header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
March 19
1875, 1:35PM - Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez hanged in San Jose [story]
Tiburcio Vasquez


It’s December which means the return of the Santa Clarita International Film Festival’s opening night is right around the corner.

The Santa Clarita International Film Festival (SCIFF), will begin on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m., and will continue its four-day run with the awards ceremony on Saturday, and the festival concluding on the night of Sunday, Dec. 12.

SCIFF has obtained over 100 short and feature films that will be screened daily starting at 10am, and 30 films slated to screen virtually for those out of the state or country, as SCIFF is a hybrid film festival.

The virtual program will include online screenings and in studio interviews with filmmakers, musicians, local politicians, and celebrities. The concept of a hybrid style event is for this gathering to serve as a springboard into a new way of showing short and feature-length independent films to the world, and to work as a way to present festivals in the future, post Covid-19 times.

The festival’s submissions run the gamut, from Drama to Theological, with the Theological program wrapping up SCIFF on Sunday.

Opening night of the festival will be held at the Laemmle theater’s recently added Newhall location and hosted by Southern California broadcasting icon and weathercaster, Fritz Coleman. Coleman spent his forty-year career at NBC but is also a well-known comic.

The remainder of the festival, starting Dec. 10 to 12 will be hosted by the multi-screened Regal Edwards Theater a few blocks away in Valencia.

SCIFF is a festival of the arts using film as its centralized showcased medium, the goal is to empower the community of Santa Clarita Valley, the artists, and those in the industry who live there.

Extensive music and comedy programs have been added to the event. 27 musical acts, bands, and individual performers of all genres have committed, and will entertain the SCIFF crowds on the Entertainment Plaza of the Valencia Town Hall Center, on all days from the 10 to 12. The comedy portion of the program will feature 22 comedians performing nightly, at intermittent times on the Entertainment Plaza.

Other noted celebrity talent that will be in attendance are, LA radio and comedy legend Frazer Smith, Johnny Whitaker, who played brother Jody to Buffy in the popular television show Family Affair that ran from 1966 to 1971 on CBS, and Rodney Allen Rippy, the former child actor who proclaimed that the Jumbo Jack hamburger was too big to eat in Jack in the Box commercials that he starred in in the 1970s. Frazer and Whitaker will serve as screening hosts, while Rippy will make attendees laugh as live comedy guest.

While Fritz Coleman will be hosting the opening night, he will also be conducting interviews with several of the celebrity talents in attendance under the guise of his themed, “From Past to Present. Words of Wisdom for a Changing Landscape”. “SCIFF would like its seasoned guests to share their infinite knowledge and years of entertainment wisdom with our talented creators and festival guests”, explains founder Lisa De Souza. “We think that there is a need for reconnection at this moment in time, and these guests bring not only talent, but a familiarity and sense of comfort to this type of space. Many people grew up with or had parents who grew up with these people in their creative spaces, either on film or on television”.

Opening night of the festival will kick off with the feature film viewing of Fireboys. The film focuses on the incarcerated youth at Pine Grove Conservation Camp in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Drew Dickler and Jake Hochendoner co-wrote and co-directed the film. Fireboys is the untold story of young men incarcerated in California who are offered a way out: by fighting wildfires.

Also listed to screen the same night is the 28-minute short film Two Heads are Better Than One. This film follows the life of Benjamin Ferencz, the last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials. The Nuremberg trials were a series of thirteen trials that were carried out in Nuremberg, Germany between 1945 and 1949. The defendants included members of the Nazi Party, high ranking military officials, and various high-profile professionals who were indited on charges of crimes against humanity.

The Santa Clarita International Film Festival is also very proud to be participating in a revenue share with the filmmakers who were accepted into the program, and who will have their films shown. SCIFF will be sharing 20% of all box office ticket sales with those lucky festival participants. SCIFFs heavy emphasis of building community is the reason that this offer exists.

For full event info and bios on talent visit the festivals website.

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

0 Comments

You can be the first one to leave a comment.

