LOS ANGELES (October 1, 2014) — The Catalina Film Festival (CFF), sponsored by Mercedes Benz, Stella Artois and Sony and founded by Ron Truppa and Delious Kennedy, graciously took over famed Santa Catalina Island on September 24-28th 2014, with celebrity filled gala’s, a film and TV summit, film screenings, a music series at Wrigley Stage, parties and mixers, and multiple award ceremonies with Academy Award™ nominee’s William H. Macy, Andy Garcia, and Roman Coppola as well as Nicolas Cage, who was honored with the Festival’s Charlie Chaplin ICON Award and Emmy™ nominee Jason Ritter, who received the Catalina Crest award.
CFF founder Ron Truppa, Jordin Sparks, and CFF co-founder Delious Kennedy. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Actress Emmy Rossum. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Actor Andy Garcia, recipient of the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
On Friday, Sept 26, the opening night feature film ‘Left Behind’, starring Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks and Lea Thompson kicked off the festival with a bang at the enchanting Catalina Casino.
The Catalina Casino. © 2014 Demi Goddess Pictures
Nicolas Cage was honored with the Festival’s Charlie Chaplin ICON Award, following the premiere of ‘Left Behind’, distributed by Freestyle Releasing and directed by Vic Armstrong. The CFF presented the Chaplin Centennial Tribute by screening the 1914 silent movie ‘Kid Auto Races at Venice’, starring Charlie Chaplin. The film is enormously important as the comedy in which silent movie audiences first saw Chaplin’s ‘Tramp’ character. Bruce Belland, who co-wrote the 1950’s Catalina song ‘26 miles’, received the Santa Catalina Island’s ‘Ambassador To The World’ award’. Actress Emmy Rossum accepted the Avalon Award, Andy Garcia was honored with the Fest’s Ronald Reagan Great Communicator award, and producer, writer, Roman Coppola, received the Vanguard award. Academy Award™ nominee, William H. Macy, was honored with the Stanley Kramer “Social Artist” award, Saturday, Sept. 27, following the premiere of his directorial debut ‘Rudderless’. Stanley Kramer’s wife Karen Sharpe Kramer and daughter Kat Kramer arrived with Macy and presented the award.
Actor/Director William H. Macy. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Actor/Director William H. Macy and Celebrity photojournalist Clinton H. Wallace. © 2014 Demi Goddess Pictures
‘Rudderless’ was the closing film at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and has been picked up by Paramount/Goldwyn for distribution. The “Social Artist” award was created by the CFF to honor a film professional whose work embodies Stanley Kramer’s qualities of social consciousness while taking risks to create and influence a social transformation. On Thursday, Sept. 25 Emmy™ nominee Jason Ritter, received the Catalina Crest award. Ritter attended the CFF with his girlfriend, actress Melanie Lynskey (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Two and a Half Men, Heavenly Creatures).
Jason Ritter and Melanie Lynskey. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
The star-studded festival boasted distinguished networking events, including the annual Catalina Film & TV Summit Sept. 24-26 that included an impressive line up of esteemed guests: Victoria Burrows (casting director of Lord of the Rings), Charles Shyer (writer/director of Parenthood, Father of the Bride 1 and 2), Chris Charalambous (Formerly of MGM and Head of Acquisitions at Freestyle Releasing) and Adam Marcus (Director/Writer of Texas Chainsaw 3D and Momentum). Sponsors included: Mercedes Benz, Stella Artois, Sony, Freixenet, the Cafaro Group, and Hint Water. Guests enjoyed sipping wine at the Catalina Wine Mixer on Friday, Sept. 26. courtesy of sponsor/owner Greg Karsner of the Horseshoe Bend Vineyard. Also appearing on the CFF red carpet: Danielle Fishel (Girl Meets World, Boy Meets World); Kristoff St. John (The Young and the Restless, Pandora’s Box); Nick Krause (White Rabbit, Parenthood); Mika Boorem (Awake, Blue Crush)
Film & TV Summit panelist. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Filmmaker Christy Oldham and Producer Mika Boorem. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Additional notable guests in attendance included: Lance Bass and Sean Astin. Live musical performances at the Wrigley Stage from Tamyra Gray, Marley Munroe and Scotty Grand.
Lance Bass and Jordin Sparks. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
New to CFF this year, the Master of Horror himself, Wes Craven, who selected the first-ever Craven Award winner, ‘The iMom’, a short film directed by Ariel Martin for excellence in horror filmmaking. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the Catalina Film Festival. I’ve been to Catalina many times and love the island and its rich Hollywood history,”said Craven.
CFF is a competitive festival and film market where guests experience the West Coast’s only resort island while enjoying film premieres, nightly parties and networking. Recent CFF honorees include Sharon Stone, Kate Bosworth, Jon Favreau, Patricia Arquette, Casey Wilson, Stan Lee, and more.
“We thank all of the filmmakers for participating in the Catalina Film Festival and we wish you all much success”, said Anni Marshall, City of Avalon Mayor. “We invite you all back next year for the 5th annual Catalina Film Festival”.
About Catalina Film Festival
The Catalina Film Festival, founded by Ron Truppa and Delious Kennedy, is an annual celebration of film on the only West Coast resort island, featuring more than 75 films, nightly events, and entertainment. From Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe, celebrities and filmmakers have flocked to Catalina for inspiration. Clear blue water
and coastal breezes provide the perfect backdrop for unparalleled premieres, yacht and mansion parties, industry networking, and discovering
everything that the island has to offer, just 26 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. CFF’s beneficiary is the Catalina Island Conservatory and issupported by the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce.
About The Writer
Christy Oldham in Catalina. © 2014 Clinton H. Wallace/Photomundo International
Acclaimed independent filmmaker and entrepreneur, Christy Oldham has written, produced, directed and starred in numerous, award winning feature films that are in world wide distribution. Oldham’s latest feature film, ‘Barracuda’, a vigilante thriller, made rounds at various United States film festivals and gained critical acclaim which earned her 3 Best Picture awards. ‘Barracuda‘ recently screened at March Du Films at the 2014 Festival De Cannes in France. She is the founder of Demi Goddess Pictures, an American film studio located in Hollywood, California and CEO of Healthy Dogs! Pet Care service that donates a portion of its proceeds to various animal rights groups and charity’s. Look for her new book Christy Oldham’s Manual to a Happy and Healthy Dog in the fall of 2014. She resides in Los Angeles.
Leave a Reply