The Boston International Film Festival is proud to announce that they will offer an exclusive VIP discussion panel for VIP pass holders. This event will take place on Saturday April 13th between from 10a.m.-12p.m. Once again VIP pass holders receive priority access to this event. To RSVP, please Register Here
Meichelle Varone – Moderator
Is our panel discussion moderator. Meichelle sits on the Film Review Committee for the Boston International Film Festival. In 2008 she founded Webuildthecommunity.org a non-profit geared towards helping low income artists bring their films to life. She’s received a number of writing awards including Boston’s Mayor Menino writing awards.
To support her artistic endeavors she also holds a Real Estate Broker's license and has extensive investment experience. In her spare time she enjoys fine arts, reading, writing, taking acting classes through Boston Casting, and travel.
Barbie Castro – Actress/Producer
Is an Actress/Producer who is working in the South Florida. After taking a hiatus from the theater world to become a mom and dynamo Fort Lauderdale-based real estate agent, a "spark of inspiration" from the most unlikely of sources motivated her to return to her performing roots, more determined than ever to achieve success.
In 2011 she relied on her business savvy and entertainment insights to form Concord Films, LLC. Right out of the gate, she produced and starred in the short film, Conduit (2011)¸ directed by Alyn Darnay The film highlights the story of a woman trying to deal with the death of her young daughter when a stranger delivers a message which could change her life, or possibly end it. Conduit (2011) received critical acclaim, garnering 16 awards and nominations, including 6 Best Actress awards for Barbie's heart-felt performance, which lead to her being named as a semi-finalist in the NexTV Acting & Directing Talent Search for her work.
Barbie and Concord Films have since produced a KILLER library of movies, that are airing on Lifetime &/or Lifetime Movie Network… ASSUMED KILLER, PATIENT KILLER, BOYFRIEND KILLER and currently in post production GIRLFRIEND KILLER… she has 2 features in development for 2017; KILLER ISLAND and LIFESTYLE KILLER. Her movies have a flair of recognizable faces such as Casper Van Dien, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Patrick Muldoon, Corin Nemec, Dina Meyer, Victoria Pratt, Jason Cook, Kate Mansi, Brian Gross and many more.
She continues to juggle her acting and producing passion with her real estate success, and credits her loving husband and two beautiful daughters as her greatest accomplishment, Eric R. Castro, the COO of Banker's Healthcare Group, Inc., Rhys Castro & Taylor Castro.
Alyn Darnay - Director
Alyn's peers and producers have consistently recognized his Directorial and Writing work as some of the "best of the best". He has earned twenty-six outstanding awards of excellence for his work in film. Recently, "Women In Film/Miami" named him their "Director of the Year".
Alyn has completed directorial work on the feature films: "Shadow Fighter" with Burt Reynolds; "KRISSY BELLE" featuring comic actress Carole Wood; and the multi-award winning Holocaust film "IMMUNITY" staring Rena Sofer; "Boyfriend Killer" his latest suspense feature staring Kate Mansi, Patrick Muldoon, Barbie Castro, and Yancy Butler and “Girlfriend Killer” another suspense thriller with Barbie Castro, Brian Gross, Jason Cook, Dina Meyer, and Corin Nemec which is currently in post-production; it marks the third film he's done with actress Barbie Castro, the first being "CONDUIT" which won awards at seventeen film festivals and garnered Barbie seven "Best Actress" awards.
Alyn's acclaimed book, entitled "The Script…A Breakthrough Guide to Scriptwriting", has sold over 16,500 copies nationwide, is currently being translated into several languages, and has the honor of being included in The Library of France in Paris. He has written and sold five original film scripts and been published in Newspapers and National Magazines. In addition, he is a frequent guest lecturer at Film Festivals, Colleges, and Universities, holds scriptwriting and acting seminars for professionals several times a year, and has been a staff professor at both the Miami Film School, and the Florida Film Institute.
Alyn also writes a popular bi-monthly film review column for "WIRE Magazine", as well as reviews for "Your Entertainment Ticket", "Irate Films", “Film Grouch", and several other entertainment websites