THE SIXTH ANNUAL PAH-FEST: HOLLYWOOD ARRIVES AT LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE OCTOBER 20th-28th

Christopher Coppola’s “Project Accessible Hollywood” Teaches Hands-on Filmmaking for All During 8 Day Digital Festival

Los Angeles, CA (August 15, 2012) – Christopher Coppola announces today that his Project Accessible Hollywood (PAH), in conjunction with Los Angeles City College, Sony, Intel, Dell and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, will hold their sixth annual PAH-Fest:Hollywood from October 20th to the 28th at the Los Angeles City College campus.  Coming off successful events in Chicago, Detroit and Italy, the festival is the brainchild of PAH President Christopher Coppola who, continuing in the tradition of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola, promotes the utilization of cutting edge “pro-sumer” technology to "digitally empower" people from all walks of life, thus enabling them to tell their unique stories and share their points of view with the world.  Since its inception in 2006, thirty-six PAH-Fests have been conducted worldwide.

Travelling across the United States and overseas, PAH-Fest is a groundbreaking digital media festival that celebrates the stories and voices of everyday people. Through a variety of free contests, local participants are invited to create their own short digital films with pro-sumer cameras and video-enabled mobile phones provided by the Festival. Experienced industry “coaches” help festival participants realize their vision within the allotted timeframe.

PAH Festival categories include: (1) Mobiflicks – the premiere contest in which teams of local citizens create a 6 minute film in 5 days.  The submission process for Mobiflicks is done on-line in advance of the festival.  Please submit your story ideas to www.pahfest.org by October 11, 2012 to be considered for this contest.

Additional categories include: (2) Cell Phone Art – a one minute or less video created on a video-enabled cell phone; (3) DigiPortraits – using digital cameras, participants create a two minute portrait of themselves or another person; (4) Circus Vision Challenge – using a pocket camcorder, children 12 and under gather a list of visual ingredients at a landmark location; (5) 3 Shot Challenge – teenagers make a film using only three specific shots about their community and (6) Tone Poem – allows musicians to shoot and edit visual imagery for their original music composed during the festival.

PAH-Fest supplies a complete editing system and technical support to edit and finish all work.

Winning films from PAH-Fest Hollywood will be screened in a closing ceremony, and posted online for an international audience, on October 28th.   This event is open for the public and admittance is free.

“Mark Twain said true greatness is when you help others find their own greatness within themselves.  I created PAH to do just that. Everyone has a story to tell and I want people to have the tools to share their stories in a meaningful way. None of these films existed until people in the community came together during the festival and that’s the magic of it all,” said Christopher Coppola.

With the assistance of LA’s BEST, PAH will also hold an Intercontinental PAH-Fest between Pacoima Charter School and Freie Waldorfschule in Oldenburg, Germany, in association with Torsten Neuman's Oldenburg Film Festival. LA’s BEST is a nationally recognized after school enrichment program serving more than 28,000 students with the greatest needs and fewest resources in the city of Los Angeles.  Established in 1988, LA’s BEST is a partnership between the city of L.A., LAUSD, and the private sector.  This event, which is geared toward friendship and bridging cultures through teaching the fundamentals of digital filmmaking for students from grades 5-11, will take place from September 10th through the 15th.

"PAH's digital storytelling expertise and film festival format provide amazing opportunities for LA's BEST students to unleash their creative expression and develop 21st century skills,” said LA’s BEST Director of Digital Learning Jennifer Cano.

For more information about Christopher Coppola and the upcoming PAH-Fest events, please go their website at http://www.pahfest.org/.

Also see their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PAHNATIONfest

About Christopher Coppola:

In addition to his work with PAH, Christopher Coppola is a writer, producer and director of a number of feature films and television shows. He has developed and produced content for alternative distribution and interactive platforms and has premiered his “HD: American Portraits” on the Wal-Mart in-store network, which reached over 160 million people. Coppola is also known as the “Biker Chef” who travels the country’s blue highways with his trusted comrade “Biker Cat” following a noble quest to celebrate the endless diversity of people, their cultures, and cuisine.

Coppola’s educational initiatives include the Christopher Coppola High Definition Research Laboratory located at the San Francisco Art Institute, his Alma Mater.  He is also an adjunct film professor in the Broadcast Cinema Arts Department of Madonna University, as well as a frequent lecturer at other schools including San Francisco Art Institute, CSU San Francisco, Chapman University, Columbia College Chicago, Los Angeles City College, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of New Mexico Grants and Broadview School of Electronic Arts.  He’s also participated on many professional panels on Digital Filmmaking including HD Expo, NAB, SHOWWEST, American Film Market, DGA Digital Day, Cinequest, New Media Expo and ICE in Canada.  Christopher Coppola also does a lot of charity work especially with the Shriners Hospitals for Children.  He's been called the "Coppola with a cause."

In 2006 he created Project Accessible Hollywood (PAH), a non-profit organization that brings digital empowerment to communities and individuals worldwide. Designed to reach the “everyday person,” PAH seeks to educate people on using simple digital media while encouraging them to express themselves artistically.  Through its free, new media festivals, PAH brings technology, education and community engagement, while supporting artistic expression through a digital storytelling competition.  To date, Coppola has held thirty-six digital media festivals, called PAH-Fests, across the U.S. and abroad.

A member of the prolific Coppola family, Christopher studied music composition at Redlands University, where he received the prestigious California Arts Council Award for his opera “Plato’s Cave,” and for his clarinet quintet “Reverie.” He then went on to study film at The San Francisco Art Institute where he made several award-winning student films before graduating in 1987.