Method film festival gets funding deal in move to Calabasas.

Enticed by $50,000 in funding, the 7th Annual Method Fest Independent Film Festival, has moved from Burbank to Calabasas. Scheduled to be held during the first week of April 2005, at the Calabasas Commons, the festival will be receiving double the cash that it had received from Burbank in previous years.

"We started talks with Calabasas about a year ago. Calabasas came with $50,000 in cash support and $25,000 of in-kind donations. It's really a partnership. The Chamber of Commerce is very behind it and voted to support it. We want to build the business and image of Calabasas," Don Franken, executive director of the Method Fest, said.

The proceeds from the festival will go to a newly created non-profit entity, Independent Movie Arts, whose mission is to expand the educational opportunities for youth in filmmaking and acting. Aiming to keep costs down, the festival's admission prices range from $8 for a single general admission ticket to $150 for a weeklong festival pass.

"In recent years the festival was able to generate thousands of people in attendance. People come and stay at the local hotels and visit the shops. It also creates the opportunity for connecting our citizens with the motion picture industry. It brings a piece of Hollywood into Calabasas and vice versa," Dennis Washburn, Calabasas' three-time mayor and current city council member, said.

The festival bills itself as the only major film festival in the United States focused on acting. Its mission is to celebrate breakout acting performances in story driven independent films.

"It started when myself and a couple of volunteers talked about developing a unique concept for a film festival. We thought that so many movies had gone too heavy on special effects and huge stars and the core ingredients of memorable films were lacking," Franken said. "Therefore, the Method Fest was born. Films don't necessarily have to have method acting, they just have to have strong acting and powerful stories. We try to remain a festival of discovery, discovering hot new actors or other creative types."

In order to gather a wide array of films to be shown, festival organizers have reached out to foreign markets as well as different regions of the United States. In addition to marketing themselves at the American Film Market and the Sundance Film Festival, Method Fest representatives will attend the Berlin Film Festival. In past years, the festival has included entries from 20 different nations and Washburn says that they are currently focusing heavily on China.

"We're looking to get a significant number of entries from China. We' re enlisting actors, directors, and other Asian creative types. This international focus is right in line with Calabasas," Washburn said. "We have sister dries in China, Israel, and South America and we look for unique opportunities to spread the word about Calabasas."

Besides the spate of films it will show, the festival includes a series of concerts taking place each night. Seminars will also be conducted on topics related to the entertainment industry and a lifetime achievement award will be presented. Past honorees have included Dennis Hopper, James Earl Jones, and Peter Falk.