POPCORNQ INTERNATIONAL INDIES WEB CHAT SERIES http://www.popcornq.com Saturdays in August at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Press contact: Jenni Olson (415) 547-2800 x309, ([log in to unmask]) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LESBIAN & GAY FILMMAKERS NETWORK WITH INDUSTRY INSIDERS ON THE WEB Hosted by MICHAEL EHRENZWEIG and JENNI OLSON This five-part live online chat series offers a unique opportunity for independent filmmakers to communicate and network globally while learning about the business side of the industry from top international executives. By logging on to PopcornQ's website, participants can converse with panelists, ask questions and get specific information about the current state of queer film production around the world. Topics will include financing, distribution, acquisition, publicity and more. All chats will be archived and accessible via www.popcornq.com. Since it's debut in June, 1996 PopcornQ has had more than 3 million visitors from around the world and has established itself as a primary lesbian and gay movie resource for both consumers and professionals.PopcornQ's features include: the PQ Online Cinema (QuickTime and RealVideo movies), PQ Video Shop, What's Out Now (theatrical and home video release information), PQ Movie News (interviews, festival reports and hot gossip), plus: film festival listings, funding sources, the Queer Top Tens, Links Galore, Queer TV This Month, and starting in August, 1997 the PopcornQ International Indies Web Chat Series! The schedule for the initial series of five chats will be as follows: August 2 Riyad Vinci Wadia (Bombay) August 9 Cheryl Farthing (London) August 16 Mark Pogachefsky (Los Angeles) August 23 Tom Abel (London) August 30 Marcus Hu (San Francisco) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The PopcornQ International Indies Web Chat Series is presented by PlanetOut (www.planetout.com) and is sponsored by indieWIRE (www.indiewire.com) and Filmmaker Magazine (www.filmmag.com). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ August 2, 1997 at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) RIYAD VINCI WADIA is a producer, director, writer and actor, who for the last six years has run Wadia Movietone, one of India's foremost film studios. Last year, he independently produced and directed BOMgAY, India's first collection of gay films. His other works include: A MERMAID CALLED AIDA and FEARLESS - THE HUNTERWALI STORY. Riyad is a member of the Indian Motion Picture Producer Association and serves on the Executive Committee of the Indian Documentary Producers Association. Wadia will discuss the current state of queer cinema in India. August 9, 1997 at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) Producer/Director CHERYL FARTHING will talk about the British market for gay and lesbian non-fiction with a special focus on producing for television. Farthing's Piranha Productions has produced several documentaries about gay and lesbian issues for Britain's Channel 4 Television and the BBC (including: SEX WARS, IT'S A QUUER WORLD, WE'VE BEEN FRAMED, and CALL ME YOUR GIRLFRIEND). Farthing also directed the award-winning 1992 short ROSEBUD. Her latest project (which she co-directed for the BBC with Ian MacMillan) is an overview of British queer history called IT'SNOT UNUSUAL. August 16, 1997 at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) Publicist MARK POGACHEFSKY heads The Pogachefksy Company, a full service public relations agency representing motion pictures, individuals, and corporations. Projects represented by The Pogachefsky Company include THE CELLULOID CLOSET, the LA Independent Film Festival, Outfest LA and such recent hits as LILIES and KISS ME GUIDO. Pogachefsky will talk about marketing and promoting queer cinema in the US. August 23, 1997 at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) TOM ABEL is President of Dangerous To Know. As London's primary queer home video distributor, Dangerous To Know acquires features and shorts for release in the UK market, and is also involved in production. Abel will discuss the queer home video market and share his expertise on this increasingly important source of revenue and distribution. August 30, 1997 at 11:30am (PST), 7:30pm (GMT) Independent Producer/Distributor MARCUS HU is co-President and co-founder of Strand Releasing and Strand/New Oz. Production credits include FRISK, THE LIVING END, SUPER 8 1/2, HUSTLER WHITE, I THINK I DO and LATIN BOYS GO TO HELL. Hu will share his experience and expertise on producing and distributing gay features in the US. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ About the Hosts: MICHAEL EHRENZWEIG is a San Francisco-based independent producer. He is the former Co-Director of the International Film Financing Conference. JENNI OLSON is an independent filmmaker and is the producer of PopcornQ(www.popcornq.com). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *** Photos of the panelists and hosts are available for press *** For more information contact: Jenni Olson (415) 547-2800 x309, ([log in to unmask]) The PQ International Indies Web Chat is accessible via http://www.popcornq.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jenni Olson Producer, PopcornQ PopcornQ: The Ultimate Online Home for the Queer Moving Image is available now at http://www.popcornq.com or at AOL Keyword: PopcornQ. ##################################################### Saturdays in August at 11:30am (PST) Check out The PQ International Indies Web Chat Series! Hosted by Michael Ehrenzweig and Jenni Olson ##################################################### FRESHLY POPPED! CHECK OUT ALL THE NEW FEATURES ON POPCORNQ 2.0! PopcornQ is proud to present the first global online lesbian and gay movie channel, the PQ Online Cinema. You've got a queer film festival in your living room with our lesbian and gay shorts, classic queer trailers, audio clips, and archival movie shorts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy some fresh PopcornQ. Our current PQ Online Cinema exclusives include: THE COST OF LOVE (Richard Kwietniowski) A clever romantic comedy from Richard Kwietniowski (whose debut feature, LOVE AND DEATH ON LONG ISLAND received the Piero Critics Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival). SOMETIMES MY FEET GO NUMB (Lourdes Portillo) Wayne Corbett reads a devastating poem about living with AIDS in this masterfully constructed short that premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. HIV: UNINFECTED DOES NOT EQUAL UNAFFECTED (David Weissman) This series of eight 30-second AIDS prevention PSAs focuses on the emotional and psychological stresses facing HIV-negative gay men in coping with the epidemic. INSTANT PUSSY (Alix Umen) This blink or you'll miss it short poses a chain-smoking housewife in a fantasy commercial from '60s television. LATEX -- STEP OUT SMARTLY (Charline Boudreau) A glamorous cocktail party leads to a classic bit of butch/femme cruising. And cruising leads to sex in this gorgeously hot lesbian safe sex fantasy. TICK TOCK BIO CLOCK (Julie X. Black and Lexi Leban) A quick and clever glimpse at Lexi Leban's lesbian bio-clock crisis as she calls a friend to request his sperm. PlanetOut - 965 Mission St. #730 - San Francisco CA 94103 VOX 415/547-2800 x309 * FAX 415/547-2801 http://www.planetout.com ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.