Successful films require more than just the talent of their creators; they require an audience, and since Melody Storm’s days as a student of public relations, she has tried bringing audiences and filmmakers together.
After taking some UCLA extension courses in public relations, Storm went into the public relations realm where she networked and garnered contacts that helped her start the Bel-Air Film Festival.
“I decided to create something that could really grow and help people evolve with their creativity in the film world,” Storm said. “All I had were a bunch of contacts that really believed in my efforts. From there, we grew and now we are on our fourth year, and we have a tremendous outreach within the Los Angeles community.”
Running through Oct. 17, this year’s festival is expected to attract approximately 7,000 attendees for 36 feature films, shorts, documentaries and student work, Storm said.
Tonight’s red carpet event will be at the Skirball Cultural Center, where the festival will be honoring writing partners Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz of the show “Happy Days,” producer Bob Yari of the film “Crash,” and actor Victor Alfieri of the film “Angels and Demons.”
Additionally, about 70 percent of the films screened at the festival will take place at the James Bridges Theater at UCLA, which Storm said will feature an array of world premieres.
“What we strive to do is that we try to have most of our films as world premieres. We want to bring everyone in our community and really work with the filmmakers to create a PR campaign and deliver the necessary attention the film needs to their audience,” Storm said.
One of the world premieres at the festival will be graduate directing student Charlie Guillen’s short film, “Halfway to Somewhere,” which will be screening on Friday at 9 p.m. at the James Bridges Theater.
Guillen said he was inspired by the complications of relationships and decided to create a film in which a young man fails at creating a successful relationship, even in his daydreams.
“I especially like that (my film is) showing at (the Bel-Air Film Festival) because this is where it all started for me, at UCLA,” Guillen said. “It’s nice for filmmakers a little more on the professional side to have festivals so their peers can come and they can enjoy these films together.”
Another event headlining the festival is a film panel at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel on Thursday at 7 p.m., organized and moderated by entertainment lawyer and UCLA alumna Mitra Ahouraian. Composed of industry insiders such as executives, producers and filmmakers, this year’s panel will cover the shifting world of film distribution.
“The two important elements to filmmaking, in addition to the creative side, have always been finance and distribution, and both of these models are changing,” Ahouraian said. “The importance of this panel is to support the creative process by giving these young filmmakers and students the tools and information to increase the odds of their film being seen, which should be the goal of every filmmaker.”
As the festival continues to grow, Storm said that she eventually wants to screen top films in other cities and create a relationship between the festival and her other organization, Bel-Air Film and Arts, which awards scholarships to rising film students.
“I want audiences to have the chance to have a creative outlet and become engaged in the film world,” Storm said. “I’m just growing the festival and … I just want to have a bigger and better event as we go on.”