A Conversation with Producer Debra Martin Chase
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
One Night a Stranger (13:00)
Nameless (15:00)
00:03:00 Thriller (6:00)
Used to BE (19:00)
Troubled Man (5:00)
The Coffers (23:00)
In this informative and enlightening workshop, Writers Boot Camp Founder Jeffrey Gordon (JG) will identify the common mistakes writers of all experience levels make on early drafts, and explain the need for at least 10 specific drafts on your script prior to its submission to industry friends and contacts. By definition, first drafts are just a start. They lack the explicit “audience experience” and cultivated seamlessness expected in a viable script. Yet too often, motivated by the drive for approval and the desire for feedback, a writer will send out a script too soon. Entering its 25th anniversary next year, Writers Boot Camp’s short session will help you avoid common mistakes and steer your projects toward industry relevance. Join JG and learn some of the tools that Writers Boot Camp alumni have learned that have helped them have 30 major movies produced in just the past two years (DUE DATE, FRIGHT NIGHT, THE FIFTH ESTATE, RUNNER RUNNER) and get staffed on the hottest TV series (Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Girls, American Horror Story, Modern Family).
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Sponsored by Directors Guild of America
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
The Bully directed by Frederick Fields (4:00)
Living & Loving in the Moment (20:00)
The Bully directed by Jamie Burton-Oare (9:00)
Sunday’s at Noon (12:00)
Colored My Mind (19:00)
Clean Teeth Wednesdays (8:00)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Continuation from the "Pitch yourself & Your Project Panel"
Participants will get a chance to practice their pitches with Hollywood Executives.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Soul Mates (27:00)
Prima Facie (9:00)
The Companion (15:00)
Descent of a Superstar (30:00)
Silhouettes (30:00)
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Some of Hollywood's top legal minds, agents and managers will discuss a broad range of topics from how they became powerbrokers to how to get one of them on your team.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Watch the eleven (11) Project Stargazer semi-finalists take what they learned from their private Pitch Development Workshop as they pitch their Sci-Fi projects to a stellar panel of judges from the entertainment industry and scientific community. The judges will choose three (3) finalists to participate in the 2014 Stargazer Lab, where the finalists will be paired with mentors from Hollywood and NASA as they creatively focus on developing their projects from script to screen. Finalists will be announced during the Filmmaker Awards at Closing Night Ceremonies.
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
All projects face the same basic challenges – from developing material, finding the money, building strong collaborative teams, and ultimately, taking the project from script to screen. This is a roundtable discussion with seasoned and successful film and television producers and production executives who share their experience and offer concrete advice on producing for film and television.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Lunch With Jeremiah* (11:00) (Adult Language or Situations)
The Watch (25:00)
Five Dollars (6:00)
Victim of Circumstance (20:00)
Solace (10:00)
String of Light (15:00)
Mix and Mingle!
Individual Panel Ticket $30, plus fee
Actors discuss their careers, the industry, and the building blocks needed to successfully develop a fulltime acting career.
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Anger Mis Management (17:00)
Lil Tokyo Reporter (30:00)
The Truth (15:00)
Ying and Yang* (12:00) (Adult Language or Situations)
Free Lunch (14:00)
Individual Monologue Slam Ticket $10, including fees
Led by veteran casting director Twinkie Byrd, a panel of celebrity judges will participate in a lively Q&A discussion about all things acting career development, audition tips & techniques, and much more. Following the panel discussion, the 12 contest finalists and the Audience Choice winner will perform their monologue in front of a panel of celebrity judges and a live audience. The panel will also give each actor feedback on their performance.
Program Screening Tickets $15, fees included
The Vacancy (18:00)
Finding Our Voice (24:00)
Charity Case (13:00)
Lou’s Prey (12:00)
If I Were a Bell (20:00)
Ritechus Cry (23:00)
Sponsored by Mozzell Entertainment
The first half the Pitchathon features studio development executives, producers and distributors sharing their insights and tips on how to successfully pitch a completed film, finished script and/or ideas. In the second half you’ll have a chance to actually pitch your projects and get valuable feedback and creative input from industry pros who are "in the know."
Program Screening Ticket $15, fees included
Bored of the Rings (21:00)
The Silent Treatment (9:00)
Undefiled (22:00)
Faux Pas (21:00)
Perfect Day (17:00)
"The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete" will close out the 13th annual edition of HBFF on Sunday, October 6, 7pm at the Montalban Theater, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA. HBFF 2013 runs October 2 -6, and features an inspiring line up of films, panels, panelists, and special events.
Directed by George Tillman, Jr. and written by Michael Starrbury, Codeblack Films' "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete" stars Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Jennifer Hudson(Dreamgirls), Golden Globe and EMMY® Award winner Jeffrey Wright (Boardwalk Empire, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Quantum of Solace), Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks(Sparkle), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje(Thor: The Dark World) and Anthony Mackie(Runner Runner, Pain & Gain). Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen and Bob Teitel produced the film with Alicia Keys, Susan Lewis, Clay Floren, Aimee Shieh, Julio Depietro, Keith Kjarval, Mary Vernieu, and Amy Nauiokas executive producing. The film also features new music by Grammy® Award-winning multiplatinum recording artist Alicia Keys.
"The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete" is a beautifully observed and tremendously moving film about salvation through friendship and the way transformation sometimes can happen just by holding on long enough. During a sweltering summer in New York City, 13-year-old Mister's (Skylan Brooks) hard-living mother (Jennifer Hudson) is apprehended by the police, leaving the boy and nine-year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon) alone to forage for food while dodging child protective services and the destructive scenarios of the Brooklyn projects. Faced with more than any child can be expected to bear, the resourceful Mister nevertheless feels he is an unstoppable force against seemingly unmovable obstacles. But what really keeps the pair in the survival game is much more Mister's vulnerability than his larger-than-life attitude.
Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate company, will release the film in select theaters on October 11. Visit www.MisterandPeteMovie.com for film information & updates. Follow the social conversation at #MisterAndPete.
The festival after-party will be held immediately following the screening at Station Hollywood, The W Hotel, 6250 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA.