The Hit Makers Summit is a three day TV pitch crash course. Between presentations, attendees break up into small creative think tanks led by a mentor who will focus on each attendee and his TV show individually. Each project benefits from the expert attention of the summit mentors and the combined creative combustion of the group. These sessions are exhilarating! The creative energy in the room is electric.

The course includes:

-- Industry expert guest speakers
-- One-on-one work with every member
-- How to pitch
-- Where to pitch
-- How to land pitch meetings
-- What to bring to a pitch
-- Perfect your concept so it will sell!

www.HitMakerSummit.com

Saturday-Monday, March 21-23, 2009
Orlando Renaissance at SeaWorld

Gourmet catered lunches included each day at no extra charge plus a cocktail party Sunday night.

Claim your seat while they last. Event is limited to only 30 attendees.

Regular price $2,247 per person, partner $947
Existing client and Florida resident discounts available. Call 407-351-0893 to inquire.

The Media Summit New York, the definitive international conference for media, entertainment, advertising and technology leaders, will be held March 18-19, 2009, at The McGraw-Hill Companies' headquarters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The sixth annual event will draw 1,000+ attendees for two days of discussion on "Global Media + Technology Innovation = Communications Revolution." 150+ panelists include representatives from print/broadcast media; advertising/marketing; broadband, cable and wireless; news and entertainment; technology; and finance. The cost to register per attendee is $875 prior to March 6, 2009, or $995 at the door. The event's March 19 keynote interview will feature Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation. BusinessWeek Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler will conduct the interview with Ballmer at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, March 19. Companies or individuals interested in participating in the 2009 Media Summit New York can learn more about the event, view the agenda, and purchase tickets by visiting http://www.media-summit.com/.

The American Cinematheque continues its program of one night seminars for filmmakers. The American Cinematheque debuted its Filmmaking Seminars for Filmmakers and other artists in September 2007 with the concept of offering concrete, practical information on a variety of filmmaking, marketing, creative and business practices at a very reasonable cost to the many independent filmmakers working in the Los Angeles area.

On March 12 and 19 at 7 p.m.: Navigating the Film Festival World: For most emerging filmmakers, the goal of launching a film on the film festival circuit begins with one singular dream: SUNDANCE! But what lies beyond Sundance for you and your film? In this informative seminar, film festival programmer/film consultant Thomas Ethan Harris (former Director of Programming, Los Angeles Film Festival and Palm Springs International Short Film Festival) offers filmmakers practical skills to navigate the world of film festivals to maximum effect. What are the most significant film festivals and showcases you should be considering right now before that ultimate Sundance dream fades and you are left with a very good film with no place to show it? For more details go to www.americancinematheque.com. Seminar Tickets: $20 General Admission, $15 Student/Senior with valid I.D.; $12 Members of the Cinematheque.

Offering an up close view of the latest in cinema, television, and related technologies, and insight into the ideas that will shape the industry's future, the Hollywood Post Alliance's 15th Annual HPA Technology Retreat will be held February 17-20 at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, California. The 4-Day Tech Retreat has become the premier event in the broadcast and post production industry, providing a forum for industry leaders and technologists to review new technology developments and exchange ideas in an environment unadulterated by sales and marketing hype. Featuring top executives and researchers from Hollywood studios, broadcast networks, manufacturers, artists, and even the military, the event draws from all over the world. Highlights of this year's event include a Super Session entitled "Insight/Foresight: Visions of the Future." Speakers will include Steve Weinstein, CEO of MovieLabs, the research organization established by the major Hollywood studios, who will discuss emerging technologies for the distribution and use of motion pictures. Other presentations at that session will cover the evolution of human perception and such seemingly impossible laboratory technologies as the ability to change focus after a scene is shot. The Technology Retreat this year will also feature special presentations from the BBC on the extraordinary sharpness of high frame rate viewing, from the European Broadcasting Union on the issue of concatenated-compression, and from a Bollywood lab on maintaining a cinematographer's desired look via online techniques. Warner Bros.' Wendy Aylsworth will moderate a session on new advances in stereoscopy, from shooting through transmission to display. Other presentations will cover such topics as the future of broadcasting, the quest for a new reference display, advanced processing hardware, software, and storage technologies, and spatial hearing. The program will also include two days of the famed Breakfast Roundtables, with no-holds-barred discussions of dozens of hot topics, from the impact of the current economic downturn on the digital-cinema rollout to the brand-new industry DVP initiative for file-based masters. The Demo Room, where Panasonic once introduced its variable-frame-rate digital camcorder technology (later sold as the Varicam) and Sony once introduced low-compression high-quality HDTV recording technology (later sold as HDCAM SR) each year features new technologies not shown before. Among this year's more-than-60 demonstrations are full-color, motion holography and a "telepresence" system that allows separated work collaborators to appear to be in the same room. A special post-retreat feature will be a presentation on the Metropolitan Opera's Emmy-award-winning Live Global Cinemacasts and how alternative content is providing new revenue streams for theaters and new outlets for content developers. In addition, on Tuesday morning, ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) will present a half-day summit on "Audio Loudness & Lip-Sync," and Charles Poynton, the person who came up with the 1080-line figure for HDTV, will hold a half-day workshop on the mathematics of HDTV and Digital Cinema. Registration and a complete program are available on the HPA's website at www.hpaonline.com. For additional assistance, please contact the Hollywood Post Alliance office at 213-614-0860. The Technology Retreat is sponsored by the Hollywood Post Alliance, serving the professional community of businesses and individuals who provide expertise, support, tools and the infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials, digital media and other dynamic media content.

