The Heart Of Show Business With Alexia Melocchi
Step into the bold and unfiltered world of show business with Alexia Melocchi—PGA producer, international distributor, author, and 30-year Hollywood insider.
This is your backstage pass to the mindset, tactics, and truth behind how Hollywood really works. Through raw and inspiring conversations with A-list creators, business leaders, and global thought shapers, you'll discover the real strategies that lead to lasting success—on and off the screen.
From insider tips to soulful storytelling, each episode is a masterclass in making your mark—not just in showbiz, but in every area of life.
The Heart Of Show Business With Alexia Melocchi
Exploring Southeast European Cinema: A Conversation with SEEfest Founder Vera Mijojlić
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In this episode I sit down with the remarkable Vera Mijojlić, the visionary founder behind the Southeast European Film Festival in Los Angeles. Together, we paint a vivid picture of a region's heart and soul, captured through the lens of its filmmakers. It's a conversation that transcends the expected narratives of conflict, inviting you to discover a world where the drama of real life inspires profound storytelling. My own memories of SEEfest, from teaching to adjudicating, serve as a testament to the festival's power in nurturing emerging talents and celebrating our shared human experiences.
This week's talk also shines a spotlight on the unsung heroes of cultural events: the sponsors and volunteers. Their dedication is the lifeblood that allows the festival to flourish, supporting a stage where new voices can be heard and appreciated. As we prepare for the upcoming edition in Los Angeles, my heart is full of gratitude for the community that comes together in this celebration of cinema. From the anticipation of witnessing a premiere talent to the joy of connecting with you through our shared passion for storytelling, this episode is an invitation to join us in an ongoing dialogue that revels in the diversity and richness of Southeast European narratives.
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Welcome to the heart of show business. I am your host, alexia Melocchi. I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society. Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together. Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together. My guests and I want to give you insider access to how the film, television and music industry works. We will cover dreams come true, the road less traveled journey beginnings and a lot of insight and inspiration in between. I am a successful film and television entrepreneur who came to America as a teenager to pursue my show business dreams. Are you ready for some unfiltered real talk with entertainment visionaries from all over the world? Then let's roll. Sound and action.
Speaker 2Hello to everyone you heart-centered artists and humans in the heart of show business. Thank you again for tuning in to yet another fun and exciting episode. You know that I love bringing in interesting people who are doing cool things in the art, but also just to make the word about a place overall. So I have with me and, oh my gosh, I'm going to butcher her name. I just know it already because I'm gonna butcher her name. I just know it already because I'm having like impostor syndrome. But I have with me Vera Mijorjevic.
Speaker 3Yes, yes, I said that, yeah, you got it you got it.
Speaker 2As you watch, the sweat beads go off on my, on my. But yes, vera, is she? Beyond the fact that she's an incredible human and she's a longtime friend, but she is also the founder of this festival called Seafest, which is a beautiful short name for the Southeast European Film Festival. She's a cultural producer. She created the festival back in 2006. And she is also, of course, a film critic, a culture reporter, a journalist, got a degree in journalist at the University of Belgrade. She has a distinguished record in humanitarian work and she's got so many awards Women in Leadership Awards from the City of West Hollywood, city of Beverly Hills and she's, of course, a member of the European Film Academy, which is very interesting. And we're here to talk about this incredible Little Gem of a Festival that I'm a proud attendee yearly since I first discovered it, and I've also taught a few classes and I've sat on some of them. I've been a jury member, I think as well once, and so welcome to my show, vera.
Speaker 3Well, thank you so much for having me. I really was looking forward to this and it's great to talk to you because it's also good for me and for, I think, our audiences, to have an industry person like you who covers all kinds of different topics from different perspectives in our industry industry. So I think that's really great.
Speaker 2It's not just one avenue of inquiry, but multiple, multiple exactly, and I think what I love about this is that I think people need to know, people think of festivals as just like the big ones, right, you know? Oh, venice Film Festival, berlin, cannes, you know, maybe people can name no more than five. Sundance, of course, palm Springs is another one, but there is those festivals that are happening, sometimes in local cities, like this one in Los Angeles, california, that are really there to champion the voices of emerging storytellers from even countries that we never heard of. So tell me a little bit about the vision behind your why, behind the CFest that is happening in May, by the way, and we'll be dropping on the show notes all the dates so you can come check it out if you're in town.
Speaker 3Yes, it starts actually in exactly three weeks from today, on Wednesday, another Wednesday, may 1st, and it's opening at the Writers Guild Theater and you'll be with us to celebrate and be your beautiful self on the red carpet. I started this. I had this vision of a festival that would be really cross-border, that wouldn't be an ethnic festival, that wouldn't be a diaspora festival, wouldn't be a one country, one festival, which is what some people do, you know, with reason. I just had this vision that there is more that unites us in a part of Europe that is still, believe it or not, less known. I won't say little known, but less known. And that's the whole.
Speaker 3You know the sliver of Europe that lies between, let's say, you know, western Europe and then Russia on the east. So it's the Eastern Europe that kind of runs from Ukraine and you know, belarus, down to the Balkans and Greece, which is, you know, your dual heritage, greek and Italian, dual heritage, greek and Italian, and then it goes to Turkey and the Caucasus. Were the actual geographical border of Europe lies, smack, in the middle of the Caucasus. So I felt that this is the place, if we can call it a place, a region, where so many cultural and other influences mix and blend into something that is very interesting and original. So it's neither like you have the German cinema, you have Italian French cinema, you have great Russian cinema, but then what do we do with these smaller countries, smaller languages?
Speaker 3And they have a very distinct voice. So I felt that there is a room to showcase this beauty, not necessarily just from the political perspective of what people usually associate this region with, the conflict and war and so on, and with reason, because World War I, World War II, they all started in this region. So there are these competing interests. So, rather than look at something that is negative, that is just World war, war. Not that we don't show the films that are about that topic, but I wanted and my vision was to focus on showing the beauty behind that, Sometimes, unfortunately, maybe really dramatic situations that, like you know, the conflicts and wars and so on, create and give birth to great stories.
Speaker 3And we know from Greece, you know you don't have a drama without a great conflict. It has to be a heightened sense of a you know, real conflict in order to drive either a drama in a theater, on live stage or in cinema or even in social media or anything else. You know you talk about the new emerging media there's got to be a, you can't be just something flat. So sometimes these places not sometimes oftentimes rather create these powerful stories that are just stunning and a little known. And I felt that, hey, we have room, because you kind of look for things that nobody else is covering and not in the way we do. So, just like you, you look for stories and projects that you stand behind, that are different, that would bring something original and that you can say to you know, the buyers or co-producers or television buyers. And Sunday, hey, I have something that no other people is doing. So now, that was the idea behind c-fest and now it's the 19 years, next year's 20th anniversary.
Speaker 2So yeah, as they say, and I love what you're doing because you know you're, you are the perfect guest for my show, because I always said when I, when I started this, completely like non-sponsored, you know, investing every dime into this podcast, not for glory or anything.
Speaker 2It's because I wanted to show that Hollywood, but just even the world of the arts, is not just about the biggest movie stars and the biggest producers. Of course, I have a few of those that come on and I'm very flattered and honored, but I really do want to showcase the two, the true artists, the true storytellers and, of course, and and the people like yourself who are, you know, spokespeople for, for artists that they want to change the world or they want to give us a different perspective. You know, and I think and it's very and, of course, somebody is going to ask is your festival very art house? Will I be able say, as an American or a French person or somebody like, relating to those issues, are you choosing your content based on the talent behind those projects so that we can appreciate them, or is it a combination of everything so that every audience can come and check it out?
Speaker 3It is definitely an art house festival and I think it's very much an American festival because we started it here. We do it for an American audience, american audience being, of course, very super diverse, and that's who we cater to. I always felt that, for instance, we have in California, and in Southern California also, the largest contingent would be the Latino audience, which is very diverse, similar to Eastern Europe. It's not all the same, say Latino, say Hispanic. No, there are Salvadorans. The largest Latino community in greater Los Angeles is from Salvador because unfortunately, again, because of the war that was waging there, then there are all of these other countries in South America and Central America and also Mexico, that you have a lot of different people who have gone through similar experiences.
