The Newport Beach Film Festival marks its 25th edition with a show-stopping lineup of screenings, parties and special events.
By Sharon Stello
In honor of its milestone year, the 25th annual Newport Beach Film Festival is pulling out all the stops with a film and fashion showcase featuring a prominent costume designer, a new automotive short film competition, a Cinematographer’s Day and more from Oct. 17-24.
While this year will be a big celebration, festival co-founders Gregg Schwenk and Todd Quartararo are also taking a moment to reflect on the event’s beginnings and what it has become. From approximately 300 screenings of independent and major motion pictures—often premiering films that go on to win big awards—to star-studded red carpet events, panel discussions and parties spread over a week, it’s a movie lover’s paradise.
“We are both immensely proud of what has been built and what we’ve been able to provide and give back to the community for over a quarter of a century,” says Schwenk, the festival’s CEO.
“It’s hard to imagine, when we started this, that this festival would grow to become a major player in the national landscape for film entertainment,” adds Quartararo, the festival’s marketing director. “ … We’re very proud of what we’ve become and to be one of the largest film festivals in Southern California, … it’s very inspiring.”
For the Love of Film
The festival grew from their appreciation for good movies, first and foremost. “I grew up watching films with my parents and my brother and, really, film was the medium of our generation,” says Schwenk, who went on to study the economic benefits of regional film production while at UC Berkeley. “I really fell in love with the business side of show business.”
Quartararo recalls films like “Star Wars,” “E.T.” and “Poltergeist” that had an impact on him as a child. He loves the storytelling side of films—“really their ability to transport you and capture your imagination,” he says.
With Schwenk’s background in business and Quartararo’s marketing and events promotion experience, they decided to partner up, bringing together both of their strengths to build the festival. When the pair were first deciding where to hold the event, Newport seemed an obvious choice. Both are from the area—Schwenk grew up in Newport and Quartararo is from Irvine—and they agreed this was the right location, replete with movie theaters, hotels for out-of-town participants and grand venues for parties and other events.
“We both … realized that this was the perfect setting for a global film festival,” Schwenk says. “… Both of us attended, independently, other film festivals around the United States and we realized that Newport Beach offers some really unique and special opportunities both for the filmmakers and for the audience. With our proximity to Hollywood and the incredible backdrop that is Newport Beach, we really couldn’t think of anywhere else that would be a better setting for a global film event.”
Originally held in the spring, the festival shifted to the fall during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, running as a virtual event with a drive-in movie component that year. That move to the fall has come with some unexpected benefits, so organizers have continued with the autumn timeframe.
“We actually have one of the largest groupings of Guild and Academy voters here in Orange County outside of Los Angeles and New York,” Quartararo says. “So, now that we’re in the fall space, we’ve become a pivotal stop on the For Your Consideration tours in the race for the Oscars. It’s been quite a game changer and we’re getting every major celebrity and film that’s campaigning stopping in Newport. It’s been just tremendous for us and it’s really catapulted us into the conversation on the road to Oscar.”
Schwenk notes that the festival couldn’t happen without its dedicated staff members—a team of about 25 year-round, doubling closer to event time—plus approximately 500 volunteers and 50 interns throughout the year.
The event’s industry partnerships have also grown over the years. “We host not one but two of Variety’s major 10 to Watch programs,” Schwenk says. “There’s no other festival in the world that does that. We host not one but two ‘Awards Chatter’ [sessions] … with Scott Feinberg and The Hollywood Reporter. Cannes has one. … We have incredible films, we have amazing venues, but the relationships that we have with the industry and the creative community has been a real hallmark of our success.”
The festival also brings top filmmakers to give talks. “When we had Ron Howard out, people were talking about how gracious he was in giving of his time,” Schwenk says. “And that’s really reflective of the kind of experiences that we have. … We bring in people who want to be engaging with our audience. The same is true with Eddie Redmayne and Adam Sandler. … We really try to bring celebrities and VIPs that people will find interesting.”
A Marquee Event
Schwenk emphasizes that this festival is not just for Hollywood’s movers and shakers, but for all to enjoy.
