Indie Watch

ACTORS WORKSHOP RESCHEDULED

The Actors Workshop sponsored by the Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona (IFASA) originally scheduled for July 9-10 was postponed. It will now run on Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31 (if needed). The workshop is being run by Gay Gilbert, a veteran producer and casting director originally from Tucson who now lives in Los Angeles. It's being held at the UA Theater Arts Building, room 116. Each 3 1/2 hour session is $55, and runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Advance payments are required, although some walk-ups may be accepted at $65 each, space permitting. To enroll, go to helenwheels.net/GayHelen.html. For additional information, contact IFASA president Brian Mulligan at president@aivftucson.org.

REEL VISION CONFERENCE

Tucson's Reel Inspiration collective will be hosting the Reel Vision Filmmakers Conference at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Tucson Oct. 21-23. The conference is intended to give local filmmakers another opening into the international film business, especially in the areas of script development and the promotion of innovative voices. Featured film professionals include script consultant Linda Seger (author of Making a Good Script Great), Universal Films creative development rep Kate McCallum, Pamela Jaye Smith of Mythworks and distribution rep Mark Steven Bosko. Bosko will present two workshops, "Alternate Film Distribution" and "Low Cost Indie Film Marketing and Promotion." The Tucson Film Office and UA's Hanson Film Institute join Reel Inspiration as event sponsors. Early registration (before Sept. 21) is $85, or $55 for students with a valid ID, and includes a featured filmmaker luncheon. For more information and registration forms, go to www.reelinspiration.org.

PAN LEFT NEWS

Local activist film collective Pan Left Productions has several items of note. Pan Left member Daniela Ontiveros was accepted as a fellow to the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Producers Academy event in Tucson Aug. 3-12. She is a recent UA graduate who has been a Pan Left member since 1999. Congressman Raul Grijalva will be the special guest at a fundraising dinner to benefit Pan Left at Hotel Congress on Sunday Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. Music will be provided by Jose Saavedra and Pan Left videos will be screened. For ticket information, call 792-9171 or check out www.panleft.org.

Pan Left is also putting out a call for entries for their semi-annual Feature This! Video Festival. The theme is deconstructing borders, and the categories are documentary, narrative, animation and experimental. The formats are VHS, DVD and mini-DVD. Deadlines are quickly approaching in August; entry forms and guidelines can be found at http://www.panleft.org/featurethis/. Feature This! runs Oct. 14-16 in Tucson.

FILM NOTES

· The next monthly IFASA meeting will be held at Access Tucson, 124 E. Broadway Blvd, at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1. Heather Robinson, who wrote the recently nationally released The Perfect Man, will be the featured guest.

· Local filmmakers are encouraged to start making three-minute films for a contest sponsored by IFASA. Screenings will be held at the Loft on Oct. 29. Check out http://www.aivtucson.org for rules and more details.

· Timothy Gassen, director and producer for local Purple Cactus Media Productions, is set to sign distribution deals for his widescreen sci-fi film Another Trip to the Moon as well as his short film The Bombardier. And the DVD that he directed for long-running local psychedelic rockers Marshmallow Overcoat is also set for release this week.

· Another of Gassen's new films, Hammerhead, will be part of the monthly Micro Cinema Tucson program at The Keys restaurant on July 31. Each month features several short films; show up and see what screens at 6:30 p.m. at 445 W. Wetmore Road. It's free.

· Local filmmaker Dick Fisher is in Long Island shooting the final footage for his film Why, George, which is already in post-production. Why, George is a romantic comedy set in Manhattan and East Hampton. Fisher will also be in California this fall to direct the black comedy Amateurs, and his script for Lucky Dog (which he is set to direct) is currently in development.

· The Tucson Film Office has partnered up with the Loft Cinema as a new co-sponsor for the monthly Local Film Contest. The contests are held at 9 p.m. the first Friday of each month, making the next one Aug. 5. Matthew Reel won the July contest with this film October March, securing the $100 prize. Cartoonist Max Cannon of "Red Meat" fame returns as guest host.