Canadian Music Week, Festival de Cannes, Casual Connect Asia, PALM Expo, are highlights in May’s Global Media and Entertainment Industry

In Century City, the Music Business Association, formerly NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers),  opens Music Biz 2014 for a three day run. Along with its hub for digital initiatives, digitalmusic.org, the summit agenda is to advance and promote music commerce. The summit runs through May 8. As a non-profit membership organization that advances and promotes music commerce, particularly through the Music Business Association’s flagship annual event, Music Biz 2014, the Music Business Association is a community committed to the full spectrum of monetization models in the industry.

Day one gets started with the Music Biz Academy, a program that travels across the country educating music startups and app developers on how to get through barriers of entry to the music industry. A networking breakfast follows that early session and then there will be a formal welcome and introduction as Music Biz President James Donio gives an industry overview including some of the newest stats on sales and consumer behaviors. The talk will review the resources the Music Business Association has available to help artists, managers, students, and startups navigate the music industry. Up for exploration is an entire range of delivery models: physical, digital, mobile, and otherwise.

Some of the other Music Biz topics that will be reviewed during the summit, most of which are handled in 30, 45 and 60 minute time limits: Keep Social Sexy: Using Your Profiles To Build Your Brand, Navigating The Music Industry Online, Alternative Revenue Streams: Making It In Today’s Music Biz, The Music Industry Infrastructure Of The Future, Grow Your Audience On YouTube, Metadata Summit: Information And Technology In The Music Business, Managing The Complexity Of An Artist’s Digital Experience, Country Music Meetup, Licensing and Royalty Payments From An Artists Perspective. The summit ends with a closing reception.

In Toronto, Canadian Music Week 2014 will have music industry business, learning and discovery sessions blueprinting how to guide projects to the next level. Planned film screenings offer a mix of music-oriented films, special screenings, documentaries and movie premieres along with special appearances and Q&As with some of the films’ acting talent, directors and crew in appearances. Added to the convention’s agenda since 2012, the Canadian International Comedy Fest features stand-up, with performances from some of Canada’s emerging comedy talent as well as headline talent from comedy venues worldwide. The festival’s Indie Awards is the principal closing event for Canadian Music Week.

The CMW Synch Summit is suited to music supervisors looking to place music in upcoming advertisements, films and TV productions and gives presenting submitters an opportunity to pitch music to them face to face. The International Festival Network, an exclusive networking and matchmaking session for companies to meet with representatives from various international festivals, booking agencies and promoters from around the world will be open. An international marketplace and Export Buyers’ Program featuring a Spotlight on Germany and a Focus on Austria and Switzerland with market overviews, presentations and incoming delegations is planned. The Digital Media Summit at CMW brings together media and brand specialists that focus on the task of outlining an integrated Digital Media strategy.

Now in its 17th year, the New York City Streaming Media East event is a showcase for all forms of online video business models and technology. It is focused on the “business” of streaming media in the Media and Entertainment, Enterprise, Education and Broadcast sectors. Convention events feature extensive multi-day panel sessions producing an executive forum on current topics from industry technology leaders to executives from companies utilizing streaming today. Essentially the two-day convention running till May 14 brings together digital media experts and professionals in order to exchange ideas, strategies and success stories.

The Streaming Media East Exhibit Hall will be the showplace for anyone selling streaming products, services, or content for use in corporate communications, digital media entertainment and technology, marketing, or the streaming industry itself. The shows provide an interactive exhibit floor enabling vendors to exhibit their products and solutions to businesses and organizations looking to incorporate streaming media enterprise solutions into their infrastructure. The Keynote address will be delivered by Matthew Szatmary, senior video encoding engineer at Twitch where he develops next generation encoding services and playback technologies to serve live video. Day one activities close with an evening reception.

