Buying Tickets and Passes
Buy Tickets or Passes at www.cinequest.org, by calling 408-295-FEST (295-3378), or at the box office of any Cinequest venue. All box offices open 45 minutes before the first screening of the day.

Cinequest Venues:
* Camera 12 Cinemas – 201 S. Second Street, San Jose 95113
* San Jose Repertory Theatre – 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose 95113
* California Theatre – 345 South First St, San Jose 95113

Cinequest started with a bang Tuesday evening and is going strong through Saturday, March 12. There are plenty of films to see and parties to attend, as well as forums and educational presentations for filmmakers.

The forums hit the ground running Friday from 3:00pm to 4:30pm at Camera 12 with Mastering the Art of Maverick Filmmaking, presented by Jacob Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who has worked on films such as “Superman Returns” and “Avatar” will talk about the technical demands of filmmaking, and cover the digital workflow he created for the Bandito Brothers film company.

The first Biz of Art forum is Saturday from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at Hall Todd Studio Theater on the San Jose State University campus, and will focus on development. A panel of producers and studio/distribution leaders will cover taking a movie from script to screen, including funding strategies and casting. The panel members include filmmaker Brittany Ballard and Senior Vice President and Manager of Comerica Entertainment Group Jeff Colvin, and will be moderated by producer and cinematographer Peter Belsito

Saturday afternoon, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm at the San Jose Repertory Theater, a group of 3D experts will discuss and demonstrate a wide variety of questions about the world of 3D filmmaking for the first 3D Celebration forum. Panelists include Stuart Bowling (formerly of Lucasfilm and currently working with Dolby), Steve Cooperman (a Product Line Business Manager at Panasonic), Phil Eisler (General Manager, 3D Vision at NVIDIA), Ted Kenney (a producer and director whose work includes the first live S3D concert broadcast in the US), Philip Lelyveld (Program Manager of USC’s Consumer 3D Experience Lab), and Bernie Mitchell (President of Silver Platter Productions, Inc.).

The 3D Celebration continues Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm with director Jon M. Chu’s presentation on how to make a 3D motion picture with any budget, small to large. Chu’s feature film debut was “Step Up 2: The Streets,” and he recently helmed “Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D.” Emerging Maverick Alyson Stoner will join the 3D celebration at 7:00 pm at San Jose Repertory Theater to receive her award, followed by a screening of “Super Hero Party Clown.”

Fans of classic, cheesy horror movies won’t want to miss the 3D celebration’s concluding feature, “Plan 9 From Outer Space: Now in 3D.” The classic low-budget flick runs at 10pm Saturday night.

The second Biz of Art panel is Sunday March 6th from noon to 1:30 pm at the Hal Todd Studio Theatre on San Jose State University’s campus. Sales and distribution leaders will cover marketing and selling movies in detail, including at festivals, through domestic and international sales, and internet/VOD. Panelsts include Jeffrey Brandstetter (a veteran entertainment and intellectual property attorney and co-founder of online distribution platform IndiePlayaTM), Christopher Coppola (a film and television director who is also founder and chairman of Project Accessible Hollywood and the star of “The DigiVangelist”), Strathford Hamilton (the award-winning director who headed the team that created the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”), Jere Hausfater (consultant for various television, 3D, digital content, and motion picture companies), and Mitch Mallon (a leader in the digital frontier and its market potential and opportunities for music and film).

An as-yet unnamed panel (which promises to include an Academy Award winner) will discuss mobile cinema — films made on high-quality camera phones — for the Make It Easy, Make It Great forum on Sunday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:30 pm at Camera 12.

Tuesday March 8th at 9:30pm the Rough Cut forum at San Jose Repertory Theater will explain the process of taking a film from the initial cut to the final, polished version. The event begins with a screening of the rough cut of “Cheap Fun,” and conclude with a panel of filmmakers discussing what the director can do to finish the film successfully.

This is just the first week of the festival! Check out www.cinequest.org for the full festival schedule of events.