Friday, April 25, 2008

IMTA Alumni Films at The Newport Beach Film Festival!

Brittany Curran with Lucas Grabeel
The Adventures of Food Boy



Brandon Routh in a scene from Lie To Me

Several IMTA alumni are starring in movies which showcase their talents this week at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California. The acclaimed Festival will host premieres, events and galas in beautiful Newport Beach, CA. Among the prestigious offerings will be six movies that star seven IMTA alumni!


Lie to Me stars two IMTA alumni, Steve Sandvoss and Brandon Routh. This movie is a romantic comedy about best friends, love and marriage. Brandon competed at IMTA in 1999 in New York City and is best known as Superman/Clark Kent in Superman Returns. Steve competed at the L.A. 2003 IMTA Convention where he caught the eye of Al Onorato, the same manager who started Elijah Wood and Katie Holmes' careers. The Festival will be the world-premiere for this film! You can watch the trailer here:



Alyson Stoner stars as the 11 year old Alice McKinley in Alice Upside Down, a coming of age drama about a teenage girl who is mourning the death of her mother. To cope with her grief, she escapes into a vivid fantasy life which sometimes gets her into trouble. Alyson competed at IMTA in New York City in 2000 and is one of young Hollywood's most popular actresses. Her new Disney movie Camp Rock will air on June 20. Alyson will be at the Newport Film Festival signing autographs at the premiere of Alice Upside Down. Alyson recorded a video invitation to invite her fans and filmgoers to the screening that you can watch here:




Brittany Curran has two films appearing in this festival: Adventures of Food Boy and Diamond Dog Caper. Brittany competed at IMTA and signed with industry greats Diane Hardin and Judy Savage. In her movie Diamond Dog Caper, Brittany plays the main character's self-involved older sister Lilly in this hilarious comedy about diamond thieves and their dog. In Adventures of Food Boy Brittany plays Shelby in this comedy which is about a boy who can make food magically appear.
Watch the trailer for Adventures of Food Boy here:



IMTA Alum Kunal Sharma is also part of the cast of Adventures of Food Boy! He plays the role of Joel in the movie. Kunal recently did an interview promoting the film and he mentions his IMTA experience:

Check it out!
Hi Kunal. It’s great to see you again, and thanks for spending some time with us today. To start, can you tell us how you got into acting?
Though I always had an interest in the performing arts, I began to actively pursue it after participating in IMTA. This is a nationwide talent competition held in Los Angeles where kids are able to showcase their acting prowess as well as get a chance to meet people from the industry. Thereafter, I began to take some acting classes in LA and this solidified my passion.
You can read the entire interview and see photos of Kunal on the set here on the official Adventures of Food Boy blog!

The Art of Travel is also playing and stars IMTA alum from 1994 Los Angeles Brooke Burns. The film tells the story about a young man who goes to South America on his honeymoon alone after his wedding falls apart. Brooke is starring as Darlene Loren in this adventure movie.You can catch Brooke on TV now in the hilarious comedy produced by fellow IMTA alum Ashton Kutcher, in Miss Guided. You can watch The Art of Travel trailer here (the trailer is for mature audiences only):


Jessica Biel is starring in the short film Hole in the Paper Sky. This film revolves around the self discovery a young doctoral student learns when he saves a laboratory dog and finds love. Jessica has made an impact in Hollywood ever since she competed at IMTA in 1994. After competing at IMTA, her breakthrough role was as Mary Camden on the very popular WB series 7th Heaven. Hole in the Paper Sky is garnering rave reviews. Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel said, "Bill Purple's Hole in the Sky is 33 minutes of exquisitely observed loneliness and is easily the saddest film in this year's Florida Film Festival. It's a simple story, handsomely mounted and told with pathos by a terrific cast that includes Jessica Biel, Steven Collins and Garry Marshall."


For more information on any of these films starring the amazing IMTA alums, please visit the Newport Beach Film Festival's official site!

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