International Festival of Arts & Innovation at Chautauqua Inst. Runs 6/11-13

The 1st International Festival of Arts and Innovation will begin on June 11, 2010, at Chautauqua Institution in Western New York State in partnership with The Toronto International Film Festival (known as TIFF.365). Focusing on the best of Canadian Cinema, The Festival will feature the film premiere of CAIRO TIME, followed by a family film event featuring the award-winning ST. RALPH, the story of a 9th grader who outran everyone's expectations except his own in his bold quest to win the Boston Marathon. The Film Festival will also include selected short animated films from the "Best of TIFF" and the "TIFF Short Cuts" programs. All film screenings will be at the Chautauqua Cinema.

Internationally-recognized filmmakers and artists will be joining the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania's Animation Department offering interactive workshops on Saturday, June 12 from 10 AM to 1 PM and from 2 PM to 5 PM at Lenna Hall and McKnight RecitAl Hall. Professional animators will take students from a survey of animation through a hands-on workshop followed by a screening of student films. Workshop tickets are $25 and include all materials.

Graduates of Edinboro University's Cinema program, which includes animation, film and video, have worked as key animators, assistant directors and computer animators for Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Film Roman, Digital Muse, Rhythm and Hues, and many others.

Chautauqua Institution is located between Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, near Lake Erie in Western New York State. It is accessible via Interstates 90 and 86.

VIP Weekend Tickets provide a 3-day admission to the opening night premiere with featured actors, directors, and filmmakers; screenings of award-winning films; student films; workshops and lectures. Tickets are also available for individual events. The Festival Ticket office is located at the Jamestown Ice Arena, Jamestown, NY prior to June 11, and at Fletcher Music Hall from June 11 to 13.

For more information on The Festival or LakeArts Foundation call (716) 451-4004 or visit www.lakeartsfoundation.org for up-dated event information, accommodations, and ticket purchase.

About LAKEARTS FOUNDATIONFormed in 2008 by American and Canadian partners, LAKEARTS is a New York-based company with extensive experience in arts and entertainment production, education and business. The company is focused on film, television, live performing arts, creative technologies, and business strategies for the future. The LakeArts Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization committed to the development and presentation of global innovation in the arts and technology through an International Festival of Arts and Innovation to be held each Spring and Fall on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution.

In coming months LakeArts Foundation will join with such world-renowned entities as the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Ontario, Carnegie Mellon University, The Shaw Festival, The Disney Corporation, The Toronto International Film Festival and Edinboro University to present new and exciting collaborations between the arts and technology. Set on beautiful Lake Chautauqua, the International Festival of Arts and Innovation will present artists of music, dance, film and theatre; new works in development, symposia and workshops that advance independent thought and artistic expression.

Margaret Johnson, Founder/Executive Director,
LakeArts Foundation, Inc.
Margaret Johnson has been involved in the film and theatre industry for over twenty years. She joined Disney Studio's feature-film development Creative Executive team in Burbank in 1991, where she was instrumental in developing The Mighty Ducks, James and the Giant Peach, and Iron Will as well as such Disney Animations films as Pocahontas II and Lilo and Stitch. Following two years at Paramount Studio's film production division she returned to Disney Studio where she worked with Buena Vista International Distribution and Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, handling advertising and marketing for over 65 films. Ms. Johnson produced and wrote several pilots for Lifetime, Showtime and HBO TV, in addition to developing full-length comedy film concepts before launching her consulting and Production Company, MJJL, Inc., She also associate produced several documentaries for Japanese television about the Hollywood film industry.

Bonnie Nelson Schwartz, Executive Director, LakeArts Foundation, Inc., is a producer of theatre, film and television. She has more than 100 plays, films, television programs, and concerts in Washington, DC, New York and London to her credit. On Broadway, she co-produced Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare, Pack of Lies, Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair. Her Off-Broadway credits include Dylan Thomas: Return Journey, directed by Anthony Hopkins. Her many concert productions include Give My Regards to Broadway: A Salute to 125 Years of Musical Theater at Carnegie Hall, the London production of Panbeaters, An Irish Valentine, ADL: In Concert Against Hate with the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Duke Ellington 90th Birthday Celebration. Ms. Schwartz is the founder and original producer of Washington, DC's Helen Hayes Awards; producer for the Closing Ceremonies of the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic Games, and created and produced The Olympic Woman, a multi-media exhibition for the Atlanta Games. Recent productions include Changing Lives in South Africa featuring Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki; A Concert Against Hate with the National Symphony Orchestra; and The Choral Arts Society's 20th AnnuAl Martin Luther King Tribute Concert at the Kennedy Center. Her documentary, Studs Terkel: Listening to America is airing on HBO.

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