Speaker 3I always felt that, no, we are not going to tell these stories to people like me, who comes from the region and knows that background, that background. No, but we want to reach across these artificial boundaries that exist between different demographics, especially in a wild sprawl like Los Angeles. Reach out to other people and say we have a story, we went through the same thing as you did and our stories will speak to you and to your heart. So it was always, from the get-go, a festival that was meant for a large, diverse audience. Now everybody's talking about diversity. It's become, you know, the the world du jour, but we we did that, you know, like 20 some years ago, that it was this specific focus on the groups that I think can completely, you know, emotionally, because of course movies have to connect emotionally with the stories that we tell, that we bring here and we like to have, of course, the feedback and so on.
Speaker 3And there are these interesting, you know, cultural phenomena like the um, the uh, the music uh, from mexico and mexican cinema. The golden era of mexican cinema from the 50s was so popular in eastern europe, and especially the music. So in a country that was very open and liberal, in, uh, you know, the socialist countries, that was not behind the Iron Curtain, which was Yugoslavia it was where I come from the music had so many artists that covered it that that became the most popular music of the 50s and early 60s. So it is just funny to hear these artists with the hats and the gear and so on, and singing in our language, mexican songs.
Speaker 3So there are connections that we try to discover, that we want to build on, and I think that's what really builds a community, not just for the film festival and not just for the film industry. These connections, I think, create the fabric of the society, which I think is a larger issue for all of us that we are not isolated as human beings. We have to be connected. It cannot be just because we are professionally, you know, connected to each other or, you know, it's just my personal friends. There's got to be a greater understanding that reaches across different boundaries racial, demographic, cultural, age or any other difference between us.
Speaker 2Yeah, that is so very true, vera, and I also like that you are offering and you started it recently, but, but it's still a very new thing, but it's working. Then you started giving opportunities to a lot of these filmmakers. You are already arranging introductions a little bit like off the off the program, with a lot of this voices and this talent that we're coming here to showcase with so much pride their work. But now you have this whole new thing that you're doing You've been doing it for a few years where you are coaching a lot of those filmmakers to be able to present their projects not just at CFest but any future festivals that I can Tell me a little bit about this new, new. It's not new, new, but like recent right?
Speaker 3well, sure, it's a we have. The most recent one would be the writers lab. We offer this because the one thing that if we all have a difficulty with is discipline, of course, because you know I'm going to, you know, leave that for tomorrow. So having the discipline is when you are in a group by yourself, you sometimes get stuck. I'm not talking just about the writer's block but you just say, oh, you know, I really am going to do that. They have to turn off the new 10 pages or 5 pages every week or every two weeks and then critique each other. So that sort of is a supportive community that you know, and then in the end you end up with a better script or you discover that maybe you need to go in a different direction. So that's been going on for the last, I think, three or four years.
Speaker 3The accelerator for projects in development has been in place for maybe eight plus years and of course, we are delighted that you are one of the presenters and mentors.
Speaker 3We did a fantastic Pitchmaster class, which should win an award. I think. Fantastic pitch master class, which should win an award, I think, because it's so good and so helpful to people, because you break it down into what it really is and you make it so hands-on that people really understand oh, this is what I need to do if I'm in front of a producer. So it's really helpful to them to exercise in these workshops. It's kind of exercises really to learn and then to practice and the accelerator then ends up with the producer's panel when they all pitch to a panel of four or five real life working Hollywood producers. So that's the formula that we do about 10, 9 to 10 workshops and the producers panel. Ideally, well before COVID we were doing sort of with a live workshop with actors and we did the same thing. We plan to do the same thing again next year, both for the Writers Lab and for the Accelerator.
Speaker 2Yeah, and I'd like to say as a testimony to your festival, because I had found this wonderful documentary that was pitched to me called quest for beauty by chris sour. That was pitched to me when I was one of those producers you know here in the pitches, and then I ended up being one of the executive producers and obviously then it got completed and it got distributed. So thanks to you and I was able to find a little gem of a story, so I would say that it definitely does have success record for anybody that wants to participate, if you are from Southeast Europe, um, or I guess it's open to anybody really, you know, to participate in this year's year hopefully Between the you know, let's say people from our region and and others you know they could be from anywhere in the world.
Importance of Festival Sponsors
Speaker 3so I think that's also a type of a cultural exchange and we have a number of films that were made that started at the accelerator. Last year was this very successful documentary who I Am Not, and it premiered at the South by Southwest oh.
