About 100 people gathered to kick off the Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival's 2011 screening series.
The event, which happened Wednesday at a suite in the Tower Plaza shopping center on Ynez and Rancho California roads, included a short film screening and an after-party.
Guests were also entertained by Murrieta teen musician Ashley Zavala.
The 17th-annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival is set to run Sept. 14-18, and community sneak previews, which offer the audience a chance to help determine which film submissions become “official selections,” will be held July 13, 20, 27 and Aug. 3 and 10 at the Tower Plaza Shopping Center at 27485 Ynez Road next to Texas Loosey’s.
“I think it’s cool that the filmmakers work so hard on the film and so many people come out and they get to see it,” Zavala said when she wasn't strumming her acoustic guitar. “I’m honored to be able to play here.”
Recent Temecula transplant and budding filmmaker Nancy Spurlock, who attended with her son, Stryker, was impressed by the films at the launch party and can't wait to see more.
“This was my first Temecula Film Festival experience. All the films were diverse and entertaining,” Spurlock said. “The film festival staff did a good job putting it all together.”
The Spurlocks are currently collaborating on a project with Temecula filmmaker John P. Hess, whose two films, the thriller “Pitch Black,” and the comedy “Trouble in the Movie Queue,” were part of Wednesday’s film lineup.
For more information, including how to join the Temecula Valley Film & Music Society, click here.
