Panel 2: SATURDAY OCTOBER 21, 12noon-1:50pm
Launching Your Career with Your Short Film
Moderator: Deborah Gilels
Venue: Regal Cinemas 1000 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles 90015-Auditorium 13
An intimate talk with professionals that have taken Intellectual Property (IP) and moved it from it’s original source to the screen in a sale. Q&A to follow.
Moderator: Deborah Gilels
Deborah Gilels has run a successful PR/Media Consulting company for the past 20 years, assisting writers, filmmakers, producers, and actors promote feature films and documentaries, by way of public relations, marketing, distribution and project development. Among the films she has successfully launched are Keiko the Untold Story of
the Star of Free Willy, the award-winning documentary The War on Kids for IFC and the Doc Channel, and the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family drama Mighty Fine for Lionsgate. Gilels ran FYC campaigns for the award-winning features Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and Liz and the Blue Bird (Satellite Award nominee), the shorts Lacrimosa and Dragonfly, documentaries The Gilligan Manifesto and Say His Name: Five Days for George Floyd. In her beloved anime space, she was the lead publicist on Fathom Events release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, the award-winning A Silent Voice, Millennium Actress and Sound! Euphonium. She has also done publicity for anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, Megalobox on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim and theatrical release for the feature Penguin Highway. Gilels has also led publicity for the DVD/VOD releases for several other anime titles and was a panelist at the 2019 Project Anime in Los Angeles. Other recent films include: The World Without You starring Radha Mitchell, Chris Mulkey and James Tupper, Hajji starring Ross Marquand, Pooling to Paradise, starring Taryn Manning and Jonathan Lipnicki, Violet is Blue: A Tale of Gibbons and Guardians, Echoes From the Attic, the LA Emmy winning documentary To Climb a Gold Mountain, Not Another Church Movie starring Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A Fox and Kevin Daniels, Jane Spencer’s South of Hope Street starring Judd Nelson, Tanna Frederick and William Baldwin, The Long Game starring Kathleen Turner, Jackie Earle Haley and Sekai Abeni and the new documentary Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story narrated by Mike Rowe and featuring Jeff Daniels voicing Ralph R. Teetor. Gilels has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances With Films, Tribeca, LA Femme International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival,
New Filmmakers (LA and NY), St. Louis Int’l, UN Film Festival, Heartland, Cannes, and was the Publicist for the Oscar-Qualifying LA Shorts Fest in 2023. She is also on the PR Team for CLU (Center for Learning Unlimited) and the first ever Autism in Entertainment Conference this past April at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. She has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Anime Expo, Berlin and MIP-TV. Along with being a Board Member of LA Femme International Film Festival, Gilels is a sponsor of HollyShorts.
Panelists:
Bridget Stokes
Bridget Stokes’ masterful direction won her an Emmy for HBO’s, A Black Lady Sketch Show, making her the first woman to win in the category. In addition to her win, Bridget has received four Emmy nominations for her directing work on Apple’s Hello Jack and producing work on A Black Lady Sketch Show. Stokes received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing on ABLSS and won the award for producing.
As a feature director Stokes’ second feature, Boy Genius, starring Rita Wilson and Miles Brown was an award winner at Bentonville and Newport Film Festivals before being acquired for domestic theatrical distribution and streaming as well as selling internationally in Africa, Asia and South America. Stokes has directed two feature films and 30 episodes of television in addition to helming the award-winning short film, Think Fast.
As a producer, Stokes has co-executive produced seasons 1 & 2 of Hello Jack and seasons 3 & 4 of A Black Lady Sketch Show as well as six feature films, including Netflix’s The Lost Husband and documentary, The Rachel Divide.
Stokes lives in Los Angeles with her family and sits on the boards of the Independent Shakespeare Company and Parity Productions.
Valerie McCaffrey
From April 1994-2000, Valerie held the position of Vice President of Feature Film Casting for New Line/Fine Line Films. During her tenure at New Line/ Fine Line, Ms. McCaffrey cast scores of films, developing strong relationships with all major talent agencies and management firms. Among the many highlights of her career, she cast Edward Norton and Eddie Furlong in New Line Cinema’s AMERICAN HISTORY X which Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award. While at Universal Studios, she also cast BABE which garnered James Cromwell an oscar nomination for his performance as the pig farmer produced by George Miller. She co-directed and co-produced a cancer documentary called “Cancer it’s in the System”, with Cindy Pruitt. It’s goal was to give a overall education of the dreaded disease and introduce alternative methods of cure. It stars Melissa Etheridge and Trish Cyrus. They (McCaffrey and Pruitt) made it available on you tube so that the public would have access to it without having to pay. Since 2000, Valerie has cast independently and cast the critically acclaimed HARD CANDY(she put Ellen Page in her first American film). To date, she has cast close to 90 films and have worked with the biggest directors in the film industry. She just finished shooting “Dirty Bomb” a short film which chronicles a Jewish prisoner who manipulates the manufacturing of the V2 bomb, saving lives, yet sacrificing his own. The short film called “Dirty Bomb” which shot in Fresno, Clovis and Mt. Pino. It got accepted into The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase in Cannes, showing on May 15, 2018 and went on to win various awards. She also co-wrote ‘Sick” and directed a webisode which chronicles teenagers in a mental institution. It stars West Duchovny who is David Duchovny’s and Tea Leoni’s daughter.
