World Comedy Film Festival Toronto

7th Annual WORLD OF COMEDY FILM FESTIVAL

Friday, March 5- Sunday, March 7, 2010 at Innis Town Hall Theatre

Opening night program – A Feast of Comedy Shorts - at 7:30pm

Hollywood’s favourite dad - Paul Dooley will be present for Canadian Premiere of his directorial debut – “Head Over Heels”

Toronto’s 7th annual World of Comedy Film Festival returns to put a smile on Toronto faces with 59 short and feature films guaranteed to banish those winter blues. From Friday, March 5 – Sunday, March 7, at Innis Town Hall Theatre, this year’s program showcases the best in comedy film from Canada and around the globe including USA, Germany, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Scotland, Spain and France.

This year’s Opening Night program – A Feast of Comedy Shorts – features the Canadian Premiere of Paul Dooley’s directorial debut “Head Over Heels”.  Hollywood’s favourite dad in such classics as Breaking Away, 16 Candles and Runaway Bride, and a veteran of film and television with memorable roles in Insomnia, Waiting for Guffman, ER, Grace Under Fire, My So-Called Life and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Paul Dooley will present “Head Over Heels” at Innis on Friday, March 5 at 7:30pm.  Other films in the opening night program include: “How it’s Done” (Michael O’kelly), “Trolls” (Brianne Nord-Stewart), “Horn Dog” (Bill Plympton), “The Business: Trip (Voyage D’Affaires)” (Sean Ellis, Claire Marquet), “Shaun The Sheep: Ewe’ve Been Framed” (Aardman Animations), “The Booby Trap” (Simon Pennekamp), “The Line” (Richard Sabatte) and “On The Edge” (Tom Day).

Dooley brings another treat to World of Comedy when he presents the Master Class with Veteran Film and TV actor Paul Dooley “Improv for Character Actors” on Friday, March 5, 2010 from 2pm – 5pm at Toronto’s Second City Training Centre.  One of the founding members of Chicago’s Second City, Paul Dooley’s “Improv for Character Actors” is a don’t miss experience and includes an introduction, 1-1/2 hour Improv Workshop and a Q&A.  Participants are required to have previous training/experience in improvisation and acting at this workshop designed for a more intermediate level. Improv is Paul’s passion:  “I love the freedom of it.  I can be doing a Shakespeare parody one minute and playing a five year old kid the next.  I make my living doing movies and television, but improv I do for my soul.”

Toronto filmmakers are well represented at World of Comedy this year with “Heroes” and “Robots” by Ryan Keller, both featuring the well honed talents of Second City comics Marty Adams (also a Cream of Comedy finalist), Lauren Ash, Matthew Reid and Jim Annan.

Highly anticipated films this year include: “Head Over Heels” – Directorial debut of Emmy Award nominated actor, Paul Dooley (includes voices of Bob Balaban, Harvey Korman, Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Dooley, Tim Conway and Winnie Holtzman); “Horn Dog” – Canadian Premiere- the 4th film in Bill Plympton’s famed, Oscar nominated “dog” series; “Shaun the Sheep” – four new shorts from Academy Award winning Aardman Animation; “The Action Hero’s Guide To Saving Lives” – Canadian Premiere – by Justin Lutsky featuring Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld, The Tick, Men In Black II, Rules of Engagement) as the action hero Ace Mulligan, facing danger and clichés ; “The Resurrection of Officer Rollins”- from MTV Award winning director Nathan Cox, the film follows the horrifying evening of a pair of bumbling paramedics, and stars Rodney Eastman (Nightmare on Elm Street 3) and Derek Mears (Friday the 13th) ; Michael O’kelly’s “How it’s Done” –North American Premiere – of a pathetic man who fears the unseen flirtation behind him on the bus. Will blood be spilt before he makes it home, or will he muster the courage to hey the baby? ; “The Booby Trap” – Canadian Premiere – Doug and Luke have just found the biggest discovery in their adolescent lives: ‘Breast Feeding Your Child To Health’. This video, they expect, will be the coolest thing since water balloons and dinosaurs! When the tape turns out to be a harsh lesson in human anatomy, the boys are horrified ; “Cooking with Werner” – German filmmaker Werner Herzog hosts a cooking show to raise money to fund his films; “The Line” – Ontario Premiere – by Richard Sabatte – a candid look at what really happens when woman must endure, those long , painful washroom line-ups; and the feature mockumentary “Labrats” – World Premiere – Jake, Tony and Simon, desperate to escape their unfulfilled lives, devise what could be the perfect crime and they hire a film crew to document it. But the best laid plans…

Launched in 2003 by Carla Nolan, the World of Comedy Film Festival has gained a strong reputation for showcasing burgeoning Canadian and international comedy filmmakers. World of Comedy Film Festival is a non-profit organization created to celebrate the artistry and power of comedy films.  World of Comedy, which has screened over 320 shorts and features since 2003, has a nose for the funny – having showcased three Oscar nominations and one win. “French Roast” which had its world premiere at the World of Comedy Film Festival in 2009 has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Short category at the upcoming Academy Awards.  In 2010 the festival received a record number of submissions with over 500 shorts, features, animation and mockumentaries.