Pre-conference seminars will actually be held before Streaming Media’s official open, on  May 12. Among the topics, “Setting up Live Streaming Workflows On-Premises and In The Cloud,” with Chris Knowlton, VP, Product Management, Wowza Media Systems; “Producing A Webcast From Soup To Nuts: Part One,” with Jan Ozer, Principal, Doceo Publishing; “Building A Better Web Video Player,” with Robert Reinhardt, Founder, videoRx (dot) com; “Producing A Webcast From Soup To Nuts: Part Two,” with Jan Ozer, Principal, Doceo Publishing. Other areas to be explored after the start of the regular conference, include: “Online Distribution and Monetization Strategies for the TV Industry,” “The Future of Digital Entertainment in a Multiscreen World,” “Making the Move to Multiscreen 2.0,” “New Opportunities for Monetizing Premium Video” among other topics.

Festival de Cannes, the anticipated film festival started in 1946 and held in Cannes, previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from around the world. Concurrent to the festival, France also hosts its national film awards, the César Awards – generally considered to be the French equivalent of the American Academy Awards – at the same time. Admission to the festival which stretches May 14-25 is by invite only. Festival organizers have already announced that “Party Girl,” from the trio of directors Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, will open up the Un Certain Regard sidebar, a category originally created to showcase the most experimental, left-of-field and smaller-scale films that didn’t make the Competition cut. Film director Sofia Coppola, actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Willem Dafoe will join Jane Campion on the Cannes film festival jury for 2014.

There will be several featured event stops set up throughout the Festival complex. The Directors’ Fortnight (La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is a parallel section independent of the Festival de Cannes, organised by the French Directors Society (Société des Réalisateurs de Films). Critics Week, La Semaine de la Critique is a parallel section independent of the Festival de Cannes, organised by the French Film Critics Syndicate (SC). The ACID Programme in Cannes will be a parallel selection independent of the Festival de Cannes organized by the Association for Independant Cinema and its Distribution (ACID). Cannes Cinéphiles is an event organised by Cannes Cinéma and the Festival de Cannes to provide public screenings from the Official Selection, as well as films from the parallel sections. Cannes Cinema will be adding to this program with two international selections: Ecrans Juniors and Cinéma des Antipodes.

TV Festival de Cannes, co-produced by CANAL+, Orange and the Festival de Cannes, will cover the red carpet, the press conferences, the photo calls and interviews for films in Competition, as well as a number of event highlights. TV Festival de Cannes will be broadcast in French and English throughout the Palais complex and in most hotels along the Croisette. It will also be available on “Web TV”, YouTube (Canal+/English) and DailyMotion (Orange/French). The Official Selection is revealed through the awarding of the Palme d’Or to the best film entry during the Closing Ceremony. Un Certain Regard selection, “Party Girl,” which depicts the life of a 60 year-old night club hostess who still loves men and enjoys partying, was shot with the lead role is played by the real-life Angélique.

WINSTON | BAKER will be hosting the 5th Annual International Film Finance Forum in association with Variety magazine in Cannes during the 67th Festival de Cannes. The Film Finance Forum® Series was created by the Winston Baker team to educate equity and debt financiers on the latest trends and strategies for film investing while reducing risks, provide producers with effective approaches to fundraising, and demonstrating ways to create great content and generate revenue through various distribution platforms. This particular forum will be a half-day program focused on international issues such as what it takes to make films today, worldwide sales and distribution strategies, emerging film finance resources, applying risk mitigation across borders, co-production opportunities and strategies, subsidies and incentive updates. There will be a featured keynote on the globalization of entertainment.

World Arts Film Festival in Jacksonville seeks to highlight voices of young artists and filmmakers, giving individuals with special needs such as autism and their peers the opportunity to learn side by side. Individuals of all ages and abilities have been encouraged to participate in World Arts’ events and programs to gain success in the creative industries and beyond. World Arts Education + Film Festival is run by a team of dedicated volunteers who serve in their free time to promote and support quality film programs. Special panels and presentations during the festival will include: a Meet the Filmmakers Q&A, Film Creativity + Education panel, on May 15, the Festival’s start; Farm to Film Social panel discussion and panel, Dream It, Learn It, Live It, Love It, on May 16; Girl Directors, Young Directors and Animation Stories are the focus for panels on May 17, Festival closing date, among other topics. There is also the Kaleidoscope Awards presentations in all categories followed by closing ceremony and storytelling performance with David Gonzalez on the final day.

