African-American Film Festival, Indie Fest USA Expo, Tejano Music Convention, Flashforward2008, London Frightfest, NVISION, highlight August’s Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

BMI will sponsor the Amplify Music Conference and Festival taking place in Downtown Las Vegas, through August 8. The agenda includes daily conferences, workshops, nightly showcases and more. HBO will be present at the Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival, August 6-9 in Vineyard Haven, hosting the HBO Short Film Competition on August 9 at Katherine Cornell Theatre. Process is an international Hip Hop Theatre workshop festival, August 7-9 in Manchester, delivered by Breaking Cycles as a tool to preserve the language of Hip Hop Theatre within the British culture and as a provision to nurture and develop the talents of emerging young artists.The film festival will exhibit films inspired by and representative of global Hip Hop culture.

Indie Fest USA Expo and International Film Festival, August 8-15 in Anaheim, combines eight days of independent films, live music artists, celebrities, the opening night welcome party and closing night awards show. Village 8 Theatres in Louisville hosts the August 15 premiere of ‘Last Breath’, a horror and gore genre flick about a canabalistic killer on the loose, preying on young women, and the close-knit band of police detectives on his trail. Tejano Music Convention, August 15-17 in Dallas, seeks to increase and enhance the Tejano or Tex-Mex music genre, and to showcase new artists and assist in the development of the next generation of Tejano artists and fans. An example of one featured event used to reach these goals is the Tejano Mega Dance which will happen at the Dallas Convention Center. Flashforward2008 San Francisco, August 20-22, includes the international Flashforward Film Festival and Awards ceremony and a Flash-related industry Expo Hall and community center with opportunities for the entire Flash community to network and share knowledge. The Flashforward Conference party happens at Ruby Skye.

London Frightfest is held each August Bank holiday weekend. Over 75% of the films shown have been UK, European or world premieres of the latest must see fantasy, sci-fi and horror films. NVISION will gather visual computing professionals, world-class gamers, innovative artists and designers, and cutting-edge researchers to share their ideas, experiences, and passions, August 25-27 in San Jose. It will also be held in conjunction with the Fifth Annual iGames Expo. Telluride Film Festival sticking to its annual custom opens during the Labor Day weekend, August 29 to September 2, in the mountain village of Telluride. Los Angeles Film Acting Coach, Molli Benson, will be holding a free two day Film Actors Workshop, August 30-31 in Albuquerque. For more details contact mollibenson@aol.com.

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 at actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase now serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will see trailers and sample clips of ‘Last Breath’ from C&T Productions (www.myspace.com/tracyandchase), a murder mystery about a cannibalistic serial killer called the “Southside Slasher” has an August 15 premiere at Village 8 Theatres (502-897-1870), 4014 Dutchmans Lane, Louisville, Kentucky. A Spoilt Video Production release of a Mirko Virgili film, ‘Ganja Fiction’ (www.ganjafiction.com) an Italian short film, in the pulp style genre, starring Claudio Caminito Attore, in which the lives of the characters intertwine behind a single common denominator — marijuana. Modern electronica experimentalism band Phoenix Block (www.phoenixblock.com), available through iTunes music store. Comedy portrayals of Kim Waldauer, and Robert Christophe, from their Cube News 1 (www.cubenews1.com) series, and Adventures of Cubegirl, that follows Kim, a cubicle worker by day and superhero when needed, rescuing employees from corporate abuse The Actor’s Checklist now lets you check the latest musical artists song releases on Apple’s iTunes, updated on an hourly basis.

Television Breakfast Workshop, Latin Grammy Awards, Media and Money, Valley of Flowers, Texas Filmmaker’s Showcase, G2E: Global Gaming Expo, American Music Awards, Billboard R&B, Hip-Hop Conference, are Selected Highlights For November Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

The American Film Market, a marketplace where production and distribution deals are closed, collaborates with AFI Fest to present screenings on the Santa Monica Promenade and the surrounding community of a vast selection of indie works, happening in Santa Monica through November 11. For the Insights On Internet Television Breakfast Workshop, on November 6 in Los Angeles, Veoh Networks, an Internet television company, discusses how the industry and major players are revolutionizing the business of entertainment. American music legend Willie Nelson will be honored as an Icon at BMI’s 55th Annual Country Awards, November 6 in Nashville, the oldest awards saluting country’s top music makers. Streaming Media West 2007 happening in San Jose from November 6-8, covers the business of online video and the technology of streaming, downloading, Webcasting, Internet TV, IPTV, and mobile video. The Latin Recording Academy presents the 2007 Person of the Year Tribute at a Latin Grammy Awards related ceremony honoring Juan Luis Guerra on November 7 in Las Vegas. The Eighth Annual Latin Grammy Awards follows the next day — broadcast live on the Univision Network. Attend a Dow Jones and Nielsen Company two-day event uniting media and entertainment dealmakers with private and public investors to discuss how they can work together to profit, and how buyout firms, hedge funds and venture firms are prospecting new deals, valuing opportunities and structuring deals to maximize returns, at “Media and Money,” November 7-8 in New York. The Aurora Animation Festival fuses thematic film programmes, seminars, and debates with live performance, installation work and new films from across the world, during sessions that run from November 7-10 in Norwich, UK. A two-day IGDA Leadership Forum, on November 8 and 9 in Burlingame is focused on advancing the state of the art in game production and management, and is suited to producers, team leaders, project managers, studio directors, and all others seeking to learn and share techniques for leading teams in creating successful games.

