The festival kicks off this morning with a director's coffee talk at the Landmark. Scheduled panelists include moderator James Mangold, Paul Haggis and the next Bond director Marc Forster. Tickets are $11. The big event today (and it's free!) starts at noon and runs until 6:00 p.m. at the Landmark Regent Theater. It's Live Earth Day: A Celebration of Earth and includes 50 short films commissioned by SOS-Live Earth. Some of the filmmakers who've contributed are Roman Coppola, Rob Reiner, Chad Lowe, Casey Affleck and Madonna (Madonna?). If you can't attend the afternoon showings, another free Live Earth program kicks off at 8:30 p.m. at the Festival Promenade on Broxton.

Another free seminar rolls at Bel Air Camera at 1:00 p.m. Today it's Tech Talk: Filmmaking on the Cutting Edge. Another seminar (also free) starts at 3:00 p.m. at Bel Air Camera. This time it's Tech Talk: Confessions of a A Shoot: The Signal Case Study. That one should be interesting. The Signal was one of the break-out hits of last winter's Sundance Film Festival. As for screenings, standby tickets are still available for Ad Lib Night at 2:15 p.m. at the Landmark, The Paper Will Be Blue at 4:45 p.m. also at the Landmark, Time and Winds at 7:15 p.m. (Landmark) and Prison Town, USA at 9:45 p.m. screening at, you guessed it, the Landmark.

THE LANDMARK
10850 W. Pico Blvd @ Westwood Blvd.

LANDMARK’S REGENT THEATRE 
1045 Broxton Ave.

FESTIVAL PROMENADE ON BROXTON
Broxton Ave. between Weyburn & Kinross

BEL AIR CAMERA
10925 Kinross Ave. @ Gayley Ave

Photo courtesy of choupigloupi via Flickr