Best in Fest Leslie LaPage

Access Entertainment is a boutique sales agency dedicated to guiding filmmakers and television producers to reach their greatest distribution potential. Before Access, DuBow managed Lightning Entertainment as Executive Vice President and transitioned the company to its corporate owners at the time, Larry Flynt Publications. DuBow was also at First Look Studios as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Distribution and served as President and CEO of Modern Entertainment, a wholly-owned, Los Angeles-based subsidiary of a Swedish media conglomerate, The Modern Times Group. The company's primary business was buying and selling film libraries. in 2005, in partnership with Modern Times Group, DuBow successfully sold Modern Entertainment's 324 title library to LionsGate Entertainment which included “Dirty Dancing” and the “Halloween” films. For over 40 years DuBow has also held executive positions with MGM/UA and Disney in syndication, and Pandora Films in international film and TV program sales.

After earning a degree in Theatre and Philosophy at the University of Texas, Ms Spencer moved to New York City, where she attended NYU and The Actors Studio Playwright/Director's Unit, which was run by Elia Kazan and Arthur Penn. She wrote and directed plays in New York City, and was a member of Circle Rep Lab. She also wrote and directed plays in London and Los Angeles, and is a published poet. Her first film, Little Noises, premiered at Sundance. Her second film, Faces On Mars (aka: Wake Up Running), premiered in Europe at Solothurn and she is preparing the film for distribution screenings. She completed her third feature film, The Ninth Cloud, in 2015, has been in many festivals, garnered great reviews and was released in April 2018 in Europe and the UK and can be seen on iTunes and Amazon Prime in USA and UK. She is in Post Production for her fourth feature film, South of Hope Street, starring Tanna Frederick, Judd Nelson, William Baldwin, Asser Yassin, Jack McEvoy, Michael Madsen and Patricia Sluka, which has been picked up by Buffalo8 Productions in LA re Domestic Distribution, and has two other projects in development: 'The Velvet Gentleman' which will star Jean Hugues Anglade, and 'The Red Weather' with FilmInTuscany Productions. She received an Award for her work as a Filmmaker from Producers Without Borders at the Venice Film Festival 2023 for 'Auteur and Poetic Filmmaking'. She lives in Europe.

As Co-Founder and President of American Cinema International, Chevonne began her professional journey as the President of International Sales at Quest Entertainment. Over the spans of 10 years, she successfully oversaw the production and sales of more than 176 feature films and two popular television series. In 2000, Chevonne established American Cinema International. In less than a decade, ACI produced 20 feature films, securing international sales and prime-time broadcasts on platform such as USA, SyFy, and HBO Premier. Additionally, they produced multiple romance movie for Hallmark, and UPTV.  Chevonne served as an executive producer for various films and TV mini-series. In 2014, along with George Shamieh, I established ACI INSPIRES, a new brand dedicated to producing inspirational entertainment with a focus on family films. My most current project is ACI On the Go, the YouTube channel for her company which boasts over 600,000 subscribers.

In this episode Leslie breaks down the Upfronts in Hollywood.  What are they and why are they so important?

With over 30 years in the animation industry, Tony Bancroft has been creatively involved in almost every position making an animated film, video, commercial, or short film. His animation and directing skills have been sharpened and honed while working at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Pictures, his own animation company, Toonacious Family Entertainment, and currently, as an independent contractor working with Disney, Warner Brothers, and many more.
Bancroft was accepted into the exclusive California Institute of the Arts (Cal-Arts) in 1987, where he thrived artistically and developed a lifelong passion for animation. Soon after, he realized one of his childhood dreams as he was hired to animate for Walt Disney Animation Studios. During his 12-year career with Disney Studios, Bancroft helped create and animate Pumbaa, the lovable warthog in The Lion King; Kronk, the dim-witted sidekick in The Emperor’s New Groove; Cogsworth the nervous clock from Beauty and the Beast; and Iago the pestering parrot in Aladdin.
Bancroft’s most notable accomplishments include being the co-director of Walt Disney’s animated film, Mulan, for which he received the Annie Award for Director of the Year from ASIFA-International; and animation supervisor of Sony’s 

Ken Kwapis has been a motion picture and television director for four decades. He
directed eleven feature films, among them A Walk In The Woods, Big Miracle, He’s Just
Not That Into You, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Kwapis helped launch nine television series, including The Larry Sanders Show, The
Bernie Mac Show, and The Office. He earned an Emmy nomination for directing the
“Gay Witch Hunt” episode of The Office. He also earned an Emmy nomination for his
work as a producer-director of Malcolm In the Middle. Kwapis contributed episodes to
such shows Freaks and Geeks, Parks and Recreation, Santa Clarita Diet, and One
Mississippi. Most recently, he directed the entire second season of Space Force.

He is currently prepping the feature Thelma, based on the real-life story of the mother of John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces. Toole died before his novel
was published, and his mother Thelma spent over a decade trying to find a home for her
son’s masterpiece.

In addition to his film and television work, Kwapis is the author of the memoir But What I Really Want To Do is Direct, published by St. Martin’s Press.

Kwapis studied filmmaking at Northwestern University and the University of
Southern California. He won the Student Academy Award in Dramatic Achievement
for his USC film For Heaven’s Sake!, a contemporary