River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, is a festival entirely devoted to films from and about India and the south Asian region, including, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, running through December 10 in Florence. The International Film Festival Summit (IFFS) is an annual conference and trade show for professionals in the film festival industry, and is organized by the International Film Festival Summit (IFFS), an international organization representing the film festival industry. The festival goes through December 8 in Las Vegas. The Ravel Orchestral Study Group Los Angeles will hold its second open study session December 8 in Studio City. The workshop is open to anyone and has no requirements, and is lead and organized by ASCAP Film/TV composer Ron Jones. An international convention dedicated to the Asian cinema exhibition and distribution community, CineAsia, screens major Asian and Hollywood films, presents award ceremonies, and an educational program on issues affecting the Asian cinema exhibition industry, when it happens December 8-10 in Hong Kong.

"Mix & Mingle" in Atlanta with the Women in Film and Television Atlanta Holiday Party on December 9, which in part will support the Atlanta Children’s Shelter Holiday House 2009. BMI will co-produce the First Annual Miami Music Festival in the Brickell area of downtown Miami. This event showcasing artists performing all genres of music is presented by Tune Partners, The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, Miami.com and city and county government departments. The Fifth Annual Florida Entertainment Summit happening December 10-12 nearby will share music workshops and showcases in association with Miami Music Festival, in addition to its SoundLab session where recording artists and producers can present their musical works before an assembled audience of industry professionals. But FES will kick off with a special party on December 9. During this year's Bahamas International Film Festival, December 10-17 in Nassau, Johnny Depp will be honored with the Career Achievement Award, Director of Photography, Gavin McKinney, will be honored with the first Bahamian Tribute Award, and Academy Award nominee, Sophie Okonedo, will be on hand for The Rising Star Tribute which is given to an actor whose early accomplishments have put them on the path for elite stardom in the industry.

A one-day, intensive workshop for actors who want to learn simple and effective techniques, facts, and tips that will get them the parts they want, will be conducted in New York, December 12 by a film producer, offering the perspective of a film producer. BMI, known for it's music industry networking initiatives, hosts an “Acoustic Sunset Pool Party”, December 12, with performances by Alexander, Alex Cuba, DC3, Mirror Pal, at an art deco hotel on the oceanfront of Miami’s South beach. While in Maitland, join Central Florida's media and entertainment associations for holiday "Mingling", networking and fun, hosted annually by: Women in Film & Television-Florida, and co-hosted by: Digital Media Alliance Florida (DMAF) and the Florida Cast and Crew Association (FCCA) Advance. Songfood presents a songwriting intensive, December 26 through January 2, covering daily classes, discussions with instructors leading the intensives; nightly open mic for the class to share songs with each other; yoga classes; and a unique physical environment at 5000 feet above sea level at the session's location in Alajuela.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the "Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events" page at actorschecklist.com/news.html. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor's Checklist podcast blog at actorschecklist.com/loudblog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/actorschecklist. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film, music and documentary. Last month was featured musical work in progress by Swedish musician Jan Verner-Carlsson (http://www.songcastmusic.com/profiles/JanVernerC), Gyprock Records, 'Final Act,' from United Front Video (http://www.myspace.com/unitedfrontvideo), Los Angeles, and Land of Misery Films (http://www.landofmiseryfilms.com) with upcoming release, 'Chase'. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase at http://www.actorschecklist.com/video which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. The Actor's Checklist is proud announce the return of the Digital Media & Podcast Blog at: http://actorschecklist.com/loudblog/ to find and/or view download to your iPhone the 10 ior 5 minute video or audio podcast presentation.