As part of WAE’s global educational outreach, the festival will bring diverse groups of filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds, including those with special needs, to meet and mentor each other and their audiences through this new venue. Created by individuals in New York, Los Angeles and Jacksonville, and supported by a growing network of advisors around the world, the organization is dedicated to a global message of inclusion through the arts and education. An Improv Acting Workshop with Guest Artists Hester Wagner and Sabra Shelley will be conducted. Hester Wagner of Inclusion Films and Futures Explored and co-director Sabra Shelly, who is a New York based actress, Autism specialist and teaching artist, will lead the three-day festival workshop on the 5th Floor at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. All day interactive workshops for all ages, Drawing-On-Film, will be conducted with Guest Artist Lois Siegel, instructor of Video Production at the University of Ottawa, Department of Communication.

At the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival, the opening night gala will be, ‘Jimi: All Is By My Side’ with Outkast’s André Benjamin in the lead role of this biopic about rock legend Jimi Hendrix. ‘Jimi: All Is By My Side’ looks at the early, momentous years in London in the life of the legendary guitarist after his beginning as an unknown backup guitarist in New York. The Director, John Ridley (Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of ’12 Years a Slave’) is scheduled to attend. Tickets include a walk on the Red Carpet, a private reception, reserved seats for the film, an exclusive after-party in the Red Carpet Lounge. The Seattle International Film Festival is an Academy Award-qualifying festival for short films. SIFF presents the annual Seattle International Film Festival and year-round programming at our SIFF Cinema venues the Uptown (Queen Anne) and the SIFF Film Center (Seattle Center). The Closing Night Gala will have one last night of mingling with Festival guests and friends while enjoying live music, food, and cocktails.

Global gaming convention, Casual Connect is the place to learn more about the video game industry, which entertains 300 million people each month. This gaming convention which has a trail through many international cities will be held in Singapore, May 20-22 as Casual Connect Asia 2014. Along with the conference sessions, over 80 indie developers will be presenting their games at the Indie Prize Showcase. Also making its debut is the International Design, Entertain, and Amaze (IDEA) Showcase, where established developers are looking for international partners for publishing, user acquisition, game performance monitoring and logistical support, will be presenting their recent projects. The International Design, Entertain and Amaze (IDEA) Showcase, Hosted four times a year in conjunction with Casual Connect, acts on behalf of established developers looking for international partners for publishing, user aquisition, game performance monitoring and logistical support.

Many lectures and talks are scheduled at Casual Connect Asia. On May 20, Robin Sagacious NG, head of International Business, Asiasoft Online Pte Ltd, leads a session that will provide an overview of the South East Asia online and mobile gaming markets and its projected trends. Later that same day Stephen Lee, head of publishing at 6waves, where he leads all business development and publishing-related matters, will share perspective from a publisher’s perspective and highlight key issues developers should be mindful of when getting ready to launch and grow their games globally. On May 21, Si Shen, a co-founder and CEO of PapayaMobile, will discuss the trends, obstacles, and strategies that Asian game developers must know in 2014 for Asian game studios to climb to the top of app store charts in Western app markets. On May 22, Bob Meese, Global Head, Games Business Development, Google Play, conducts a workshop on “Growing Your Business with Google Play.”

Networking and reception events begin with the Badge Pickup and Pre-Funk Party the day before the official convention start on May 19. On opening day, there will be the Official Casual Connect with servings of beer, wine and light snacks. Three receptions for May 21 will include a Womens Lunch at noon, an Official Casual Connect Party with beer, wine and cocktails and the Indie Prize Awards. The final convention day on May 22 is a simple “Mingle” with beer and light snacks. The Indie Prize Showcase is part exclusive gaming arcade and part scholarship program for up and coming indie development teams who show promise to be future leaders in the games industry besides being able to display games to a lot of publishers and industry gurus.

