A FilmFreeway preferred festival:
 DIVERSITY SHORT Screenplay: NORTH STAR by PJ PalmerDecember 2018 |  EUROPEAN SHORT Screenplay – THE BIKERS’ WAVEJanuary 2018 Reading by Damien Mazza |
 STUDENT SHORT Screenplay – DIMAGGIOMarch 2018 Reading by Taylor Zaccario |
 IN THE WOODS – Short ScreenplayApril 2018 Reading by Rachel Greenhoe |
 SEEKER – Family Short ScreenplayApril 2018 Reading by Kaitlyn Kowalski |
A FilmFreeway preferred festival:
 OUR WONDERFUL NATURE, 3min., Germany, AnimationWATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
 EGGS AND SOLDIERS, 20min., USA, Drama/FamilyWATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
 EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY, 30min., Austria, Drama/ThrillerWATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
 LILAC TV Pilot, 15min., USA, Adventure/FamilyWATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
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 EASY, A 3 MINUTE LOVE STORY, 3min., USA, Romance/Drama WATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
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 FIREFLIES, 3min., UK, Drama
|  GIRL IN YELLOW, 3min., USA, Drama/Family |
 BROTHERS, 5min., USA, Drama/Family |
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 THE WISHING CRANES, 3min., USA, Animation |
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 PLUSH ASSASSIN, 2min., USA, Animation |
 STUCK, 5min., USA, Animation
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 EXPIRATION DATE, 4min., USA, Animation |
 BARELY THERE, 2min., USA, Animation |
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MAXWELL’S DEMON, 21min., Brazil, Drama/Family |
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LOLA, 25min., USA, Drama, Coming of Age |
 FAMILY BEST scene Screenplay: FAMILY TREE by Andrea N. CarrDecember 2018 |  FAMILY BEST SCENE Screenplay: MOVING ON by Sheila WarrenOctober 2018 |
 FAMILY Best Scene Screenplay – CHRISTMAS WINGSFebruary 2018 Reading by Lily Rose |
 FAMILY Best Scene Screenplay – THE SHOW TO DIE FORJanuary 2018 Reading by Martin Cox |
| SEEKER – Family Short Screenplay April 2018 Reading by Kaitlyn Kowalski |
 Sadie Duarte |
Great festival! I’m very happy my film Maybe Someday is an official selection. Thank you so much on behalf of the cast and crew!  |
A FilmFreeway preferred festival:
WATCH Winning Family Screenplay and Story Readings:
WATCH Audience FEEDBACK Film Festival Videos:
It’s 1970, when feminism and civil action confront traditional, conservative values. When tragedy strikes Anne’s family, she finds the times are not as progressive as she believed.
CAST LIST:
Anne: Mandy May Cheetham
Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Mitch: Adrian Currie
Alan: Liam Kinahan
Submit via FilmFreeway:
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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Camera Operator: Mary Cox
 Audrey Arkins |
This was BY FAR our best Festival experience. The US venue is Regal Cinemas in DTLA at LA Live/Staples center. Great seats, great screens, great food with beer/wine. Accepted films get at least 20!!! comped tix and additional guests may reserve for free or by donation. Our short, American Boy, won Best Film for this event but all films got an edited compilation of audience feedback (here’s ours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69lHptHCrjE ). We got excellent web coverage from the festival before and after. This is truly an outstanding Festival. I haven’t reviewed others because I try not to be negative, but they were useless in comparison. This festival made up for all of that. I originally applied because of the term “family” in the title. My film is about kids, but gang murder, so not exactly family fare either. But I hadn’t been able to bring the cast and their friends to other festivals because of R-rated content which concerned their parents. This festival split the program so the kids could leave at the intermission. |
A FilmFreeway preferred festival:
WATCH Winning Family Screenplay and Story Readings:
WATCH Audience FEEDBACK Film Festival Videos:
I was a little nervous to watch the reactions and then I felt so heartened and re-invigorated while listening to the feedback.
A FilmFreeway preferred festival:
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video:
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
BEST FILM: The Legend of Rasputin
BEST PERFORMANCE: Sweet Yoyo
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Priest To Priest
BEST MUSIC: High Calorie
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:
The theme of the July 2018 FAMILY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto was “Heath is Wealth”. Every single film was about how being healthy is the beginning and the end for any life.
