Community members looking to break in the motion picture industry have a chance to learn from filmmakers during a discussion at Santa Clarita City Hall at the end of the month, according to a news release from city officials.

Attendance is free for the “New Heights: Build an Audience, Fund Your Film” discussion  Wednesday, Aug. 31 from 7-9 p.m. in the Century Room at City Hall, located at 23920 Valencia Boulevard.

The New Heights discussion series is an annual artist development series through the city of Santa Clarita.

The panel discussion will share secrets to success and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of indie film financing.

Included on the panel are actors, producers and crowdfunding professionals who have first-hand experience building an audience and fundraising through crowdfunding.

Featured on the panel will be Leah Cevoli, Etta Devine, Elizabeth Dell, Nicole Miceli and Jennifer Fischer.

These panelists have successfully raised millions of dollars for feature films, short films and web series. They have also presented at the San Diego Comic Con and other national events.

Leah Cevoli is a crowdfunding and social media consultant who has managed more than 40 campaigns, raising more than $3.5 million for feature films, short films, documentaries, web series, theatre, books, comedy albums, music albums, music festivals, a clothing line, video games, start-up companies and more.

Through Greenlight Your Passion Project, Cevoli has worked with clients, such as Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, Goonies), Jim Beaver (Deadwood, Supernatural), Mark Marshall (Free Willy, Harry Potter) and Jim Michaels (Supernatural).

Etta Devine is an actor, writer and filmmaker. She recently directed and starred in the feature, Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse, after raising $100,000 for it on Kickstarter.

Devine published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Robotic Edition) with $30,000 from Kickstarter and has advised on several other crowdfunded projects. Devine also provides voices for multiple characters on the hit cartoon Bee and Puppycat.

Related Article: Santa Clarita Yields Strong Filming Year

Elizabeth Dell leads the China Task Force for the Producers Guild of America and is half of the team behind Two Camel Films.

Dell produced B-Girl, a narrative hip-hop dance feature that was distributed worldwide and available on Showtime, Encore and Starz.

She is also the CFO and co-founder of Array Entertainment, a slate fund focused on female-driven films. She produces digital media and her latest crowdfunding campaign for her short film, Helen, raised 200% of its original goal.

The project was the fastest Seed & Spark campaign to achieve full financing for a project, doing so in the first 12 hours of the campaign launch.

Nicole Miceli is committed to closing the gender gap in Hollywood and is a graduate of the William Esper Studio. Her female-driven web series, Tarantella, began as a single scene and quickly became a multi-season web series, making Miceli’s filmmaking debut.

Tarantella was her first experience with crowdfunding and her unwavering commitment and determination led her to surpass her crowdfunding goal.

Miceli says the two-year journey as the creator, writer and executive producer for Tarantella has been one of the most transformative experiences in her life.

Jennifer Fischer is a filmmaker, arts educator and film curator.  Her last multi-award winning film, Smuggled, saw her tackling self-distribution, successfully securing theatrical screening events at universities, colleges and community organizations throughout the United States and abroad.

Fischer founded and ran the Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival for seven years and prides herself on supporting other indie filmmakers. She has successfully crowdfunded both a feature documentary film and a short narrative film.

New Heights is designed to assist artists, filmmakers, performers and arts organization representatives to expand their knowledge and to learn valuable tools to increase their ability to be successful.

The series includes workshops, panel discussions, lectures and classes that are aimed to engage creative individuals, no matter the level of experience.

For more information about the New Heights series, please contact the City’s Arts and Events Supervisor, Jeff Barber, at (661) 250-3779 or jbarber@santa-clarita.com. Additional information about this workshop and future events can be found by clicking here.

Ed. Note: This article is a news release provided by the city of Santa Clarita.