FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE FEEL GOOD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER AND CURRENT EMMY NOMINEE SHIRLEY JONES AS FEEL GOOD TRIBUTE RECIPIENT CHERYL HINES AS OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION HOST HAL SPARKS AS CLOSING NIGHT AWARDS CEREMONY HOST NEW MEDIA PANEL FEATURES WORLD PREMIERES OF “ALIEN NINJA,” “MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND,” “THE TREASURE HUNT: A CHAD, MATT AND ROB INTERACTIVE ADVENTURE” WEB SERIES
LOS ANGELES, CA August 4, 2010 - The 2010 Feel Good Film Festival (FGFF) announces Academy Award winner Shirley Jones will be the Feel Good Tribute Honoree for the 3rd edition of the film festival. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines will serve as the Host for the Opening Night Celebration on Friday, August 13. Comedian Hal Sparks takes on the hosting duties for the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 15. Details were also announced for the FGFF Filmmaker Panel. Focusing on new media, the panel is titled, “Why Web Series Suck.” Hines will serve as the host for the Opening Night Celebration co-presented by FETE that will feature the presentation of Joe Ballarini’s FATHER VS SON. Beginning with the film festival’s signature “yellow” carpet entrances (in honor of
FGFF’s sunflower logo), in the Egyptian Theatre courtyard, the Gala event will include an after party presented by Roaring Lion, The Happy Ending Bar & Restaurant, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and TeTeo Tequila. A two-time Emmy nominee for her work on the Golden Globe Award-winning series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and director of last year’s critically acclaimed indie dark comedy SERIOUS MOONLIGHT, Hines most recent project has required her to serve as executive producer on the upcoming NBC reality series “School Pride.” The decidedly feel good project is a proactive, alternative series that tells the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. While transforming the school, the community also restores its sense of value and school pride. The cameras follow students; teachers and parents as they roll up their sleeves and rebuild their own schools, concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school. Hines previous credits include the feature films THE UGLY TRUTH, RV, WAITRESS, THE GRAND and BART GOT A ROOM, as well as ABC's "Brothers and Sisters" and "In the Motherhood," Hines has also produced and directed various television projects, including the award-winning comedy series “Campus Ladies” for the Oxygen Channel and the Starz Networks original comedy series "Hollywood Residential." Regarding taking the reins from previous FGFF hosts Rainn Wilson and Carlos Mencia, "It’s a thrill to be the first woman to host the Feel Good Film Festival’s Opening Night Celebration. Just like Carlos and Rainn, I'll put on my Old Spice and Spanx and do my best. It's a great festival and I look forward to kicking off the weekend of films and events with some really, really good feelings.” Popular comedian and actor, Hal Sparks, will host the FGFF Closing Night Filmmaker Awards Ceremony. Following his hosting duties on E! Entertainment Television’s “Talk Soup” (19992000) and frequent appearances on a myriad of comedy clip shows on VH-1, Sparks is primarily known for his work on Showtime’s “Queer as Folk” (20002005). Currently, Sparks has been dividing his time on the comedy tour following the release of his “Charmaggedon” DVD, as well as performing with his band, Zero 1. The choice of Shirley Jones as the Feel Good Tribute Honoree also will mark the first time a woman has been so honored, following Jonathan Winters and Ed Asner during the first two years of the film festival. From her start in the classic big screen musicals OKLAHOMA! (1955), CAROUSEL (1956) and THE MUSIC MAN (1962), Shirley Jones embodied the
image of singing ingénue. Her startling Academy Award winning performance in ELMER GANTRY (1960) simply confirmed her versatility on the big screen. Of course, any discussion of Jones’ impact on the world of entertainment has to include her role as the iconic ‘Shirley Partridge’ on the classic 70s situation comedy “The Partridge Family” (1970-74). Co-starring with her real life stepson David Cassidy, the series not only was immensely popular during its four-year run, but also has proved evergreen gaining fans through syndicated runs and DVD releases up to the present. A four-time Golden Globe nominee (ELMER GANTRY – 1960), (THE MUSIC MAN – 1962), (“The Partridge Family” – 1971 & 1972), Jones has recently added another Emmy nomination to her impressive list of accolades for her performance last season in “The Cleaner”. The nomination follows previous nods for “Silent Night, Lonely Night” (1969) and “Hidden Places” (2006). Feel Good Film Festival Founder and Co-Director, Kristen Ridgway Flores said, “We are thrilled to have two fabulous feel-good female role models for the 2010 festival! With Cheryl Hines opening the festival and then honoring the legendary Shirley Jones on Closing Night, I guess we could call this year the "Year of Woman". What an exciting time!" The Feel Good Film festival also announced details for its annual featured Filmmaker panel to take place at the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, August 14. Focusing on New Media and presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation, the panel is entitled, “Why Web Series Suck.” Taking the form of a mock trial, the panel will screen some of the hottest web content currently available online, as well as offer up notable world premieres of highly anticipated series – all in the service of looking at the inroads that scripted entertainment produced for the internet have made over the last few years. Co-moderated by FGFF Programmer Matt Bolish and FGFF Co-Director America Young, confirmed panelists will include Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Dave Poland (Movie City News) and Dana Tuiner (Manager, Comedy Development – FOX Broadcasting). Participating Web series include: ABIGALE’S TEENAGE DIARY SCR/PROD/CAST: Hayden Black ALIEN NINJA (World Premiere) DIR/SCR: Greg Aronowitz PROD: Sheri Bryant
MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND (World Premiere) DIR/PROD: Brian Amyot SCR/PROD: Steven Tsapelas PROD: Patrick Cohen THE LEGEND OF NEIL DIR/SCR/EXEC PROD: Sandeep Parikh PROD: Jeff Winkler SCR/CAST: Tony Janning PROD: Leah Mann THE TREASURE HUNT: A CHAD, MATT, AND ROB INTERACTIVE ADVENTURE (World Premiere) DIR/SCR/PROD/CAST: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin DIR/PROD: Tyler Gillett SCR/CAST/PROD: Rob Polonsky PROD: Justin Martinez PROD/CAST: Chad Villella Regarding the announcement of the “Why Web Series Suck” panel, Young said, "While there has been a lot of discussion and forums about web shows, they seem to be done mainly by those who already appreciate and/or create them. There are a lot of critical views of web series. We wanted, with respect and fun, to open up the floor to differing opinions with the hope of broadening the influence and popularity of quality web shows even further. This panel should be a creative way to call attention to that while debuting and shining a light on some of the best work being done on the web.” Festival passes and tickets are available for purchase on fgff.org. About The Feel Good Film Festival The Feel Good Film Festival celebrates films and the filmmakers and creative artists that create entertainment with positive themes, happy endings, that make audiences laugh, and that captures the beauty of our world. FGFF will encourage the development, production, and distribution of films that share those characteristics as it offers a yearly touchstone for the viewing and enjoyment of those films. Sponsors Panavision, Camadeus, Hollywood Rentals, The Happy Ending Bar & Restaurant, New York Film Academy, ISS Props, Final Draft, Script Magazine, Showbiz Software, Tuff Cut Sound, Film Independent, InkTip.com, FETE, Indie Rentals, Roaring Lion, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, TETEO Tequila, Corkologie, Audiorents, Law Offices of John Nelson, Fierce Hugs, Revolution 3D, PopChips, Roosevelt Hotel, FUZE, Gelato Bar, Weaver’s Coffee & Tea, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Sorme Treatment, MEHRNOOSH, Java Juice, Eclore Soap and Mazedude Productions.
Contact: John Wildman Director of Press & Public Relations jswildman@hotmail.com (323) 600-3165