A Rundown of Group Talks You Don’t Want to Miss
Panels Not to Be Panned
A regular highlight of Santa Barbara’s two weeks of cinematic splendor would have to be the panels, in which festies get a chance to hear about the process of filmmaking directly from those involved in the industry. This year’s lineup offers a variety of discussions designed to suit all manner of film buff flavors. Two, however, may be of particular note: It Starts with the Script and Location, Location, Location: The Greening of Hollywood.
While the first should be familiar to anyone who has glanced over schedules from past years, this always-lively panel featuring screenwriters may have more to say than ever in light of the ongoing screenwriters’ strike. What might those on the panel feel has been achieved so far? How much longer might they see themselves protesting the studios that employ them? And where on Earth might they be releasing the creative juices that would otherwise be writing the film scripts that make American movie going possible? Variety columnist Anne Thompson will moderate this not-to-be-missed talk, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 26, at the Lobero Theatre.
Perhaps of equal timeliness, however, is Location, Location, Location, a new panel that will look into how those involved with filmmaking have been taking steps to make their craft more Earth-friendly. Expect representatives from film studios, the California Film Commission, the Environmental Media Association, and the California Integrated Waste Management Board to talk about what they feel could make the industry more environmentally sustainable. This greenie-meets-screenie powwow begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, at the Marjorie Luke Theatre and is sponsored by the UCSB Film Department as well as the environmental media initiative of the Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media.
If wage wars and waste wars don’t fill movie quotas, then also look for Movers & Shakers, which will have L.A. Times columnist Patrick Goldstein talking with notable movie producers at 2 p.m. on January 26 at the Lobero; Directors on Directing, with host Peter Bart, from AMC’s Sunday Morning Shootout, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 2, at the Lobero; and Creative Forces: Women in the Biz, which will focus on the current crop of creative women in the film industry at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 2, at the Lobero.
