WFF :: About :: Who's Who in 2003
















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	PAST HIGHLIGHTS PREVIOUS CELEBRITY / VIP GUESTS NOTABLE WFF PAST SCREENINGS SPONSORS FUN FACTS *PAST HIGHLIGHTS:* Opening night always kicks off with a free outdoor screening/street party on the water. In 2003, rock-star Brian Vander Ark (lead singer, The Verve Pipe), took the stage to do an acoustic version of his hit song “The Freshman.” The Waterfront Film Festival was named as one of the top “Ten Fantastic Film Festival Vacations” by FilmThreat.com (the #1 most popular online movie site in the World). The Chicago Sun-Times named The Waterfront Film Festival one of “10 Really Cool Things To Do . . .” The Chicago Tribune named The Waterfront Film Festival the “Highlight of the Week” in June of 2003. In the month of May last year, The Waterfront Film Festival website garnered a total 250,000 hits. PREVIOUS CELEBRITY / VIP GUESTS: Robert Forster - Actor, Nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Quentin Tarantino's “Jackie Brown.” Tom Bernard - Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics, distributing and financing many Academy Award winning films. Patrick Sheane Duncan - Award-winning screenwriter, penning numerous screenplays including “Mr. Holland's Opus” starring Richard Dreyfus (in his Oscar winning role) and “Courage Under Fire” starring Matt Damon and Meg Ryan. Adam Herz - Screenwriter of the box-office smash hit trilogy, “American Pie”, “American Pie II”, and “American Wedding.” James Marsden - Star of TV and Film (starring as “Cyclops” in the “X-Men” trilogy, as well as “Disturbing Behavior,” “Gossip,” and “Alley McBeal”). Jason Lewis- Star of TV and Film (recently starring as series regular “Smith Jerrod” on the final season of HBO's smash hit “Sex in the City”). Grant Show - Star of TV and Film (“Six Feet Under”, “ Melrose Place ”). Bob Brown - Film Producer/ Co-Founder of Purple Rose Films with Jeff Daniels. Joseph Beyer - Assistant to Director of the Sundance Film Festival. Brian Vander Ark - Lead singer “The Verve Pipe.” Erik Palladino - Star of TV and Film (“ER”, “Finder's Fee”); at the Festival 2002 and 2003. Jay Kenneth Johnson - Star of Daytime Television as “Philip Kiriakis” on “The Days of Our Lives”, also starred in the Aaron Spelling pilot “HOTEL,” and starring in the new show “North Shore.” Christine Elise - Star of TV and Film (“ER”, “ Beverly Hills 90210”); has written several scripts that have been produced for TV, as well as for “Seventeen Magazine.” Eion Bailey - Star of TV and Film ( “Fight Club”, “Almost Famous”, HBO's “Band of Brothers” series, and opposite Antonio Banderas in “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself”). Brendan Fehr - Star of TV and Film (“ Roswell ”, “Disturbing Behavior”, “Final Destination”). David Deluise - Star of TV and Film (“Jessie”, “3 rd Rock From the Sun”). Kristen Minter - Actress (“ER”, “Myopia”). Dash Mihok - Star of TV and Film (“Felicity”, “Finder's Fee”, “Basic”, “The Perfect Storm”, Connie and Carla). PJ Posner - Critically acclaimed Director; Co-created “Getting In”, which helped launch the careers of Matthew Perry and Calista Flockhart. Lisa Linde - Actress on “Days of Our Lives.” Jennifer Howard - Spokesmodel and Actress (Comedy Central's “The Sweet Spot” with Bill Murray ). Morena Baccarin - Star of TV and Film (FOX's “Firefly”, “Way off Broadway”). Brad Beyer - Starred opposite John Torturro in TNT's “Monday Night Mayhem.” Robert Hawk - Independent producer and consultant credited with discovering and nurturing the talents of such filmmakers as Kevin Smith (Clerks), Ed Burns (The Brothers McMullen). He has served as a member of the advisory selection committee for the Sundance Film Festival since 1987. Chris Gore - Author of “The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide”; Creator/Editor of FilmThreat.com– the number one most popular movie web site with over 10 million hits a month. Gore has also been a featured film reviewer on many television shows including CNN, MTV and Fox. Jay Froberg - A former Vice President of MGM; Co-founder of ROAR, a production and talent management company based at MGM Studios. William Ward - Talent Agent at super-agency Endeavor for three years before leaving to Co-Found the talent management firm, ROAR, representing clients including Aisha Tyler (“Talk Soup” and “Friends”) and 2004 Academy Award Nominee Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai”). Sean Elliott - Talent agent at one of LA's top agencies, Endeavor, whose clients include: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore and Dustin Hoffman. Jennie Frankle - Vice President of Literary for Zied/Perry Entertainment (“American Pie” trilogy). Andrew Ruf - Talent Agent, Paradigm Talent Agency. Nancy Rainford - Talent Manager, Producer and former Agent; author of “How to Agent Your Agent.” Steve Pink - Screenwriter (“Grosse Pointe Blank”, “High Fidelity”) and Co-Founder of New Crime Productions with partner John Cusack. John Woodward - Academy Award Winning Writer/ Director of “Disciples of the Crow.” Guy Ferland - Writer/ Director (“Delivered”, “The Babysitter”, “Telling Lies in America ”). Gil Holland - Producer (“Spin the Bottle”, “Desert Blue”). Gedney Webb - Music Supervisor for many films for Director Ron Howard, as well as Academy Award Winner “Chicago.” Jacques Thelemaque - Co-Founder/ President of the Filmmaker's Alliance , working with filmmakers for over twenty years. Lt. Governor Dick Posthumus -- And many, many more Directors, Producers and Actors attending with their films . . . *NOTABLE WFF PAST SCREENINGS:* American Splendor – 2003 Sundance Grand Jury Winner My Flesh and Blood – 2003 Sundance Documentary Winner The Accountant – Midwest Premiere – 2002 Academy Award Winner Helicopter – Eastern US Premiere – 2001 Academy Award Winner By Courier – Eastern US Premiere – 2003 Academy Award Nominee Winged Migration - 2003 Academy Award Nominee The Next Big Thing – 2001 World Premiere Ellie Parker – 2001 Midwest Premiere – starring Naomi Watts Shaolin Soccer - 2003 Miramax Midwest Premiere City of Ghosts - 2003 MGM Michigan Premiere- directed by/starring Matt Dillon Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her – 2000 MGM Eastern US Premiere- starring Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, and Holly Hunter The Claim – 2001 MGM Michigan Premiere starring Wes Bentley, Milla Jovovich, Natassja Kinski Barenaked in America –2000 Midwest Premiere – directed by Jason Priestley, starring The Barenaked Ladies Wildflowers – 2000 Midwest Premiere – starring Daryl Hannah and Clea Duvall On Edge – 2001 Eastern US Premiere - starring Jason Alexander The Last Waltz – 2002 MGM Re-release 25 th Anniversary of Martin Scorsese's classic film. This is Spinal Tap – 2000 MGM Re-release *SPONSORS:* The National Endowment for the Arts The William Morris Talent Agency Kodak MGM WXMI Fox 17 Screen Actors Guild Budweiser Sea-Ray Boats FilmThreat.com *FUN FACTS:* In 2003 Waterfront Film Festival hosted 9 World Premieres, and 35 Midwest Premieres. Over 6,500 filmgoers are drawn to the village of Saugatuck , Michigan during the Festival weekend. The home of Waterfront Film Festival is the summertime resort village of Saugatuck , Michigan – about a 2 to 3 hour drive from both Chicago and Detroit . The Waterfront Film Festival was launched in 1999, and is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization. In 2003, Jerry Davich of LAKE Magazine titled his article about The Waterfront Film Festival as “The Sundance of the Middle Coast ”. The Waterfront Film Festival has its' own brand of beer – “Waterfront Brew” - brewed by local New Holland Brewing Company.