Hottest Festival directors Spangler & Holland Support Film makers from all around the world

Donna Spangler & Nicole Holland present award to Cindy Margolis

Playboy models Donna Spangler and Nicole Holland are quickly becoming known as strong supporters of the indie film market. Most recently, the dynamic duo Spangler and Holland founded the Beverly Hills Film TV & New Media Festival for independent filmmakers and were touted as the hottest festival directors in the film festival business. 

The inaugural Festival attracted such A -List stars such as Sharon Stone, Paul Sorvino, Seymour Cassel, Gore Vidal, Jackie Warner, Jenn Proske, internet and TV sensation Cindy Margolis, John Schneider, Joan Collins, Bai Ling, Deidre Hall, Joe Mantegna, Donna Mills, Natassja Kinski, Patricia Heaton, Amy Stiller, Larry Hankin, Basil Hoffman, Larry Gelman, Hailee Steinfeld (Coen Bros. True Grit star), Alan Ruck, Eden Cale, Jessica Tuck (True Blood), Fred Willard, Angelo Tsarouchas, Fred Stoller , German TV Brittan Taylor and many more.  The Festival was an eight-day event that included selections from the following 15 countries and territories: Czech Republic, Italy, UK, France, Iran, Germany, Guam, Israel, Finland, The Netherlands, India, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Canada and the USA.

The festivities began on October 21, 2010 with an Opening Night Honorary Awards Ceremony benefiting the American Red Cross and celebrating the Lifetime Achievements of honorees Seymour Cassel, Martin Landau and Paul Sorvino.  Honorees also include LisaRaye for Achievement in the Arts, Jackie Warner for Achievement in Reality TV, Pioneer in New Media and Internet Cindy Margolis, Best New Actress Jenn Proske and the cast of “The Invocation” who were honored with the Humanitarian Award.  Sharon Stone who narrated the documentary that was directed by Emmanuel Itier was on hand to accept the award.

Festival screenings took place exclusively at Laemmle Music Hall 3 Theatre, located at 9036 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1826. The competitive screenings exhibited a selection of short- and long-form works that exhibit strong personal visions combined with the highest standards of creative excellence and technical achievement.

Spangler and Holland’s goal was to create a positive festival experience where the filmmaker would feel special and benefit from the festival experience. Holland said, “The Beverly Hills Film, Television and New Media Festival is an international, competitive 8-day festival that aims to present an elite selection of independent cinema and television content and serves as a forum for prominent film and TV industry members and independent filmmakers to meet, learn from each other and share ideas in the Heart of Beverly Hills, sister city of Cannes.” Spangler said, The inaugural Festival celebrated authentic Old Hollywood glamour, combined with an updated twist of the emerging technology of today. We have a strong focus on new media content, which is a first of its kind in Beverly Hills and we are one of the first ‘mainstream’ festivals to pioneer and cater towards new media content, such as webisodes and webseries.”

Besides being the Festival Director, Donna is also an actress, author and producer. She has a regular column in an Eastern European magazine called “Rouge” and is known as their Hollywood connection. Spangler said, “Nicole is an integral part of the festival and along with her, I plan the social aspects of the festival and being a long-term Beverly Hills resident I also incorporate my people into the pot.”

Her partner, Nicole Holland is responsible for the Festival’s programming content. Nicole explained that all the selections were chosen from a large number of entries. When asked about this year’s programming, Nicole said, “The new media and animation content were cutting edge; the shorts program was a bit edgy and dark; the social documentaries were brilliant and touching; the TV content was top-notch; the independent features were a reflection of dedicated indie filmmaking. There’s something magical about every single film in this festival and that’s very exciting.” Nicole also said, “The organization of this Festival is a reflection of what I’ve observed first-hand over the past 10 years while traveling the festival circuit. I made mental notes of what works and what doesn’t work, and obviously, applied ‘what works’ to the Beverly Hills Film, TV & New Media Festival. People were amazed that this was our first year!”

Besides being a veteran film festival producer for over 10 years, Nicole is the Executive Editor of Independent Film Quarterly, which specializes in independent, festival and foreign-language films and is one of the official magazines of the American Film Market, Cannes Film Festival & Marche du Film, and the Beverly Hills Film, TV & New Media Festival. Nicole has traveled the global film festival circuit for 10 years and has interviewed a number of respected actors, filmmakers and personalities ranging from Asia Argento, Michelle Rodriguez, Olympia Dukakis, Jackie Warner, Atom Egoyan, Emmanuelle Seigner, Janice Dickinson, Rutger Hauer, Julian Lennon, Sean Lennon, Julia Baird (John Lennon’s sister), Kristanna Loken, Devon Aoki, Leelee Sobieski, Cecile De France, Anne Fontaine and Ludivine Sagnier to name a few. Holland’s work can be read at www.ifqmagazine.com

Together, Spangler and Holland are striving for excellence and hope to build the Festival to the glamour and size of the Cannes Film Festival. After all, Beverly Hills is the sister city of Cannes.

http://www.bhfilmtvnewmedia.com/