Rebecca Yeldham [Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Producer]

By: Julian Chavez | June 25, 2010 | Ten by Ten

Rebecca Yeldham was recently named director of Film Independent’s upcoming Los Angeles Film Festival, of which she previously sat on the executive board. She’s worked in festival programming, as a production and acquisition executive, and is a famed film producer. Yeldham’s name is attached to the award-winning films The Kite Runner and The Motorcycle Diaries, and is credited for discovering the most successful independent film of all time, The Blair Witch Project. As the LAFF grows in prominence, she continues to champion films and filmmakers.

What inspired you to work in the entertainment business?
Growing up in Australia, I was exposed to a wealth of international art cinema as well as a generation of extraordinary local filmmakers (such as Peter Weir, Fred Schepisi, Gillian Armstrong). Movies were my entree to the big wide world, and very early on I saw film as an art form and a medium with the power to connect across cultures and borders.

In one or two sentences, how would you describe the current state of the industry?
These have been turbulent times, particularly for those who are not in the business of making films for children or childlike adults! However, as history has often proven, out of adversity comes creativity, and the degree to which filmmakers are now engaged in the creative reimagining of new marketing and distribution paradigms is extremely exciting.

In your opinion what constitutes great storytelling?
Great storytelling is always rooted in truth, and the greatest storytelling, for me, is when truth lies in characters, scenarios, humor, cultural specificities and worlds that are unfamiliar and unanticipated.

What contemporary artists do you admire and why?
Todd Haynes (for pursuing his art and vision independently so successfully), Chris Nolan (for pursuing his art and vision so successfully commercially), Kathryn Bigelow (for making kick-ass movies that defy stereotypes of what women’s art should be).

Please list your top five films of the decade and why?
In no particular order and not including the movies I’ve made:

WALL-E, In the Mood for Love, No Country for Old Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Hurt Locker.

What do you consider your greatest career achievement?
There’ve been a few — but it always comes down to those extraordinary moments where you see your subjects, actors and filmmakers loved, truly loved, and profoundly moved by the reactions of audiences to their work. I was blessed to experience that on Anvil! The Story of Anvil (when the band received a 10-minute standing ovation from more than 1,200 people in their hometown of Toronto — a town that had rejected them for 20 years), in Dubai when hundreds of people lined up to embrace the young stars of The Kite Runner after the premiere, and our very emotional euphoric screening of The Motorcycle Diaries at the Grand Palais in Cannes.

What do you consider your greatest career failure?
Mistakes, I’ve made a few, but fortunately my failures haven’t yet qualified for “greatest” status.

What do you believe is the biggest problem currently facing the entertainment business?
Audiences increasingly expecting their content to be delivered free of charge to their homes.

What new technology currently having an impact on your industry are you most excited about and why? What technology are you most afraid of and why?
Excited: peer-to-peer viral marketing. Afraid of: free downloads

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
From Barbara Boyle, legendary producer: Don’t apologize or feel guilty about your work and career. It’s part of who you are and what makes you soar. If you walk out the door every day with that attitude and knowledge in your heart, your children will understand and embrace the [many] facets of your life. That being said, to quote Lips Kudlow of Anvil!, “Family’s important sh*t man,” and family comes before everything.”

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