a wild west digital film fest

november 19--23
thepdff.com

paso robles, california and the world wide web the state and fate of children element of the film festival moves to front stage, main track of the festival is music in film, and we are bringing on new online digital media awards and films.

film festival is being filmed and streamed live online...

the third wild west digital film fest, known as the paso digital film festival, will begin to roll out the historic cast of characters, actors, musicians, filmmakers, and vips,to make this roundup as exciting as last year.  this cuttin' edge digital fest will be a true multimedia event, with hours of the festival streamed on the internet, via websites, mobile devices, and social networks.  a hi-def dvd of the inside look at a film festival, is being produced and set for release at the paso digital media festival.  festival is venturing to have satellite festivals in other locations...tba

first year festival was honored to have clint eastwood, his son's group, the kyle eastwood band, who performed for the festival, plus a number of eastwood's team from his la based malpaso productions, including his long time associate and editor, joel cox, who received the festival's first lifetime achievement award.  all were joined by actor/musician kevin bacon with brother michael as the bacon brothers in concert, plus the legend ramblin' jack elliott, johnny rivers, who performed  with eagle's songwriter jack tempchin, elton john songwriter bernie taupin, producer and martin scorsese associate, nigel sinclair, and others from the biz of entertainment.

the second year saw the likes of kathleen quinlan, gary busey, robert carradine, luke perry, gary busey, max gail, gary conway, "we are the world" co creator ken kragen, and other greats in music and film...

we will honor the musicians, producers, editors, and film makers of the great music documentaries, as we screen and pay tribute to some of these great films of music and entertainment history. 

thepdff.com

another very important part of the digital film fest, is the monday festival theme, the state and fate of children.  the festival is going to screen some new and past documentaries, that show the suffrage of children and youth, and honor some of the great journalist and producers, that cover these concerns on film, television and the internet. ken kragen, who created, and was executive producer of we are the world, and hands across america for the homeless was honored, along with some film makers, and experts working for better care for our nations' youth.

festival producer, benford standley, is deeply dedicated to shedding light in the dark-ness of the millions of homeless, runaway and missing children, the abused, the autistic, and those falling between the cracks in our society, and sadly, in historic numbers, here in these united states.  standley asks, "in the spirit of we are the world, farm aid, and other great events, where artists and creative people gather to help raise money, and awareness for important causes in our society, we shall ride that train."

along with the serious issues of the films and new media screenings, standley has created a forum to look at these dark issues, and brainstorm on how film and new media can be used to help educate and draw attention to  programs that are trying to help, but as per usual, and now more than ever, are in need of funds for their programs.

last year the festival set up a link with kevin bacon's online charity organization, sixdegrees.com, to network with this charitable element of the event, and direct other funds and donations to charity.  area youth will be involved with the actual production of the festival, and programs are being set up with paypal.com and a celebrity online auction with ebay.com.  the festival encourages viewers, visitors and fans to go to the groups own websites and donate, or help them network with others, and travel kevin bacon's site to help where you can.

building on the momentum of last two years, this year’s aims to re-define how traditional film festivals operate.  the evolving digital worlds are part of the evolution that we're seeing now in the entire entertainment business.  new media, social networking, and the multi-platform delivery of music, film, tv, vod and the convergence with the internet, mobile and the 3rd screen, 3-d, user generated content, and other innovations that are just now being released, will be part of the of this virtual wild west digital film fest...the future is now, and we'll take you after the future. 

thepdff.com

event-promoter standley wants the atmosphere to be open and encouraging for young or emerging film-makers, with plenty of opportunities to rub shoulders with successful award-winning film-artists, actors and entertainers, and to ‘talk-shop’ about films and career-dreams, with the greats in the biz.  standley produced one of the world’s first internet webcasts in 1995, from hollywood’s troubadour club, and in 1997 created a historic internet webcast with willie nelson, an outlaw he has done several projects with, also working with music-world royalty such as merle haggard, bob dylan, eric clapton, les paul, hoyt axton, waylon jennings, emmylou harris, and many others, over the course of a 40-year career.  all 40 of those years he has done projects to help kids, including writing two books, and doing hundreds of benefits.  he has four children and owns a home in paso robles.

“our target audience is from hollywood to the silicon valley,” standley said. “that fits in with the tank-of-gas vacation. this is a small-town, norman rockwell setting, but it’s a very rich environment.  on the local level, this festival can serve as a catalyst to help the tourist-industry, and bring the movie business into town. it’s kind of an infusion.  paso robles, california, is located about 210-miles south of san francisco, or 230-miles north of los angeles, and is historic for its natural hot-springs, home to the salinan indians, old west history (such as the legend of jesse james), and 26,000-acres of california’s best wine grapes. the town is located directly on u.s.  101, with numerous high-quality hotels, fine restaurants, wine-tasting venues and just south and sideways of sundance.

media access, press passes to events, parking, celebrity interview and photo opps during the festival, an on-site press-room with materials and refreshments, and more, are all extended to qualified working journalists who wish to take part.

registration for members of the press who wish to attend the event is available on the thepdff.com website. interviews and more information are available by contacting:

press assist at studioclubnews@yahoo.com or
323-850-8919