SBIFF 2011 Producers Panel

Reviewed by Addie Rosales. Viewed at The 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The producers panel was an event that took place during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The producers that attended consisted of Todd Lieberman (The Fighter), Darla Anderson (Toy Story 3), Alix Madigan ( Winter’s Bone), Michael De Luca (The Social Network), Jamie Patricof (Blue Valentine), and Iian Canning (The Kings Speech). I was really excited with the turn out because I loved every one of those movies I’ve seen, and heard nothing but good feedback about the ones I havet yet to see(Blue Valentine, The Kings Speech, and Winter’s Bone). It was interesting and humorous at times to listen to the different producers relate and communicate to each other, especially when they touched on how films received their ratings, and how certain small details can add to a higher rating. Each producer agreed that a better system to rate films needs to be created, because the ratings aren’t always satisfying.

I most recently saw “The Fighter”, which I absolutly loved. I thought it was really remarkable that the charcater of the trainer, Mickey O’Keefe, played himself in the movie. Not only did he play himself, but he had no previous acting expereince or carrer, which you would of never have guessed due to his outstanding performance. All of the sisters in the film were really entertainging to watch because of the way they talked to eachother and their views on Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams) were hallirious. Which added a great amount of entertainment to the film. Aside from “The Fighter” and “Blue Valentine” both being very succesful movies with great stories, another thing they have in common was the connection that was developed during the making of this film with the town they filmed in, and the locals. It was really awsome to hear about how supportive and engagged the community wanted to be. This must have added a great amount of excitment to the making of their films.

I am a huge fan of all the three Toy Story’s, so I found it to be really exciting to listen to Darla speak. It was a great privilege to listen to her talk about the journey and tasks she went through in order to make this film what it is. Even though Toy Story 3 differs from the other films in the sense of it being animated, I felt that there was an equal amount of hard work and effort put into this film that the other films received. Darla mentioned how the animation in the Toy Story’s had to keep up to date with the type of toys and the buildings that are scene currently in reality, which was done extremely well.

The Social Network was also another movie that I enjoyed very much and was presented very really well. Unlike Winter’s Bone, they had a rather large budget, which paid off because the final product of the movie was great. During the making of The Social Network, they weren’t able to film on the actual campus of Harvard’s campus. So instead they filmed on the two Massachusetts prep schools, Phillips Academy, and Milton Academy. I have never been to Harvard’s campus, but their setting was very believable and seemed like the real deal. Also they they recreated the atmosphere and vibes really perfectly, I thought. It was such an honor to listen to all of these great producers talk about where they’ve gotten their inspiration from, and their journey of creating outstanding films. It made me feel as if anyone’s dreams can come true if you put your mind and hard work to it. I plan on seeing the films out of these that I haven’t seen yet, because they sound like they all have great story lines, and it will be really interesting to watch them with the insight these talented producers shared.