There was a terrorist threat called in to the Toronto Police department the day of this festival event. Someone said that “For sure a bomb will be going off near the CN Tower.” So that story caught fire and there was basically a police office stationed at every corner of the city at night.
Selfishly, I was worried about our attendance. People did email the festival during the day that they will not attend, plus one of our volunteers declind to come as well. Nevertheless we still had a solid attendance filled with a great crowd.
My point to the Festival Directors Mary Cox & Kierston Drier was that because this “threat” was now in the consciousness of the city, there will 100% not be a threat because the element of surprise isn’t there. So onwards we went to another successful night. And of course no bomb went off. The police officers earned some much deserved overtime, while many businesses like bars, restaurants, and cinemas simply had a bad financial night.
What a great lineup of Family Films we showcased. Truly proud of this festival night. Can’t wait to showcase more family films.
See you at the festivals.
– Matthew Toffolo
Mystic, prophet, healer, love-god – Grigori Rasputin’s unique talents bring him to St. Petersburg’s luxurious Winter Palace to heal the dying Prince Alexei, heir to the throne, in the waning days of Tsarist rule. When Rasputin succeeds, he becomes spiritual aid to the royal family, and infamous national celebrity to a public that is becoming increasingly critical of its rulers. Rasputin’s hedonistic desires, and the negative attention he draws to the ruling order, is upsetting to a certain faction of the nobility, who plot to kill him in an effort to restore the clean image of the Russian royalty, and to maintain their power in a time of revolutionary crisis. Rasputin’s prophesy that his murder by Royalty proves true, leading to the destruction of the Tsar and his dynasty. This is a dark historical comedy about the first tabloid star Grigori Rasputin … told with puppets.
Submit your Family Film or Screenplay to the Festival: http://festivalforfamily.com
 FOR A GOOD LIFE – Feature ScreenplayMay 2018 Reading by Natalia Maslin | |
 THE PAPER PRINCESS – ANIMATION 1st Scene ScreenplayMay 2018 Reading by Stephanie Barnes |  A KIND OF MARRIAGE – SHORT STORY ReadingMay 2018 Reading by Stevie Turner |
 WHO’S AT THE DOOR – SHORT STORY ReadingMay 2018 Reading by Mary Barr |  AVALEIGH’S AMAZING ADVENTURES – SHORT STORY ReadingMay 2018 Reading by Rita Cragwall |
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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel
Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy
Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch
MADEIRA, 14min., USA, Drama
FOR THE LOVE OF THE CHILD, 38min., USA, Documentary
THE MANLIEST MAN, 23min., India, Drama
I PROMISED HER LIFE, 15min., Drama/Family
DAUGHTER, 3min., Canada, Drama/Family
SUNDAY DINNER, 15min., USA, Documentary
A GOOD BLINDER, 26min., USA, Documentary
MATTHEW, 6min., USA, LGBT/Family
SAM THE HAM, 1min., USA, Animation/Comedy
WHEN COMES THE RAIN, 2min., USA, Animation/Comedy
ROSIE, OH, 8min, USA, Experimental/Family
BURIED, 14min., UK, Thriller/War
AINHOA, 19min, Spain, Drama/Thriller
VINDICTE, 26min., Germany, Drama/Family
MUM, 13min., India, Drama
DOWN TIME, 15min., France, Drama
JUST SAYING, 14min., UK, Drama/Dark Comedy
GRANDFATHERHOOD, 27min., Russia, Drama/Family
HIGH CALORIE, 17min., Turkey, Family/Drama 
SWEETER, 13min., USA, Family/Drama
PRIEST TO PRIEST, 9min., USA, Family/Drama
THE LEGEND OF RASPUTIN, 13min., Canada, Family/Animation
JOYA MIA, 5min., USA, Family/Drama
SWEET YOYO, 18min., Canada, Family/Drama
WHO I AM, 17min, UK, LGBT/Drama
NOVAA – MELODY OF NEED, 3min., Germany Animation/Music Video
SUSHI MAN, 3min., USA, Animation/Romance
THE RETURN, 19min, Turkey, Documentary
MORGEN, 10min., USA, Documentary
BETWEEN US, 10min, USA, Drama/Family
PELICAN, 5min., USA, LGBT
CROWNING CHANGE – THE ERIN O’FLAHERTY STORY, 17min., USA, LGBT
FESTIVAL for FAMILY 