Los Angeles Film School Announces Film Festival Lineup and Online Charity Auction for Its 3rd Annual Salute

Michele S. Jones, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the First Lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative and Steven Dunning of national Got Your 6 Campaign to serve as keynote speakers

CharityBuzz online auction to benefit the Semper Fi Fund and the GI Film Festival

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Los Angeles Film School (www.lafilm.edu), a creative arts college in Hollywood, today announced that it has secured Michele S. Jones as the Employment Keynote Speaker as well as Steven Dunning of the national Got Your 6 Campaign as the Entertainment Keynote Speakers for its 3^rd Annual Salute event, which honors military servicemen and women in entertainment and highlights the significance of employment in the industry. The event, which will feature more than 400 veterans, government officials, celebrities and civilian supporters, will also raise money through an online auction on CharityBuzz.com for the Semper Fi Fund and the GI Film Festival. Sister school Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD) will be in attendance to jointly issue a scholarship. In addition, the GI Film Festival debuts the West Coast, Veterans Day Weekend event titled, GI Film Festival Hollywood. The film slate has been chosen and will be screened during the two-day event on November 9-10, 2012, at The Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood.

“Game On with Operation Supply Drop: An 8-Bit Salute to the Troops”

Each year the school honors its veteran students and alumni for Veterans Day with an event that showcases both their service and their creative talents in Game Production, Computer Animation, Recording Arts, Entertainment Business and Filmmaking. In addition to a significant showing of support from Industry executives, a film festival, and the CharityBuzz.com online auction benefitting the Semper Fi Fund and the GI Film Festival, the 3^rd Annual salute will also feature a series of daytime events replete with special panel discussions and events. In conjunction with the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, an exclusive “Up Close and Personal With…” event will feature a panel with Engineers Brian Malouf, Tony Maserati and Dave Schiffman, who have styled the music of artists such as Madonna, Prince, The Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Pink, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty, among others. The 3^rd Annual Salute will also feature “Game On with Operation Supply Drop: An 8-Bit Salute to the Troops,” a single-elimination Medal of Honor: Warfighter tournament for veteran students in conjunction with gaming military charity Operation Supply Drop and production company Shifted2U Productions.

The National “Got Your Six” Campaign has also created a signature panel event for the school’s 3rd Annual Salute afternoon roster, “The Entertainment Industry & Non-Profits: They’ve Got Your Six.” A panel discussion on entertainment industry initiatives supporting Veterans and their families will be held on campus in front of the Military Services Department. From Veteran hiring programs currently existing at multiple studios, to non-profit partners of the national Got Your Six campaign, partners of Got Your Six are here to help our servicemembers through the often difficult process of re-integration. To wrap up the daytime enrichment activities, The Los Angeles Film School’s Annual Salute “Game and Film Audio Exclusive,” will be presented by BAFTA and Oscar-winner, Stephen Flick, and game and film sound award winning engineer Jamey Scott.

The GI Film Festival, the first and only film festival in the country dedicated to honoring the successes and sacrifices of American GIs through the medium of film, has also announced its lineup for the 3^rd Annual Salute. The films include:

Exclusive to The Los Angeles Film School, “GI Film Festival Hollywood” showcases Veteran-generated above-the-line selections and the first ever GI Film Festival Hollywood Audience Choice Award.

The Line-up:

• Wounded Warriors
• The Long Journey Home
• Hanging by a Thread
• Home from War
• Guilt of War
• Tale of Two Soldiers

• Feature Film Presentation - The Red Machine: Washington, DC, 1935: At the height of the Great Depression, a charming and irrepressible young thief is forced to help an icy and mysterious United States Navy spy steal a brand new device that the Japanese military is using to encode its top-secret messages.
• 8:46: This film follows an ensemble of characters and storylines in the days leading up to the September 11th attacks on the United States.
• From Philadelphia to Fallujah: One event. One game. One decade. This film looks back at that historic game and chronicles the journeys of some of its players who dedicated themselves to this country.
• Bridges: Follow the story of Captain Saul Bridges, an American bomber pilot in World War II who was shot down over Berlin but is saved by two children from the place he was bombing.

• Survive. Recover. Live.: On July 22, 2010, Sergeant Rob Jones lost his legs when struck by an IED in Afghanistan. One year later, this is his story. In this touching documentary, follow Rob on his inspiring journey towards recovery.
• The Jockstrap Raiders: An animated short that won a Student Academy Award, this film follows a group of underdog misfits who are excluded from the war due to various abnormalities, but they learn to become a team and defeat the invading German Kaiser and his army.
• Afternoon Full Length Documentary - Lost Airmen of Buchenwald: This documentary chronicles the extraordinary journey of 168 Allied airmen illegally imprisoned in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp during World War II. Marked for death, their incredible story of survival has been a source of controversy and secrecy for over six decades.
• Saturday Feature Film Presentation - Memorial Day: When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers a World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, he convinces Bud to strike a deal: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one.

For more information about the event, or how to sponsor the Los Angeles Film School’s “3^rd Annual Salute: Honoring and Employing Veterans in Entertainment,” visit www.annualsalute.com or contact Amber Chaib at [e-mail].

About the Los Angeles Film School

The Los Angeles Film School (www.lafilm.edu) is a creative arts college that offers students an immersive experience, world-class facilities and a supportive culture where seasoned instructors collaborate with talented, award-winning alumni to help students build professional networks that can last a lifetime. The Military Services Department at the Los Angeles Film School is committed to supporting the career ambitions of our student veterans by providing them with a supportive and creative community while helping them draw upon their leadership skills and unrivaled work ethic to build careers in the entertainment business.