Speaker 2I love that, I love hearing that, and that's exactly why places like this and festivals like this are so important and it is so important to support them. So let's talk about sponsors, because we all know that getting a sponsor for anything whether it's festivals, podcasts, you know, movies, you know it's always a bit of a challenge, because but I think there's something special about being sponsors into venues like the CFest because you get, by the way people, a lot more exposure, whatever your brand is, than you would in a big festival where you're going to be drowned with hundreds of other brands, right? So tell us a little bit about the sponsorship journey and if you want to give an appeal to next year's sponsors, future sponsors maybe somebody wants to come in the last minute let's talk about that.
Speaker 3I really appreciate that you bring this up, because very few people would, because everybody's like oh, you know, we don't want to talk about the money or the sponsors, but you know, but yes, it doesn't exist without the money and sponsors. A movie does not. You know, maybe we may call it differently Producers, executive producers, financiers, you know line of credit and so on, but it doesn't happen otherwise. Or in Europe, it would be the funding from the local film centers or the ministries of culture, and then they all, you know, collect money from, you know, different countries, going to GoPro markets, ending up eventually with maybe the Eurimage support and so on. So, yes, there is absolutely, you know, that whole infrastructure that underpins any project, including the festival, which is the sponsors and money. And in case of a non-profit festival, because we are a bona fide, non-profit public benefit cultural institution, we would not exist without absolutely fantastic volunteers and industry people like you. It is critical that you know it is that your contribution is that you are a supporter and sponsor because you provide your professional expertise. You do this pro bono, for you know in the workshops that you do so it does make a difference for people and it could be a critical difference for that one filmmaker and project. So we really appreciate that we have 21 industry people on our juries. The reason why we have so many juries we have seven juries, each one has three members is so that filmmakers from our part of the world know that, in addition to the audiences, their movies are seen by their peers. So I think that really registered and resonates with them a big, big time.
Speaker 3We are fortunate to have ELMA, the Foundation for European Languages and Movies in America, as our co-presenter, and ELMA is not supporting only SEAFest. Elma is supporting all of the European film festivals in this region it is all I mean here in Los Angeles and California, and also the European film showcases at other festivals, let's say AFI or the Screenfest or Palm Springs Film Festival and so on. So the commitment that they have for many, many years has been exemplary. You know I keep saying that to the people who are running Pascal Ladrete, the executive director of ELMA that it's the support, it's that you know the steady commitment that Elma and Pascal and his board have towards supporting the European cinematic language here is really something that goes beyond just the funding. It is also important that there is this feeling that we do belong. Europe is, compared maybe to some other parts of the world, not that big. It's not as big or as populous as southeast asia, for example, so but it has this, uh, you know, we belong to that cultural um, uh milieu and it's important.
Speaker 3I always believe that it's better that we work together and that's what ELMA does. It brings us all together. We also are, you know, gratefully, you know, really working with the California Arts Council, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. You know we have a number of Golden Globes. Who's one of the supporters? We have individual supporters, like our honorary chair, Irina Maleeva, the actress, the Bulgarian-Italian-American actress, who's been a gracious supporter of the festival. We have several other foundations the Silverman Foundation, the Rubinstein Foundation, the you know Peter and Mary Gross, and other individuals, thomas Blunt, who is a philanthropist. So there are a number of people who are, you know, working with us.
Speaker 3And one thing that I'd like to say is that, you know, all of these sponsors actually have been staying with us for years. We are not losing sponsors, which may be a testament to what we're doing, and the most recent one is we're very, very proud of the grant that we got from the California Humanities which is a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for Humanities, a very competitive grant which is not for the festival, it's for the humanities program, that kind of complement the festival, and so it was really a great recognition for us to have this grant. And you know the fantastic relationship we had with UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies. They have been with us from the get-go. It was and still they are. It just is, you know. I can't even express how much we appreciate that.
Speaker 3The Blue Heron Foundation. It's an uplifting. Humanity is their motto. You know the Creating Creators it's a program that one of our board members runs with the school district. The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, the Austrian Consulate General, barco, the famous. You know the manufacturer of these wonderful laser projectors in cinemas. You know the Calypso Media. You know it's the Villa.
Speaker 1Aurobla and so on.
