“We are proud of the ongoing high level of achievement from our remarkable faculty and students in the Moving Pictures Department. One of our main goals, in any discipline at Idyllwild Arts, is to inspire our students to bring out the passion in their art form,” said Idyllwild Arts President & Founder, Bill Lowman.

Most recently, "Loaf of Love", the Moving Pictures Department’s first musical/romantic comedy, won the Audience Choice Award at the Cinema City International Film Festival. Loaf of Love was directed by Majel Whitten ’08 and Spencer Koobatian ’09 and written by Breeana Essrig ’08. Casey Abrams ’09 and Caitlin Flaxman ’08 wrote the original score.

Mr. Koobatian and Ms. Whitten state, “Loaf of Love broke new ground by collaborating with the Music, Theatre and Moving Pictures departments here at Idyllwild Arts. Caitlin Flaxman and Casey Abrams not only took up the parts of Rachel Rosenbloom and David Bloomberg, but they wrote the brilliant score as well. It’s been an interesting journey from our one week of pre-production, two weeks of filming and the seemingly endless tasks of post-production. The most important thing to keep in mind is that this is all in good fun and more obviously it’s a musical, so don’t take it too seriously and enjoy.”

In another coup for Idyllwild Arts, the short film "Chicken" walked away with the Audience Favorite Award at the 12th Annual Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and was screened at the 2006 Temecula Valley Film Festival. Desiree Handal ’06, produced, directed and was the film’s cinematographer and editor as a student in her senior year. The film’s crew included the talents of Spencer Koobatian ’09 as Associate Producer and Erin Fischer ’08 as Camerawoman.

Chicken is a documentary based on the courageous efforts of actress/writer Megan Timothy after a brain hemorrhage in 2003 and the heroic battler of her two close friends to help her regain her speech. Her first word and the only word she could speak for some time was “chicken” which convinced the doctors she was a hopeless case…thus the name of the film.

Ms. Handal states, “Chicken is the story of a resilient woman who, through the process of going through several grave situations, was able to beat the odds. In 2003, Megan’s mother died following nearly two years of terminal illness which virtually bankrupted Megan. Suddenly, Megan was left homeless and penniless. Shortly thereafter, Megan suffered a brain aneurism which left her unable to speak, read or write. After being diagnosed with a congenital defect known as Arterio-Venous Malformation (AVM) which caused a major bleed into her brain tissue, she was taken to a state facility in California where she received very little treatment. I was drawn to the story because of Megan’s extreme resiliency to defeat. The main message I wanted to get across to the viewer is to always keep your sense of humor.”
www.tviff.com.

"Maggie and Ernie," directed by Julia Horowitz, "Almost a Movie," directed by Freddi Schreib and "Love on Speed Dial," directed by Danny Hsu were screened at the Big Bear International Film Festival on Saturday, September 16th, 2006 www.bigbearlakefilmfestival.com.

Maggie and Ernie, directed by Julia Horowitz ’07 and produced by Mike Fishbein ’07, won the Audience Award for Best High School Film at the 2006 Big Bear Film Festival. The film is the story of a homeless mute who finds the woman of his dreams in Maggie, an obnoxious motor mouth, who scares everyone away. The film is categorized as a short at 10:33 minutes. Maggie and Ernie was also accepted in the Youth Produced Category at the 2006 Mill Valley Film Festival.

And down the road, "Maggie and Ernie" will be screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival on Saturday, October 14th, 2005 at 10:15.
mvff.com/node/1653

Our Student Filmmakers are official selections at:

Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films "Chicken" by Desiree Handal - Voted "2006 Audience Favorite Award" www.psfilmfest.org

Temecula Valley International Film Festival
"Chicken" by Desiree Handal
"The Last Valley" by Sam Heesen

Mill Valley Film Festival
"Maggie and Ernie" by Julia Horowitz

Big Bear Film Festival
"Almost a Movie" by Freddi Scheib
"Maggie & Ernie" by Julia Horowitz
"Love on Speed Dial" by Danny Hsu

Westwood International Film Festival
"18 Minutes" by Alexis Echavarria
The Majestic Crest Theatre - Oct. 6-13th
(Date & time of screening to be announced)
www.westwoodfilmfestival.com

For more information on the films and to learn about the Idyllwild Arts Academy, the Moving Pictures Department and other majors, please e-mail marketing@idyllwildarts.org or call 951 659 2171 x2339.