Jennie Lew Tugend
JENNIE LEW TUGEND has produced and co-produced some of the industry’s most memorable franchises: The Free Willy trilogy, Lethal Weapon 1,2,3, and HBO’s Tales from the Crypt.
Producing credits also include Albatross, One Missed Call, Local Boys, Star Kid, Return to Me, Radio Flyer, Scrooged and was instrumental in the development and production of The Goonies and The Lost Boys.
Tugend and her partners are currently developing the feature film adaptation of NY Times best-selling novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.”
Tugend is a member of the Motion Picture Academy and the Producers Guild of America. Tugend taught a producing class at UCLAx for 8 years and was a mentor in the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. She is a Senior Creative Thesis Mentor at the American Film Institute Conservatory and a recent Advisor in Residence at the Sundance Collab Institute.
Desiree Staples
Desiree Staples is a producer, filmmaker, and actress experienced in short-form, episodic, and
feature film content. CIRCUS PERSON, produced by Staples, and Severance's Britt Lower's directorial debut, was a Tribeca NOW 2020 showcase selection, the Winner of Best of Festival Top achievement at Catalyst Content, and an Audience Choice Award top pick at the Nashville Film Festival. Staples' dramedy pilot IT'S WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED was a prestigious selection in the 2021 Tribeca Creators Market and winner of “Best Ensemble Cast” at the Catalyst Film Festival. Staples Produced TAKE ME TO TARZANA, distributed by Gravitas Ventures, starring Jonathan Bennett and Samantha Robinson, which was a Gold Remi Winner at Worldfest Houston. Her comedy pilot, THE INFLUENCERS, which she co-created and produced, has screened at over 25 festivals around the world.
Most recently, Staples served as executive producer and lead actress of the upcoming feature film, MY DIVORCE PARTY, directed/written by Heidi Weitzer, which stars herself and Rumer Willis. Staples is producing Sam Fox's upcoming horror comedy short film FCK'N NUTS which will film on location in New Orleans.
Desiree is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, a Co-founder of the Female Filmmakers Forumon Clubhouse, and is the Co-President of Northwestern University’s Entertainment Alliance - NUEA West. Go Cats! @Desireestaples (Instagram).
Panel 2: SATURDAY OCTOBER 21, 12noon-1:50pm
Launching Your Career with Your Short Film
Moderator: Deborah Gilels
Venue: Regal Cinemas 1000 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles 90015-Auditorium 13
An intimate talk with professionals that have taken Intellectual Property (IP) and moved it from it’s original source to the screen in a sale. Q&A to follow.
Moderator: Deborah Gilels
Deborah Gilels has run a successful PR/Media Consulting company for the past 20 years, assisting writers, filmmakers, producers, and actors promote feature films and documentaries, by way of public relations, marketing, distribution and project development. Among the films she has successfully launched are Keiko the Untold Story of
the Star of Free Willy, the award-winning documentary The War on Kids for IFC and the Doc Channel, and the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family drama Mighty Fine for Lionsgate. Gilels ran FYC campaigns for the award-winning features Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and Liz and the Blue Bird (Satellite Award nominee), the shorts Lacrimosa and Dragonfly, documentaries The Gilligan Manifesto and Say His Name: Five Days for George Floyd. In her beloved anime space, she was the lead publicist on Fathom Events release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, the award-winning A Silent Voice, Millennium Actress and Sound! Euphonium. She has also done publicity for anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, Megalobox on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim and theatrical release for the feature Penguin Highway. Gilels has also led publicity for the DVD/VOD releases for several other anime titles and was a panelist at the 2019 Project Anime in Los Angeles. Other recent films include: The World Without You starring Radha Mitchell, Chris Mulkey and James Tupper, Hajji starring Ross Marquand, Pooling to Paradise, starring Taryn Manning and Jonathan Lipnicki, Violet is Blue: A Tale of Gibbons and Guardians, Echoes From the Attic, the LA Emmy winning documentary To Climb a Gold Mountain, Not Another Church Movie starring Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A Fox and Kevin Daniels, Jane Spencer’s South of Hope Street starring Judd Nelson, Tanna Frederick and William Baldwin, The Long Game starring Kathleen Turner, Jackie Earle Haley and Sekai Abeni and the new documentary Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story narrated by Mike Rowe and featuring Jeff Daniels voicing Ralph R. Teetor. Gilels has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances With Films, Tribeca, LA Femme International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival,
New Filmmakers (LA and NY), St. Louis Int’l, UN Film Festival, Heartland, Cannes, and was the Publicist for the Oscar-Qualifying LA Shorts Fest in 2023. She is also on the PR Team for CLU (Center for Learning Unlimited) and the first ever Autism in Entertainment Conference this past April at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. She has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Anime Expo, Berlin and MIP-TV. Along with being a Board Member of LA Femme International Film Festival, Gilels is a sponsor of HollyShorts.
Panelists:
Bridget Stokes
Bridget Stokes’ masterful direction won her an Emmy for HBO’s, A Black Lady Sketch Show, making her the first woman to win in the category. In addition to her win, Bridget has received four Emmy nominations for her directing work on Apple’s Hello Jack and producing work on A Black Lady Sketch Show. Stokes received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing on ABLSS and won the award for producing.
As a feature director Stokes’ second feature, Boy Genius, starring Rita Wilson and Miles Brown was an award winner at Bentonville and Newport Film Festivals before being acquired for domestic theatrical distribution and streaming as well as selling internationally in Africa, Asia and South America. Stokes has directed two feature films and 30 episodes of television in addition to helming the award-winning short film, Think Fast.
As a producer, Stokes has co-executive produced seasons 1 & 2 of Hello Jack and seasons 3 & 4 of A Black Lady Sketch Show as well as six feature films, including Netflix’s The Lost Husband and documentary, The Rachel Divide.
Stokes lives in Los Angeles with her family and sits on the boards of the Independent Shakespeare Company and Parity Productions.
Valerie McCaffrey
From April 1994-2000, Valerie held the position of Vice President of Feature Film Casting for New Line/Fine Line Films. During her tenure at New Line/ Fine Line, Ms. McCaffrey cast scores of films, developing strong relationships with all major talent agencies and management firms. Among the many highlights of her career, she cast Edward Norton and Eddie Furlong in New Line Cinema’s AMERICAN HISTORY X which Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award. While at Universal Studios, she also cast BABE which garnered James Cromwell an oscar nomination for his performance as the pig farmer produced by George Miller. She co-directed and co-produced a cancer documentary called “Cancer it’s in the System”, with Cindy Pruitt. It’s goal was to give a overall education of the dreaded disease and introduce alternative methods of cure. It stars Melissa Etheridge and Trish Cyrus. They (McCaffrey and Pruitt) made it available on you tube so that the public would have access to it without having to pay. Since 2000, Valerie has cast independently and cast the critically acclaimed HARD CANDY(she put Ellen Page in her first American film). To date, she has cast close to 90 films and have worked with the biggest directors in the film industry. She just finished shooting “Dirty Bomb” a short film which chronicles a Jewish prisoner who manipulates the manufacturing of the V2 bomb, saving lives, yet sacrificing his own. The short film called “Dirty Bomb” which shot in Fresno, Clovis and Mt. Pino. It got accepted into The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase in Cannes, showing on May 15, 2018 and went on to win various awards. She also co-wrote ‘Sick” and directed a webisode which chronicles teenagers in a mental institution. It stars West Duchovny who is David Duchovny’s and Tea Leoni’s daughter.
Jennie Lew Tugend
JENNIE LEW TUGEND has produced and co-produced some of the industry’s most memorable franchises: The Free Willy trilogy, Lethal Weapon 1,2,3, and HBO’s Tales from the Crypt.
Producing credits also include Albatross, One Missed Call, Local Boys, Star Kid, Return to Me, Radio Flyer, Scrooged and was instrumental in the development and production of The Goonies and The Lost Boys.
Tugend and her partners are currently developing the feature film adaptation of NY Times best-selling novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.”
Tugend is a member of the Motion Picture Academy and the Producers Guild of America. Tugend taught a producing class at UCLAx for 8 years and was a mentor in the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. She is a Senior Creative Thesis Mentor at the American Film Institute Conservatory and a recent Advisor in Residence at the Sundance Collab Institute.
Desiree Staples
Desiree Staples is a producer, filmmaker, and actress experienced in short-form, episodic, and
feature film content. CIRCUS PERSON, produced by Staples, and Severance's Britt Lower's directorial debut, was a Tribeca NOW 2020 showcase selection, the Winner of Best of Festival Top achievement at Catalyst Content, and an Audience Choice Award top pick at the Nashville Film Festival. Staples' dramedy pilot IT'S WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED was a prestigious selection in the 2021 Tribeca Creators Market and winner of “Best Ensemble Cast” at the Catalyst Film Festival. Staples Produced TAKE ME TO TARZANA, distributed by Gravitas Ventures, starring Jonathan Bennett and Samantha Robinson, which was a Gold Remi Winner at Worldfest Houston. Her comedy pilot, THE INFLUENCERS, which she co-created and produced, has screened at over 25 festivals around the world.
Most recently, Staples served as executive producer and lead actress of the upcoming feature film, MY DIVORCE PARTY, directed/written by Heidi Weitzer, which stars herself and Rumer Willis. Staples is producing Sam Fox's upcoming horror comedy short film FCK'N NUTS which will film on location in New Orleans.
Desiree is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, a Co-founder of the Female Filmmakers Forumon Clubhouse, and is the Co-President of Northwestern University’s Entertainment Alliance - NUEA West. Go Cats! @Desireestaples (Instagram).