We spoke with Ron Truppa, the co-founder of the Catalina Island Film Festival and their revolutionary new digital screening room for cinephiles who couldn’t make it to the island or those who wanted to watch an extra 67 films for only $7.99, as well as two nights and best of the festival taking place at the World Famous, Queen Mary, in Long Beach, CA.
Highlights include:
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25－OPENING NIGHT ABOARD THE QUEEN MARY with feature film comedy, Babysplitters. Written and directed by Sam Friedlander, staring Emily Chang (The Vampire Diaries), Danny Pudi (Community), Eddie Alfano (Shameless), Mark Feuerstein (What Women Want). Director Sam Friedlander and Eddie Alfano confirmed to attend.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 26－THRILLER THURSDAY: WORLD PREMIERE OF DARK HARBOR STARRING JOEL MCHALE & JESSICA SIPOS & THE TALK, DIRECTED BY KEVIN ALEJANDRO. Thriller Thursday takes over the Queen Mary with World Premiere of Dark Harbor, starring Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) and Jessica Sipos (Chesapeake Shores, Wynonna Earp). Cast confirmed to attend: Jessica Sipos, Xander Berkeley, Meagen Fay, Connor Trineer, Jillian Armenante, and more. Plus, The Talk, directed by Kevin Alejandro (confirmed to attend), best known for his role on Netflix’s Lucifer.
Thriller Thursday includes the Wes Craven Horror Block at 6 p.m. – the only festival award sanctioned by the king of horror. Catalina Film Fest’s Film & New Media Summit also kicks off on the Queen Mary with a Film Finance panel (10 a.m.) and Making your First Feature Film (12:30 p.m.), plus a Spotlight Interview at 2:30 p.m. with actress Lesley Ann Warren moderated by film critic Jim Hemphill.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (SEPT. 27-28): CATALINA TRIBUTE TO ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS MIRA SORVINO. The Festival heads to Catalina Island for two full days of premieres, panels and events. Daily roundtrip cruises are available from Long Beach. Island action includes:
- Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion) will be honored with the Avalon Award, plus the World Premiere of Badland, starring Sorvino, Kevin Makely (Big Legend) also confirmed to attend, Bruce Dern (The Hateful Eight), and Trace Adkins (I Can Only Imagine), Sept. 28.
- Lion’s Den Pitch Panel. Stacked with prospective film investors, this pitch-fest matched accredited investors with filmmakers seeking funding for their projects on Friday.
NEW THIS YEAR: CFF’s new streaming channel features 67 official selections in competition for the 2019 Film Festival, allowing festival channel passholders to watch films in competition and vote for their favorites. For more info, visit http://www.
Full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit www.catalinafilm.org.