“Even after 25 years, we still get people saying, ‘I thought it was only for people in the industry,’ ” he says. “The festival is for our community and it’s something that everyone can participate in. If you’ve ever wanted to go out and get red carpet ready and … and feel like a VIP, the Newport Beach Film Festival is the experience for you.”
Schwenk says he wants community members to feel welcome and experience the festival. “We bring the industry, we bring the creative community here to Orange County for everyone,” he says.
Organizers review more than 3,000 film submissions to choose approximately 300 to show at the festival, which draws 58,000 attendees. This year’s films had not been announced as of press time. But the festival kicks off with a popular opening night party at Fashion Island featuring “world-class entertainment, 30 of the area’s top restaurants sampling their signature bites, hosted bars by Tito’s and others, and it’s a spectacular way to kick off the festival with 2,000 of your closest friends,” Quartararo says.
Last year, the festival experimented with keeping the opening night stage up throughout the weekend at Fashion Island for programs like a book signing and a conversation with music producer Mark Ronson, who worked on the “Barbie” movie. This year, the festival is partnering with Fashion Island’s StyleWeekOC, which runs from Oct. 16-20.
“We actually are celebrating the marriage of film and fashion and we have some amazing free opportunities for people to come to Fashion Island,” Quartararo says. “… There’s so much synergy with fashion and film and so we’re going to have some amazing Oscar-winning costume designers, we’re going to have some noted authors doing book signings and conversations and some costume displays from some of the top fall films.”
Among the fashion elements are a display, which will highlight pieces by Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, and a book signing with Stassi Schroeder of TV show “Vanderpump Rules.”
The festival is also adding an Automotive Short Film Competition in partnership with Ant Anstead, an expert in the automotive space who has written, produced and directed content that inspires fellow enthusiasts; he is perhaps best known for hosting over 25 TV shows including Discovery Channel’s “Wheeler Dealers” as well as “Celebrity IOU: Joyride” and “Radford Returns,” both on Discovery+. On Oct. 18, the festival will showcase 10 films in this category plus a Q&A at Lido Theater.
“Ant’s a legend here in Orange County and really throughout the world,” Quartararo says. “His passion and focus is automotive, obviously. We had been talking for some time about how we could work together on a project and this was really Ant’s dream to be able to work with the Newport Beach Film Festival, celebrate creativity and his love for automobiles.
“And so we have a collection of leading edge automotive focused short films and Ant has put together an incredible lineup of jurors that will review and we will share all of these films. And the jurors will share, there on the spot, the winner that night.”
Quartararo notes that the automotive films may range from animation to narratives to stories about road trips. “Anything you can imagine as long as it celebrates the love of driving,” he says. “It’s meant to cast a wide net. We’ve been just thrilled by what’s been pouring in from the filmmaking and automotive community.”
The festival will also host a Cinematographers Day, which is free to the public, on Oct. 19. “These are the men and women behind the camera who create and craft the look of the film,” Schwenk says. The day will be dedicated to discussion and interaction with leading and up-and-coming cinematographers including “a legendary cinematographer, who can talk about all of the work that they have done on nature films—it’s a very special opportunity,” Schewnk says.
In addition to special events, screenings range from feature films to documentaries, shorts, movies about action sports, arts and architecture, the culinary world and environmental issues, so there’s bound to be a piece of cinema that fits your interests.
Quartararo says his favorite is the youth category for age 18 and under. “It is remarkable to see these young filmmakers that really haven’t had any sort of inhibitions on how to do things,” he says. “They’re just so freeform and free thinking. Some of the films we get submitted are just spectacular and groundbreaking. And to see them fly into town with their families and see their film play on the big screen at the Newport Beach Film Festival, it’s so heartwarming.”
Each year, the festival also partners with more than 40 local nonprofits, pairing each with a film that aligns with its mission and providing the organization a place to present its message to large audiences.
And that’s really the root of the festival’s focus, to present films and events for the local community to enjoy and participate in. At the same time, it’s all about celebrating great movies—so grab a ticket, find your seat and don’t forget the popcorn.
