Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Lenny Bitondo, producer, was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. His last film “2:22” went on to win Best Feature Film at The Malibu International Film Festival 2009, as well as being chosen to close the 2009 St. Louis Film Festival. He also produced the Lion’s Gate release “Played”. Starring Mick Rossi, Vinnie Jones, Val Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Anthony LaPaglia, Bruno Kirby and Sile Bermingham.  ...

Jane Espenson, writer producer. Her early work was primarily in comedy and included stints at Dinosaurs and Ellen.  She later moved to the hour-long format where she wrote episodes for shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, The Inside, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, A Game of Thrones, Torchwood: Miracle Day, and co-...

Nadine Jolson, PR, and actor Joshua Fredric Smith, discuss branding yourself for success and working with PR and marketing to create a buzz about you and your project. This is critical information for filmmakers. Jolson Creative is a group of professionals with over twenty years of extensive experience in successful publicity campaigns and image marketing for Independent Films. This talented team...

Rod Lurie wrote and directed the widely praised Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominated political thriller “The Contender,” starring Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman and Christian Slater. The film was also honored by the Broadcast Film Critics with the first-ever Alan J. Pakula Award.  His latest film, “Straw Dogs,” is a remake of the 1971 classic, starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth...

Stanley Livingston, actor, can  boast of a career of fifty-five years  - including a phenomenal twelve-year run as "CHIP DOUGLAS" on one of television's most popular series My Three Sons. The series is television's second longest running situation comedy and has been continuously broadcast for 50 years!  The show made its debut in 1960 and was produced for 12 years completing nearly 400...

Peter Marshall Pt 9 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; televisi...

Peter Marshall Pt 8 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; televisi...

Richard Peterson has worked for years in the music and entertainment industry beginning in 1999, Richard worked as an independent music promoter, with his self owned company Icon Entertainment, booking regional and national touring acts in venues in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. He took over as the booking agent for Luther’s Blues and The Annex, both prominent music venues in Madison, W...

Paul Battista, Esq PT 2  has provided legal services to over 95 feature film, documentary and television projects in which he has represented either a producer/production company or an individual providing services to the project.  He has been a guest speaker at film festivals and conferences, including Slamdance Film Festival and Film Independent’s Filmmaker Forum. He lectures at film and law sch...

Orly Ravid, PT 3 Co-Executive Director The Film Collaborative At TFC, Orly works primarily on distribution, sales/licensing and contract/negotiation services with a focus on new media digital distribution. She also handles theatrical releases. A “big picture” thinker, Orly created TFC in response to a dominant and overarching structure that favors middlemen, not filmmakers. Her intense diligence i...

Mick Rossi actor, writer, musician & producer began his career in Manchester, England by forming the cult British Punk rock band Slaughter and the Dogs. Mick has written & produced several albums with Slaughter and the Dogs to date and they are considered to be one of the founders of the Punk Rock movement in Britain today. Mick  transition into acting under the direction of famed British...

Joke and Biagio (PT 2) are married, and best known for creating and executive producing “Scream Queens” on VH1 and Co-Executive Producing Beauty and the Geek. The duo earned their documentary wings under acclaimed filmmaker R.J. Cutler (The War Room, The September Issue) and honed their reality TV skills working with luminaries like Mark Burnett and J.D. Roth of 3Ball Productions. They've produced...

Gary Marsh founded Breakdown Services in 1971, creating the process that is used around the world to cast feature films, television shows, commercials, theater and other projects that require actors. Marsh began his career as an actor after emigrating from England in 1963 appearing in such films as “Camelot” and Shampoo,” but he terminated his acting career to begin Breakdown Services. He is a 197...

Drew Rosas is an independent filmmaker and owner and CEO of The Surgery Room Production Company. His work experience includes several feature length film projects including Public Enemies, Modus Operandi, Handmade Nation, Hamlet ADD and his directorial debut Blood Junkie (recently selected for distribution with Troma Entertainment). Rosas has produced and directed dozens of commercials and several...

Joke and Biagio are married, and best known for creating and executive producing “Scream Queens” on VH1 and Co-Executive Producing Beauty and the Geek. The duo earned their documentary wings under acclaimed filmmaker R.J. Cutler (The War Room, The September Issue) and honed their reality TV skills working with luminaries like Mark Burnett and J.D. Roth of 3Ball Productions. They've produced severa...

Jack Perez, PT 4, is a 20-year veteran of the motion picture and television industry. He has directed nine feature films, is the recipient of awards for both writing and directing, and has received the critical praise of Roger Ebert, Harry Knowles from Ain’t It Cool News, drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs,Fangoria, Film Threat, The LA Weekly, The Austin Chronicleand The New York Times. Perez graduate...

Peter Marshall Pt 7 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; televisi...

Peter Pastorelli grew up in show business. His father, Peter Pastorelli Senior, was a major presence in the film community, location managing films shot in New York City, titles like Sea of Love and Presumed Innocent and production managing Stephen King’s The Stand for television.   Being surrounded by the excitement of film making at such a young, impressionable age, Peter realized that there was...

Jack Perez, PT 3, is a 20-year veteran of the motion picture and television industry. He has directed nine feature films, is the recipient of awards for both writing and directing, and has received the critical praise of Roger Ebert, Harry Knowles from Ain’t It Cool News, drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs,Fangoria, Film Threat, The LA Weekly, The Austin Chronicleand The New York Times. Perez graduate...

Helen McCready, PT 2, casting director, C.S.A., began working as an actor in 1985 in British Columbia. as an extra on 21 Jump Street. She assisted in extra casting at Denise Love Talent Agency. In 1999, Helen launched Helen Wheels Productions, LLC in Arizona. Now in Burbank  Helen’s success as a casting director has continued with projects such as Director Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Nancy Meyer’s -...

Paul Provenza, PT 3, an accomplished comedian, classically trained actor and an innovative filmmaker has worked TV, movies, theater and stand-up comedy for more than 2 decades. Paul has gone back and forth between acting and stand up comedy in every medium from TV to theater to film. He has been a guest on every major talk show from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson to The Tonight Show starr...

Jack Perez, Part 2, is a 20-year veteran of the motion picture and television industry. He has directed nine feature films, is the recipient of awards for both writing and directing, and has received the critical praise of Roger Ebert, Harry Knowles from Ain’t It Cool News, drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs,Fangoria, Film Threat, The LA Weekly, The Austin Chronicleand The New York Times. Perez gradua...

Peter Marshall Pt 6 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; televisi...

Dr. Barry Sandrew, PT 2,  founded Legend3D, Inc., and is an internationally recognized visual effects pioneer and digital imaging expert with more than 14 VFX patents and 23 years of feature film and TV experience. In 2001, he developed the Company’s technology for the original patented digital systems and processes for colorization which he then later utilized as the platform from which he create...

Phil Brock, Talent Agent, opened his own talent management firm, the Studio Talent Group, in 1995.  The STG client list includes many actors whose professional careers have flourished under his guidance. Clients include Richard Moll (Night Court), Charlene Tilton (Dallas), Irwin Keyes (Intolerable Cruelty, The Jeffersons, The Flintstones), and Brett Stimely (Watchment, Transformers: Dark Of The Mo...