Founded in 2005, the Casual Games Association is a professional international trade organization providing educational resources and community support for those involved in creating games for the mass market consumer. Developed for the general public and families, casual games are video games that are fun and easy to learn and play. The games are platform agnostic, so they can be played via the Internet, PC and Macintosh computers, Facebook, Xbox, PlayStation, iPhone, Nintendo DS, Wii, Android and even mobile phones. They’re nonviolent, arcade-style games that involve puzzles, words, board and card games, game show and trivia. Popular games are Mahjong, Tetris, Solitaire, Bejeweled, Mystery Case Files, and Farmville.

PALM™ Expo in Mumbai serves the Indian pro audio, sound and lighting market by showcasing the wares of global vendors. The Expo draws its base of participants from the global pro audio, live sound and lighting, music production and system integration industries. This year, Music Expo – a dedicated trade show for the MI Industry – will be co-located with PALM Expo, located in Hall 2 of the Bombay Exhibition Center. Music Expo is dedicated to showcasing the latest MI products from major brands in an industry expanding MI consumption of western musical instruments to an expanding consumer base in the 200 million strong youth market.

The 2014 PALM Expo has several feature areas to explore and take part in while it is in session, May 29-31. The HARMAN PALM Live Arena is a secluded space for stage, sound, light and music to come together, provides visitors with an equipped stage to identify, evaluate and analyse how to enhance audio requirements and deliver the best sound quality. New this year, PALM Expo introduces the demo hall facility enabling audio companies to demonstrate their products and latest features in a private cube structure that is specially tailored for this purpose.

Innovator of Indian Slap Bass and Bass Guitarist for The Khayal Groove band, Jayen Varma (www.jayenvarma.net), is appearing at Palm Expo, May 30-31, doing performances for ROCKIN’ 24/7 on behalf of GRUV GEAR Wraps. He is known for developing Tabla and Mridangam style finger technique on bass guitar to play slap bass, a style developed by him and termed Indian slap bass, and in 2008 and 2011 respectively, the Registry of Official World Records (Record Holders Republic), USA&UK and The Record Setter Book of World Records USA, declared him the Fastest Bass Guitar Player. Jayen Varma plays with his band, The Khayal Groove made up of Aparna Panshikar on north Indian classical Vocals and Jayen Varma on Bass Guitar in collaboration with the French Drummer, Jean Davoisne and various artists and bands across the globe. Since the release of the band’s first album, ‘Reflections of a Purple Moon,’ it has since been working on its second album.

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: http://www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. The events blog also shows links to pages that are translated into ten of the most widely used international languages read over the Internet other than English. This month’s photo placement highlights the 67th Festival de Cannes and Bass Guitarist Jayen Varma at PALM Expo in Mumbai. If the photo does not appear in this post please visit the blog page to view it. Looking ahead into the next month be aware that: the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be held in New York City, CineGear LA comes to Hollywood, BANFF World Media Festival opens in Alberta, annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival comes to Manchester, Barcelona Film Festival opens in Barcelona.

AFCI Locations Trade Show, NAB Show, “Media Intercourse”, Tribeca Film Festival, Merge Miami, MUSEXPO 2008, are Selected Highlights For April’s Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

Professional television and stage actor Michael Kostroff (dark and unscrupulous gang lawyer, Maury Levy in HBO’s “The Wire,” and other appearances to his credit in “Studio 60,” “The Closer,” “Without a Trace,” etc.), and the author of the book, “Letters from Backstage” (www.myspace.com/lettersfrombackstage) conducts “Audition Psych 101” (AuditionPsych101@aol.com)  an audition workshop, one night only on April 3, in Hollywood. Author, screen, television writer, and executive consultant on HBO’s “Rome” series, Josh Conviser, will discuss writing for film, television, and literature at the Alameda Writers Group monthly meeting set or April 5 in Glendale. The Film/TV Production and Finance Summit is set to meet April 10-11 in Los Angeles, and its organizers say it is for anyone involved in filmmaking, finance, production, or investing in a motion picture or television production, particularly if you need to understand the complexities of a Film/TV finance transaction, the distribution process, and the important steps to get your production in front of the key players in the industry. The organization sometimes known as the film industry’s version of the United Nations, the Association of Film Commissioners International holds its 22nd annual AFCI Locations Trade Show with more than 180 film commissioners from around the world and some 100 production resource companies that will exhibit, in Santa Monica, April 10-12.

