Attending The 52nd Annual WorldFest-Houston
April 5-14, 2019
WorldFest was founded over 52 years ago as an International Film Society in August, 1961. WorldFest became the third competitive international film festival in North America, following San Francisco and New York. WorldFest is the oldest Independent Film & Video Festival in the World. It evolved into a competitive International Film Festival in April, 1968. It was founded by award-winning producer/director Hunter Todd to present a quality film festival for the Independent filmmakers.
AttendEVENT TICKETS & VIP PASSES
Come and see award winning films from all around the world, some of which may never be seen on the Silver Screen again due to the strange & mysterious ways of film distribution. Single admission tickets begin at $7.50 for Matinee Shows, $12.50 for all Evening Premieres and range all the way from the VIP Film Buff Pass ($100, any 11 shows, not including Opening Night), the VIP Silver Screen Pass ($200 to all shows, includes Opening Night), the VIP Gold Pass to all shows and the nine Master Class Seminars on film production ($500), up to the ultimate VIP Platinum Pass ($1000) with something for everyone. The VIP "Carte Blanche" Platinum Pass includes (for one person) all film Premieres, all Receptions, Opening Night Film & Champagne After Party, the Festival Club to meet & mingle with more than 1,000 Intl filmmakers form 74 nations over the ten days, Nine Film Industry Master Class Seminars, the Remi Grand Awards Dinner & Champagne Reception and Closing Day festivities (VIP Police Escort NASA Rocket Park Tour, the 31st Annual Houston Yacht Club/Consular Regatta and Texas Barbecue with real Texas Longhorns for Photo Ops, and Closing Night Film).
FILM SCHEDULE & TICKETS SHORT FILM SCHEDULE VIP Options Master Classes
The Official Festival Theater
The Memorial City Cinemark Theatres Memorial City Mall Houston, Texas 77024 Directions to TheaterWorldFest-Houston Film Festival Registration
April 5-13, 2019
10:00 am- 6:00 pm
Elm Room (4th Fl)
The Westin Hotel - Memorial City
945 Gessner, Houston, TX 77024
713-965-9955
Opening Night After Party
The Westin Hotel - Memorial City!
945 Gessner, Houston, TX 77024
Book Your Red Carpet Limo!
PASSES & ACCOMMODATIONS
Stay at the Official HQ WorldFest Hotel, the beautiful Westin Hotel - Memorial City - 945 Gessner Road and enjoy a central location, modern amenities and a warm Texas welcome. Our luxury hotel provides quick access to the Cinemark Theatre and to Memorial City Mall, which offers premium shopping, restaurants and entertainment. The Westin is across the street from the HQ Cinemark Theatre! The HQ Westin is home of the WorldFest Festival Club for meeting with the international filmmakers attending the 52nd WorldFest-Houston.
MASTER CLASSES SEMINAR SCHEDULE
Come and see what the heart of the film industry is all about with this set of innovative and exciting topics such as Casting for Indie Films, SAG/AFTRA, noted Film Critic Nick Nicholson's take on the world of Independent film, Drones for Indie Filmmaking, NASA insiders tips for amazing footage for filmmakers, to our traditional Indie Directors’ Forum, Scriptwriters Hollywood Protocol plus much more. $300 for the Master Class Pass, included in the VIP Gold and VIP Platinum Passes.
WHEN: April 11th, 12th, and 13th at 10AM, 1PM & 3PM
WHERE: The WorldFest HQ Hotel – The Westin Houston, Memorial City, 945 Gessner Road Houston, Texas 77024
This year there will also be special High School Breakout Sessions!
"A Career in Filmmaking 101" with Erik Calderon, FLMC Films
Thursday, April 11, at 9:00 AM
"Living and Working as a Filmmaker" with Jenny Waldo, filmmaker and instructor at Houston Community College
Friday, April 12, at 9:00 AM
Nick Nicholson national film critic will reveal the pitfalls that doom filmmakers to the Razzie list. In addition, the discussion will also cover what will make critics praise your projects instead. Member, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Broadcast Television Journalists Association, News 92, CNN Radio.
Multi-award winner director, Shawn Welling shares exciting innovations for your next feature or short. Options on how to keep audiences engaged yet not distracted by using animals, macro shots, drones and clever perspectives to enhance a big budget without the cost. Don’t miss the live animal and innovative equipment.
Norman Ray Fitts 25 year veteran with 6 published novels and more than 60 screenplay. He will discuss components of a screenplay; what they are, their nomenclature and how and when they're used. You will leave this session knowing exactly how to write an industry standard screenplay.
So go after a story that can get made. Leigh Murray, executive producer of feature and TV films, as well as an established writing consultant and actress, will discuss and show how committing to a goal and seeing the project's progress is the only way to realize your dream of getting your story or script up on the screen. You will come away with a renewed plan on new angles and strategies.
Producer, Writer, and Director with 20+ years in the entertainment industry, Jon is based in Los Angeles, but has shot in 17 states including Texas and 11 countries. His career includes work in both feature film and TV, scripted, non-scripted plus digital content. Jon has personally overseen numerous projects from conception and development, through inancing into production, post and distribution.
Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith of The Film Festival Doctor in the UK guides you step by step on the importance of film festivals and how to create a carefully planned festival strategy for your film in order to achieve the results and awards that you want.
American Indie film director, screenwriter, producer and composer best known for his films Trust, Amateur, and Henry Fool, which are notable for deadpan humor and offbeat characters, provided a career launch for a number of actors, including Adrienne Shelly, Edie Falco, and Martin Donovan. Hartley frequently scores his own films using his pseudonym Ned Rifle, and his soundtracks regularly feature music by indie rock acts Yo La Tengo and PJ Harvey.
On Archival and historical footage ranging from the years of early Saturn missile program into the current International Space Station program and how to obtain NASA footage for use in your productions.
Ten feature film directors from the 2019 WorldFest Official Selection program will share their experiences on how they completed their award-winning film.
OFFICIAL VIP SPONSORS
We love all our Sponsors because they help to make WorldFest possible. From the wonderful Memorial City Mall, with some of the finest restaurants in Texas, include our Official HQ restaurant CIRO’s Italian Grill – Sponsors of our Panorama Italia; Cinemark Theatres, our exciting new festival cinema partner, to our special VIP Patron, Executive Chairman & President of the WorldFest-China Selection Committee, Zhang, Ling (Sky), we believe that our Sponsors are simply the best! We love the new Westin, our wonderful new HQ host hotel which offers a great central location in near the Cinemark Theatres in Memorial City! The premiere office company in Houston is Boxer Property! So much of the work done behind the scenes is produced by the brilliant creative team at Lopez Negrete Communications who inspire us with their amazing graphics design concepts and brilliant Web Design each year… Whenever possible, we encourage you to patronize their services to let them know they are appreciated for what they do in support of our cause. We are certainly proud of them and Thankful for their belief in our mission to ‘validate excellence’ in emerging and Independent cinema.
