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Acting
Independent film festival showcasing breakout acting performances
By Elaine Wood, The Method Fest
Apr 2, 2006, 17:56

Independent film festival showcasing breakout acting performances

The Method Festival Dates: March 31-April 7


















Calabasas, CA -- Dreamland and Push opened the 8th annual The Method Fest to overflow crowds and record attendance.

Dreamland, Jason Matzner’s directorial debut starring Agnes Bruckner, Kelli Garner, John Corbett, Justin Long, Gina Gershon kicked off the Festival, Friday, March 31, at the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Louis B. Mayer Theatre. Push followed with its world premiere on Saturday, April 1.

The Method Fest announced its lineup of films on March 2nd at Pierce College’s performing Arts Center – 22 feature films and 40 shorts. The festival is slated March 31 – April 7 in Calabasas.

Beautifully shot and passionately acted, Dreamland is the first film for director Jason Matzner, and was written by Tom Willett. It features a stunning central performance by Agnes Bruckner (breakout star of the 2002 Sundance favorite “Blue Car”), alongside rising stars Kelli Garner (“The Aviator,” “Thumbsucker”) and Justin Long (“Dodgeball,” “Herbie”) as well as veteran actors John Corbett and Gina Gershon.

World premieres in this year’s Method Fest include Push, directed by Dave Rodriguez and starring Chad Lindberg, Charlotte Ayanna, Pierce Forsythe, Chaz Palminteri and Michael Rapaport, a drama about drugs, sex and the allure of fast money blurring the boundaries between two different sides of society; Bangkok, directed by Colin Drobnis and starring Abel Johnson, Daniel Miller, Aaron Smith, Aoi Kawichai, a road movie set in the seductive, unfamiliar landscape of modern day Asia; and Dirt Nap, directed by D.B. Sweeney and starring John C. McGinley, Paul Hipp, D.B. Sweeney, Ed Harris, Janet Jones, and Ed Harris, a comedy of lost dreams and underappreciated treasures.

Other festival highlights: the West Coast premiere of director Steffan Schaeffer’s Confess, starring Eugene Byrd, Ali Larter, Melissa Leo, Glenn Fitzgerald, and William Sadler, charting the exploits of a disillusioned computer hacker; the U.S. premiere of the Canadian film The Cabin Movie, directed by Dylan Akio Smith, a darkly comic look at the nature of desire, the value of monogamy, and the definition of sexuality; Jimbo Barnett’s Oh, Mr. Faulkner, Do You Write?, John Maxwell’s critically acclaimed one-man show based on the life of William Faulkner, filmed before a live audience in Faulkner's home town of Oxford, Mississippi.

Named after a famous school of acting, The Method Fest is the only major film festival in the U.S. focusing on acting, celebrating breakout acting performances in story driven independent films. The Method Fest takes great pride in being a discovery festival, looking to help launch the works of young fresh filmmakers and to discover breakthrough performances by young, bold new actors. The festival has also taken great delight in sharing career-defining performances of established performers and in showcasing a few chosen well-known directors to screen at the festival.

The Method Fest is presented by the City of Calabasas and presenting media partners, Charter Communications and the L.A. Daily News. Lead sponsors include New Millennium Homes, MSN Spaces, Standard Pacific Homes, Corona, and Adelphia (Golden Reel Sponsors), Bob Smith BMW, a Silver Reel Sponsor. LA Auto Gallery Ferrari/Maserati, a Spinning Reel sponsor.

Bronze Reel Sponsors include D2Homes, SAG Indie, JetBlue, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, Sony, Reels on Wheels, Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Modern VideoFilm, Prudential California Realty, and FilmFinders. ValleyCrest Companies, Viewpoint School's Carlson Family Theatre, and the Motion Picture and Television Fund's Louis B. Meyer Theatre are official venues.

Website: http://www.methodfest.com/

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