BEM Film’s current film project “True Riches”, now in pre-production, is hosting a 70’s era Jam Party to support filming. The production, a current day adaptation of the Book of Job, is also considering music submissions for the score and soundtrack of the film in the categories of R&B Neo Soul, Contemporary Gospel, and Smooth Jazz. Contact Talent Connection (talentsconnection@yahoo.com) for more information. The Big Break Hollywood Conference and Expo, taking place in Atlanta, from April 11-13, will award its audition finalist with a one year contract for a Hollywood talent agency; one year contract with a Hollywood management agency; and a one year contract with a commercial agency. At the Broadband TV World segment of this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 11-17, learn how web video is dramatically changing the distribution channels for video and creating new challenges for branded media and traditional broadcast content. The annual IFFS Europe gathering of the European film festival community provides a platform for the community to explore ways to collaborate and promote the advancement of the film festival industry. This year’s event is conducted from Central London, April 15-16. The theme for Signal & Noise 2008, happening April 17-19 in Vancouver, is “Media Intercourse.” The Festival host VIVO is a not for profit media production, exhibition and distribution centre, operated by and for artists and media/community activists with ongoing public exhibitions of video, new media programs and Video Out’s International Distribution network. When the Bare Bones International Film Festival and Movie-Biz Conference gets underway in Muskogee, its purpose is to provide a platform from which to showcase low-budget (less than one million dollars) independent movies whose focus is championing the Bare Bones Auteur. An opening night reception is on April 17, and an Awards Gala after-party closes festivities on April 27.

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival runs April 23 to May 4 in New York’s Tribeca district. The Tribeca Talks session returns with more must-see one-on-one conversations, a concert film from a music legend, a filmmaker master class, and Tribeca Talks Industry, a brand new series that explores the business of entertainment. The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival has announced the launch of Merge Miami, a two-day conference and networking event opening April 26 on queer film and media that is sponsored and funded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, presenters of the annual Oscar awards. Merge Miami, to be held across the opening weekend of the 10th Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, will provide a platform where seasoned film industry veterans lend their knowledge and expertise to aide those commencing their transition into motion pictures, while international industry tastemakers have the opportunity to come together and interact with the pioneering filmmakers and industry talent. The MUSEXPO 2008 conference opens April 27 in West Hollywood with a video documentary on “How to Fix The Music Business” and is followed by a wine tasting and cocktail reception on the rooftop of The Hyatt West Hollywood. A Film/TV & Videogames (Art & Commerce through visual media) forum will be conducted April 30, and the MUSEEXPO cocktail reception and awards ceremony featuring live performances at House of Blues, is in the evening. Artist showcases happen throughout at The House of Blues Main Music Hall.

The above events are only 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 www.actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at most popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, 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 Metal rock band hailing from London, Die So Fluid (www.diesofluid.net), with their latest single release from their album ‘Not Everybody Gets A Happy Ending,’ on Renaissance Records, via Koch Entertainment Distribution USA. The band will be in Phoenix, Arizona shooting a new video during the last week of April 2008. Indie film short “Switch” (www.myspace.com/switchmovie), a story about the romantic entanglements among a group of friends, based on the book of the same name and screenplay by Annette Johnson of AllWrite Publishing (www.e-allwrite.com) in Atlanta. Egami Vivid Production Studios (www. egamivivid.com) of Los Angeles and Toronto, with short film project “Rice Counter, Ice Sleeper,” a stylized story of romance, passion, temptation and self control, and other works of Director J. Wesley Bassard. 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.

