Los Angeles, Feb. 2, 2011 –Neal Havener’s pitch of The Dragonlore Trilogy will receive a People’s Choice Award as winner of the American Film Market’s second annual Favorite Film Pitch contest, announced People’s Choice Awards President Fred Nelson and AFM Managing Director Jonathan Wolf.
After casting hundreds of thousands of votes at www.PeoplesChoice.com from Jan. 5-24, following a live telecast of PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS 2011, the public named Havener’s fantasy story pitch as the one they would most like to see get made into a film. It can be viewed at www.PeoplesChoice.com/pca/influence/AFM/.
He will receive an official Waterford Crystal People’s Choice Award at the 2011 AFM for his pitch and an AFM 2011 package, which includes full access for two to the AFM; hotel in Santa Monica; and scheduled meetings with producers and distributors.
AFM teamed with the People’s Choice Awards to create the Favorite Film Pitch contest, providing an increased opportunity to get film pitches in front of producers, distributors and, in a unique twist, the voting public.
An independent filmmaker, writer, freelance journalist and musician, Havener is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Ohio State University. His musical compositions have appeared in a number of cable shows and short films, with his score for the “Mann in Pink Slip” receiving critical acclaim at the Chicago Independent Shorts Festival.
Submissions to the FavoriteFilm Pitch contest were recorded live Nov. 6-9 on a mini-set at the American Film Market. A group of industry leaders subsequently selected the four finalists, with the ultimate decision left to the voting public.
Now in its 37th year, the People’s Choice Awards celebrate fan favorites in music, movies and television. The People’s Choice website at www.PeoplesChoice.com serves as a year-round destination for entertainment enthusiasts to voice their opinions on pop culture by voting in and creating polls and features an extensive video archive and photo gallery of People’s Choice Awards footage. PeoplesChoice.com houses the voting platform where fans determine the categories, nominees and winners for the annual awards show. Fred Nelson is the President of People’s Choice, and the awards show is produced by Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc., which is represented by MediaVest Worldwide, Inc., supervisors of the production.
The AFM is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the trade association representing the world’s producers and distributors of independent motion pictures and television programs. For more information, visit www.AmericanFilmMarket.com.
About The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA)
The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) is the global trade association of the independent motion picture and television programming industry. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization represents and provides significant entertainment industry services to more than 150 member companies from 23 countries, consisting of independent production and distribution companies, sales agents, television companies, studio-affiliated companies, and financial institutions engaged in content finance.
Collectively, the Independent Film & Television Alliance’s members produce more than 400 independent films and countless hours of television programming each year and generate more than $4 billion in distribution revenues annually. The organization’s premiere event, the American Film Market, held in conjunction with AFI Fest, takes place every year in November in Santa Monica.
As the voice and advocate for the independent film and television industry worldwide, the Alliance speaks out on matters of critical importance and, where appropriate, actively lobbies governments around the world in regard to measures directly affecting the independent industry. For more information on IFTA and the American Film Market, please visit www.ifta- online.org.