Speaker 2I could go on and on. Oh my gosh, I love this. I absolutely love that there is such a big list of supporters, vera, and you know, and again, you know when people are listening to this you don't have to be, you know. It's not about oh, can I write a check? Of course, checks always help, and we know, but it's also about attendance. It's also about supporting these festivals, and I think even purchasing a ticket to attend and see some of these wonderful movies will go a long way, because A yes, it's not a lot of money, but it does add up, because those festivals are very expensive between booking theaters and organizing the committees and the receptions and all of those things, and so it's expensive. People, number one. But second, it's also the joy of showing that you are supporting international cinema and international storytellers. So by you picking up a ticket with you and your family and your friends and picking a movie and going to see at least one or more, hopefully, you'll be helping the longevity of this festival and many other festivals that are just as worthy, of course, that are in line with what vera and c-fest are doing. So do check it out, you know, and if you're a new brand. This is a great place for you to get visibility, of course, because, again, it's, it's, it's. It's a mighty, small but mighty festival and you'll be treated like a rock star.
Speaker 2Vera is so good with her sponsors I can, I can vouch for that. I've seen her on the red carpet. She makes everyone feel welcome, like even if you gave 500, she'll make you feel like you gave five million. That's, that's who vera is, and so you know. Please do check out c-fest, you know. And in closing, vera, well, you know that this is coming because I warned you. Let's talk about how you define yourself in three words or less, or if you have a life mantra, because obviously you've had your share of challenges during the pandemic, as we all have, where there was no work, there was no festivals. What kept you going? Is there a piece of advice, something that your mom said or something that you read that said okay, this is what I'm going to go to in dark times to keep me going?
Speaker 3I don't have a motto. I do believe that you know it is that center that was given to me by my parents, and especially, you know, like, my father died a long time ago, but what he left me was the sense of pride and honesty, and also my mom, who was a voracious reader and loved movies, very quiet lady, unlike me and so they gave me the sense of purpose. That's something that it cannot be and should not be only about me that life worth living Is a little bit more than just you know, and that I have to you always. I always should know what I'm doing, why I'm doing that, and to stay true to that motivation to create something that is also something that could possibly help or inspire or comfort or heal somebody else. And I believe in art. I really do. I believe in creativity. And that I believe in art, I really do. I believe in creativity.
Speaker 3I know that this world is rapidly changing with all the, and I've had a panel last year with tech people about the future of cinema. Yes, ai is here and shared GPT and all kinds of different things and immersive experience and so forth. It's always been like that. It was just technologically less like what it is today, because we have all these different gadgets at our disposal, but it's ultimately always the same thing Somebody has created the possibility for AI. It was a human who was behind that, and that's what I always believe in.
Speaker 3So I'm not afraid of any of this, because I do believe in creativity. I believe that the human component does not die. It is there and should be there. So I believe in humanities, in the program of humanities and the artistic endeavors, in creativity, because there will be somebody there's some writer right now who is writing and he says well, damn it, I'm going to write something and I'm just going to show what this all is all about and they will, you know, bring us something that we will be say well, you know, there it is. You know something. You know who knew, you know, there's a new thing and that's what I.
Speaker 2It's a very long answer, I'm sorry I love it, though, thank you, it is so, it is so inspirational, and it's exactly what my podcast is about. You could be having a masterclass on that, by the way, or to have a TED talk about this, because, it is true, I agree with you, I am not afraid of AI. I think AI is an ally. It's been there all the time.
Premier Expectations and Appreciation
Speaker 2People I gps, I mean when you had the gps on your phone, what do you think that was? Or when you ask google, you know about finding something. It's been around all the time. It's just like a different incarnation of it and more evolved, more amplified. That makes our life easier as well, but, like you said, it's somebody had to create that and that was a human. So, you know, long-lived humans and, uh, yeah, and for any of you again who are listening, please do check out my show notes, donate, show up, you know, promote, uh, review this podcast, share it with your friend, let people know about the existence of this wonderful jam of a festival and, vera, it's been so lovely having you on my show. I look forward to seeing you as a premier. It's going to be amazing.
Speaker 3Thank you, it's my pleasure and I really appreciate that you had the time.
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the heart of show business. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe, rate and review the show on your favorite podcast player. If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us, you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusinesscom.