Spotlight on Casting Directors
AWD Icon Member Rosemary Rodriguez and Casting Director Beth Holmes shared their backgrounds, how they met, and how they have collaborated over the years. Guests were invited to ask questions, and the resulting discussion was a vibrant conversation around attaching cast to projects, the current state of in-person versus self-tape, and the importance of relationship building between director and casting director, as well as director and actors.
AWD East Presents: The Opening Shot
AWD’s new Events Committee based in the New York City area held their first get-together at Bowery Road. Co-Chairs Colleen Davie Janes and Shilpa Mankikar hosted AWD Directing, Ally, Icon, Advisory Board Members and industry guests.
Stay tuned for more workshops and panels in and around New York!
AWD virtual Works in Progress with Tech Talk on AI tools Greenlight Essentials and Screenplayer
This month’s Tech Talk featured two of the latest AI tools for filmmakers, Screenplayer, delivering table reads with AI generated actors within minutes and Greenlight Coverage, offering detailed notes on your screenplay along with cast breakdown, budgets and more.
Our two Works in Progress shorts included “Other Evie” by Paige Morrow Kimball and “The Fires We Play With” by Paulina Manseau. Both films are about navigating complex relationships in a modern world.
Lunch + Learn with AWD: Saturation.io Workshop
Co-Founder + CO-CEO Jens Jacob gave a demo of the product as well as a workshop on budgeting. He showed off not only the budgeting but budget management capabilities of the program. The workshop ended with a Q+A.
AWD Social Sunday
This month’s Social Sunday was held virtually and co-hosted by Board Members Amanda Donenfeld and Asha Chai Chang. Attendees shared fun updates about personal projects and asked great clarifying questions about AWD updates and upcoming events. They expressed excitement about the new AWD East Events Committee and continuously expanding beyond LA as it helps create closer ties and opportunities.
Owning Your Film’s Distribution Journey with KINEMA founder Christie Marchese
Kinema founder Christie Marchese walked directors through the process of distributing their films through this platform, via screenings and VOD.
Directors saw firsthand how this innovative tool can help them to plan for their films’ distribution, grow their audiences, and generate revenue for their upcoming projects.