Little Airplane Academy will be conducting an intensive, three-day preschool television workshop. Participants will learn the fundamentals of creating a preschool series from pitching through writing, character design, directing and producing both live action and animated shows.

Location: Little Airplane Productions
207 Front Street (between Fulton and Beekman)
South Street Seaport
New York, NY 10038

Dates: The course is comprised of three full days as well as optional evening activities. The course will take place Saturday, February 14 through Monday, February 16.

Fee: $1,500 for the course

Space in the course is limited and a simple application and resume are required. Contact Little Airplane at the number below to receive an application. There is no fee to apply.

For questions, please call 212-965-8999 or e-mail: melinda@littleairplane.com or visit our website at www.littleairplane.com.

Women In Animation International is buying the first round of wine, courtesy of Toon Boom, at KidScreen Summit in New York. The cork will pop on Friday, February 13 at the Hilton's Bridges Bar at 5 p.m. Meet WIA hosts, Rita Street, Jan Nagel, Heather Kenyon, Lisa Goldman and Joan Vogelesang, CEO of Toon Boom. No need to be a member, just bring a business card to get in. Visit and join Women In Animation at www.womeninanimation.org.

The annual NATPE Conference & Exhibition is the only American program market serving the worldwide television community. This three-day convention and marketplace is recognized throughout the world as a key media event. If you buy, sell, develop, finance, advertise, market or license content; implement technology; exploit rights; or leverage media assets, the annual conference and exhibition is the best place to be for success today and growth tomorrow. Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo Inc., will deliver the NATPE 2009 Newsmaker Address entitled "Avoiding the Demise of Advertising," at the Market & Conference on Wednesday, January 28 at 9 a.m. Conference sessions include: "In Conversation with BermanBraun," with Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Berman, a former president of Paramount Pictures and Fox Television, and Braun, former chairman of ABC Entertainment Group, are credited with developing some of the most iconic hits of the past decade, including AMERICAN IDOL, 24, HOUSE, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, LOST, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and GREY'S ANATOMY. Berman and Braun will discuss their views on the television business today, the role of content suppliers in the digital world, and what we can expect from BermanBraun. The "Sizzle Reel Simulations" panel will includes Thom Beers, Original Productions, Gary R. Benz, GRB Entertainment, Philip Gurin, The Gurin Company, Craig Piligian, Pilgrim Films and Television, Eric Schotz, LMNO Productions. A project can come to life and seal its own deal with a sizzle reel. One size may fit all but one reel does not. Vet producers take the same show and produce a 1-minute sizzle reel each for a different network. These pros flip the script, presenting tricks of the trade to court the first audience - those with the power to green-light projects. The "Syndication by the Numbers" panel includes Ritch Colbert, Program Partners, Inc., Emerson Coleman, Hearst-Argyle Television, Sean Compton, Tribune Broadcasting Company, Neal Sabin, Weigel Broadcasting, Ken Werner, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

The Canada International Film Festival brings the best of world cinema to Canada and plays an important role in maintaining and further enriching its film culture. The Canada International Film Festival has quickly carved out a name for itself among the top film festivals in Canada. It accepts films of any type, in any genre, from over 90 countries around the world. The festival is dedicated to the creation of opportunities for the artistic interaction and exchange among independent filmmakers and the film-going community.

The Red Stick International Animation Festival will host a luncheon for the local business community on Friday, Jan. 16 to outline the economic development benefits the festival brings to Baton Rouge and tell them how their companies can become part of the event. The inaugural Red Stick Ink & Paint Club Luncheon will take place from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Heidelberg Ballroom of the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center on Lafayette Street downtown. Emily Hoppe, an animation marketing and publicity professional with Walt Disney Feature Animation, will speak during the luncheon to detail the upcoming feature film, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, which is set in Louisiana, and to describe Disney's ongoing relationship with Red Stick. Stacey Simmons, Ph.D., Red Stick director, will discuss the growing international reputation of the Red Stick International Animation Festival, and ways Baton Rouge businesses can capitalize on its success. The fifth annual festival will take place April 22-25 in downtown Baton Rouge's Arts District. The Red Stick festival began in 2005 as an idea by LSU Professors Simmons and Stephen David Beck. It has grown into the largest event of its kind in the United States, bringing renowned animators and artists from leading studios to Baton Rouge each spring. Prominent state and community organizations sponsor the festival, including LSU, Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President's Office, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and Louisiana Economic Development. These groups combined to form the Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium in 2007, which seeks to recruit new animation, video game and digital media companies to the area to take advantage of the state's lucrative tax packages and local talent in starting a business. BRADIC was responsible for attracting the new Electronic Arts, Inc. North American video game testing and quality assurance facility to Baton Rouge last year. Tickets to the luncheon are $10 per person. To pre-pay and register in advance, call 225-389-7182, or e-mail amoody@cct.lsu.edu. Participants also can register and pay on-site Friday, Jan. 16 from 10:30-11 a.m. Media representatives who wish to attend the luncheon should contact Kristen Sunde at 225-578-3469 or ksunde@cct.lsu.edu. For more information on the Red Stick International Animation Festival, visit www.redstickfestival.org.

IMAX Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of IMAX Corporation Richard L. Gelfond will present at the Citi Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference on Tuesday, January 6 at 3:10pm Mountain Time (5:10pm Eastern Standard Time). The conference is being held at The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. The presentation is being webcast live and can be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations section of the company's website, www.imax.com. The presentation will be archived for thirty days.