Charlotte Lazenberry Chairs Annual Film Festival Of The Large Format Cinema Association

Charlotte Lazenberry will chair the Large Format Film Festival of the Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) taking place in Los Angeles, California, May 17-20, 2000 as part of LFCA 2000, the fourth annual LFCA Conference. Lazenberry is Director of Film Distribution and Production for the Houston Museum of Natural Science.LFCA presents the only large format film festival featuring screenings in 70mm 8-perforation (8/70) as well as 70mm 15-perforation (15/70), in 2D and 3D. ""Film buyers with 8/70 theaters have been under-served,"" says Lazenberry. ""The majority of large format theaters around the world are 15/70 but 8/70 theaters are a significant and increasing minority - currently numbering 69, roughly 23 percent of about 306 theaters. (15/70 theaters number about 225; most of the remainder are 10/70, a prevalent format in Japan.) Exhibitors, distributors and producers need to see films in both formats.""The festival will present full-length features as well as shorts in 2D and 3D. Large format features are generally about 40 minutes long, supporting a one-hour turnover in theaters. A notable recent exception is the giant-screen version of Fantasia/2000 which clocks in at 72 minutes and may signal a trend towards longer films.Many large format films are released in spring, and the Film Festival is expected to include several industry premieres. ""This year's crop of new releases is quite diverse,"" notes Lazenberry. ""We're seeing sports films,animated films and pure entertainment films along with the more traditional science and nature documentaries, and we're looking forward to showing the best of them. Large format film buyers have a wider selection than ever before.""LFCA is actively working to increase the number of film buyers that attend. ""A primary goal of our organization is to develop the spring film market for the large format industry,"" says LFCA President Christopher Reyna. ""Conference attendees will include a significant number of institutional and commercial exhibitors shopping for product to put in their 15/70 or 8/70 theaters.""Charlotte Lazenberry was hired in 1993 to direct the film distribution activities of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The museum's releases include ""Africa: The Serengeti"" (1994) and ""Alaska: Spirit of the Wild"" (1997) which was nominated for an Academy AwardÆ.About The Large Format Cinema AssociationFounded in September 1996, the Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) is a not-for-profit international association open to all those interested in the worldwide large format industry, including filmmakers, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, theaters and their support industry, as well as film students, film studios and theme parks. Current membership is approximately 330. Charter President is Christopher Reyna, President of IMAGICA USA INC.The mission of LFCA is to promote global public awareness of large-screen entertainment formats, to provide a forum for sharing information and to foster the growth of the industry. For more information, contact LFCA Headquarters at 949 831 1142, fax 949 831 4948 or visit the Web site at www.LFCA.org.