Streaming Media Europe, One Mic Nite, MIPCOM, New Orleans Film Festival, Jazz Loft Party, Florida Media Market, Billboard Mobile Entertainment Live! Broadcast India Symposium, are Selected Highlights For October Media and Entertainment Industry Career Networking Events

HDFEST World Tour takes place in six different cities throughout four countries around the world – first in London through October 4; then New York, October 10-11 – screening High-Def content, and holding panels, that highlight issues pertaining to filmmaking in HD. Films that will be screened in the “MontanaCINE International Film Festival of Cultures, Issues of Nature and the Environment,” taking place in Missoula, through October 7, throws the spotlight on issues that include: culture, outdoor recreation, conservation, urban sprawl, political and social impacts and influences, agriculture, industry and the effects of war on the natural world. Streaming Media Europe, on October 4 & 5 in London, features over 50 international speakers focusing on both corporate and consumer business, technology and content issues for online video in the enterprise, advertising, media and entertainment and broadcast markets. The Annual Durango Songwriter’s Expo, happening in Rio Rico October 4-6, typically limits its registration slots holding this year’s number to 200. Horror genre screenwriter Stephen Susco discusses the craft and business of his chosen field when Alameda Writers Group meets October 6 in Glendale. On October 8, and every Monday night, the One Mic Nite talent showcase (www.myspace.com/onemicnite) and industry networking event turns over the microphone to a variety of performinng artists to do their thing, in the far west district of Greenwich Village.

At the San Francisco International Animation Showcase, opening October 8-11, programs of feature-length and short films are screened, with two days devoted to the latest technical, aesthetic and narrative techniques in animated film production. MIPCOM, the global content event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across all platforms, opens this year October 8-12 in Cannes. HD World, opening for two days on October 10 aims to bring together buyers and suppliers of HDTV, high def video, and broadcast related equipment and solutions while  offering  a forum for broadcast, cable, film and government executives to collaborate together and with suppliers of High Definition technologies. The New Orleans Film Festival enters its 18th anniversary when it opens October 11-18 as the preeminent vehicle in the region for the exhibition of local, regional, national and international film, while also hosting the Film Congress, a program of panels, workshops and mentor sessions. The 2007 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony on October 14 is a presentation of The Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc., a non-profit foundation dedicated to honoring and preserving the songwriting legacy of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. A Jazz Loft Party will be thrown to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund on October 14 in New York. Nightly red-carpet gala premieres and other cause celebre are part of the annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards happening in Beverly Hills, from October 17-22.

The Amsterdam Dance Event is part industry conference, part club festival, and actually takes place in over 40 clubs, concert venues, record stores and art galeries in the city center of Amsterdam from October 18-20. Florida Media Market, a membership organization that facilitates meetings of independent film and media makers to meet with international buyers, distributors and production companies, to buy, sell and network, hosts an upcoming session from October 18-21 in Miami. FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival features independent horror from around the world, and is part of the SCREAMFEST Horror Convention, running October 19-21, in Orlando where there will be seminars, live music, tattooing, a dealer room, and more surprises. Billboard Mobile Entertainment Live! is a mobile entertainment conference produced in partnership with CTIA – and hosted by entertainment impresario Quincy Jones –  prospectively drawing in more than 1,000 executives from companies representing mobile music, gaming, TV, video, animation, messaging, marketing, social networking and more at its October 22 meeting in San Francisco.  American Black Film Festival hosts five days of independent films, panels, workshops, Hollywood premieres, live entertainment and the ABFF Awards Dinner, during its run from October 25-29 in Los Angeles. From the World Trade Centre in Mumbai, Broadcast India Exhibition and Symposium is a global megamart for broadcast related industries, with everything to do with entertainment. During the Americana Music Conference, October 31 to November 3 in Nashville, evening showcases and parties will continue Thursday through Saturday, and the Sixth Annual Americana Honors & Awards will be held at the Ryman Auditorium on November 1.

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 The Milgram Experiment (http://www.myspace.com/tme61) a Moving Art Picture film by Maxwell Addae following the story of a pair of career con artists who have mastered the art of wielding the power of authoritative figure; the antics reflected by their comedy skits and hip hop tunes of the parody duo Tommy C and Joey McG (http://www.myspace.com/tommyc_joeymcg); Hear the soulful, break beat, hip-hop style of UK based songstress, Bukola (http://www.bukola.biz; http://www.myspace.com/bukolabiz). 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