TMF Press Clippings
Method Fest moving to Calabasas
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Los Angeles Daily News Staff Writer

indiewire.com announces Method Fest move to Calabasas. Click below to access: http://blogs.indiewire.com/insider/archives/002003.html

(BURBANK, November 1, 2004) -- The Method Fest Independent Film Festival will move to Calabasas in 2005 after two years in Burbank, as organizers seek more financial backing, officials said Monday.

The sixth annual festival was held in April at Burbank's Media City Center, where attendance totaled about 14,950, about 20 percent higher than in 2003.

But some filmmakers did not want their films to premier inside a shopping mall.

"It was a nice shopping mall; there's no problem with it. But for a film festival our goal was always a free-standing theater and we didn't have that, being in the mall," said Don Franken, executive director of the festival.

The 2005 festival is scheduled for the first week of April at the Edwards Calabasas Stadium 6 in the Calabasas Commons, an open-air shopping plaza.

Burbank contributed $25,000 to this year's festival. But Calabasas has pledged $50,000, plus $25,000 worth of in-kind contributions, and organizers hope to make Calabasas the festival's permanent home.

"We very much appreciate (Burbank's) support and their being there for the festival ... and they were great to us; we have nothing but good feelings for Burbank. However, every year things need to grow and improve and we need more funding to accomplish these goals," Franken said.

Several Calabasas businesses have signed on to co-sponsor the event, Franken said.

The festival showcases the craft of acting and gets its name from the Stanislavski Method, a realistic acting style popularized by such Hollywood stars as Marlon Brando and James Dean. Actor Chazz Palminteri spoke at the festival this year.

Twenty-five films and 45 short films, many of them low-budget productions, were featured at the AMC's Media City Center 8 Theatres this April. The films "Seven Times Lucky" and "Beautiful Kid" were among the big award winners.

The festival was in Pasadena before coming to Burbank.

"I think when we initially started down the path with them, I think our downtown was more on the cusp of success," said Burbank City Manager Mary Alvord. "With the arrival of the new AMC (16), our downtown is drawing very big numbers, so I think if we were looking at ways to spend our dollars this wouldn't have been the highest or best use."

Among the in-kind contributions that Calabasas will provide are transportation, crowd control and facilities.

"We're just bringing it over and hoping to provide it an even more supportive and collaborative home in Calabasas," said City Councilman Dennis Washburn.

Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com.