Do you have a creative movie idea but no idea how to actually get it made?
Check out “The Journey of a Hollywood Idea,” a virtual speaker series by the Chesapeake Film Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We are trying to find really creative ways to connect with our community,” Board Member Irene Magafan told WTOP. “We’d like to engage with people throughout the year, not just in October during our festival.”
The event is hosted by Liza Moore Ledford, former executive at Amblin Entertainment.
“Amblin Studios is really huge with Steven Spielberg having started it and ‘E.T.’ having come out of it,” Magafan said. “She said, ‘Let’s do some sort of Hollywood event where we bring media makers together, we bring Hollywood executives, we bring newcomers, people just starting out, students [to] talk about what it takes to get your story sent up to the top.”
First, she’ll discuss the development stage with Andrea McCall, senior vice president of development at Amblin.
“We are incredibly thrilled to have her bring her wealth of knowledge,” Magafan said. “She will discuss the ins and outs of development and apply that to her work representing Amblin.”
Second, she’ll discuss the pre-production stage with Eric Paquette, former senior vice president of production at Sony Pictures and current CEO of Meridian Pictures.
“We are extremely thrilled to have him,” Magafan said. “Under his experience and wealth of knowledge, he will really be diving into the pre-production aspect.”
Third, she’ll discuss production with Marc Roskin, CEO of Electric Entertainment.
“We are very excited to have him go into the production stage and apply what he has learned and all the knowledge that he has under his wealth of experience,” Magafan said.
Fourth, she’ll discuss post-production with Jennifer Trent, head of post at Blumhouse.
“This is very, very exciting,” Magafan said. “Post-production is such an important aspect of the five stages of a production and we’re really excited to listen to what she has to say.”
And finally, she’ll discuss distribution with independent producer Chris Moore.
“He will really dive into distribution,” Magafan said. “Paired with him, we will have a workshop with Kimberly Skyrme. … Between Kimberly and Chris, they will both discuss how to best position your project for a diverse marketplace, so you can really get smart about distribution.”
Admission is $75 for the entire weekend or $65 for Women in Film & Video members.
Register for the speaker series here.
Listen to our full conversation here.
