Panel 3: INDEPENDENT PITCHING PANEL AND PITCHING FEST

We explore the avenues available for independent filmmakers to get their films made through the pitching process. We will have a panel of expert managers, producers, writers, and development executives who will give pointers and reveal the process of pitching in Hollywood. We will have a Q&A with the expert panelists and then you will get a chance to pitch your ideas or script in front of our panel – and get direct feedback on your idea, style, and presentation. Don’t want to pitch? Just come and sit, listen, and learn. 

Panel 3– SATURDAY October 19th– 3:00pm-5:30pm

VENUE: LA Live – Regal Cinema , 1000 West Olympic BLVD., Los Angeles 90015 (3rd Fl-screening room) Auditorium 12

Devorah Cutler-Rubinstein (Moderator)

Producer-Writer-Executive-Inspirational Speaker Devorah (“Devoâ€) Cutler-Rubenstein’s passion for storytelling and artistic expression brought her to Cal Arts where she earned her BFA in Film and Television.  Upon graduation Devo launched her career in the entertainment industry, which included a stint as Director of Literary Affairs at Columbia Pictures Television and Exec Producing features and award-winning documentaries, including Not Afraid to Laugh, about turning to stand-up comedy to heal herself of breast cancer, which was nominated for a Peabody Award and is archived in the Museum of Broadcasting for “historical significance and social relevance.”  

Devo received a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.  As President of Noble House Entertainment, Inc. over the last thirty years, she has created content for a variety of media, and as CEO of The Script Broker® she prepares writers for the marketplace, helping them build bridges that hopefully unite each artists’ unique gifts with a message of peace for our planet.  Always interested in empowering creatives, she lectures internationally and was named Best Pitching Coach 2012 by “Hollywood & Vine Magazine.†She’s been a script coach for over 100 short film projects at USC’s Summer Program’s Directing Intensive. As a poet and author her short stories have won awards and her book, DATING YOUR CHARACTER… A Sexy Guide to Screenwriting for Film & TV was published in 2016 by Stairway Press.  Devo recently created The Peace Bench Project, in West Hollywood, an ongoing project to enliven neighborhoods with small spaces for improvisation, quiet, meditation and prayer.

David Kohner Zuckerman

David Kohner Zuckerman is a Hollywood Producer whose credits include “A Perfect Christmas, “The Fourth Noble Truth,†“Strictly Sexual,†“All I Want for Christmas†& “Chump Change.†Before heading DKZ Films, David ran Development for Silver Lion Films, where he worked on “Man on Fire†& “Crocodile Dundee in L.A.†David is also the owner of the very popular ecommerce site for screenwriters, VirtualPitchFest.com.

Sheila and Mary Ann Barnes

The Barnes Sisters have worked in both television and features. They began their career writing for Richard Jeni’s sitcom PLATYPUS MAN, then sold their comedy feature AS YOU WISH to Bill Mechanic’s Pandemonium. The sisters were Staff Writers on ABC’s LAST MAN STANDING starring Tim Allen, then landed the dramedy feature assignment WIDOWS’ WORKSHOP. They also had a supernatural dramedy tv pilot optioned by a major studio.

The sisters served as script doctors for pilots plus episodes of two international series — EVERMOOR, The Disney Channel Worldwide’s first live action series which successfully premiered in 160 countries, and TDCW’s ALEX AND COMPANY. The Barnes sisters’ drafts got both projects greenlit.

The sisters have produced a number of indie films, all of which received distribution. Their latest horror/thriller THE DARK WITHIN premiered at La Femme last year and had a world release on all digital platforms and Pay Per View in July of this year. They’re excited about the female-driven action film ARMY OF ONE, which  is in post-production and due to release in 2020.

In addition to winning coveted fellowships including ABC/Disney Native American and Fox, Sheila and Mary Ann were selected by the prestigious Humanitas New Voices Program. They also won the Writers Guild’s Ladies of Laughter with their pilot DAMAGED GOODES, inspired by the fact that they live together with their husbands and brother, all under the same roof. Yes, it’s weird.

Jennie Lew Tugend

JENNIE LEW TUGEND has 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. 

As former Co-President of Kadokawa Pictures USA, Tugend was a producer on One Missed Call, a WB release and two episodes of Showtime’s “Master of Horrorâ€. 

Producing credits include Local Boys starring Mark Harmon and Star Kid, which received an Award of Excellence by the Film Advisory Board; and for MGM, the romantic comedy, Return to Me starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver; Radio Flyer for Columbia Pictures and Scrooged for Paramount Pictures starring Bill Murray, and was instrumental in the development and production of The Goonies and The Lost Boys.

Currently, Tugend and her partners are developing the feature film adaptations of: NY Times best selling novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet†with Oscar and Emmy nominated director Bing Liu; Japanese manga “MPD Psychoâ€; and Award winning anime, “The Girl Who Leapt Through Timeâ€. 

Tugend was a mentor in the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC and is an active member of the Producer’s Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.  She is currently teaching film production at UCLA Extension and is a Creative Thesis Mentor at the American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI).  

Beverly  J. Graf

Currently, I work as a writing consultant and teach film and television studies and Classical Mythology at Pepperdine, CSUN, UCLA and UCLA Extension where I’ve taught since 2006. Classes include “Understanding Hollywood Film Genres,†“A Development Workshop,†“The Language of Filmmaking,†“Film as Art,†“Introduction to Film Studies,†“Film Theory†and “The History of the American Cinema (both for Pepperdine’s MFA program), “Classical Mythology,†“Classical Antiquity on Film,†“A Hollywood Overview,†and “Creative Producing.†  

Previously, I worked as Vice President of Development for director Gregory Hoblit at Abilene Pictures. During my tenure at Abilene we produced five movies: “Primal Fear,†“Fallen,†“Frequency,†“Hart’s War,†“Fracture,†and “Untraceable.†We also shot a few t.v. pilots, including futuristic police show “NYPD 2069,†and “Wanted.†We sold two t.v. pilots to CBS and Paramount respectively.

I approach writing and development from both sides of the desk. I have three short stories published, and my literary agent is shopping around my first sci-fi mystery novel. I have also done one rewrite for Buena Vista, and optioned another screenplay. I’ve worked all manner of jobs in the movie industry including story analyst, costume assistant, line producer, corporate vice president for German director Percy Adlon.   

My Ph.D. and M.A., both in Classics, are from Princeton University. My B.A. is from Dartmouth College. 

Marlene Sharp

Marlene Sharp is a creative and business-savvy entertainment multi-hyphenate who originally hails from New Orleans but is now a Valley girl. Marlene recently served as Director, Production at LEVEL-5 abby, home of YO-KAI WATCH  and other video game-based franchises. Formerly, as Producer, TV Series, at Sega of America, Marlene worked on  much more than the Teen Choice Award-nominated cartoon SONIC BOOM. For example, her Hedgehog duties took  her to the heights of nerd-dom as an official San Diego Comic-Con 2017 panelist. Her original sitcom pilot script BORN IN LA: DOLLS AND ALL won 2019 Best Screenplay at Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying LA Shorts International Film estival. This honor is particularly sweet validation after her years as ghost writer and uncredited project-puncher-upper for various employers worldwide. For chuckles, please visit www.pinkpoodleproductions.com.