Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

LOS ANGELES (September XXX, 2003) � Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of IFP/Los Angeles, announced that the 2004 IFP Los Angeles Film Festival will take place from Thursday, June 17 through Saturday, June 26, 2004. Hudson also announced that Doug Jones has been hired as Senior Programmer. Rich Raddon remains the Festival Director, and Rachel Rosen returns as Programming Director

Jones curated films for the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis, the Mill Valley Film Festival in Northern California, the San Francisco Film Society and the San Francisco International Film Festival, and has served on screening committees for the Sundance Film Festival, the AFI Fest and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Most recently, Doug has been Program Director of the Noise Pop Film Festival in San Francisco and Senior Programmer for the 2002 and 2003 IFP Los Angeles Film Festivals.

�Doug is an indispensable part of the Festival�s programming team,� said Rosen. �I�m thrilled to think about how much more we can do putting his skills to work year-round for the Festival.�

Held annually in the heart of Hollywood, the IFP Los Angeles Film Festival showcases the best of American and International independent cinema. With a diverse audience of over 40,000, the Festival screens the best in recent U.S. narrative features, documentaries, and shorts in our competitive section, and full-length narratives and documentaries in our International
Showcase.

In addition, the Festival screens high school shorts, music videos, and holds a variety of special event screenings --- including everything from gala premieres to outdoor film events. Over the past ten years, the Festival has grown into a world-class event, uniting new filmmakers with critics, scholars, film masters, and the movie-loving public.

�Summer fun with some business is our motto,� said Raddon. �with outdoor screenings and parties we are becoming the industry�s answer to a strenuous winter/spring festival circuit and the timing is great for the public as well.�

The Festival has premiered numerous films including, Mayor of the Sunset Strip, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kissing Jessica Stein, George Washington, The Cruise, and Dead Man. Recent acquisitions from the Festival include Mayor of Sunset Strip, Kissing Jessica Stein, Washington Heights, The Chateau, Dancing at the Blue Iguana, and OT:our town.

The 2003 IFP Los Angeles Film Festival winners included Paxton Winters� Crude, winner of the Target Filmmaker Award (for Best Narrative Feature). The award carries with it an unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 funded by Target Stores � The largest cash prize bestowed by a major U.S. film festival. Tracy Droz Tragos� Be Good, Smile Pretty, winner of the Target Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature)

-- The award carries with it an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000 funded by Target Stores.

Peter Mullan�s The Magdalene Sisters, winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature; Laura Gabbert�s Sunset Story winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

IFP/Los Angeles is Southern California�s largest non-profit organization for independent filmmakers with more than 6,000 members. IFP/Los Angeles is dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers, and championing the cause of independent filmmaking. To achieve this purpose, IFP/Los Angeles helps the independent filmmaking community in three ways:

Education: With year-round screenings, seminars, symposia, and educational programs that help members master the art and craft of filmmaking;

Support: Providing professional advice, access to industry leaders, networking opportunities, camera and equipment rentals, and discounts to over 200 industry-related vendors to help members take their ideas from script to screen;

Building Audiences: Promoting independent film to a wider audience through the IFP Los Angeles Film Festival and the nationally televised IFP Independent Spirit Awards.

In these ways, IFP/Los Angeles encourages diversity, creativity, quality and innovation in filmmaking, and gives voice to filmmakers who embody the independent spirit.