This year's Method Fest gains foothold in the community

HONORED-Actor Kevin Pollak, left, receives The Method Fest Career Achievement Award during last week's festivities in Calabasas. Next to him is film director Gary Yates and festival Executive Director Don Franken. The eighth annual Method Fest ended last Friday. The Method Fest independent film festival in Calabasas, which wrapped last Friday, grew in popularity this year with an attendance of more than 16,000, festival Executive Director Don Franken said.

The 8-year-old festival celebrated its second year in Calabasas.

"Overall, the attendance was up significantly," Franken said. "It looks like it's up 40 percent." The opening night film sold out, he said, unlike last year's opening night.

The Method Fest spotlights American and foreign features and

short films and is named after the naturalistic Stanislavski Method of acting. This year's event, according to officials, drew more celebrities and had more events, more distributors, better films and better workshops.

"It really took us a year to get to know Calabasas and all it has to offer," Franken said. "I think next

year will be even better as we get more and more local and regional attendance."

Franken also said that this year's films coupled with last year's films are a sign that The Method Fest has truly become a "discovery festival"--a festival that shows new films and discovers up-and-coming stars. Several movie distributors spent time at the festival and spoke with filmmakers about possible deals.

Robert Yu of Cinemavault Releasing International said he spent some time at the festival looking for movies his company might want to distribute. Cinemavault picks up between 20 and 30 films a year, according to Yu, and two or three are likely to come from film festivals.

Yu seemed interested in Calabasas resident Lee Toland Krieger's movie, "December Ends," which ended up winning The Method Fest Best Picture Award. Josh Janowicz, the star of "December Ends," won the award for Best Actor.

"This year we had so many great performances that the judges really had a tough time deciding the award winners," Franken said. "A large number of high quality films with outstanding acting made it the most competitive acting competition ever."

Ron Gilbert of Rogue Arts, a distribution company, also looks for good films to pick up at the festivals. Gilbert saw most of the movies at The Method Fest and said he was definitely interested in speaking with some of the filmmakers.

Aside from being a discovery festival, The Method Fest also honors top talent in Hollywood who have contributed to independent cinema. This year, The Method Fest honored Calabasas resident Kelli Garner and Agnes Bruckner with the Rising Star Award; Actor Michael Rapaport received the Indie Hero Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award went to actresses Ruby Dee and Julie Harris; and actor Kevin Pollak added his name to the list of those to receive the Career Achievement Award, a list which includes Jeff, Beau and Lloyd Bridges, James Earl Jones, Dennis Hopper and Peter Falk.

"When I was told I was getting this award, I told them not to say who else wasn't available," Pollak said. Pollak, who has been in more than 50 movies including "Casino," "The Usual Suspects" and "A Few Good Men," said he had wanted to be an actor since he was 6 years old. He never took an acting class in his life, but learned a bit about acting while doing stand-up comedy.

The Method Fest final awards ceremony took place last Friday. Southern California KNBC weatherman Fritz Coleman hosted the event.

The Audience Award for Best Picture was given to "Push," written and directed by Dave Rodriguez and starring Chad Lindberg, Charlotte Ayanna, Pierce Forsythe, Michael Rapaport and Chazz Palminteri.

Agnes Bruckner and Kelli Garner of the festival's opening night film, "Dreamland," shared the Best Actress Award. Jason Matzner, who directed the film, took home the Best Director Award.

The Best Screenplay Award went to Evan Richards, who wrote and directed "In A Day."

Mageinia Tovah of "Dark Heart" won Best Supporting Actress and John Corbett of "Dreamland" won the Best Supporting Actor Award.

The Best Ensemble Cast Award was presented to the cast of "Debating Robert Lee," whose cast includes Daniel Letterle, Billy Kay, Kaley Cuoco, Beau Bridges, Rachel Nichols, Brian Kerwin and Melinda Dillon.

For more about the festival, including the full list of awards, go to www.methodfest.com.