Leave a Comment


SCV NewsBreak
LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival Live Music Performers Announced
The 28th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is back with your favorite musical performers and an exciting lineup of new acts.
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
City’s 2024 ‘Celebrate’ Lineup Released
There is so much to learn from different customs and cultures and you don’t need a plane ticket to experience it all.
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
March 22: COC’s Uniquely Abled Academy Robotics Graduation
On Friday, March 22, the Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) at College of the Canyons will host a graduation ceremony for nine students who have completed the UAA’s pilot robotics training program.
Keep Up With Our Facebook

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1875, 1:35PM - Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez hanged in San Jose [story]
Tiburcio Vasquez
College of the Canyons notched its first victory at the newly named Mike Gillespie Field on Saturday, winning its second straight conference series, this time over visiting Bakersfield College, by a 6-4 final score. 
Cougars Notch First Win at Mike Gillespie Field
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The Master's University hit 20 3-pointers, one shy of the program record in a game, to defeat the St. Thomas Bobcats 122-91 in the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men's Basketball National Championship tournament.
Mustangs Advance to NAIA Sweet 16
The Master's University baseball team lost a pair of 1-run games Saturday against the Menlo Oaks in Atherton, Calif.
Mustangs Drop Three Games to Menlo
The Los Angeles County Development Authority is excited to announce that its executive director, Emilio Salas, has been appointed to a two-year term to serve as a member of the national Strategic Planning Advisory Committee for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO).
LACDA’s Emilio Salas Appointed to National Planning Advisory Committee
The 28th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is back with your favorite musical performers and an exciting lineup of new acts.
Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival Live Music Performers Announced
REDLANDS — College of the Canyons track and field recorded a dozen top-10 finishes and established 30 new personal records while competing at the University of Redlands Invitational on March 15. 
Cougars Earn Top-10 Finishes at Redlands Invitational
There is so much to learn from different customs and cultures and you don’t need a plane ticket to experience it all.
City’s 2024 ‘Celebrate’ Lineup Released
Big Chicken, the star-powered fast casual chicken concept, which has a location in Santa Clarita, is fueling the mania for the Big Tournament with a nationwide Big Bracket Challenge.
Compete for Chance to Open Shaquille O’Neal Chicken Restaurant
California State University, Northridge’s Spring 2024 Cinematheque series will pay tribute to Hollywood casting director and producer Deborah Aquila, executive vice president and head of casting at Paramount Television Studios and CBS Studios, to mark the end of Women’s History Month on Wednesday, March 27.
Legendary Casting Director Deborah Aquila to Speak at CSUN
On Friday, March 22, the Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) at College of the Canyons will host a graduation ceremony for nine students who have completed the UAA’s pilot robotics training program.
March 22: COC’s Uniquely Abled Academy Robotics Graduation
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is excited to announce spring has sprung at its local parks, including those in the Santa Clarita Valley.
L.A. County Parks Releases Spring Jubilee Dates
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office released the list of six productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, March 18 - Sunday, March 24.
‘Bosch Legacy,’ ‘CSI Vegas’ Among Six Productions Filming in SCV
Unlike our children who enjoy a week-long spring break, we adults no longer have that luxury.
Ken Striplin | Register Now for Spring Break Camp 2024
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents who are planning to visit the following Los Angeles County beaches to avoid swimming, surfing and playing in ocean waters due to bacterial levels exceeding health standards when last tested.
Ocean Water Advisory Continues for L.A. County Beaches
The California Department of Motor Vehicles now offers a faster way for businesses to check that their employees have clean driving records using the new online Employee Pull Notice (EPN) Service.
DMV Launches Enhanced Digital Employer Pull Notice Service
1919 - Fire destroys abandoned second Southern Hotel, built 1878 in Newhall (corner Main & Market) [story]
Second Southern Hotel
1927 - Newhall telephone exchange, est. 1900, now serves 100 phones [story]
telephone
2003 - Lifesize sculpture honoring heroes of St. Francis Dam disaster unveiled in Santa Paula [video]
The Warning
In the first of three matches on consecutive nights in Arizona, The Master's men's volleyball team defeated Benedictine-Mesa in three sets 27-25, 28-26, 25-19.
TMU Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Benu in Arizona
Greg Herrick, the former longtime College of the Canyons women's basketball head coach who recorded 611 career wins while winning 16 conference titles, was inducted into the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) Hall of Fame during the organization's annual Banquet of Champions at Mt. San Antonio College on March 13.
Longtime COC Women’s Basketball Coach Herrick Enshrined in Hall of Fame
The Santa Clarita Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd. 1st Floor, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
March 19: Planning Commission to Discuss Wiley Canyon Mixed Use Project
Attend the city of Santa Clarita's most unique egg hunt, the Splash N’ Dash at the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center, presented by Kaiser Permanente.
March 30: Dive into Spring at Splash n’ Dash Egg Hunt
String orchestras and concert bands from around the Santa Clarita Valley and Southern California will participate in the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association concert festival hosted by West Ranch High School on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27, 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
March 26-27: SoCal School Band, Orchestra Concert Festival
SCVNews.com