Categories: 2018 Season IGNITE, The FORUM, Vanguard Culture Events

2018 THE FORUM – Bringing Your Film Idea to Life

Panel discussion moderated by San Diego Italian Film Festival Artistic Director Antonio Iannotta about making your film idea come to life. Join a discussion about the nuances and challenges of producing a film, film festival or cultural event with some of San Diego’s most visionary film leaders.

Press Release can be found HERE


Featured Panelists:

– BETH ACCOMANDO covers arts and culture around San Diego for KPBS News. Beth is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Online Film Critics Society, and is the past President and former Education Chairperson for the San Diego Film Critics Society. She served as the festival director of Film School Confidential: A Showcase of San Diego Student Filmmaking. In the past she has served on the film selection committee for the San Diego State University Student Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival. Now she volunteers as part of The Film Geeks at the Digital Gym Cinema to bring independent and envelope-pushing genre filmmaking to the Media Arts Center San Diego’s micro cinema. Beth has been a film critic for more than 25 years and since 1997 has been covering independent and international cinema as well as pop culture for National Public Radio and Public Radio International’s The World. She has received numerous Society of Professional Journalist Awards and San Diego Press Club Awards for her radio and web site work at KPBS. She has also received 11 southwestern area Emmy Awards in the categories of producing, writing, and sound design for promotional spots as well as national Pro Max and Telly Awards while working at Fox. She has a passion for Hong Kong cinema, Japanese monster movies, horror, and film noir. She collects movie posters and toys, and loves putting on a haunted house every year.

– JODI CILLEY, Founder & President of San Diego Film Consortium. Jodi Cilley is a long time filmmaker, entrepreneur and educator. She has been teaching video production since 2004 and has taught video and editing at San Diego City College, UC San Diego Extension Digital Arts Center, Platt College and the Media Arts Center San Diego. She has produced over a hundred projects including web series’, short films, TV specials, documentaries and commercial projects and recently produced Film Indiego, a 6-Part TV Series for KPBS. She has a BS in Sociology from Boston College and an MBA with specializations in entrepreneurship and management from San Diego State University. As the founder and current president of the Film Consortium San Diego and the founder and producer of the annual San Diego Film Awards and San Diego Film Week, she is working to build a strong local film industry and to increase exhibition, distribution, funding and employment opportunities for local up and coming film talent.

– XAVIER GREEN is a self- taught independent film Producer/Director and Cinematographer. Through self-education, he was able to producer short films and direct branded commercials and music videos for influential artist and brands with large audience reach. He is currently working on directing his first full-length feature film which is slated to go in to production summer of 2019. He merges film education with hands on experience at the same time through various workshops throughout San Diego and Los Angeles to people interested in learning film in a nontraditional learning environment.

– PETE GARCIA, film producer (Azucar Amarga), community leader. Pete Garcia is a Partner in I.D.E.A. Partners, LLC – a transformational company developing the I.D.E.A. District – a unique urban, mixed-use vision in downtown San Diego, CA, focusing on Innovation, Design, Education, and the Arts. He’s a partner in URBAN INTERVENTIONS – a nonprofit creating and funding Public Art to improve underserved urban places. Prior to starting I.D.E.A. Partners, Pete spent an entire career as a builder, developer, and designer of major public and private real estate projects throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica, including the development, design, and construction of the first biopharmaceutical facility in San Diego for Hybritech. Pete was also the President/CEO of University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors, a major engineering and construction company with over 1,500 employees with offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Additionally, he co-wrote and produced an acclaimed motion picture, authored an award-winning novel, and his paintings are collected by public and private collectors throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. He’s represented in San Diego by the Franco Moragrega Gallery.

– BRIAN HU, Artistic Director for Pacific Arts Movement. Brian Hu is the Artistic Director of Pacific Arts Movement, presenters of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. He is also Assistant Professor of Television, Film and New Media at San Diego State University. His book Worldly Desires: Cosmopolitanism and Cinema in Hong Kong and Taiwan was just published by Edinburgh University Press.

– ANTONIO IANNOTTA is the Artistic Director of the San Diego Italian Film Festival. Antonio received his Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies from University of Salerno (Italy). He has published essays on cinema, TV series, comics, theory of media, and two books: “Lo sguardo sottratto – Samuel Beckett e i media” and “Il cinema audiotattile – Suono e immagine nell’esperienza cinematografica.” He has worked as Communications Director for several International Festivals. Antonio is Adjunct Professor of Italian at University of San Diego, and encourages extra-curricular activities that deepen students’ understanding of Italian language and culture thanks to his collaborations in the Italian community, from the San Diego Italian Film Festival to the Italian Cultural Center.

– ETHAN VAN THILLO is Founder and Executive Director of the Media Arts Center San Diego. Since 1989, he has been working in media arts field programming Latino film festivals for the University of California, Santa Cruz, Cine Acción in San Francisco, Cine Estudiantil at the University of California San Diego, and the National Latino Communications Center in Los Angeles. Ethan has curated 100s of programs at festivals and/or special events in 45 libraries across California, Mexico City, Morelia, Las Cruces, Nuevo Laredo, San Antonio, Tijuana, Sacramento, and San Diego. In 1995, Ethan transformed the Cine Estudiantil into the San Diego Latino Film Festival. In 1999, to broaden the scope of the festival following four successful years, Ethan established the non-profit Media Arts Center San Diego in 1999. Under the umbrella of MACSD Ethan has developed & created innovative new community based media programs such as the California state-wide Digital Story Station initiative, Teen Producers Project, Youth Media & Tech Camps, Mobile Stories, Speak City Heights, The People’s Post, Video Production Services Department, and the new Digital Gym community technology center and movie theater. Ethan has served on various funding panels including San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, Latino Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Foundation’s 2004 Film and Video Fellowships, California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts’ funding panel for Media Arts. Mr. van Thillo has also been asked to speak at such national conferences as National Association of Latino Independent Producers, National Association of Latino Arts & Culture, and National Alliance of Media Arts & Culture.


The FORUM is Vanguard Culture’s new Professional Development series designed to support San Diego’s Creative Industries. Workshops with Creative Industry Leaders are designed to educate participants on the business behind their industry and to offer tools, tips, and tricks to help creatives make a living doing what they love.

Vanguard Culture

Vanguard Culture is an online media entity designed for culturally savvy, socially conscious individuals. We provide original interviews and reviews of the people, places, and events that make up San Diego’s thriving arts and culture community, as well as curated snapshots of the week’s best, most inspiring and unique cultural and culinary events. We believe in making a difference in the world, supporting San Diego’s vibrant visual and performing arts community and bringing awareness to important social and community causes.