HARD PASS!!! The New Media Film Festival should be called the "Festival of Trailers."…read more Jess.R's review is 100% accurate! I want to start by saying I WON Best Pilot at this festival, and I'm leaving a 1-star review! I have removed their laurel from my website and any mentionings of this festival on my social media. You're going to be paying upwards of $86 to submit to a "festival" only to showcase your TRAILER! After I was accepted, I was told that the NMFF will only be showcasing trailers for the pilot category. Once I arrived at the festival, I quickly realized that 98% of the "nominees" were also forced to showcase their trailers, which makes no sense because all of our trailers are already available for public viewing on YouTube or Vimeo. My 1-minute trailer was "projected" from someone's laptop instead of the DCP of my 26-minute pilot. The whole point of film festival is to showcase your work in its entirety! There aren't $45,000 worth of prizes! The only prizes are other nominee's "artwork" that isn't even meant to be printed on foam core. One person literally won the "festival's" hideous schedule that was printed on foam core! The "press" you'll receive is only from completely unknown publications. The "photographer" on the "red carpet" clearly wasn't a professional photographer and didn't understand proper composition when taking photos. All in all, I was able to laugh at the absurdity of the poor quality of this "festival" with some lovely filmmakers. I will NEVER submit to this "festival" ever again. I would even dare to call this festival a SCAM!

I would also like to warn other filmmakers against submitting to this festival. I attended the 2024…read moreNMFF and found the entire experience unpleasant. First off, some transparency, for this year's festival, it was a 2 day festival. The first day was entirely digital (presenting accepted submissions online for ticket buyers to watch), and the second day was in person (movie theater viewing of another batch of submissions that lasted roughly an hour to an hour and a half of actual content to watch. If you take into account the 32 different categories they accept, and the very little time that the festival actually has to present those accepted submissions, you get a clear idea of what this festival is after. Here's a list of all the categories you can submit to (as of this post): ANIMATION any length, AR, AI, ER, 5D, XR, UHD, HDR, ART, Children, DIGITAL COMICS any length, DOCUMENTARY any length, DRONE, FAITH and FAMILY, FEATURE LENGTH - Media over 30 minutes, GAMES/ Gaming, METAVERSE, MIXED REALITY, MOBILE/TABLET any length, Music Only - NO VIDEOS, MUSIC VIDEO any length, NEW MEDIA any length, NFT, Photographs Only - NO VIDEOS, PILOT any length,  PITCHING, PODCAST, SCRIPTS, Script Feedback - add on to Scripts category only, SHORTS any length, SR - SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE any length, STEAM-Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math any length, STUDENT any length, TRAILER under 3 minutes, TELEVISION, VIRTUAL REALITY & 360, WEB SERIES any length.) It doesn't take a brain surgeon to piece together that a festival casting such a wide and unspecific net is more focused on taking your submission fee than by offering anything in return. The festival itself was incredibly disappointing. During the screening itself, which was at LOOK Cinemas in Glendale (a fine chain of theaters), the films shown were 90 percent trailers, which came as a shock to every festival attendee I spoke to. There was no direction or focus in the programming, or in the curation/order of the content, or in the event as a whole. After a "technical malfunction" halfway through the screening, we as the audience became witness to the Laptop Desktop screen that was playing the films. No DCP playlist (which I'm 100% sure the theater would've provided a technician for), and not even a mixed or mastered level of volume across the films (resulting in some film trailers being incredibly quite and some incredibly loud, which then resulted in shouts from the audience to turn the volume down). The films were being cued up, double clicked, and shown from a folder on a PC, which also meant that the larger trailer files (like mine and many others) BUFFERED the ENTIRE way through, resulting in skipping/lagging images and unsyncd audio! You have only to ask yourself, if the festival director cares this little about the quality of even presenting the work, then clearly she cares so little about the quality of the work itself or the quality of the festival. I was legitimately dumbfounded after my feeling of utter insult faded away. Oh also, someone messed up and clearly didn't QC any of this, because 1 of the film trailers was in an unsupported file format and so couldn't be played on the laptop. And another, which was programmed, wasn't even there at all to be played! A fact we as the audience and the festival director came to realize in real time as we watched her fumble through folders on her laptop to try and locate the file (resulting in shouts from the audience "try DRIVE E, no down, DOWN, TO THE LEFT, DRIVE E, LOCAL DRIVE E, TRY THAT OTHER FOLDER". The file was never located. I had not drank enough wine for any of this. Also the "Q&A" which she "moderated" was as tacky as everything else. Really hard hitting, thoughtless, insightful questions like "what was your inspiration when starting this project?", "what's a one word piece of advice you'd give to another person starting their project?". These questions were written down on a piece of paper, but clearly she didn't count how many questions she'd need because when she ran out of pieces of paper, she started from the top again and started the questions all over again! "what's a one word piece of advice you'd give to another person starting their project?". I could literally go on, but now I'm tired and should be working. The level of disrespect for the craft of filmmaking and creativity was personally insulting, and the unprofessional quality and rudeness (in basically all email exchanges, and frankly in some of the director's Q&A banter) as well as the shoddiness on display during festival, leads me to feel personally like I was taken advantage of as a submitter. There's clearly no other conclusion one can make than that the New Media Film Festival is a scam, meant tot take your money and run and give nothing back.

This is awesome! So it was the first year, yes. But already…read morefeels organized and that they have been doing this for years! The event is only for few hours, so I hope they promote it early on so we can create an "event" and mark our calendars for upcoming years. This happened in late March, and although I had family matters to take care of, I wanted to write a review and share how delightful everything was! This is what the name suggests, a wine walk through the participating shops in Montrose. We loved the walk and talk, and sipping of many excellent quality wines. (A list of the shops and the wines they were serving came printed in the brochure!) Of the many stores, I have to say Gio's Baguettes stood out, as they were sampling delicious little bites along the wine! Woohoo for Gio's and Montrose shops! Can't wait to go back again next year!

My wife and I had a great time discovering some new stores and of course we enjoyed the wine…read more Unfortunately they ran out of wine glasses pretty quick so we had champagne flutes which meant our pours were less than those with wine glasses. It also would have been nice for every store participating to have some sort of marker so we weren't always having to look at the map. It was the first one so I'm sure the kinks will be worked out next year. It was a lot of fun and we'll be there again next year.

LA Weekly presents Food & Wine Festival at the California Market Center (CMC). Food porn…read moreextravaganza....oh heaven help me!! So many representing LA eats that the line to get in was weaving out the door. It was well worth it as 40 of the hottest restaurants presented an amuse bouche of their signature bites & alcoholic beverage samples. Mingling with chefs, meeting new people and talking about food was a nice way to end the weekend. Great venue at the California Market Center offering spectacular panoramic views of the city. It was large enough that I didn't feel claustrophobic with the volume of people attending and enough tables and chairs to pace yourself. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad getting out of the parking building either and thought it was well facilitated. LA knows how to do it and LA Weekly had a very successful event. Salud #theessentials till next year!

I signed up for this event assuming it would be like all other food and wine festivals. That is,…read morean overpriced, overcrowded mess of booths and people unsuccessfully intermingling in the hot sun or hot indoor space. Thankfully I can report The Essentials 2015 mostly chipped away at my negative stereotypes. The food we sampled was all quite good, the beer and wine quite drinkable, and the hard booze creatively mixed. Our group appreciated that none of the tables made a point to stamp the ridiculous "drink card" everyone was issued. Make no mistake, the event was PACKED, but once inside the crowds were only an issue for certain restaurants. Thankfully it didn't impact the temperature, as we were fully comfortable start to finish. Some vendors went above and beyond with their food, while others proffered more pedestrian bites. Though I don't remember too many specifics, a few establishments were just really, really good. A big "thank you!" to Connie & Ted's, L&E, and Providence for providing exquisitely fresh oysters on the half shell. Sounds like at least a 4-star review at this point, right? Yup, but I have to voice what I feel are a few legitimate qualms. First, the signs for each vendor were SO small they were often invisible behind the chefs and people in line. Second, a better laid-out map would have worked wonders, as the one provided was essentially useless. The third and fourth issues require their own paragraph. We arrived prior to the 2:00 p.m. opening time for general admission. However, the organizers let us in late, and the throngs of people waiting outside further delayed the process. Long story short, we finally got into the event at 3:00...not cool. To boot, most of the "prestigious" vendors (e.g., Melisse, Hungry Cat) completely ran out of food as early as 3:30. Either they received bad information about the number of tickets sold, or they simply brought whatever quantities they wanted. Regardless of the reason, this was completely unfair to those of us who paid to try their food. I couldn't help feeling a little ripped off. This was definitely an improvement over other foodie festivals. We had a GREAT time. However, there are certainly some kinks that need to be ironed out. I can't wait to go again next time and hopefully leave a 5-star review!

I love art and I'm always looking for art events around the area. When I heard about BoldPas I knew…read moreI had to go. I came across it on Facebook and immediately became interested. I was able to find parking in a nearby parking garage and it was easy to find the art installations. They had a lot of really cool installations that were very interactive and picture perfect. My favorite part was the fact that these art installations were created by the local shops in the area which is amazing. I got to talk to a couple of the artists/ shop owners and all of them were so friendly and passionate about their art pieces. This is only the second year they do this event and it's definitely growing. If you love art and talking to locals I definitely recommend it. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see what they create for next year.

UIFF is the best Film Festival in Hollywood. The event has a screening, red carpet with interviews…read moreand awards ceremony. UIFF accepts films from all over the world. There are many categories to submit in ranging from student films to feature films, commercials to music videos and everything in between. The UIFF trophy is beautiful. It is a huge 24k gold trophy. I highly recommend UIFF if you want to submit your film to a high quality and organized festival. If your film is accepted be ready for a fun night of screenings, interviews, and awards.

Such an amazing film festival!!! It's a great chance for filmmakers to gather together and…read morecommunicate there.

I didn't attend last year, and as this festival is on the newer side, you may want to balance…read moreopinions. I had a great time at the 10am-7pm event, but that was only because I was with my friends, and we would have had a good time anywhere. Advertised (flyer, radio, Internet, etc.) to start at 10:00, the vendors were set up at this time, but the event didn't even have a radio playing. This lull to crickets was repeated again at 12:30--for two hours! Yes, two hours! Finally a choir came on, but then it happened again around 4:30. The point of a music festival is to have continuous music. With all the soloists, choirs, groups, and musicians in L.A., there was absolutely no reason for the lulls. For this alone, I zap all stars. Redeeming factors were the end acts. The choirs and groups that performed were aiiright, unfortunately nothing special. Again, I can not understand why an open call wasn't done. Too much talent in L.A. For this not to have gone over well. But Dorinda Clark Cole and Israel Houghton redeemed the day--near 6:00 p.m. During the day, folk were simply getting their fellowship on. There are no rules--besides those The Lord sets out. Being a canopy. Bring a cooler. Bring chairs and blankets. There are food vendors, clothes vendors, and information tables. Some have gone astray, so the people-watching is prayerfully interesting. Seating is awesomely easy--before service lets out. It seems that around 1:00, a swarm of folk came in so I couldn't even breathe outside. Parking was cheap and easy too--before service let out. Parking on site was $10, adjacent in Shoreline was $8, down the street was $5. But my friends who came at 3:00 or so said they walked from Ocean... All-in-all, a great summer day because of the company. But the ocean breeze with some gospel (minus maybe 3 hours altogether...) made it better.

I mean, I liked that they had jumpers and video games to entertain the young ones, but this fest…read morewas fairly small. I expected a lot more vendors and food. The music was great... But you couldn't see any of the performers unless you paid $50 for VIP. The VIP section was closest to the stage but it was empty.

First time attending this event. I would say overall my family and I enjoyed it. This is a very…read morefamily friendly event, they have many activities for children. The event itself I would say was not the most organized. Buying tickets and packages online was an option. I ended up buying a package for $19 which included admission to the event, parking, 3 small plates and a program and tip sheet. When we arrived, parking was just straight up free, no one taking money at the gate. I never received a program and tip sheet, which is fine because I don't even know what they were used for anyway. The so called "small plates" were non- existent. Most of the plates cost 2 tickets, not one. The website for this event was very misleading. The food was tremendously good, best bbq I've ever had and my son had fun. Overall it was a good day and good event.

This was our second time coming here and we were disappointed. There werent as many vendors as…read morebefore and it was kind of dull and boring. But its held at the Santa Anita Race Track which is pretty cool and there are horse races going on so if you're into that go for it. We used Goldstar so we got a discount with entry and 15 food tickets and a program for about 16 each. When you park youre at the back entrance so the first thing you ll see is the smoke from the pits. they have a live band playing music which kind of helps the mood. The Championship consists of about 15-20 vendors selling their versions of whatever is to be voted on. You can only vote once so vote for your favorite. The choices were ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken some had pork belly in tacos...meatballs wrapped in bacon called a moink mac n cheese...and your choice of meat as nachos. They also sell beer and have a full bar there was one girl who got dehydrated so be careful and make sure you drink water. The tried two different mac n cheese not good at all one was dry the other one didnt have cheese. The pulled pork nachos were good it consisted of bbq pulled pork..beans...cheese and more bbq sause if you want on top of potato chips I also saw another vendor who used tortilla chips. A couple of vendors had dessert we tried the apple trifle from Gas Street Grill and it was good they also had sausage and fruit so we voted for them. So if you get a chance to check it out do so and let me know what you think.

IndieCade is a wonderful way to see the year's best upcoming games and connect to the indie…read moredeveloper scene. As an artist, I always leave feeling completely inspired and invigorated. My fav moments each year are from Night Games! Last year I loved fighting for the title of #1 intergalactic package courier, dancing with people in front of a magical interactive projector, and getting my fortune told in a virtual reality headset. I only wish that IndieCade wasn't so far away from Chicago and that it happened more than once a year.

I've been going to IndieCade for about 8 years now, and every time has been an amazing experience…read moreof meeting new people, learning something new, and playing games. Somewhere between a museum and an arcade, IndieCade feels like a place where you get to try out new ideas for a couple of hours. If you have friends coming into town or just want something that's on the relaxing side, you can never go wrong with a trip over to IndieCade. IndieCade has always been one of the few events where you can play great games and get access to developers to learn more about what it takes to make an interactive experience. Families, students, or your average person on the street can play with VR technology, try out games before anyone else, and take part in events that can only happen there. The lines are short, the people are friendly, and you'll probably meet more than a few new people to follow on social media.