Gotta Sing! Search for A Star, Content and Cash, Berlinale Talent Campus, Durango Songwriter's Expo, NAACP Image Awards, Highlight February Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

“Audition Strategies: an Actor’s Workshop from a Producer’s Perspective”, workshop held February 6 in New York, focuses on the philosophy that an actor’s presentational technique during the audition process is just as, if not more, important as their acting skills. Actors will go through each step of the audition process and learn fast, simple and effective ways to build a portfolio, confidence, and the chance to get the part. The art of independent film and mountain culture are at the core of the Mountain Film Festival taking place in Mammoth Lakes through February 26. This festival accepts films of all genres and especially encourages films with an emphasis on mountain culture, action sports, and environmental issues. On February 8, and in fact every Monday night, long-running showbiz duo Billy Shepard and Judi Jourdan host the Gotta Sing! Search for A Star Open Mic! in Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen Theatre District, just around the corner from the David Letterman show. Participants in the show are also considered for an appearance on the couple’s cable TV program, “How to Succeed in Show Business by Really Trying”, shown on Time Warner Cable every Tuesday. From February 8-9, documentary producers and filmmakers from the East Midlands and beyond are invited to take part in a documentary pitching and marketplace held in Nottingham, offering complete preparation for getting a factual project funded internationally, including at Doc/Fest’s Marketplace 2010 as well as other international markets. A Film Finance Summit in Santa Monica will cover the primary sources of financing content in the credit crunch for television and film — debt, equity, presales and soft money. An evening workshop led by entertainment attorney David Steinberg is on February 8 of the conference which runs through February 10.

At the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, BMI’s VP of New Media and Strategic Development, Richard Conlon, moderates a February 10 roundtable discussion, Content and Cash, examining content verticals: music, film, TV, games, cross-platform deal making and development, and leading into a two hour post-event reception featuring live performing talent. At the “Almost Famous Film Festival,” registered teams attend a pre-challenge party with food, drinks, social mixer, on February 12, where they will receive a theme, A Line of Dialogue and a Prop, and then have exactly 48 hours to write a script, find locations, gather their actors and actresses, shoot and edit their 1-5 minute film, and then turn it in before the 48 hour deadline. The Sixth Annual Orlando Latin American Film & Heritage Festival is a curated film and cultural celebration of award-winning films and documentaries, in addition to meet the film maker events, hands-on educational sessions and exhibits with artists, inspiring poetry and performances by musicians and dancers, all happening February 12-14 in Orlando. This year’s Berlinale Talent Campus, a summit for up-and-coming filmmakers taking place February 13-18 in Berlin, has a stated theme of “Cinema Needs Talent: Looking for the Right People.” Every year a selection of Berlinale Talent Campus events are recorded and uploaded and archived to the Talent Campus website. Attendants at this year’s 2010 Hollywood Post Alliance Tech Retreat, in Rancho Mirage, from February 16-19, can explore display technologies, video consumer marketplace, rights management, audio, games, psychophysics, digital projection technology, asset management, and other resources suited to businesses and individuals that provide expertise, support, tools and infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials, digital media and other dynamic media content. The Folk Alliance Music Conference is an annual event that draws together music industry professionals from throughout the world to share ideas, network, and celebrate traditional music and dance. It all occurs February 17-21 in Memphis along with special events, such as the Folk Music & Business Awards, Lifetime Achievement Awards, networking receptions, official Performance Alley and private showcase performances, and much more.

The Urban Individualists, an artists collective curated by Helene Ruiz, hosts a February 19 reception in Pompano Beach to open the exhibition “Rhythm and Color”, a multimedia exhibition of works influenced, in their conception, by the rhythms found in music, the natural world, the built environment, and in human interactions. Live poetry/spoken word, special live performances, and refreshments are incorporated into the evenings celebration, which is free and open to the public. Non-profit educational organization, Country Radio Broadcasters, presents this year’s CRS 2010: Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, February 24-26. This year’s 2010 Durango Songwriter’s Expo / Santa Barbara Wine Country, combines and blends song writing and music business with wine culture, and as is the custom for Durango Songwriter’s Expo, registration will be limited to just 200 attendees. The 41st NAACP Image Awards will be February 26 in Los Angeles, and will be carried live by the Fox Network, but will be preceded by scheduled events in the days before the main evening’s ceremonies, like the 41st NAACP Image Awards’ Celebrity Golf Challenge on February 25. A newly added feature to this year’s Australian International Documentary Conference, February 26 in Adelaide, is the Trailer Park Pitch as an extension to the recently launched online market Trailer Park, permitting AIDC delegates to submit a trailer for their documentary project for a chance to have it remade with high-quality footage from Thought Equity Motion’s library, which matches selected documentary makers’ project ideas with national and international executive producers, broadcasters and distributors attending AIDC 2010. Washington Area Music Awards host the 24th Annual WAMMIES, February 28 in Falls Church, to celebrate career achievements by D.C. area musicians, concert promoters, lawyers, recording engineers, managers, graphic artists, and related businesses. After the official ceremonies and receptions, the after party follows at Bangkok Blues in Falls Church.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film, music and documentary. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. Google Friends is available on The Actor’s Checklist allowing you to sign in with your Google ID and enjoy an interactive and social networking experience with other visitors to the site.The Actor’s Checklist is proud announce the return of the Digital Media & Podcast Blog to view and/or download to your iPhone the ten or five minute video or audio podcast presentation.