With Monday’s closing night awards ceremony, the Long Beach International Film festival wrapped up its third triumphant year. Building on the success of the inaugural event last year, this year’s festival featured five days of short and feature films from around the world, as well as unique events and activities. As a presenting sponsor, Bowen Media was extremely proud to provide the website design and development for the festival. Longbeachfilm.com served as the central hub for all festival events, news, film details, sponsors, and ticket information. Bowen Media staff attended each event and had an absolute blast!
The festival began Wednesday night with our ticketing partners at the Molloy College, Madison Theatre hosting the opening night ceremony. Featuring a performance by American Idol contestant Siobhan Magnus and the World Premiere of The Wisdom to Know the Difference, a film written and directed by Daniel Baldwin, the event was off to an epic start.
Friday night’s big events kicked off with the Red Carpet along with a free concert series on the beach outside of the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach. The VIP tent quickly became the life of the party, overflowing with sponsors, filmmakers, actors, photographers, and a sea of smiling faces. Following the red carpet and musical events, the giant screen illuminated and the beach chairs filled up for the Shorts on the Beach Film Series. With 15 films on tap (including a few shot and edited right here on Long Island!), the night proved to be a fantastic time by all.
The festival continued on Saturday and Sunday at the Madison Theater featuring brilliant independent full-length and short films from all around the globe. Films rolled all day, most blocks followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. From comedies to dramas to documentaries, everyone in attendance was able to find something they connected with. A full schedule of all the films shown can be found at longbeachfilm.com/schedule.
Finally, the festival took a bow Monday night with the closing awards ceremony, once again held at the Madison Theater at Molloy College. Hosted by one of Long Island’s comedy kings, Joey Kola, the ceremony was a perfect mix of emotional speeches and hilarious musical numbers. The Oscar-like gala highlighted the week’s best films, directors, and actors with awards presented by the famous faces of News 12’s Elisa DiStefano, Daniel Baldwin, and more. Also including an amazing comedic performance by Chris Monty and the cast of Shut Up, Sit Down and Eat, the evening was a perfect cap to an incredible week of films and Long Island star power.
This year’s film festival was a great experience for everyone involved and the team here at Bowen Media was immensely proud to have been able to play our part in helping to grow and promote it. It was a true pleasure working with founders Ingrid Dodd and Craig Weintraub, and ensuring that their vision was brought to life. We are already looking forward to helping the LBIFF team make next year’s event an even better experience for the Long Island film community.