Director Pan Nalin’s feature, “Valley of Flowers” (www.valleyofflowers.com), filmed in the remote and high altitude region of the Himalayas, and in Japan, has its New York premiere on November 9, coming off a Grand Jury Prize win at the IFFLA in April. A reception with Director and Cast follows the screening at a local art gallery. The Recording Academy’s Memphis Chapter presents “Indie Impact,” November 9-10 in New Orleans, focusing on digital music and the important business, creative and legal issues it presents to the music industry and consumers. The GiRL FeST Hawaii festival, whose mission is to prevent violence against women and girls through education and art, incorporates film, music, art, spoken word, and dance complemented by a mini-conference involving panels, lectures, outreach workshops, at sessions running November 9-18 in Honolulu. On November 10 Houston Film Commission hosts the Texas Filmmaker’s Showcase, a special screening event each June of Texas short films and videos under 45 minutes, presented to a select group of studio executives, agents and producers in the Hollywood film community, resulting in selected filmmakers being flown to Los Angeles for follow-up screenings and meetings with industry professionals at the Directors Guild of America Theater. The Michigan Production Alliance (MPA) in partnership with Detroit Women In Film and TV (DWIFTV) and The Detroit Film Society (DFS) holds a Filmmaker’s Marketing and Distribution Seminar on November 10 in Southfield to aimed at media professionals. The New York Production Technology Expo, focused on people who work with equipment; who rent and buy equipment; students and people who make creative decisions based on new and emerging technology, will be held in Brooklyn Navy Yard, on November 12 & 13.

Professionals in the interrelated areas of lighting, audio, special effects, projection and staging technologies can attend Live Design Wire 2007 Entertainment Industry Convention, to see the latest products, interface with vendors and attend educational conference sessions, November 12-18 in Orlando. At G2E: Global Gaming Expo, on November 13-15 in Las Vegas, investors, analysts, stockbrokers and investment professionals will learn about the financial future of leading gaming companies in forums, and attendants can enjoy the sounds of classic symphonic rock, jazz, new country, reggae and more at the G2E Entertainment Showcase located in the lobby. The Billboard Touring Conference and Awards unites today’s top touring professionals to discuss the current state of the industry when it meets November 14-15 in New York. The International Student Film Festival Hollywood offers a forum for student filmmakers around the world to showcase their films in Hollywood, and includes a discussion with Tim Lampros, Founder & CEO of ACT (Actors Certified Training) conducted at an opening day reception. The 35th annual American Music Awards – created by Dick Clark in 1973 as an alternative to the Grammy Awards – is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 8 pm ET. Now in its eighth year, the Billboard R&B, Hip-Hop Conference and Awards combines conference sessions, artist showcases, networking opportunities which culminate in the awards program, from November 28-30 in Atlanta. The ongoing New Filmmakers series for independent filmmakers in New York, will screen Andrew William Flores LIAR’S PENDULUM, a psychological thriller set in the fictitious city of Johanna during the next Great Depression, on November 28.

The above events are just a sampling of what is listed. Most of the reported events above have a submission process for indie and/or performing artists to take part in. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page at http://www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are now available at most popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, the Apple iTunes store podcast category, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist at http://actorschecklist.com/loudblog a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. This month on video you will see trailers and video clips of Pan Nalin’s Himalayan epic “Valley of Flowers,” an Asian love story about passion, death and reincarnation spanning two centuries from remote and high altitude region of the Himalayas to modern day Tokyo (www.myspace.com/pannalin – www.valleyofflowers.com) Australian ambient music composer NakedSkin adapting its music to Fritz Lang’s 1927 Metropolis (www.youtube.com/Nakedskin – www.myspace.com/nakedskinlostsouls)  Laurence N. Kaldor’s comedy “Redirecting Eddie,” about a fledgling director who conquers sibling rivalry, finds parental acceptance, and discovers love while fighting to finish his first film (www.myspace.com/redirectingeddie – www.RedirectingEddie.com) Andrew William Flores LIAR’S PENDULUM, a psychological thriller set in the fictitious city of Johanna during the next Great Depression (www.liarspendulum.com – www.myspace.com/liarspendulum) Belgium based DocFilm’ Movie Productions making of music video Senkrecht Waagerecht (Confuse The Cat) (www.docfilm.be – www.myspace.com/docfilm_be). Florida ART Film Fest is now accepting submissions for approaching film festival. Contact them for more info on submissions (floridaartfilmfest@yahoo.com – www.acrosstown.org/filmfestival.htm). The Actor’s Checklist now lets you keep track of latest musical artists song releases on Apple’s iTunes, updated on an hourly basis at: http://www.actorschecklist.com/resources/itunes.php.