Two outstanding young artists, Liliana Greenfield-Sanders of New York City and Jessica Marie Sutherland of Berea, Ohio, the first-ever winners of the Lifetime Movie Network Student Filmmaker Competition, will be stepping into the industry spotlight when they are honored at the star-studded 2007 Women in Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast, hosted by Lifetime Networks and The Hollywood Reporter, on Tuesday, December 4 in Los Angeles.
Lifetime Movie Network, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), The William Morris Agency and Women In Film Los Angeles sponsored the national competition, designed to encourage and discover the next generation of female filmmakers.
Said Louise Henry Bryson, Executive Vice President/General Manager, Lifetime Movie Network: "Lifetime Movie Network is the #2 women's network, second only to Lifetime, and the channel has been experiencing a surge in ratings. So we're already the home for women who watch movies, but we also want to be the home for women who make movies. The Lifetime Movie Network Student Filmmaker Competition is critical to fostering and inspiring such talented women like Liliana and Jessica and we are proud to be showcasing their incredible work."
Greenfield-Sanders' first place film "Anna," about a peculiar young woman who struggles to connect with the people she encounters in the East Village of New York City, will make its world premiere on Lifetime Movie Network on Tuesday, December 11, and will also be shown on www.lmn.tv. Her first film, "Ghosts of Grey Gardens," premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2005. It has also been screened at the Museum of Modern Art and made its television debut on PBS in 2006.
She currently attends NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Program in Film.
Sutherland is a Master's student at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. "Seven Turn," her first-ever film, is based on Jessica's memory of her own seventh birthday party, the same day her father died.
Both films were screened during a reception, honoring them and other women filmmakers, at the 2007 Hamptons International Film Festival on October 20.
An elite panel of producers, directors, executives and actors from the Hollywood community, including Lauren Shuler Donner, prolific producer of hits such as the "X-Men" movies and "You've Got Mail"; Gale Anne Hurd, producer of box office favorites like "The Terminator" movies; Mimi Leder, veteran director of television series like "ER" and "L.A. Law"; actress and producer Jennifer Lopez; and Catherine Olim, Managing Director of PMKHBH Public Relations, assessed nearly 70 short films produced by female film students from across the country. The contest was open to all female film students, including executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors.
