LUCA CECCARELLI

Luca Ceccarelli is an Italo-American Director/Producer, based in Los Angeles with strong ties to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is festival programmer and creative director of the CineFesta Italia Film, Food & Culture festival launching this year. The festival runs in Santa Fe, June 1-4, 2016 and showcases current Italian films. CineFesta is honred to host emcee, Filippo Voltaggio.

Luca is currently developing two features and a TV series co-authored with his producing partner, Eileen Street. Together they own and operate development and production company, HDNM Entertainment and their Los Angeles shingle, EDGY Pictures.

His passion for directing moved Luca to spearhead The Director’s Edge, which offers unique tools and coaching programs designed to help emerging and established directors maximize their creativity, preparation and practice, featuring the unique Get-Set-Ready! Method.

For Luca It all started in 1979 with his big sister’s Fisher Price record player and a collection of Morricone cuts from Leone classics. He buckled his holster, readied his caps in his plastic six-shooter, tipped his hat low above his 5-year-old brow, and stared into the mirror. That was it. In that moment he knew he was a filmmaker. Luca is extremely excited to be developing his own features, Noah’s Ark and Eve Angelic.

Luca directed and produced the reality-tv pilot Planet Snowkite – Episode 1, Ushuaia/Argentina (FilmCom 2011). Before that, he was primarily engaged in producing and line-producing film and television features. Titles include Italian “spaghetti westerns”, Triggerman (Lionsgate 2009) and Doc West (Lionsgate 2009), starring European favorite Terence Hill, and Paul Sorvino. Other titles include the Santa Fe Film Festival – Independent Spirit Award winner, Shoot First & Pray You Live (Lionsgate 2008), as well as grind-house exploitation flick Naked Fear (Cinetel Films 2007).

Luca studied at ARTTS International, UK, and St. John’s College and graduated from the College of Santa Fe with a BA in Moving Image Arts (with honors). He spearheaded HDNM Entertainment in 2004.

Luca was Founding President of the New Mexico Post Alliance (NMPost.com) and creator of ShootSantaFe.com.

RANDY BECKER

A graduate of Brown University, Becker started his career as an award-winning actor, starring on Broadway (Tony Award-winning play), film and TV.

In 2000, Randy embarked on a distinctly new path when he decided to produce, rather than act. He produced a successful play in NYC, and his own film (screening at the Cannes Film Festival), before partnering to form a literary management & production company, which marked the end of his acting.

With the mission of ‘transitioning writers to filmmakers,’ Randy set up projects all over town, and helped raise independent capital to enable literary clients to direct their own work (often marking their directorial debut). The last project the company had a hand in before the the partnership ended was The Great Buck Howard, written and directed by client Sean McGinly (with John Malkovich, Emily Blunt and Tom Hanks).

In 2009, Randy formed NexTV Entertainment, a new kind of media company that places artist advocacy at the center of its model.

“NexTV gives talented artists and entrepreneurs a chance to fulfill their potential, by educating, connecting and advocating for those who are driven to make a significant impact in the world.

I began as an artist, then spent years as a business-owner in the entertainment industry. I saw that too many talented people embraced the notion that it was someone else’s job to steer their careers or develop the essential skill sets needed to succeed in any business. Today our innovative competitions, coaching programs and live events bring powerful opportunities to artists and entrepreneurs. I’ve enjoyed seeing the entertainment industry discover and embrace so many in the NexTV community. You can see the mission at work at the Social Impact Conference on June 16, 20126 at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles.

Alice Austin is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Vermont, currently living and performing in Los Angeles. Her sound ranges from vintage to modern, crossing over from a Classic Rock vibe to Americana.

Austin’s latest release from October of 2014, ‘Left One In The Rain’, is a compelling three-song EP containing elements of isolation, hope, acceptance, and surrender. Produced by Patrick Avalon in Los Angeles, the music the lends itself well to a sunny electro-acoustic style, yet retains its grounding in the solo artist’s Classic Rock attitude.

‘To A Star In The Yard’, her album released in 2009, is Austin’s fourth full-length album, but her first solo record on which she has composed, arranged, recorded, produced, and performed all the the tracks. Some of the highlights on this album are the edgy 60’s throwback, ‘Sharp Side of the Knife’, and the garage-blues inflected ‘Graveyard Before Dark.’

Prior to solo performances, Alice Austin played with the Boston-based bands The Stark Raving Mad and The Lavas, and from her hometown Burlington, Vermont, Queen Tangerine and Zola Turn.

Signed to now-defunct Los Angeles label, Brick Red Records in 2002, (subsidiary Gold Circle Entertainment), Austin hasn’t missed a beat from the trials and tribulations of being signed and dropped all within a six-month span, rather persevered and thrived. The evolution of her songwriting has gone from irreverent punk-pop to an evocative perspective of the human condition. She has toured all over the east coast and southern United States, playing in such legendary venues as The Middle East Downstairs, The House of Blues Boston, The Knitting Factory, as well as South by Southwest and CMJ music festivals.